The state of snooker 2009

The four snooker semi finalists have 25 centuries between then, including 8 from Mark Allen. Can he rekindle the spirit of Dennis in '85 this weekend?

Two of the semi finalists, John Higgins and Shaun Murphy are joining Ken Doherty and Jimmy White in Killarney in 2 weeks time, on 17 May, for a World Series of Snooker event. See ye there!

John Higgins beat Mark Selby in the quarters in a replay of the 2007 final. The 13-12 result was as close as it gets. Mark Selby had 10 centuries in the tournament and is surely the best performer ever to go home before the one table setup. John Higgins comments after the match are a great summary of the state of snooker in 2009.

"I really don't know how I won. My concentration has been great, and during the match I was trying to concentrate on how many balls Mark missed. I only counted 3 or 4 during the whole match, the other times he ran out of positon through bad luck, so to beat him I'm flabbergasted because he's such a great player. It's my best win ever, definitely."

"That shows how highly I regard Mark and his performance, I'm not just saying that because it's after the match. When we had the 2 reracks, he said let's call it a draw because there shouldn't be a loser, and I said you're dead right mate. I don't know how I held myself together on that last break."

"If can't take confidence from beating Jamie Cope and Mark, I never will."

"I kept thinking why does Mark always do this against me? Only Ronnie playing great stuff has stopped him winning another Masters, and the UK when he made a 147 in the last frame. It speaks volumes that only Ronnie has been able to stop him. I could tell after the 2007 final, I said he'll come back and win this, because he's improved beyond belief over the last 2 or 3 years."

"I know I'm the oldest player left and I look it with the grey hair! I heard Ronnie saying that we're hanging on with our fingertips, and that's what myself, Ronnie and Mark Williams are doing. Stephen doesn't need to because he's got 150 grand in his pocket. We were the best players of the late 90s, and now in late 2000s we're hanging on to compete, because Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Stephen Maguire, Mark Allen and Jamie Cope, they are the future and that's what happens, it's father time. The likes of John Parrott and Jimmy White were hanging on when we were coming through."

"I kissed my wedding ring at the end, I've seen other people jumping about and going crazy, so that's my way. My wife said me and Mark are both playing great, just carry on and hope to get to 13 first."

"Mark Allen is a breath of fresh air for the game, he's got a bit about him. Under the cosh, to beat Ronnie and Ryan, he just breezed through with no nerves. There's four left and we've all got a great chance, it should be two great semis. There's no tiredness because the semis are spread over three days. I've only played Mark once - at the (2005) Northern Ireland Trophy, and he gubbed me 4-1."

Source: World Snooker

Slam Dunk

If they weren't motivated for tomorrow's game, they are now. Thanks for that Warren. But really, what were you thinking?

I'm expecting a tight (in score) and open (in style) game, and I think we will prevail. There will be nerves & pressure, but they've been here before - as has Kidney - and when it comes down to it, we have better players man for man, and more to play for.

Enjoy the game lads, where are ye watching it? I'll be at home, trying to explain the ELV's to Ruby and Aster (Richenda already knows them...).

P.S. I heard a clip of a BOD sketch from The Emergency which will be broadcast Sat. morning @ 11:30, worth checking out perhaps.

Ballinastoe MTB trail

For the record: Tom 1hr 30min, McG 1 hr 16 min

Right so having been in training since mid January for the April Welsh mountain bike trip, today's spin with McG and Paul would be a measure of how buggered I really was!

Ballinastoe is Ireland's most technical Coillte MTB trail (all designed by Dafydd Davis), much more so than anything in Ballyhoura. Having being riding forest roads in Waterford, the last time I had been on anything this technical was my only other trip to Ballinastoe at the end of May 2008. I did feel the difference, one does just not need the same level of concentration on non technical ground. I'm not sure there had been any more felling since my last visit but all the chopped trees had certainly been gathered and chopped.





The trail is 13.7km long with about 9km of singletrack with one decent boardwalk - which was a lot more fun that riding slippy boardwalks in a storm.







At the western edge of the trail it's well worth the 2 minute ride over to an overview Lake Tay and a great view of Lugnaquilla. Perfect spot for a picnic too.



Right behind this stopping point I got my first view of the Djouce boardwalk. This kind of infrastructure is a great development in Irish hill walking and long may it continue.



My wrist and hands were aching at the end, McG's were grand - I'm not sure how one can compete on the hills with a man who has biked to work every day for the last 4 years or something! I'm not too unhappy with 90 minutes when 2 hours is recommended by Coillte...ok grabbing at straws here!

McG gets it off his chest

Two bronzes in Euro indoors last weekend, and many other great performances - Ireland can compete to some degree at this level - but Worlds & Olympics seem beyond us now. Of course Mary Cullen should have had at least silver, beaten by an Ethiopian running for Turkey. Deja vu here, having already lost out on bronze in the Euro Cross Country, that time by a Kenyan running in Dutch colours. Most other sports have strict guidelines on international representation - Mafi played a sevens game for NZ - once! - and can never play for Ireland now. It's a shambles, no better than Sonia cheated out of the medals in the World Champs all those years ago....

Speaking of shambles, Gerald McCarthy finally steps down - his statement is well worth a read. It is mostly dignified & honest, with a few swipes too and parting shots - fair play. The Cork hurlers are a disgrace - really, who do they think they are? They wanted to be involved in choosing the manager, which they were. But what they really wanted was to pick the manager themselves, with no involvement from any other parties. I'm sure we'd all like to pick our boss. So then they strike, and refuse to talk to any mediator or enter any negotiations until McCarthy is ousted. I can only hope they have set Cork hurling back many years. Kilkenny will be laughing all the way to their 4th All-Ireland.

Kidney makes 4 changes - certainly some were expected, but no-one would have called these (even Harty?). Great to see him mix it up - this team is just as strong, and those coming in will be hungry and motivated to keep their places for the potential Grand Slam game in Wales. Scotland will be tough- remember the single point win 2 years ago? Out of jail that day. But they should prevail.

Sunday Spin

Sometimes the weekend schedule only allows for a quick spin from home, and with my folks up to visit, this was one of those weekends. A sudden drop in temperature Saturday night, we'd already had some hail & sleet over breakfast, and the hills around were white. Packed & dressed accordingly, leaving the house in cold sunshine. Up the same lane I'd carried my board a few weeks ago - this time the weather was going to be even more varied. The clouds raced in bringing sleet, then hail - horizontal of course. Need I mention the wind? And just to spice things up, a few good claps of thunder. So, climbing suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea. But the upside was that with a mere 35 minutes investment, I was on top of 3 Rock. Not much hanging about here - it might have qualified as a blizzard at this stage - but enough time to appreciate the views - snow to the horizon on one side, Howth and the coast on the other. A quick snack, on with another layer, and then down the other side.

The handy thing about biking in snow is that there are wheel tracks to follow, and I decided to follow some into a trail I'd not spotted before. Nothing better than finding new trails. This one was gentle, winding through the pines, on a soft bed of needles and powder. Complete silence now, like the gliding of a board off-piste - nothing like it. Magic. From this, more tracks led to another new trail, this one much rougher and a bit of a white-knuckle ride. At the bottom, I encountered a "bombhole" with more tracks in and out. This is the kind of thing I just can't resist, and after a brief staring match, decided to go for it. These are never as hard as they look, and so it proved. A strategically placed tree was avoided - man and bike live to ride another day.

Back on the road, past the Blue Light - resisting its temptations - and rolled home. Sun shining again of course. Door to door just over the hour. Perfect.

Ireland v England

Tom asked us to step up. I don't aspire to do a Harty, but here goes.

1. Ten minutes to go in Stade de France tonight, I find myself rooting for the home team. Not just because it means Wales have less (though at least a Triple Crown) to play for when we play them in Cardiff. But because France deserved to win. They were simply awesome.
   
2. So I guess that makes our win against them three weeks ago all the more impressive? Perhaps.
3. Marc Lievremont is a mad genius. Maybe. Their best performance of the season to date, and this without an outhalf.
4. France can now win the Championship. Hmmm.
5. Gavin Henson (did we need further proof?) is an idiot. Three minutes to go. Overlap of 2 players outside him. And he goes for glory. Chance gone. Tit.
   
6. We should beat England tomorrow, but not by much and it probably won't be pretty.
7. Stringer and D'Arcy unlucky not to be starting tomorrow. But they should still play key roles.
8. O'Gara needs to get his shit together. No better time than against the English. Ditto O'Leary, please stop kicking the ball away.
   
9. I think we will win the Grand Slam. Why? One word. Kidney.
10. John Hayes to score the winning try against Wales.
    

Enjoy the weekend lads. I'm planning an afternoon pedal, rolling into the Blue Light for 5pm or so to watch the match over a few pints. And then it's stabilisers on and downhill all the way home.

thought for the day

Hey,

Met this bloke today, used to know at school,

We didnt say hello, cos he'd had his hair slightly permed and I'd all mine shaved off,

He was always a bit of a CLOWN,

But he did his homework, cos he knew that one day he'd be going places.

I knew I should've asked him there and then,

Was he happy, now that he'd finally GOT THERE?

He goes to bed thinking of ways to fiddle ten more pounds on his expenses.

Me?...

I go to bed thinking of all the reason why...

I AM THE GREATEST!


(Sorry to pollute a sporting blog, but I think it had to be said)