I had a great chat with Eamonn Holmes and was delighted to hear his story about how the Real Madrid fans gave Liverpool’s Steve Gerard a standing ovation as he left the field. Liverpool have this tradition too. So too do Munster rugby & Queens Park Rangers FC (see story in the book). Now I’m [...]
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Brian Clough sportsman BBC Nottingham interview…
I mentioned during my BBC Nottingham interview, that local hero Brian Clough and arguably, the most successful football manager in Europe, never allowed any of his players to challenge the referee’s decisions. I was delighted to hear that he used to ask the Nottingham Forest fans to resist using foul language by showing them his [...]
Opposition Fans Sing Our Song
I went to the wonderful 74,500 seater Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last Saturday to watch the Irish rugby team take on the 6 Nations champions, Wales. Both sides were going for glory. Before the kick-off I witnessed a fantastic moment of sportsmanship. It was, in fact, more than a moment, it was several minutes. [...]
The mighty All Blacks march as Snow White’s dwarfs
As rugby is very much on my mind with the 6 Nations in full motion and, Ireland looking for their first Grand Slam since 1948, a magical moment of sportsmanship was revealed only two weeks ago from a a match that was played over 30 years ago. I was in Cork visiting Marian Ormond the widow of Dennis to whom [...]
American basketball captain throws easy points out the window
DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team traveled by bus for two and a half hours and then waited another hour past game time to get their chance to take a big city scalp when they played Milwaukee Madison Senior on a Saturday night in February 2009. The essence of sportsmanship was about to emerge. Hours [...]
English Rose Embraces His 19 year old Irish Victor
Hats off to 19 year old Irishman, Rory McIlroy who won the Dubai Desert Classic golf on Sunday. Having seen his four shot lead shrink to a one shot lead going into the last hole, I’m sure his nerves were jangling. Having hit a perfect drive off the tee, he goofed his second shot into [...]
RTE Radio 1 Sportsmanship Chat with Ryan Tubridy, George Hamilton & Me
I was totally engaged by RTE’s Ryan Tubridy’s warmth and George Hamilton’s lovely sportsmanship stories, and I have to say, delighted by the response from listeners who sent in some new stories about sportsmanship. To listen to the Irish Radio interview click on the play button (arrow button) below: Or if you prefer click the link below to [...]
Applaud The Opposition – I thought only Liverpool & Munster did that
I heard recently of a US High School, Grapevine Faith, whose head football coach, Kris Hogan, asked ‘what if half our fans, for one night only, cheered for the other team, Gainsville Tornadoes?’. You see Gainsville is a maximum security correctional facility for kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery. They play all their [...]
Silence was broken by a dog barking outside the packed stadium
“This was one of those sporting occasions which transcends a game and makes bolder statements about humanity……………….during one of Donald’s earlier, and also crucial, kicks, the silence was broken only by the barking of a dog from outside the stadium.” This is an excerpt from an extraordinarily well written piece by a Kiwi, Martin Moodie, [...]
Not that You Won or lost but How You Played The Game
I found some words beautifully painted in old graphic letters in a frame that my parents kept in their bedroom in Dublin, Ireland: "For When the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He writes – not that you Won or Lost but How You Played the Game." Does anyone know who wrote [...]
