Pub Guide
From the Bleachers
by Cormac EklofRSS 
Recent Posts
- EA Sports Madden 13 will feature 'Tebowing' as a celebration
- Baseball Ireland A-League weekend wrap up May 19th-20th
- Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon might be losing it
- The Terrific Ten: IrishCentral's MLB top ten power rankings May 16th 2012
- Respect and the Red Sox
Archives
EA Sports Madden 13 will feature 'Tebowing' as a celebration
From first look, EA has done a pretty good job with it, but, you be the judge.
Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon might be losing it
On the Red Sox training staff (telling him what to do every day)
"The previous trainer there tried to tell me everything and that he knew everything about me. It's just not the case. I know myself. I know how to get through a 162-game season. The trainer don't know how to do that and the trainers here (in Philadelphia) have been phenomenal. They understand that I am going to be successful because I know how to be successful. I still did things my way when I was there in Boston. I just had someone chirping in my ear the whole time."
This is easily something you could believe attributed to fictional superstar Kenny Powers;
‘’ They understand that I am going to be successful because I know how to be successful.’’
Did you feel (bad) about leaving the Red Sox after the chaos of the collapse last September?
"I don't feel bad. No. Cinco is gutless man. I don't feel bad for people."
You would assume he meant ‘heartless’ perhaps, but, onwards and upwards…
The Terrific Ten: IrishCentral's MLB top ten power rankings May 16th 2012
Please note, this is a Top Ten with a twist. This list details one through ten the ten most likely teams to win the World Series, not the current ten best teams. Consider that before you charge into the comments section all bluster and anger!
For example, and we hate to break this to your Baltimore fans, the Orioles are not going to win the World Series. They will appear in many a MLB power ranking, just not this one. Let’s just get that out of the way right now. No chance at winning the big one so, no Orioles.
Respect and the Red Sox
Once again, Fenway Park was an ugly place to be last night. The ‘boo’ birds were out in full force. In case you missed it, Josh Beckett was bashed around the park like a Piñata and for once, much maligned new manager Bobby Valentine had a quick hook, coming to get the former Ace of the Sox faster than many expected. Beckett faced a loud, angry wave of negativity as he trudged back to the dugout. Fans made all sorts of faces, gestures and finger signs your momma definitely never taught you.
It looked something like the ugly, angry crowds that ‘grace’ English soccer grounds every weekend, where the fans frequently chant in their thousands that the referee is into self-satisfaction.
The continuing evolution of Tom Brady's hair
We are at such a loss, that we need your help! As we continue to track the evolution of Tom Brady's hair styling, we want you to tell us what you think this hair-do should be called.
Get voting, if you take too long, he may come up with something completely new, and we will have to start again!
Mariano Rivera: ''Celebrate him as high as you can''
There is going to be a lot said in the next few days about pretty much everything and anything Mariano Rivera related. You will read all about his marvelous career, the World Series rings, his incredible 'cutter', perhaps one of the most feared pitches in all of Major League Baseball.
For me, one of the most biased and dedicated Red Sox fans you could find, not nearly enough will be written about the man's dignity and grace.
Hideki Matsui signs for the Tampa Bay Rays and watches a lot of porn.
Right, enough with the pleasantries. Whilst this is a nice little MLB story, and we all hope Hideki makes it up to the ‘bigs’ and loses a few baseballs in the cavernous, largely empty stands in Tampa, much bigger related news is afoot.
In the latest issue of GQ, the following quote was attributed to Matsui.
Boston Red Sox suddenly looking a whole lot more competitive
The Sox were written off, by their own fans. There were calls to blow the team up, and start rebuilding. Bobby Valentine had to be sacked, kicked out the door and told never to come back.
So, how are things looking now? Wouldn’t you love to ask one of those idiots that stood behind the home dugout ‘booing’ with all their physical worth, how did they think the Red Sox were doing now? Suddenly the Red Sox season is looking much more positive, as they cruise towards the .500 mark on the back of a 4 game winning streak. They haven’t just won those games, they have annihilated the opposition, pummeled them into submission with their bats, scoring a whopping 34 runs across the 4 game streak.
New England Patriots 2012 NFL schedule released
Considering everything that has happened in the last couple of months in the
Ozzie Guillen suspended for five games by the Miami Marlins
Well now, apparently the first amendment is becoming a distant memory to some. The Miami Marlins have suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games for comments he made to Time magazine in which he has been perceived to have made favorable comments on Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
It’s official: Detroit Tigers named the fattest professional sports team in sports history
There were wild celebrations
On those new NFL Nike jerseys - the kid that made yours got paid $1.25 today
Is it just me or is this mammoth
25 reasons to be excited about the forthcoming MLB season
Here it comes. In fact, it actually started yesterday. That's right.
The Saints and 'Bounty Gate' - Sean Payton must go - VIDEO
Goodness me, the New Orleans Saints have landed themselves in quite the juicy pickle. The NFL is basically, at this moment, winding up Popeye style to deliver a debilitating haymaker right in the Saint’s kisser. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, is this week meeting with his minions to decide the punishment for the Saints ‘bounty’ scheme, where they paid out extra dollars to players who injured and or sidelined opposition players.
After a Mulder and Scully like investigation the NFL has uncovered in a damning report that the Saints paid ‘’$1,500 for a "knockout" shot and $1,000 for a hit that results in a player being carted off the field’’ . The sensational NFL report found between 22 and 27 defensive players on the Saints, as well as former assistant coach Gregg Williams, ‘’maintained a bounty system for inflicting injuries on targeted players.’’ Payments under the scheme doubled or tripled for the playoffs.
The Saints appear to be offering zero resistance thus far, and indeed Williams called his role in the pool a "terrible mistake" when he issued a public apology late last week. Williams, in particular, has a lot to answer for. Williams was the Redskins' defensive coordinator from 2004 to '07. The below hit on Peyton Manning took place in that time-frame, and the good people of Indianapolis would like to talk to Gregg about it.
------------------
Read more:
Landmark ruling in favor of Irish pub sued for showing soccer game live
The Emerald Diamond: The story of Baseball in Ireland: Video
The film debuted to a sold out crowd in New York on February 25, 2006 and has been seen in dozens of theaters across the United States since then. It has been featured by The New York Times, New York Post, FoxNews, National Public Radio and has also been covered extensively by the Irish media. Reuters came to Corcaigh Park, home of Irish Baseball, and reported the story as such.
Frank McNally of the Irish Times wrote this brilliant article after he had seen the Emerald Diamond at the Sugar Club in Dublin.
Gary Neville gets it wrong (again): La Liga is the best soccer league in the world
Quiet weekend in US sports news (unless of course you were ‘glued’ to the NBA All Star game, and who wouldn’t be transfixed by ten multi millionaire playboys jogging up and down a court tossing each other alley-oops ad nauseum). Sunday in particular was an extremely lazy day in terms of sports across the Atlantic, so more American eyes than usual were trained on coverage of the
Racism in sports in the USA: The Jeremy Lin addendum
At this stage there has been basically no stone left unturned when it comes to New York Knicks rookie sensation
James McClean left out of Irish squad - Here we go again...
Okay first things first, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way. We are all suitably delighted the Irish soccer team have qualified for the European Championships. The qualification for same harkens back to the glory days of the Charlton era and no doubt will give Ireland a much needed national boost when the tournament comes around. The inevitable hard fought 0-0 group round draws, the feisty performances and the lovable underdog tag will undoubtedly be a blast. The heart breaking tournament exit after a penalty shoot-out will give us all a reason to knock back a few brews. Fabulous.
The problem is, you can pretty much write the script months ahead of the event itself. How come? Because the Irish manager, Gio Trapaphoney, is a stubborn old man.
----------------------
Read more:
More Irish sports news from IrishCentral
Anti-immigrant group Numbers USA mobilizes to stop Irish visa bill
The Titanic last meal is re-created for first time for Irish fundraiser - VIDEO
----------------------
To continue the disclaimer before we head into the rant, whilst it is a fantastic achievement to qualify for the Euros, and whilst we will all put our reservations to one side and get behind the boys in green when it starts, this doesn’t mean we have to agree with the method and style in which we achieved said qualification.
Apparently Boston Bruins Tim Thomas hates "The Troops" - VIDEO
There is a great moment in the seminal mini-series
Patriots travelling to London again? Might be. Rams potential 'hosts'.
Word on the proverbial street is that the NFL game in
Irish figure heavily in stunning Sunderland win over Manchester City
The weekend just passed saw a number of shocks in the English Premiership, none bigger than
Dinamo Zagreb take a dive in the second - French gambling authorities taking a close look at Lyon’s 7-1 win last night.
An extraordinary night of
The NFL cares, FIFA doesn’t: Rex Ryan facing hefty fine while FIFA basically ignores rampant racism in its sport
Interesting incidents across two diverse sports this week. In the
Penn State affair: Massive failure all round, while ESPN still throws bouquets at Paterno
I am sorry, but let's just come out and ask it, why are the biggest sporting websites still talking about
Beer me - MLB announce they are going to look into Red Sox club-house drinking
Well thank God for that.
The black sporting weekend - Ireland knocked out of the Rugby World Cup and fail to impress against Andorra
And so it came to pass. A weekend infused with such sporting promise from the perspective of Irish eyes, crashes to the ground in ruins like the proverbial house of cards. Irish Sporting fans with a broader range of disciplines in their fandom portfolio were left clutching at straws, celebrating the Patriots beating the Jets as they clung to the wreckage of Saturdays Irish failure in New Zealand.
Leading up to those fateful events on Saturday morning Ireland had not been as energized and hopeful about a tournament since we were on the brink of the Soccer World Cup and Thierry Henry handled away our aspirations there. Perhaps the weight of the desperate hopes of a nation dragged our boys in green down, as a very brave Irish team looked admittedly tired and spent in the second half against Wales.
With the match on so early (6 am Irish time), it was still early morning as Irish rugby fans rubbed their eyes, looked out into the grey, cold, dispassionate morning light and felt that empty longing grow a bit longer. Will Ireland ever proceed to the final of a meaningful World tournament?
Corkman Darragh O’Neill punts his way onto Colorado University football team
Could it be possibly just 3-4 years before we see a Cork boy punting in the NFL? This may not be as crazy a thought as it seems.
MLB Monday catchup. The AL MVP race and the AL Wild card race.
As we cruise to the end of the MLB season, there is an awful lot of copy being written in particular about the AL MVP. Should a pitcher be considered? Should it go to a player who is playing for a team that is seventeen games out in its division?
This column's suggestion is leading the AL with a sparkling .341 batting average. He is tied for first with a sensational .447 OBP (On base percentage). He is tied for second place with 47 doubles and is right up there in home runs (tied 7th) and RBIs (tied 7th). Our candidate is tied for 2nd in the AL with 108 walks and is second in slugging and OPS.
Panic about the Red Sox? Not just yet.
Alright so, let’s kick things off by stating the obvious. As Sox fans, you are disappointed, I am disappointed, we are all disappointed. This has been a singularly painful couple of weeks baseball, as
Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan moves to a club with an average attendance of 2,513
It is obviously not ground breaking news to report that many athletes are greedy, however sometimes the sheer audacity of their actions are breath taking. How stupid do these clowns think we, the fans, are? Why do they insist on the same clichéd, asinine statements about moving for trophies or whatever, when the only reason they are moving is so they can afford to wipe their backsides with surplus cash?
Consider former Sunderland strikers, the Ghanaian
NFL picks: Week one: The return of the NFL
Here we go again. The column often considers the week before the first NFL games of the season to be one of the finest, most enjoyable of sporting weeks. For that week, pre-kickoff, your favourite team can win the Superbowl. Your favourite Quarterback is primed for a juicy season stats wise. Your fantasy football team looks beyond awesome on paper, and you, as yet, haven't lost a penny betting on the NFL. Life is beautiful. Then of course, the season starts, and, this happens...
Most Recent Blog Posts
Most Popular Sport Stories
+th.jpg){kind=small}
