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Geography, on the whole, determines who you support in the GAA, “you’re born into a club and a county, and that’s usually it,” writes Ciarán Murphy. In other sports, though, mere whims can lead you to nailing your colours to a particular mast, Ciarán unlucky enough to have nailed his to the San Francisco 49ers and Manchester United.
But even in the GAA happenstance can play a role too, like bumping in to a Dingle corner back in a golf club and having lunch in a place owned by the uncle of the fella who scored the last-minute two-pointer to seal An Gaeltacht’s place in this Sunday’s All-Ireland intermediate final. So you end up with a soft spot for both clubs.
Standing between An Gaeltacht and that intermediate trophy are Derry’s Glenullin, the club where Eoin Bradley’s eventful sporting career began. Gordon Manning talks to the former intercounty footballer, who also carved out a successful spell in soccer, ahead of the game.
And Gordon also has a chat with Mayo footballer Fergal Boland who will be on hurling duty on Saturday when Tooreen take on Tipperary’s Upperchurch-Drombane in their All-Ireland Intermediate final.
There’s a busy rugby weekend coming up, among the standout ties Leinster’s Champions Cup meeting with La Rochelle on Saturday. John O’Sullivan profiles one of Ronan O’Gara’s star players, Georgian fullback Davit Niniashvili – if Leinster fail to “curb his natural ebullience and ultimately his influence” the consequences will be “punitive”.
Munster face French opposition in the competition too – they’re away to Toulon on Sunday. Despite their indifferent recent form, Craig Casey is hopeful that they can produce a repeat of their triumph at the same Stade Mayol venue two years ago. Johnny Watterson hears from the Munster and Ireland scrumhalf.
Weather permitting, Ulster will face South African opposition in the Challenge Cup on Sunday in, of all places, Amsterdam. Michael Sadlier gets the thoughts of assistant coach Willie Faloon on their game against the Cheetahs.
Further afield, NBA star Steph Curry’s choice of footwear is getting almost as much attention these days as his exploits for the Golden State Warriors. Dave Hannigan explains why “the most famous Nike refusenik of all” is proving to be as savvy as Michael Jordan ever was when it comes to the business side of basketball.
TV Watch: At 7pm this evening, Real Madrid meet Atletico Madrid in the second Spanish Supercopa semi-final in Saudi Arabia (TNT Sports 1), Barcelona already through to the final after seeing off Athletic Bilbao yesterday. And an hour later it’s first v fourth in the Premier League, Arsenal hosting Liverpool (Sky Sports). Champions-elect v soon-to-be-deposed champions?
