Netherlands players celebrate after booking their place in the 2019 Women's World Cup final. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
“Nothing demeans a Women’s World Cup more than the tendency to velcro a wider meaning on to everything that happens in it or around it. Over the past three weeks so much of the babble around the matches has been shot through the prism of comparisons with the men’s game when really the difference is fairly basic. The Women’s World Cup is basically the men’s tournament but with more thinkpieces.”
Spectators at Wimbledon's Centre Court. Nigel French
Nigel French
“Wimbledon attendees — be it first-timers, fairweather fans or firm afficionados — are, it seems, automatically bestowed with a different sort of knowledge: equal parts giddiness, star-struckness, smugness and self-awareness. A knowledgeable Wimbledon crowd on Centre Court, at any time, is essentially 14,979 people who absolutely cannot stop themselves saying ‘Oh, I love this bit!’ when you’re watching a film they have already seen eighteen times.”
USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Imago / PA Images
Imago / PA Images / PA Images
“It would be ridiculous to the point of laughter, if it wasn’t so gross. (And if his legislations and policies weren’t ruining the lives of so many innocent people.) And then what’s legitimately scary, I guess, is like….. how it’s not just his tweets. Because now suddenly you’ve got all these MAGA peeps getting hostile in your mentions. And you’ve got all these crazy blogs writing terrible things about this person you care so much about. And now they’re doing takedowns of Megan on Fox News, and who knows whatever else. It’s like an out-of-body experience, really — that’s how I’d describe it. That’s how it was for me.”
– Sue Bird, girlfriend of USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe, writes for The Players Tribune about her partner’s verbal fracas with President Donald Trump.
Kevin Sheehy (right) taking on Kiril Afansev at the National Stadium in February 2018. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“Boxing helped keep Kevin, like thousands if not millions of others, on the straight and narrow but it was up to him to seize this, something he did with both gloves. The boxer who once ran and hid from this interviewer was back giving a talk to his old school, Scoil Iósagain, just a few short weeks ago, giving up his time, even bringing young kids to train at St Francis’s Boxing Club. Kevin was just 20 years old. He was soon to become a father for the first time. His fiancée, Emma, whom he had been with for five years will never marry her childhood sweetheart, their daughter will never know her father beyond the stories that we all will continue to tell.”
Ronan O'Gara's time with the Crusaders is nearing an end. INPHO / Photosport/Andrew Cornaga
INPHO / Photosport/Andrew Cornaga / Photosport/Andrew Cornaga
“We have lived in a city traumatised by the mosque massacre last year, a tragedy that brought out the best in humanity in response to the unspeakable evil in society. People always say professional sportspeople live in a bubble, but that murderous afternoon scarred and marked everyone in the Crusader organisation. That they have lived through that and retain the capacity to be professionals down to their bootlaces is an inspiring thing. But it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Jess and the kids depart with me on Wednesday, back to France, and onto the next adventure in La Rochelle.”
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ROG gets out of Dodge and more of our favourite sportswriting from the past week
“Nothing demeans a Women’s World Cup more than the tendency to velcro a wider meaning on to everything that happens in it or around it. Over the past three weeks so much of the babble around the matches has been shot through the prism of comparisons with the men’s game when really the difference is fairly basic. The Women’s World Cup is basically the men’s tournament but with more thinkpieces.”
– Malachy Clerkin expresses his views on the potential impact of the Women’s World Cup in the Irish Times.
“Wimbledon attendees — be it first-timers, fairweather fans or firm afficionados — are, it seems, automatically bestowed with a different sort of knowledge: equal parts giddiness, star-struckness, smugness and self-awareness. A knowledgeable Wimbledon crowd on Centre Court, at any time, is essentially 14,979 people who absolutely cannot stop themselves saying ‘Oh, I love this bit!’ when you’re watching a film they have already seen eighteen times.”
– The galleries at Wimbledon are put under the microscope by The Telegraph’s Adam Hurrey.
“It would be ridiculous to the point of laughter, if it wasn’t so gross. (And if his legislations and policies weren’t ruining the lives of so many innocent people.) And then what’s legitimately scary, I guess, is like….. how it’s not just his tweets. Because now suddenly you’ve got all these MAGA peeps getting hostile in your mentions. And you’ve got all these crazy blogs writing terrible things about this person you care so much about. And now they’re doing takedowns of Megan on Fox News, and who knows whatever else. It’s like an out-of-body experience, really — that’s how I’d describe it. That’s how it was for me.”
– Sue Bird, girlfriend of USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe, writes for The Players Tribune about her partner’s verbal fracas with President Donald Trump.
“Boxing helped keep Kevin, like thousands if not millions of others, on the straight and narrow but it was up to him to seize this, something he did with both gloves. The boxer who once ran and hid from this interviewer was back giving a talk to his old school, Scoil Iósagain, just a few short weeks ago, giving up his time, even bringing young kids to train at St Francis’s Boxing Club. Kevin was just 20 years old. He was soon to become a father for the first time. His fiancée, Emma, whom he had been with for five years will never marry her childhood sweetheart, their daughter will never know her father beyond the stories that we all will continue to tell.”
– Irish-Boxing.com’s Joe O’Neill pays tribute to the late Kevin Sheehy.
“We have lived in a city traumatised by the mosque massacre last year, a tragedy that brought out the best in humanity in response to the unspeakable evil in society. People always say professional sportspeople live in a bubble, but that murderous afternoon scarred and marked everyone in the Crusader organisation. That they have lived through that and retain the capacity to be professionals down to their bootlaces is an inspiring thing. But it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Jess and the kids depart with me on Wednesday, back to France, and onto the next adventure in La Rochelle.”
– Writing for the Irish Examiner, Ronan O’Gara prepares to bid farewell to Christchurch before taking up his new job in France.
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