When the Irish Times sports journalist Malachy Clerkin tweets "SportsNewsMageddon" on Wednesday it's hard to disagree. Sport, scandal and patriotism are a heady mix – one that the Irish lose their heads over altogether.
The maelstrom for the Irish boxing team builds day by day, and radio reacts accordingly. The week starts with the killer blow of Katie Taylor’s defeat, denying her the opportunity to defend her gold medal later in the competition.
On The Irish Times's Second Captains podcast the always insightful Andy Lee details what might have gone wrong with Taylor's fight, and her preparation for it, on the dramatically titled Devastation of the Nation episode.
In a national atmosphere of emotional speculation Lee cuts through the chatter with his own experience and interactions with Taylor, wondering about her tiredness and potential overtraining.
As the week progresses Second Captains must have, at least momentarily, thought about dispensing with the podcast format and just going for a nonstop live stream of the SportsNewsMageddon.
The following day things really get heated, with Michael Conlan robbed of a win against Vladimir Nikitin. Enemy number one are the boxing judges – the topic of Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) on Wednesday, as the aftermath of the arrest of Pat Hickey, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, is unfolding.
Liveline talks to Bryan MacDonald, an Irish journalist based in Russia who is a contributor to Russia Today (RT). This is a news organisation, funded by the Russian government, that frequently takes a pro-Kremlin editorial line.
MacDonald sets about doing the job of the “calm down, calm down” Harry Enfield scouser, albeit in a rather prickly and defensive manner, saying he is just giving the Russian perspective.
“It’s a bit like a Cork man cheating on behalf of a Kerry team,” he says of the likelihood of a Polish boxing judge doing Russia’s bidding. Flinging more cats among swarms of pigeons, he then mentions the suspicions that Russians have about other teams at the Olympics.
“We’ve had our own problems with drugs,” says MacDonald. As for Putin’s interference, his critics “ascribe powers to Putin far greater than he has. He’s not omnipotent . . . no more than the Taoiseach of Ireland would be able to have a personal involvement in a sporting association.”
A Taoiseach involved in sport? Yah, roysh! That would never happen. Right, um, Bertie?
Earlier in the programme Joe Duffy introduces the boxing judge Patrick Flynn, who speaks about being woken at 4am when two boxing officials called to his hotel-room door during the European schoolboy championships in Grozny a while back, asking him to “push for our boys” – meaning push the buttons in the computer scoring. He was offered bribes but told them to go away.
Duffy wants to know about the bribes. Rolex watches, apparently. “Were they real or fake?” Duffy asks. Maybe that’s another show.
As the press conference related to Hickey unfolds, Duffy deftly flicks between ticket scandals and boxing ones, announcing that Hickey is now trending worldwide on Twitter. Surely, if the internet were any use, some wag would have Photoshopped Michaella McCollum’s top bun on Hickey’s head by now.
Over on The Last Word (Today FM, weekdays) the SportsNewsMageddon is getting real. When big sports news breaks it's always useful to have a broadcaster who knows the terrain, which probably makes plenty of people tune in to hear Matt Cooper's take on events. "This is not just an arrest for questioning; charges have been brought," Cooper begins, emphasising the seriousness of what's unfolding. And that serious tone continues throughout the programme, rightfully diverting listeners from the farcical elements of the story.
Sinead O’Carroll, of the Journal, is on the line, detailing the circumstances of Hickey’s arrest. “His wife answered the door and said that Pat Hickey had actually left the country after his meeting with Shane Ross . . . They asked the hotel manager could they look in other rooms. There was another room booked in his son’s name. When they went there, there was no luggage or anything, but that’s where they found Mr Hickey.” She adds that the subsequent press conference “was probably one of the more bizarre press conferences I’ve ever been at”.
O’Carroll also rightly emphasises the seriousness with which Brazilian police are taking ticket touting at the Olympics.
Over on Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) Philip Boucher-Hayes calls Paul O'Flynn, the station's reporter in Rio. Minister for Sport Shane Ross, not to be put back in his box, reads a stilted statement to O'Flynn before answering questions.
With O’Flynn asking Ross about the unfolding events, Ross is keen to get back on message.
“Irish sport is wonderful,” he says. “You should have seen, as I did, the badminton the other day, where you had all the competitors from Team Ireland turning up to support their friends and colleagues competing in totally different sports. The spirit is marvellous.”
Ross might well be a sports superfan, but that’s not the impression he gives here. And it probably isn’t the best time for him to be cheerleading sporting achievements, as great as they are, given the ongoing organisational scandal.
Moment of the Week: Michael Conlan’s rage
Among all the great Irish Olympic memories, there is one very sad and angry one – brilliantly articulated by Michael Conlan in his postfight interview. It is a TV moment repeated on radio, and Conlan’s visceral and profanity-laden rage after he has been robbed of his fight strikes the right tone. He calls out what happened bluntly and correctly. In the midst of scandal his personal devastation is felt by a nation.
