All Time Sports Hero

I was unfortunate enough to catch the tail end of the Gerry Ryan "Ireland's All Time Sports Hero" (or whatever it was called.) I usually would use Mr Ryan on television as a useful proxy for "should be avoided like the plague" but I'm a sucker for those list programmes. (Which is probably why all TV stations are now doing them. You can turn them out at no additional cost to the station.) ( I still haven't gotten over the Top 100 movie stars count down on Channel 4 which climaxed at midnight with, much to my chagrin, Al Pacino pipping Bob De Niro to the top accolade.

This aforementioned RTE programme pulled a similar stunt by incredulously proclaiming Roy Keane as a greater sporting hero than Sonia O'Sullivan. I've decided not to blog this one right now, 'cos I'm still fuming. Sonia has been the greatest Irish sportsperson ever. Consistently of the highest calibre and has experienced more than her fair share of lows (drug taking Chinese opponents, gastroenteritis in Atlanta, etc). Her grace, dignity & determination are an inspiration to everyone regardless of their sports capabilities. She remains the only sportsperson who makes me proud to say I'm Irish.

I may have missed it, but I've never seen Sonia cythe Gabriella Szabo with a vicious tackle and rely in her biography later that she "hit her fucking hard". Never heard that the former world champion had walked out on the Irish team 'cos the track was too hard in the pre-tournament holiday camp. Sonia never complained about the less than state-of-the-art national atheletics facilities. And to the best of my knowledge, she doesn't cruelly walk her dog with a Sky Sports camera crew in tow at moments of personal crisis.

But I'll address this one when I'm less annoyed.
Paige