
Is it the end of the road for Tom Brady?
In the end all quarterbacks reach that moment that Brady reached on Sunday night, his despairing pass into the end zone left the Patriots an agonizing touchdown short of victory.
A last minute disputed penalty gave Wales victory over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland led from a Tommy Bowe unconverted try but Stephen Ferris was harshly penalized in the last minute and Wales scored from the resultant penalty kick by Halfpenny.
Irish hooker Rory Best had scored a converted try for Ireland to give them an undeserved half time lead in the Six Nations rugby clash with Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Three of the best four coaches in the NFL, Tom Coughlin, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy have Irish backgrounds. Hall of Famer Bill Parcells, real name Bill O'Shea (His father,born Charles O'Shea, was adopted) is another.
In Britain it is well known that Scottish managers such as Alex Ferguson, Matt Busby, Bill Shankly are the best soccer managers that were ever produced.
It will be Tom Coughlin versus Tom Brady in the Super Bowl for the ages in Indianapolis in two weeks.
The two may be of Irish American heritage but the similarities end right there.

The death of Joe Paterno reminds us all of how suddenly the fall from grace can occur.
Joe Paterno should have died a year ago, his reputation intact and garlands for his grave from everyone who ever worked or encountered him.
He was the beloved Joe Pa, the epitome of class and steel, who strode the college football world like a colossus.
Say it ain't so Joe!
Vice president Joe Biden made one of his infamous gaffes on Thursday mixing up the San Francisco Giants baseball team and the San Francisco 49ers.

Was that one of the greatest football games ever?
The San Francisco last second win over New Orleans had everything including a barnburner finish that will go down in San Francisco history.
It was eerie that 30 years ago Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the end zone for an historic play off win against the Dallas Cowboys
Jacobs is right ---but he may also called Ryan 'fat boy' according to a Newsday reporter.
Ryan is certainly setting the NFL on fire for all the wrong reasons.

The battle of the New York Jets and Giants today is also about two Irish coaches, Tom Coughlin and Rex Ryan who could not be more different, ethnic heritage aside.
Ryan is the original 'gift of the gab' Irishman, who never met a quote he didn't like. Outrageous larger than life, full of braggadocio and piss and vinegar, Ryan is one of a kind.
Coughlin is a lot more old school.He came up through the college game, was a severe disciplinarian back then.

Notre Dame may play Stanford in China in 2013 The New York Times has reported.
The Chinese game would be the first ever American football event in the world's most populated country and would represent a massive breakthrough for the Fighting Irish.
With Notre Dame due to go to Dublin in 2012 it would mean a second successive away game for the Fighting Irish in another country.

Irish players seem undaunted after drawing world champions Spain and former World Cup holders Italy in their European championship group. Croatia is the other team in the group.
"It is a tough draw. We said before privately we would have taken the host nations but we have drawn the world champions, the current holders, and to play a team like that will be fantastic,” said midfielder Keith Andrews.
“But we’ve drawn the world champions and the current holders. You know, to pit yourself against a team like that is great but the draw could have been kinder, no doubt about it. If you can’t look forward to games like that, pitting yourself against the best players, and one of the best players to have played, there’s something wrong.”

Ireland have received a very tough draw in Group B of the European championships facing world champions Spain , Italy and Croatia.
The fixture list is as follow:

It was men against boys for most of the night when Notre Dame faced a rampant Stanford team that picked them off at will.
The Notre Dame defense stayed in the game as long as they could but the lack of any offensive points wore them down eventually.
Notre Dame now knows what a major BCS contender looks like and how far they have to go if they are ever to relive the glory of the old days.
Brian Kelly has spoken about taking Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees to the next level.
‘‘That’s where we’re at right now,’’ Brian Kelly said ‘‘All the other stuff is just chat and opinions. Everybody is entitled to their opinions. His development now is, ‘How are they defending Tommy Rees?’ Tommy’s got to take that next step, and that is eight- and nine-man drops. How are you going to find a way to keep the chains moving?’’

Brian Kelly’s season comes down to Stanford on Saturday.
He will be 9-3 if he beats them, Notre Dame’s best season in years. Arguably, if they win, they should be 11-1 only the defeat to USC was a game they did not deserve to win.
The losses to Michigan and USF were aberrations that would surely never happen again.

Brian Kelly will be facing huge pressure this weekend , but it will not all be from the Boston College football team .
The Boston native knows family and friends will be calling incessantly to get tickets for the game at Notre Dame stadium.
"There's a lot of requests for tickets," Kelly told the Associated Press . "I don't even pick up the phone."
Ireland and Estonia tied in Dublin 1-1 tonight.
Estonia scored in the 56th minute when Vasilljev scored with a shot that Given should have saved.
Ireland had lead Estonia 1-0 following a goal by Steven Ward following a corner kick by Damien Duff.
Joe Paterno will be fired from his position as coach of Penn State over the sex abuse scandal that has hit the campus like a whirlwind.
The New York Times has reported the news and it is the right decision by the Penn State board.
Paterno canceled a press conference shortly before it was due to be held.
Joe Paterno should be fired by Penn State.
Legend he may be but covering up for a child sex abuser is unforgivable.
To Honor and Serve, trained by Bill Mott can win the Breeder's Cup classic today in an upset.
At the beginning of this year To Honor and Serve was considered in the top flight of three year olds, right up there with big race favorite Uncle Mo but an injury took him off the Triple Crown trail.
He made a sensational comeback at Saratoga,toying with an allowance field and then went on to easily defeat his rivals in the Kelso at Belmont.
Irish trainer Aidan O' Brien has never won the Breeders Cup Classic but has finished second twice.
It is one of the biggest prizes in racing.

For a guy getting slammed all over the media for running the Dodgers into the ground Frank McCourt did not do too bad as owner.
The Irish American has increased the value of the team three-fold according to experts, to close to a billion dollars.
He doubled team revenue from $156 million to $286 million in 2009 --and he made them contenders for several years by hiring a top class manger in Joe Torre.
The decision by the British government to allow their monarch to marry a Catholic is only 400 years or so long in coming.
Up until last week's decision the monarch would absolutely lose the throne if a papist was his/her consort.
Notre Dame finally put offense and defense together and hammered Navy 56-14 in their South Bend encounter yesterday.
Micheal Floyd was the go-to destroyer, as this column predicted in the pre-match round up, throwing to Floyd early and often was the key to a Notre Dame victory.
It helped they played a Navy team that bore no resemblance to last year's squad who hammered the Irish with a massive ground game.
Amazing to think that Notre Dame might lose three in a row to Navy if they lose today at South Bend.
This is the game that will be played in Dublin next year and ND will not want to go there losing three in a row.

Joe Montana has come out swinging against Notre Dame because of their treatment of his son Nate who left the college last year.
Nate transferred from Notre Dame to Montana after being made a back up quarterback last year amid rumors of a falling out with coach Brian Kelly.
Nate briefly saw first team action against Michigan but never featured again.

Notre Dame quarterbacks simply make too many mistakes under Brian Kelly.
The same old failing came back to haunt them against USC with three critical turnovers at vital times.
Kelly came to Notre Dame with a much vaunted reputation o f making good quarterbacks great. So far he is doing the opposite it seems.

In a sensational move Rory McIlroy has dropped his long time agent Chubby Chandler, (pictured together), and joined with fellow golf major winner Graeme McDowell, in a new Dublin-based agency.
Chandler who handles many of the world's top golfers finds himself on the outs because apparently young Rory felt he was not getting enough personal attention.
The influence of Rory's new girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, is plain to be seen according to Rory watchers in the new move.

Irish referee Alain Rolland is at the heart of a major controversy after sending off Welsh captain Sam Warburton the first half of the Rugby World Cup semi final between France and Wales.
France went on to win the game by 9 -8 but the absence of Warburton was the critical turning point.
Wales and most pundits were furious afterwards at the sending off which was considered very harsh.

Ireland got lucky when the draw for the playoffs in the European championship were made.
They will play Estonia, the weakest team left in the playoffs.
The first game will be on either Friday November 11 or the following day with the second leg in Ireland on 15th of November

Ireland have qualified for a play-off in the European championships after defeating Armenia 2-1 in the final game of the qualifying rounds.
Russia claimed the automatic place after easily defeating Andorra.
Ireland's task was made much easier by the sending off of the Armenian goalkeeper in the first half and shortly afterwards an own goal.

Did Notre Dame run up the score on Air Force at Notre Dame stadium today?
Leading 42-16 the Irish played much of the second half in all out offensive drives.
It is easy to see why.

Wales easily triumphed over a disappointing Irish side by 22-10 in the rugby world cup quarter final in Auckland, New Zealand.
The result was a shattering disappointment for an Irish team that had been fancied to go all the way to the final but who were outclassed and outplayed on the day.
Line out problems as well as a poor performance by key player, outhalf Ronan O'Gara meant the Irish team was always coming from behind as Wales seemed more committed and ready for the challenge.
Ireland raced into a 2-0 lead against Andorra after just twenty minutes with goals from Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady. Teh score stayed the same until half time.
It means that Ireland will easily pickup the vital three point in Andorra and will almost certainly enter the game in Dublin on Tuesday against Armenia needing a draw to qualify for a play off for a European final place
That is because Russia won 1-0 with an own goal by a Slovakia defender in Slovakia. This put them in the driving seat to get automatic qualification with only lowly Andorra at home to beat on Tuesday night.
The rugby world cup is electrifying Ireland and Britain and Australia, New Zealand France and South Africa.
Everywhere else, in about 90 per cent of the world's land mass, it is a non event.
An inspired second half performance by Ireland saw them pull away from Italy and win by 36-6 and qualify to meet Wales in the quarter final of the World Cup next weekend.
Up 9-6 at half time Ireland finally broke open the game with a Brian O'Driscoll try early in the second half.
Notre Dame will have learned little from the 38-10 blow out against Purdue except a case of what might have been.
This team should really be 5-0 with a national top ten ranking in their sights going into the Air Force game. The snake bitten losses against South Florida and Michigan will continue to haunt this talented side
The Boston Red Sox deserved to be eliminated from post season play if for one reason only -- John Lackey.
The notion of Lackey taking to the mound after announcing he was divorcing his wife who has what sounds like very serious breast cancer would be too much to bear.
The Red Sox should be glad they will not have to face that searing spotlight this post season.

After two losses that the Irish lost ugly now they are showing they can win ugly too.
The 15-12 victory over Pittsburgh will not have quieted the critics or pleased the purists.
But it is a win, albeit an ugly one.
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