A lifetime of sporting achievement went on auction at O'Reilly's of Upper Exchange Street, Dublin, on Thursday, up for bidding amidst a multitude of gold pendants, Victorian china and charm bracelets.
Paddy Mulligan spent the best part of a decade collecting domestic and international soccer honours which were purchased by a lifelong Shamrock Rovers fan for £3,000.
He is due to depart for Greece on a soccer coaching venture shortly and is said to be pleased with the sale.
"Paddy told us the medals had been lying in a vault for a considerable time and that he was pleased that they were going to someone who would view them and enjoy them a lot more regularly he ever did himself," commented Michael Jordan of O'Reilly's.
Bidding began at £2,000 for an impressive collection which the auctioneers were loathe to split up. FAI cup and league medals from the 1960s featured alongside the Irish caps which Mulligan collected in the 1970's.
"The international caps would obviously attract a lot of interest on their own, but both ourselves and Mr Mulligan felt that this collection should not be split up."
Paddy Mulligan played for Ireland throughout the 1970s and into 1980. Amongst the collection was a Kilkenny marble plaque presented to him after he was awarded his 25th international cap.
After England's games against Romania and Columbia this week, you could be forgiven for believing that the only equation relevant to modern sports concerned the Owen/Sheringham dilemma and whether Hoddle should have opted for Beckham or Posh. But in the USA, the only question on the lips of sports fans was; "Olowakanchi or Bibby"?
This week was NBA draft week in the States, a showtime media frenzy when the nations pro-basketball teams pick the best college ball players and sign them for silly money. Getting selected as the number one draft pick guarantees an athlete at least one year of ludicrous exposure and can change the fortunes of the entire ball club.
Vying for this year's number one spot were Mike Bibby, a feisty, streetwise 6 ft 1 in bundle of speed and flash and Michael Olowakanchi, a 7 ft 1 in Nigerian born centre, blessed with uncommon dexterity and a refreshing candour.
Astonishingly, Michael O. only began playing basketball four years ago, when he acted on a whim to leave England and go to study in an American college. Born in Nigeria, the diplomat's son had lived in England since the age of three and had begun studying engineering when he happened on an advert for American colleges. During a conversation with Pacific College's admission people, he mentioned that he was sort of above average in the old height stakes. Two months later, he found himself arriving for early morning practice for a sport with a lot of weird rules.
"I found it strange at first, I couldn't get the hang of the travelling call and once, when I made a basket and got a bonus shot for a foul, I started screaming at the ref's for my second free-throw".
Time and arduous practice have honed his skills, so much so that he became the first former English polytechnic student of mechanical engineering to sign a multi-million dollar contract to shoot hoops with L.A. (Clippers). He was the first overall pick.
One of the most enduring and depressing images from the current World Cup will be that of French policeman Daniel Nivel lying unconscious in the presence of a few savage German thugs. According to the German publication Bild, some 430 Nazis from Hamburg were instrumental in stoking up last Sunday's riot in Lens while French police revealed that of the 93 hooligans arrested in the aftermath, some 20 were neo-Nazi skinheads.
The German contribution to soccer shame was reported in great depth by sections of the English media and with a tangible tone of faint contentment, as though the spectre of hooliganism had suddenly transcended national boundaries.
However, national traits remained intact. While the English disorder was underscored by scenes of rioting and street drinking, the Germans acted with apparent ruthless efficiency, employing mobile phones in their bid to communicate violence and anarchy.
And you thought you were a gardener. Should you happen to tune into Wimbledon over the next week to witness the unsurpassable excitement of the sustained rallies which currently underpins the men's game, spare a thought for the meticulous Centre-Court surface.
While the perimeter courts are used all year at the All-England club, Centre Court and Court Number One are meticulously attended for 50 weeks of the year. For groundsman Eddie Seaward, it is a labour of passion.
Eddie's mowing blades are set at precisely 8 mm, about half the length of the average forefinger nail. The clay is mixed to produce an exact texture and over 100 strains of grass are tested for suitability to the court. So intense is the activity on the two courts over the fortnight that it is the equivalent of using the surface for 40 odd matches over a soccer season.
On a balmy August evening in 1995, America applauded Cal `Iron Man' Ripken, the Cleveland Indians' third baseman, when he became baseball's most enduring player of all time, breaking the sport's consecutive games played streak, a run which stretched back to the 1980s.
Incredibly, Ripken still hasn't missed a game since that evening. As of last Monday, his streak stood at 2,554 successive games played. However, a severe dip in form led to the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun suggesting that he should voluntarily end the streak and take some rest. Cal promptly answered by arriving in Yankee stadium and lifting the roof with two home runs and two doubles. Humble pie was washed down with warm beer.
Off-court turbulence continues to preside over Steffi Graf's career. The former World number one is understandably upset by the prominent reemergence of a fan who has been stalking her for 14 years.
El Sayad Ali is easy to spot in a crowd, weighing in at 19 st and standing well above six feet. On the first day at Wimbledon, he was observed throwing sweets at his heroine.
"I'm her number one fan. I met her 14 years ago when she was just a teenager and I gave her a promise that I would always follow her", he said when police escorted him from the club on Wednesday after Graf's second round win.
Sadly, it looks as though he is true to his word. Graf has said that she has been aware of Ali for the past nine years and is believed to be uneasy with his devotion. Ali, who flew from Egypt for the tournament, puts a different slant on things. "I write to Steffi all the time and she loves my affections", he insisted.
On the first hole at Carlow Golf Club, the green sits above a steep slope leading towards a lake of indeterminate depth and it was at this location that Bernard McCann indulged in a post of synchronised fumbling with his golf cart.
The Newbridge man, just beginning to enjoy an Irish Times outing, turned around to see his electric golf cart roll languidly towards the water before disappearing with an unceremonious splash. Intrigued, Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner whipped out a sketch pad even as Bernard whipped off his threads.
He took three steps forward and sank six feet down. It was murky and none too warm but he delicately managed to toe the golf bag up to the surface and fired it out to his buddy, who at this stage had abandoned all thought of drawing in favour of rolling around the green in an advanced state of hysteria. The laughter heightened when they realised that the bag was devoid of clubs. Unperturbed, Bernard continued to, eh, rummage about and recovered his entire set, lodged upright in the sludge and calmly emerged from the water, a lot wiser if a little sodden. He dried off on the spot and resumed his match. For the record, he hit a respectable four over par 76, took the longest drive of the day and his team finished fifth overall. His home club in Newbridge do not have a lake but the committee have passed a move to install one post haste, for entertainment value if nothing else.
