By now, the powers-that-be at the FAI must feel like they’ve spent as much time being grilled in Leinster House as they have watching football at the Aviva. Gavin Cummiskey brings news of their latest appearance before the joint Oireachtas committee for sport, Malachy Clerkin keeping an eye on proceedings too. “They tend to come to these hearings 2-0 down before they even open their mouths,” he writes. “This won’t be the last time the FAI have to do this. They need to get better at it.”
In Gaelic games, Denis Walsh salutes Patrick Horgan who called time on his Cork hurling career earlier this week, while Ciarán Murphy argues that the fact that Horgan never won a senior All-Ireland doesn’t diminish his greatness.
Speaking of greats - Kerry’s David Clifford is on the shortlist for the Footballer of the Year award, but his county has received the lowest number of All Star nominations for an All-Ireland winning side in almost 20 years. Gordon Manning brings you the details.
Over in New York, among the items banned at Bethpage this week are laptops, but mercifully our Philip Reid has been allowed bring his in to the venue, otherwise we’d be struggling for news from the 45th Ryder Cup. Philip updates us on the build-up, among those he heard from Tommy Fleetwood who looks set to partner Rory McIlroy in the opening day’s foursomes.
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Also over yonder, Dave Hannigan is yet to be bowled over by Tom Brady’s career in punditry, the most successful quarterback in the history of the NFL thus far “underwhelming” in his role with Fox - for which he’s getting paid an overwhelming €319 million across 10 years.
Down under, there’s speculation that Aidan O’Brien’s decision not to enter Scandinavia in November’s Melbourne Cup might have been forced by the colt failing veterinary checks. Brian O’Connor fills you in on that story, and he brings news from the Listowel festival where the Willie Mullins-trained Spanish Harlem won the Kerry National.
TV Watch: The build-up to the Ryder Cup continues on Sky Sports Golf today, starting at 1pm and going on til midnight, while in horse racing TG4 has more coverage from the Listowel festival. Your football offerings this evening include two Europa League ties, Aston Villa v Bologna and Rangers v Genk, both kicking off at 8pm and both covered by Premier Sports and TNT Sports.
