Entertainment For Lively Minds
World's Greatest Sports Commentator Retires
I see that legendary Gaelic Games commentator, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, has announced that he is retiring.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2010/0916/micheal_o_muirchearta...
In his honour and for the amusement of the Massive here are a number of his finest moments.
"Seán Óg Ó’Hailpín…. his father’s from Fermanagh, his mother’s from Fiji, neither one a hurling stronghold"
"… and Brian Dooher is down injured. And while he is, i’ll tell ye a little story. I was in Times’ Square in New York last week, and I was missing the Championship back home. So I approached a newsstand and I said ‘I suppose ye wouldn’t have the Kerryman would ye?’ To which, the Egyptian behind the counter turned to me and he said ‘do you want the North Kerry edition or the South Kerry edition?’… he had both…so I bought both. And Dooher is back on his feet…"
"Anthony Lynch the Cork corner back will be the last person to let you down – his people are undertakers"
"I saw a few Sligo people at Mass in Gardiner street this morning and the omens seem to be good for them, the priest was wearing the same colours as the Sligo jersey! 40 yards out on the Hogan stand side of the field Ciaran Whelan goes on a rampage, its a goal. So much for religion."
"Colin Corkery on the 45 lets go with the right boot. Its over the bar.This man shouldn’t be playing football. He’s made an almost Lazarus-like recovery from a heart condition. Lazarus was a great man but he couldn’t kick points like Colin Corkery."
"1-5 to 0-8.. well from Lapland to the Antarctic, that’s level scores in any man’s language."
"Pat Fox has it on his hurley and is motoring well now … but here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail …… I’ve seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park!"
"I see John O Donnell dispensing water on the sideline. Tipperary, sponsored by a water company. Cork Sponsored by a tae company. I wonder will they meet later for afternoon tae."
"Teddy looks at the ball, the ball looks at Teddy"
"Danny 'The Yank' Culloty. He came down from the mountains and hasn’t he done well"
"He grabs the sliotar, he’s on the 50……he’s on the 40……he’s on the 30……………………..he’s on the ground"
"In the first half they played with the wind. In the second half they played with the ball."
"He kicks the ball ard san aer, could’ve been a goal, could’ve been a point………….it went wide."
"Stephen Byrne with the puck out for Offaly….Stephen, one of 12……all but one are here to-day, the one that’s missing is Mary, she’s at home minding the house…..and the ball is dropping i lár na bpáirce…."
"Pat Fox out to the forty and grabs the sliothar, I bought a dog from his father last week. Fox turns and sprints for goal, the dog ran a great race last Tuesday in Limerick. Fox to the 21 fires a shot, it goes to the left and wide….. and the dog lost as well"
"Teddy McCarthy to John McCarthy, no relation, John McCarthy back to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation"
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Memories
very good
It's a good job
my break-time tea is too hot to drink yet or I'd be on the phone to the IT Dept instead of typing - 'that was brilliant, cheers'.
Some proper
blarney in there.
Like poetry really. The New York story is a gem.
Without doubt the greatest
He could make a funeral exciting.
As the quotes show he was more than a commentater, he was a story teller.
Gaelic Championship weekends will be duller without his voice.
If you can access RTE Radio 1 - His last All-Ireland final is 3:30 next Sunday.
------- Ní beidh a leithéad ann arís. - His like won't be seen again.
Not many commentators are as cultured as
Míchaél. Here he is managing to combine a description of a rapid fire exchange of points between Donegal and Dublin in the 1993 football final with a reference to the Annals of Ireland written in 1616 and a quick burst of the mother tongue.
that's
pure class
I have a few more
and I'll fire them up later.
Míchaél v football (soccer) commentators
It strikes me about Míchaél that he doesn't let anything get in the way of describing the game as fully as he can. Compare his commentaries with those of Alan Green or Mike Ingham which are full of supposition and editorialising.
For Míchaél you get the sense that game is the only thing that matters and what he thinks is irrelevant. Sure he's got a great way with words and a seemingly encyclopaedic grasp of the games, their fans, the administrators and the audience, but it's what's on the field that counts.
The mixture of his emotion and excitement and the sound of a big crowd in the background is captivating.
Much though, as an Armagh man, I hate put up anything with Down winning, here's an eight minute clip of the 1994 All Ireland Football final. I think it is unbearably exciting.
I think you're harsh on Mike Ingham, Paddy.
He tends to tell you what's happening. Alan Green, though, needs to be dragged off and beaten soundly. Especially as he's someone who must have been brought up listening to the mighty Míchaél's work. Although, as I say that, assuming Mr Green to be of a Unionist background, would he have listened to Gaelic sports commentaries?
I don't think the Green household
would have heard much of Michaél being big Linfield fans.
I think what annoys me most about a lot of football commentary is the punditry - how commentators can offer wisdom on team preparation and line-up and feel the need to lead inquests into the minutiae of refereeing or management decisions. I know Mike Ingham's not as bad as Green but is ofetn victim to commenting on things he has no expertise in. Having said that he has great pitch when describing exciting passages of play, you can hear the adrenaline getting to him.
Great clips Paddy
and can I recommend to all that they listen to the great man's last commentary on Sunday's match. It will be available on the RTE player live and for a week or so after the match. I think its only the TV feeds that are restricted to Irish IPs.