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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ian O'Riordan: Con Houlihan would have been 100 this week – what would he make of this year's All-Ireland final?
They say one kind way to remember your heroes is not just the year they left this mortal world, but the year they entered it, which for Con Houlihan is now a century ago in the winter of 1925. Con once said he was born on the night of a blizzard in Castle Island (not Castleisland, and God help the person who misspelt his part of the Kingdom), where he would always call home, even after he moved to Dublin to join the Press Group when already into his 40s. By that stage he'd established himself as a sportswriter of promise, learning his trade in the Kerryman among other places. It was 'where the first three days of the week are spent studying the racing sheets and in other nefarious activities, until about 10 o'clock on Wednesday – in the morning that is – all purgatory breaks loose'. Con enjoyed a great affinity with all sports, though he once admitted 'which sport I would pick if forced by a cruel master to confine myself to one – the answer is racing. That game abounds in stories, not all of which – I need hardly mention – can be published.' READ MORE He described the 1985 meeting of England and the Republic of Ireland at Wembley Stadium as his first foreign mission for the Evening Press, apart from a National League game between Roscommon and Dublin in Dr Hyde Park on a wet Sunday in the previous November. That 1985 game at Wembley was where Ray Wilkins seemed to be clean through to score the winner, if it wasn't for for a young man named David O'Leary, who 'saved the day with a clawing tackle', according to Peter Byrne, formerly of this newspaper. 'In fact, he saved the night,' said Con, 'but I wouldn't quibble with the man from The Irish Times, that last bastion of the semicolon.' Con would later travel the globe, covering the World Cup and the Olympics, including Barcelona 1992 when, in the sweltering heat, and dressed in trademark jumper and anorak, he began walking up Montjuïc to get a closer view of the men's marathon. 'Then the Wall hit me,' he wrote, 'and it never recovered.' There is also his immortal line about missing Italia '90 because he was away at the World Cup. Jerry Kiernan crosses the line to win the Dublin City Marathon in October 1982. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho He loved athletics too, often writing about Jerry Kiernan – the 'celebrated long-distance runner who grew up in Brosna, on the eastern verge of that great expanse of bog and little fields' – and John Lenihan, the farmer from Bearnageeha, who became World Mountain Running champion in 1991 and, according to Con'of all our unsung heroes, just about the most unsung'. There were few subjects closer to his heart than Kerry football, and I know that because of the honour in sharing some special evenings at what he called his 'harbour' in Portobello. Events invariably began with Con pulling out an old £20 note from under the telephone next to his chair and politely insisting I go round the corner to Spar and purchase two bottles of Yellow Tail wine, describing it as 'easily drinkable'. In select moments he would reminisce about Kerry and the All-Ireland final, never losing his draw to the third Sunday in September, knowing that back in Castle Island the turf was already saved. This July final would be truly befuddling. For him it all began 'in the same year as an unsuccessful artist called Adolf Hitler had started a commotion' and Con was at an age 'deemed fit to be unloosed on the good people of Dublin'. [ Prose and Con — Frank McNally on the rise and fall of a famous local newspaper Opens in new window ] 'On that September long ago, I hadn't been beyond Tralee; Dublin seemed to me a city of magic – as enchanting as Paris or Petrograd or Samarkand itself. Fuel was scarce and thus an institution known as the Ghost Train began voyaging to Dublin and into folklore. 'It departed from Tralee on the stroke of midnight (and if you believe that ...) and only God knew when it would reach Dublin – and I suspect that there were times when even He wasn't too sure. Women wept as their menfolk set out from home, fearful (perhaps in some cases hopeful) that they would never see them again.' It was also during one of his early visits to Dublin for an All-Ireland football final that Con recalled spotting a well-known delicatessen advertising a variety of 'sandwhiches' and later feeling properly confused at a small restaurant that was offering the choice of three 'deserts'. Nothing dismayed Con more than the gradual decline of the English language. From his early days with the Kerryman the signs were there, when he once heard a certain sports reporter say to the editor, Séamus McConville: 'You are capable of thinking that a colon is part of your backside.' Con Houlihan embraces Irish Press chairman Eamon de Valera, after a settlement averted the closure of the group in 1990 This remains right up there with some of Con's own immortal words, 'a man who will misuse an apostrophe is capable of anything'. He considered himself akin to those who emigrated from Kerry to settle in places like New York and London, and the need to recognise some loyalty to the place you are living while never losing sight of the place you are from. That was never better expressed more than after the 1978 All-Ireland football final when his 'friend girl' Harriet Duffin, who certainly considered herself a true Dub, was in Croke Park to see a young Kerry team take apart Dublin. When asked how she was coping with such a defeat, Con's simple response became folklore: 'House private. No flowers.' This was the 1978 final where Kerry put five goals past Dublin, one of which came after Dublin goalkeeper Paddy Cullen argued with the referee over the awarding of a free. 'And while all this was going on, Mike Sheehy was running up to take the kick – and suddenly Paddy dashed back towards the goal like a woman who smells a cake burning.' Con always said the idea of a natural-born footballer or hurler was a myth, but sometimes myths are more powerful than the truth, especially when it comes to Kerry football.
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Dennis Georgatos, a longtime sports writer for the AP and San Jose Mercury News, dies at age 70
LODI, Calif. — Dennis Georgatos, a longtime sports writer for The Associated Press and the San Jose Mercury News and author of multiple books on the San Francisco 49ers, has died at age 70. Georgatos died on June 25 following a battle with brain cancer, his family said. He spent his final weeks at his vineyard near Lodi, California, as he visited with family and friends.
Times
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Just married. Now we're competing at wife-carrying world championship
It was the second-most important question I had asked my wife-to-be. Once the proposal was complete, and the wedding neared, out it came: Emilie, will you compete at the Wife-Carrying World Championship with me? Seven months into marriage, the day is upon us. Emilie and I are registered to fly to Helsinki and drive five hours north through the summer light of Finland to Sonkajärvi for this weekend's annual festival of wife-carrying — or as the locals call it: eukonkanto. Why? A fine question. As a sportswriter, I must pass judgment on the performances of others. When was the last time I was in the arena myself? I cannot dine out on taking five for nine for Newport Under-15 against Ebbw Vale for ever. But which physical challenge would it be? It had to satisfy the yardstick for all aspects of my life: how fun would it sound as my intro on Only Connect? A distrust of running for running's sake ruled out a marathon. Hyrox would be too mainstream. I prefer ironing to Ironman. What are my strengths? My wife always says carrying is my strength. Shopping bags, holiday luggage. More shopping bags. Love picking it up, love moving it somewhere. Before the pandemic, I wrote weekly about the world's wackier sports: fistball (I have still never met anyone who has heard of it) and the World Pull-Up Championships were my favourites. The latter took place in Finland, the spiritual home of quirky. My associates at the tourism board signed off one email with: 'Let us know about the swamp soccer!' Eukonkanto is the big fish. It was time to carry my spouse over the threshold. It was wife-carrying. It was always wife-carrying. A marriage of lactic acid and love. The story goes that the event was inspired by Herkko 'Robber' Ronkainen, a bandit chief. During a time of famine, the apprentice cobbler left home for the forests of Sonkajärvi, and his lifestyle of hunting and robbing attracted other men to his posse (sounds a bit manosphere). Members carried sacks of grain, and in their daily business this sometimes expanded to carrying women (possibly in problematic circumstances). Sonkajärvi held its first championships in 1992, and though other events have popped up around the world — there is a British event in Dorking, Surrey — the heart of Finland is the place to be. The kicker is that the carried doesn't have to be your wife, but I had no interest in enlisting a performance-enhancing bride. They have a minimum weight of 49kg and a minimum age of 17. We have entered the main series, not the short sprint race, because even that isn't over a particularly long distance (famous last words). The course is 253.5metres long, with a water element and two hurdles. As Swiss Toni might have told me on The Fast Show: wife-carrying is much like making love to a beautiful woman. It lasts between 60 and 150 seconds and is generally deemed a success if no one lands on their head. You can carry your wife however you deem fit. Piggyback, fireman's lift. A colleague suggested inventing a signature technique, à la Dick Fosbury. Alas, the Alderman flop was too on the nose for a newlywed. It would have to be the Estonian lift, in which the wife is an upside-down backpack. The Nordics, unsurprisingly, are the best and overwhelm the entry list (including Severi Allonen, Finland's strongest man). A string of couples from the host nation and Estonia fill the list of winners, though Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene of Lithuania became king and queen for the third time last year, carrying off the winning wife's weight in beer. Emilie and I are among a five-strong British representation, with pairings also from Australia, Germany, Hungary, South Korea, Spain and more. The United States has six duos. The great unknown is the event itself. We have done what we can to practise at Rumble, our little gym in north London, but nothing near to 253.5 metres. How high will the heart rate rocket? I had grand designs on a tailored training regimen, running up Primrose Hill at dawn, which I didn't do once, but regular weekly circuits have kept us both in decent shape. For all the japes about how I am doing all the work, Emilie still needs to hold on, upside down (Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, backwards and in high heels). It's Bazball's 'run towards the fear' meets 'fun towards the rear'. I trained in a weighted vest (up to 30kg) occasionally but never took to it. In fashion terms it was a bit too war-correspondent chic. Despite the inherent unseriousness of the occasion, it has helped me to empathise with those who train for elite sport around full-time jobs. They already had my admiration, even more so now. And there is the one-and-done nature of the event, needing to perform at your best on a given day no matter the circumstances of your life, which we may forget when we see athletes on the grand stage, not knowing what travails have afflicted them. What if injury struck and I ended up being both Derek Redmond and Derek Redmond's dad at the same time? Banish such thoughts. There must be full commitment. Come back with your wife, or on it. Our build-up for the land of Sibelius, sisu and sauna has not been without incident. I developed a baffling fungal infection amidships on the night of the World Darts Championship semi-final (the Luke Littler effect they didn't warn about) before spending five weeks watching England lose at cricket in India. I wrote part of this article in hospital on Wednesday while we had Emilie's lower-back injury seen to, adding a Hollywood touch of uncertainty to the ending. Will the underdogs even make it to the start line? And so we fly to Finland in a world of unknowns, putting my money where my wife is. The only known is that I will carry her in sickness and in health. Just preferably not in last.
New York Times
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Oilers or Panthers (again)? An updated rooting guide for 30 other NHL fan bases
I can't speak for every hockey fan, but one of the reasons I enjoy this time of year in part is that there's a pleasant sense of familiarity. The postseason story is winding its way to a conclusion, hitting most of the usual beats along the way. We've hit on all of the mandatory controversies. My favorite team is, of course, already out. And most importantly: We can crack open the file folder labelled 'recurring bits,' which makes life easier for everyone. Well, for me. I guess I'm mainly concerned about me here. Advertisement But here's the thing about that comfortable familiarity – you can have too much of a good thing. This year's playoffs are getting a little too familiar, and it's messing things up. There's already been one casualty. For the first time in a while, I didn't bother with the 'lessons from the final four' post this year because three of the four finalists were the same as last year. And now it's happened again, with the hockey gods serving up a rare Stanley Cup Final rematch. Look, we all love a good sequel, and there are plenty of juicy narratives to sink into over the next few weeks. But a rematch threatens to ruin one of my favorite gimmicks, the annual final rooting guide for the 30 other fan bases. We already did Florida vs. Edmonton this time last year. What's a grizzled sportswriter to do? The answer is obvious: Come up with some new ideas for once you hack Double down. So today, we're doing Oilers vs. Panthers, the sequel. But this time there's a twist – I'm going to try really hard to switch up the picks, or at least the reasoning, for as many of the 30 teams as possible. Hey, when has a strategy of running it back ever failed in the past? Let's do this. I said I'd try to switch it up on as many teams as possible. But there are certain lines we just don't cross, and some obvious truths I'm just not interested in messing with. We'll keep this section as short as possible, but it has to exist. Colorado Avalanche When you won your very first Cup in your very first season, Panthers fans threw rats at you. I see no reason to ever forgive that. Pick: Oilers Dallas Stars Here's what I wrote last year, word for word: You just lost a tough Western Conference final in six games, and the disappointment of falling just short in a winnable series is still fresh, so you can go ahead and spite-cheer for the Panthers. Oh, hey, neat, that's the exact same thing we could have said a year ago! Isn't that neat, Stars fans? Huh, they don't seem to think it's very neat. Advertisement Throw a hat on the ice because this year is the hat trick. Full credit to the Stars, at least they changed up the number of games this year (by, uh, losing faster). But otherwise, it's familiar territory for Dallas fans, and you're allowed to hate that. Pick: Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning There are rare circumstances where I might encourage a fan base to cheer on a rival. This is not remotely one of those cases. The Panthers have gone from being the Lightning's scrawny younger brother to a realistic threat, and are now getting dangerously close to equaling or even surpassing them. This nonsense better end here. Pick: Oilers It's about the journey, not the destination, assuming we ignore the fact that this entire post is about the destination. Anaheim Ducks I think I speak for all the other fan bases when I say it would be very funny to see Corey Perry lose in the Stanley Cup Final for the 14th year in a row. But as the only team that has any obligation to actually like the guy, you could be forgiven for feeling like enough was enough, and it's time for him to finally step on the punchline and get that second ring. Pick: Oilers Carolina Hurricanes The Panthers knocked you out of the conference final in five games, which was bad. Then their coach, who never played pro hockey, lectured your 20-year NHL veteran about how handshake lines are supposed to work, which was honestly so much worse. Pick: Oilers Chicago Blackhawks Hawks fans, where are we at on rooting for Seth Jones? He wasn't always beloved in Chicago, and the way he basically forced his way out could leave a bad taste. On the other hand, the Panthers ate most of his contract and gave you a first-round pick and a potential goalie of the future, so maybe we just let bygones be bygones? (Remembers we're talking about hockey fans.) Of course not. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Columbus Blue Jackets It can't be fun for Columbus fans to watch Bill Zito establish himself as arguably the best GM in the league, given he spent seven years in the Blue Jackets front office. Then again, he left right in the middle of Jarmo Kekäläinen's decade-long stint, so it's not like there was an opening to promote him and the Blue Jackets just didn't take it. Rooting for a former employee who did a good job and then left for a better opportunity is good karma, so… Pick: Panthers Minnesota Wild Connor McDavid finally winning his first championship will make him a better leader when the Wild trade for him this summer. Pick: Oilers Nashville Predators I mean, if you're going to spend a ton of money to build your team around the Lightning's all-time franchise player, a longtime Hurricane, and a guy that Florida flushed away in an expansion draft, you might as well go all in on hating the Panthers. Pick: Oilers New York Islanders The Oilers, led by the league's best player, try to win the Stanley Cup in a rematch against last year's champions. Yeah, apparently we're just doing blatant reboots from the mid-80s now. Know your role. I guess. Pick: Panthers New York Rangers We knew the Panthers knocked the Rangers out of the playoffs last year, but we didn't realize they'd dispatched them to the shadow realm. Besides, history shows us that when the Oilers win a Cup, the Rangers get to steal their captain a year later, so… Pick: Oilers Philadelphia Flyers Slowly but surely, we're seeing a cold war develop in the NHL between the big markets that love hockey and actually pay attention to the guys who make millions of dollars to play it, and the smaller ones that win by attracting stars who'd rather wear flip-flops to practice and live in anonymity. You guys know which side you're on. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Toronto Maple Leafs Look, the whole 'maybe we can sign Connor McDavid next summer' thing is a pipe dream, for the Leafs and all the other big market teams thinking about it right now. He's going to re-sign with the Oilers, probably on July 1, because that's what hockey players almost always do. But if he won a Cup in Edmonton, he might feel like he'd done all he could there, and want to seek an even bigger challenge somewhere else. Hm… Pick: Oilers Vancouver Canucks I know that Vancouver fans are solidly in the 'We don't cheer for Canadian rivals' mindset, but are you really going to root for Brad Marchand? I mean, you will after he signs with you for way too much money on July 1, but I mean right now. Ah well, might as well get a little practice in. Pick: Panthers Vegas Golden Knights Should Knights fans get over the fact that they got screwed by a crucial missed call in overtime of a playoff game? Yes, of course, eventually. How long should it take? I have no idea, I just passed three decades and I'm still going strong, so I'll let you know once I figure it out. Until then, you guys and Lil Wayne know what to do. Pick: Panthers Winnipeg Jets Jets fans, are you buying Paul Maurice's whole maudlin 'I hope you're next' routine from last year? Based on this year's survey, apparently you are. And if so, you kind of have to have his back, right? Pick: Panthers Let's clean up an unprecedented situation from last year's post. Calgary Flames Last year, for the first time in the history of this column, we gave the Flames a total pass. After all, their choice was between their most bitter rivals, or the team led by the so-called franchised player who'd forced his way out of Calgary and was somehow getting his tires pumped by the hockey world as some sort of leader for it. Advertisement It's tempting to go with the same special dispensation this time around, but I'm not sure it's necessary. Matthew Tkachuk already has his ring, so that ship has sailed. And since he's playing hurt, he hasn't been the big story on this Florida run. Would Calgary fans enjoy seeing him (and Sam Bennett) win again? No, but it's better than the Oilers bringing the Cup back to Alberta, and actively rooting for your rivals to face-plant on the biggest stage is one of the great joys of sports fandom. I don't want to take that away from Flames fans for the second straight year. Pick: Panthers These are the swing states, where it was close enough last year that I think we can flip teams this time around. And the beauty of it is that if you don't agree, just go back to last year's post. I'm right either way. Buffalo Sabres Last year, the Sabres were a tough call, but ultimately, the Kyle Okposo factor tipped them toward the Panthers. He's not around this year, but Jeff Skinner is in Edmonton, finally getting to (sort of) live his playoff dream after six years in Buffalo. I get that you didn't love his contract, but cheering on an OGWAC can build some karma with the hockey gods that you guys clearly need. Pick: Oilers Detroit Red Wings Last year, I figured you could root for the Oilers so that Ken Holland could get one more Cup. But since they turfed him, you're free to root against them. Yes, that means cheering for a division rival, which is always dicey. But do you want to deal with a little bit of cognitive dissonance, or would you rather watch Jake Walman skate around with a Cup while everyone makes fun of Steve Yzerman? Pick: Panthers Los Angeles Kings Last year, maybe you could root for the Oilers, if only to give yourselves some hope that you weren't that far away from contending, even though they'd beaten you three years in a row. But four? At some point, spite has to overwhelm logic, and I think we're there. Besides, do you really want to spend the next few years hearing about your head coach's dumb challenge deciding a Cup winner? Pick: Panthers Advertisement New Jersey Devils I couldn't double down on using Edmonton's Adam Henrique for the Ducks, but that doesn't mean I can't hold him up as a reason for Devils fans. He once scored a series-winning overtime goal against the Rangers, you should want him to get his ring. Pick: Oilers Ottawa Senators This one's a bit tough. On the one hand, the Panthers made the Maple Leafs sad. On the other, I'm legitimately worried that 'Tkachuk brother forces his way out of small Canadian market to win multiple championships for Sun Belt franchise and never even pretends to have any regrets' isn't the greatest narrative for a Senators fan. Ultimately, I think the tie-breaker here is that the Sens are a playoff team now, so it's time to get some reps in on hating the dirty, filthy Panthers before you run into them next year. Pick: Oilers Pittsburgh Penguins Important breaking news: Last year, I suggested that Penguins fans should root for the Panthers because Patric Hornqvist was part of their front office, which wasn't a great reason but these can't all be bangers. But the bigger news was that Hornqvist's official executive photo still had him wearing his uniform, which was very funny for reasons I can't quite figure out. Anyways, I just checked and… he's now awkwardly wearing a suit and tie, in what appears to be a hastily thrown-together photo shoot, given that he's standing against a different background from everyone else. Is nothing sacred? Penguin fans, look how they massacred our boy. Pick: Oilers San Jose Sharks Last year, we said Sharks fans had to root against the Oilers because they'd just ended Joe Pavelski's last shot at a Stanley Cup. Fair's fair — this year we have to apply the same logic to the Panthers taking out Brent Burns. Just squint and pretend you don't see Evander Kane out there. Pick: Oilers Advertisement Seattle Kraken Honest question: How do Seattle fans feel about the ongoing discourse about zero-tax markets having some sort of huge advantage over everyone else? More specifically, how do you feel about the way you guys get awkwardly left out of the discussion, with everyone pointing to the Panthers and Lightning and Stars and Golden Knights and Predators attracting all the star talent and then mumbling something about Chandler Stephenson? While you're mulling that over, cheer for the Oilers just so it will annoy Canucks fans. Pick: Oilers St. Louis Blues If the Panthers win, you guys are the Ultimate Losers yet again, for what would be the fifth time in franchise history. I'm all for embracing a bit, but maybe let someone else have a turn. Pick: Oilers Utah Mammoth I know you guys aren't technically the Coyotes, but it's still worthwhile to remember where you came from. Did you know that in their last two years in Arizona, the Coyotes signed Troy Stecher in the offseason and then traded him at the deadline for future assets both years? That amuses me. And you still have a fourth-round pick in 2027 to look forward to from those deals. Anyway, I can't think of any really good reasons for Utah fans to swing one way or another, so let's cheer for Troy to get a ring. Pick: Oilers Washington Capitals Four-year Capitals blueliner Nate Schmidt is the only OGWAC option the Panthers have, partly because you guys beat him in the final back in 2018. Pick: Panthers Boston Bruins Finally, I'm pulling the Bruins out of their regular spot in alphabetical order because there are unique circumstances here that are worth special consideration. It was easy enough to root against the Panthers last year, after they'd ended the Bruins' season twice in a row. But now that Florida has become the big farm with lots of room to run around that Brad Marchand got shipped off to, you can root for your former captain. Especially now that he's in the waning years of his storybook career, having transformed into a more mature and maybe even quasi-likeable veteran personality. Hold your nose and do it for Brad. Pick: Panthers Montreal Canadiens But seriously, screw Brad Marchand. Pick: Oilers (Top photo of Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk: Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)
