The Sunday Column - A wonderful delay

Playoffs!

The scoreline says it all: Belfast Bulls 0 DCU Saints 6

On Sunday in Belfast the DCU Saints beat the Belfast Bulls by scoring the sole touchdown of the game early in the final quarter. Having played at various positions across the offensive line over the past three seasons this was what it’s all about. The victory put the Saints in the playoffs for the first time ever. After three years of toiling, struggling to prove ourselves, we have made it to the knockout stages.

It’s undoubtedly the best reason possible to delay my return to marathon training.

I haven’t done active running training since April as I was focussed solely on the American Football season. I had found earlier in the year that the difference in preparation for the two sports was substantially different to a point where my body essentially forced me to choose for the short term.

The choice was easy, Football is what got me back in some kind of shape a couple of years back (yes I used to be in much worse shape than this). I’ll write in more detail about the difference it has made to my life after the season is over but for now I’ll focus on one joyous moment.

We were underdogs going up there and truth be told I didn’t know what to think going into it. A draw would be enough to go through, but ties are rare in Football. The first quarter ended scoreless and it didn’t enter our thoughts. Then halftime approached and there were still no points on the board. With the wind forcing both sides to focus on their running game the clock was running virtually without stopping, and a fast clock was our friend. Belfast had to score, all we had to do was stop them.

The third quarter ends and it’s still scoreless. This is the time to strike. With good field position we begin to drive.

The hits go in. The line’s objective is to force the men before them out of the way. The goal for the receivers and tight ends is to get open. The running backs sole aim is to go forward not back, while the quarterback has to manage these tasks.

Eklof to Collins, touchdown. Eight minutes remain.

Belfast take to the field. The Saints D succeed in forcing the Bulls to eat up a lot of time without making significant gains. With less than three minutes remaining the offence return. We get the hits in. Now is our time. We believe.

But on this occasion we come up short. A fumble turns the ball over and with a minute to go it’s all on the D to seal the deal. A converted score from Belfast would give the hosts victory and a place in the playoffs. Not this day, no this was the day DCU stood firm and held out. This was the day the painful memories of the past were put to rest.

A wave of relief, elation, confidence and belief came over the team. The season could end as soon as a fortnight from now or it could yet have another month. Whatever the case I’ll gladly keep off the roads until that day comes. It’s well worth it.

The Sunday Column – Bring back the story

Last week’s column was tangentially connected to the race at best. This one has even less relevance but it’s so important I just can’t let it go.

Music videos need to tell stories again. I realised this at Def Leppard’s awesome co-headlining gig with Whitesnake in Belfast on Saturday night. During the gig Leppard played a video in the background for one of the song Nine Lives. I’ll let my buddy Steve describe the tale of this tape.

“There’s this girl... and she’s really hot. THE END.” The actual promotional video tells an even shorter story. There’s a band playing a song, the end. That’s right, the video Steve described actually had more thought put into it.

What the hell? I’m all for rock videos featuring raunchiness and attractive women but there used to be some attempt at context. Artists used to try and actually do stuff with their videos, to give them a point rather than just being pictures that played over music.

One man knew the power of a video more than any. Not Peter Gabriel, not Spike Jonze, no the man that truly said “I want to tell a story” was Lionel Richie.

Yes, ‘Hello’ is a cheesefest of the highest order but it’s a video in which stuff actually happens.

There’s a dude, Lionel Richie, who really fancies this girl in a university class he teaches. Dude is really nervous about hitting on girl, possibly because it’s quite dodgy to date a student, so instead he just walks around roaring HELLO. This is often done in close proximity to his victim, who happens to be blind so can’t see this nutter is in the vicinity. This doesn’t prove effective so Richie decides to ring her, showing that she isn’t even safe in her own home. Then a student tells our protagonist to check out the sculpture class where the girl this dude has been stalking has made a giant clay model of his noggin. The stalkee explains this is how she sees him, though she doesn’t reveal that the sculpture is so the cops know who to watch out for. Richie responds in the only way he knows how, by shouting HELLO. The end.

This is way more detailed than anything current artists try to convey. This is the level of effort we need to see from music videos. Music + moving pictures + stuff happening = Good.

Win vouchers for Brown Thomas and Nue Blue Eriu

We've added two more prizes to the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw. Ladies, you're going to like these. Strencom have donated a €250 voucher for Brown Thomas while Damovo have provided us with a €200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu.

These are on top of the other prizes we've already told you about. We're also giving away:
A Dublin jersey signed by the entire Senior Football Championship panel
A Tipperary jersey signed by the entire Senior Hurling Championship panel
2 Premium tickets to an All Ireland Football Quarter Finals Double Header (courtesy of Cable & Wireless)
A MOTOKRZR K1 red mobile handset (courtesy of Motorola)

Just to remind you we've now add these to the draw:
€250 voucher for Brown Thomas (courtesy of Strencom)
€200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu (courtesy of Damovo)

We're only selling 200 tickets, at a cost of €25 each, giving entrants great odds of winning one of these prizes.

Buy now
To purchase tickets for the draw please email emmetryan@gmail.com

1,000 YouTube views and counting

My recent experiment of mixing coffee and laptops has now broken the 1,000 view barrier on YouTube. It’s the first video I’ve posted on the video sharing site to reach this milestone and while it’s still a few million views behind Sophie’s dancing vid, I’m still pleased with its success to date.

I’ll be posting new vids for the campaign on at least a monthly basis between now and the race and I’d be shocked if any of them match the success of the coffee spill.

These shorts are far from a solo effort and we’re already brainstorming on the next few vids. If any of you guys have any ideas that could be interesting or funny then we’re all ears.

The Sunday Column – The loss of a legend

Tim Russert 1950-2008

I was sitting in a garden in Glasnevin when Ellen Parikka walked out and asked “Do you know who Tim Russert is?” I told her he was a big journalist in the US. “He’s dead,” she responded.

The host of NBC’s Meet the Press, a show which thanks to iTunes I could continue to watch after NTL replaced CNBC with Living, Russert was one of the few newsmen left that didn’t bring an agenda into affairs. On my many trips to the US in the past two years I always looked forward to being able to watch Russert in action at the time of the day suited to such Sunday morning fare.

This was a man that loved his job and loved doing it well. Be a guest Republican or Democrat, Russert would interview them in a manner that was by no means badgering but was effective at getting the requisite information and trapping spoofers. He’d give the subject enough rope to hand themselves before striking with a question rooted in research of previous comments made by the guest, often in a previous appearance on Meet the Press.

Personalities rarely get remembered in journalism, only the few immortalised in cinema like Woodward and Bernstein tend to get remembered after their prime. The public’s memory of Russert will likely fade in a short few years but for one Dublin-based freelancer, his ethics and method will live on.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Sorry this column is two days late. My limited broadband access at present is making it difficult to post on time.

The Sunday column - Dual Masters

I introduce a young gentleman from Tallaght to the concept of pain

In journalism it's relatively easy to fiddle with an article from the Irish Times so that it is suitable for the Irish Independent. Editing that same article for the Sun or Star however is another matter entirely. The differences in styles mean the odds are a writer would be better off starting again from scratch rather than trying to adjust the existing piece.

The same is true with training. Preparing for orienteering, my training partner John’s sport of choice, is not a million miles removed from getting ready for a road race. American Football on the other hand is a whole different kettle of fish.

Today I played for the DCU Saints beat the Dublin Rhinos 32-6 at Castleknock College. Go us. It was a good old fashioned physical affair, as linemen like myself attempted to knock seven shades of…this is a family column…out of each other.

Like marathon running the gridiron is physically demanding but in a rather different way.

There’s the obvious differences, such as road racing general not involving men wearing helmets and pads and then getting rather violent, but then there’s other stuff that wouldn’t immediately jump out at the casual observer.

The type of physical exertion, both in training and game-play, couldn’t be less similar to marathon preparations. The gridiron demands a player can go for short, rapid-fire burst over and over again for around three hours.

You go, you stop, you go again and you keep on doing this until either you or your foe yields. That is it. Instead of the continuous steady pace a runner seeks to achieve, an American Footballer must be able to constantly shift gears and go from nought to sixty in an instant.

An offensive lineman like myself hits three ways: hard, fast and repeatedly. Despite the differences there are some benefits in playing this sport whilst getting ready for a big race.

The stamina I have developed from playing American Football over the past three years has certainly offset some of the problems associated with my general lack of fitness.

In the last two marathons that drive, that ability to grind it out, has helped me get to the finish line in one piece. This year it should hopefully keep me in enough condition to train hard once the season formally ends.

Once that comes around it’s off with the pads and on with the runners. A different kind of challenge awaits.

No sleep till Brooklyn...

...well actually not until Manhattan, that's where the finish line is.

As revealed in the video, I'll be heading to New York this year as part of team CF Ireland to represent STIG and hopefully raise a shed load of money along the way. The New York City Marathon, 37,000 punters taking to the streets and pounding out 26 miles and 385 yards.

This is the big one folks, one of the World Marathon Majors and the mugs have decided to let us take part. Better make the most of it then. STIG for CF Ireland has raised the guts of €3,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland over the past two years but in 2008 we plan on hammering that figure.

On top of the usual sort of fund raising activities we do, such as looking for donations (see the side bar to your right) we will be holding a prize draw which features prizes donated from lovely firms such as Cable & Wireless, Damovo, Motorola and Strencom. Only 200 tickets will be made available so check it out quickly to see if you fancy a chance at winning some of the fan-dabi-dozy prizes on offer while also helping to raise money for the cause.

This blog will be updated regularly with a new column each Sunday as well as with other posts on a frequent basis. The posts will include updates on the campaign, interesting things relating to the race, the cause we're doing this for, STIG, and stuff I find that's just plain interesting.

There will also be occasional guest posts from other bloggers on a variety of interesting topics. Plus at least once a month we'll have a video update, like the one above.

STIG for CF Ireland is a team effort and John Craddock, who ran/walked (a mixture of both really) in the first two campaigns will be acting as training partner and coach for this year's event.

This post marks the formal launch of the 2008 campaign so I, and the rest of the STIG team, look forward to keeping you updated on our efforts over the next few months.