Stig for CF Ireland 2008

The Sunday Column - Heading to San Francisco

2008-09-07T19:00:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow morning I'm heading way out west on holidays with Stephen Errity. We start off by flying into LA where we'll spend the night in Thousand Oaks, a much nicer sounding spot than our original plan of going to Inglewood.

From there we'll head up the Pacific coast hitting San Fran on Wednesday and staying there until the following Monday.

Oh and we'll totally be playing this...

And this...

...in the car on the way there. See you all when I get back.

MyCharity.ie page now up and running

2008-09-05T16:26:00.005+01:00

We may be a day later than planned in announcing this but we are delighted to formally reveal the first of our two big bits of news this month.

STIG for CF Ireland's official MyCharity.ie page is now up and running. This is an easy way for you to donate to the cause online and for you to see how we are progressing towards our target amount.

This is the first year we've set up a web donation page but better late than never. The page can be found here and all support is greatly appreciated.

Learning to count/read

2008-09-03T10:39:00.003+01:00

Oops. As reported in a recent post I managed to beat my personal best (PB) in the 10-miler recently. Well had I bothered to check the post where I posted my previous PB I'd have noticed something. I didn't beat it by 5 minutes, I beat it by 10 minutes.

My official time for this year's race was 2 hours 9 minutes and 17 seconds, over 10 minutes faster than my previous best of 2 hours 19 minutes 54 seconds. The big boost of this is that I went a minute a mile faster than in my previous best time. I need to go at least a minute a mile faster than last year's marathon effort if I am to break my existing PB over that distance so this is positive news.

Now while it's great and all that I beat my PB by more than I thought it is somewhat silly of me that I failed to notice this. You see, I had mentioned the older time in the post just before I discussed how the 10-miler went. Ah well, better that I noticed it now than not at all.

Two big announcements on the way & details of the draw...help us find a venue

2008-09-02T11:50:00.008+01:00

The STIG for CF Ireland 2008 campaign will be making two big announcements in the next couple of weeks, the first of which is coming on Thursday. All will be revealed soon but as a hint the first one will be internet related. Yeah that's all I'm giving away for now.

In news that we can announce now, sales for the STIG for CF Ireland prize draw have now formally ceased. Thanks to everyone that bought tickets.

We plan on holding the draw on either Wednesday the 17th or Thursday the 18th of this month. We're currently looking for a venue in or near Dublin city centre, preferably a pub where we can get an area put aside. If anyone has any recommendations on somewhere that's good for that sort of thing please leave a comment.

The Sunday Column - Anti Training and the bigger picture

2008-08-31T22:53:00.008+01:00

Two days 6 films, a fair bit of TV, and countless amounts of junk food. This isn't taking it easy, this is a different kind of punishment.

Steve decided to have a DVD weekend and a good weekend it was. The triple-bill on Friday of Stranger Than Fiction, The Departed, and Escape from New York got us off to a good start but I didn't make it home until 4.30am. The doorbell woke me at 10am and I never really rested between then and 6pm when we kicked off at Steve's again. This time a quadruple bill was on the cards but not for me as it turned out.

I hadn't eaten a solid meal since lunch on Friday and chocolate and crisps do not a dinner make. I got through The Conformist fine but faded badly during Blood Simple, and it was still reasonably early. Having essentially slept for the final 15 minutes of that movie I decided to stick it out for one more, so Dirty Harry was put on.

I love that film yet still the night-night express powered forward. So I missed the final film of the night, Rebecca, and trundled home but before going to bed I saw a most unfortunate message from Keith. You see Keith is running the Great North Run for leukemia charity The Anthony Nolan Trust and was going to run it with his pal Lucy but unfortunately she's had to pull out due to health reasons. I know Keith will put in a good performance on the day and he assures me that his running buddy will be fine but it still acted as a wake-up call for yours truly.

The timing of the message wasn't lost on me. I deliberately took it easy his week to let my shins recover but went a tad far on the relaxing by going mad with junk food at the weekend. I'll have to show a bit more common sense in the weeks ahead.

Lights, camera, action

2008-08-27T13:29:00.004+01:00

I'm still very much in the whole formative stages of this video-making malarkey but I've noticed some interesting developments with the videos that I have posted online.

The coffee spill video, which has now surpassed the 2,000 view mark, and one of my videos of The Dude, which is approaching the same mark, are far cruder than most of my more recent work. One of these has actually managed to get quite a few views quickly, namely the video below of Dell launching its new line of laptops

The developments are thanks in large part to the help of other video users. Cóilín has given me tips on how to make better use of Movie Maker while Laura Jane Rich has introduced me to some other programmes which should help improve the presentation of the videos.

These moves are in part to support my new site, the URL for which has been bought but is yet to go live, and of course to improve the videos I'm presenting here as part of the STIG for CF Ireland campaign.

To date last year's Powerade parody is the most popular campaign video to date, while the montage has done respectably so far. The next video should be up before I fly to San Francisco on the 8th of September so keep your eyes peeled for that.

The Sunday Column - The other side

2008-08-25T11:05:00.008+01:00

Following Sinead's experience as going to the Kerry vs Monaghan qualifier a few weeks ago I found myself in the Canal End, or Davin Stand as they now call it, for Sunday's Cork vs Kerry semi-final clash.

A bit of background is required first. I'm a devoted Dubs fan that usually goes to every game the boys in blue play in a championship season. My Dad used to be club secretary of the biggest club in the country so I was brought up with the mentality that the three most important things in my life were (1)Crokes (2) The Dubs and (3) Tipp hurlers, in that order. Dad would have preferred I switched 2 and 3 around but that just ain't ever happening.

The powers that be in the Irish American Football League managed to schedule games for the DCU Saints, as in the the team I play for, that clashed with every game Dublin played up to and including the Leinster final. No worries, sure I'll make the quarter final. Then the GAA went along and moved the date of that game to clash with a trip to Galway I was already committed to. No problem I thought, sure Tyrone are muck. Oh dear, that didn't work out well at all.

So here we were late in the championship season and I hadn't been to Croker for a non-rugby match in 2008. This just wouldn't do so I opted to go and watch Cork & Kerry play in front of a less than half full Croker in the All-Ireland semi. Now I could write a full post about why this game should have been played in Thurles but I'll spare ye for now.

My company for the day were Kate, from Bantry in Cork via California but whose Dad is from the Kingdom so therefore she was up for Kerry, her brother William who has the same characteristics, his girlfriend Ríon (sp? and no it's not Ríona) who said she was 'half and half', and the aforementioned patriarch of this grouping Mr Tom Fitzgerald.

On the way down Clonliffe Road a photographer and journalist from the Irish Mirror stopped me and Kate for a photo. He then moved me out of shot as I was not a pretty blonde in a Kerry jersey. Kate did some America's Next Top Model poses and then we confused matters by explaining her whole geographic origins.

It was at this time that I also explained to the journo where my allegiances would lie that day. Cork and Kerry are two counties I generally root against so in the past this would be a tough one to ponder but over the years I've had to face similar questions so many times that my answer was simple. It had to be Cork that got my backing on this day because, as I told the intrepid reporter "I'd rather cheer for Meath than Kerry."

It's like cheering for the New York Yankees or Man United. You just don't do it. It's wrong, it's fundamentally against everything at the centre of my being. So in we went, 3 and half Kerry fans with 1 and a half Cork fans.

Much like Sinead, Kate doesn't have a great grasp on the game of Football. This doesn't bother her in the slightest and that's fine. Unfortunately for her she was seated beside a sports nut that's managed one Soccer team and been a selector on two Hurling teams, which led to plenty of tactical shouting and explanations, as well as reffing in three sports including Football, which led to lots of shouting and explanations on the fouls. None of which she wanted to hear.

Sorry about that. I actually do it everywhere bar UCD soccer games, even my flatmate's tag rugby team have been subjected to my rants from the sideline. Worryingly that team is so bad that my advice improved matters and trust me that isn't a good sign, but I digress.

Shockingly there were more Kerry than Cork fans in the stadium. A turnout of 35k was still appalling for this level but Kerry fans never go to games other than finals. Obviously they must have more fans living in Dublin, it's the only possible explanation.

The first half was lively enough but after the break Kerry took control. With just one score in the first 33 minutes of the second period Cork looked down and out. It appeared as though once again I would leave Croker cursing a victory for the Kingdom. Suddenly however Cork were just a goal behind.

Then the Rebels were awarded a penalty. This led to probably my most ill-informed piece of tactical analysis of the day. As I was sitting at the far end of the stadium I thought the foul was committed outside large rectangle. So I say to Kate "That's what I'm talking about. You foul him before he gets into the box," in a blood-spitting tone. "You do whatever it takes to win, it's about the team. You sacrifice yourself, even if it means getting sent off and missing an All-Ireland final. If that's what it takes, you do it."

Then of course I realised that everything I just said was irrelevant as the foul was inside the box. There was still a chance to redeem myself of course. The penalty itself. Coolly I reassured the Kerry fans around me that all would be fine. "They [players] never get these. He'll miss. He's going to choke, they always do with these last-minute penalties."

It's in the net, Cork are level. I've been proven wrong again but no matter, Kerry are no longer winning. A late effort at a point from the Kingdom hits the post and goes wide. Finally I leave Croke Park having seen Kerry fail to vanquish a foe. It's not a defeat but it's a start.

Postscript
We headed back to Kate's where we lounged for a while before enjoying some nice Mexican food in a place on George's St (the name escapes me). After that we headed on to Sibín, formerly Crush, for a drink and some free boxty (nice!).

I capped off the night by heading home and watching the final of Gladiators. Yes I taped it and yes I'm glad I did. The two final eliminators rocked.

The Sunday Column - One personal best down, two to go.

2008-08-18T11:43:00.005+01:00

Booya! Far from perfect but lobbing 5 minutes off my personal best will do nicely.

I went into the Frank Duffy 10-mile road race in the Phoenix Park with a headband and a lifetime best of just over 2 hours 15 minutes. So looking like a cross between Rocky while training and Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro, I lined up wearing John’s number.

I had missed registration during the week but luckily John had spotted the earlier than usual deadline and registered himself so he could lend me it if necessary. So off Emmet ‘John Craddock’ Ryan went, a man with a plan.

Like all good strategies it was simple. Run all the odd numbered miles, walk all the even ones except the last which I would also run.

I got off with ease and approaching the mile marker I considered changing tactics. I was feeling very comfortable but no, no I wouldn’t change horses mid-stream. Hannibal loves it when a plan comes together so who am I to argue.

So I walked the second mile, ran the third which was uphill. Ouch, need to plan better. Walk the fourth and I am cruising. Four and a half miles in the most wonderful thing happened. We turned onto the second lap, free from all those sodding elite athletes that keep breezing by my back as they lapped me. Pesky fast people.

At this stage I was selecting targets, using other racers as markers to watch my pace on my on and off miles. As I slowed to walk they would overtake me for a few minutes but when I started to run I soon overtook them. It worked well and as I turned onto the eighth mile I started to bear down on the sole one still ahead. I left her in my wake shortly after the last water station.

With the rain beating down I forced myself forward. The nine mile mark, I break from the plan. I need to cease running for a while. Half a mile later I kick again.

The final bend and I’m breezing past runner, I’m still fresh enough. I see the clock and cross the line with 2 hours 10 minutes on the clock. When the chip is calculated that’ll knock anything from on to six minutes off that time.

A new PB and unlike the last one I still had something in the tank. It’s far from perfect but you’ll hear no complaints from here.

Next up is the half marathon, again in the Phoenix Park, next month. My PB there is just under 3 hours 16 minutes. Then there's the you-know-what in November. One down, two to go.

The Sunday Column - Raising the tempo

2008-08-11T13:39:00.003+01:00

Saturday morning was the first 'serious' run for myself and John. We did six miles around UCD, consisting of a single mile lap and then a five mile lap. There's no easy way to do six continuous miles around Belfield so we improvised.

The performance was not too shabby but not what I was hoping for. Of the six around four were run properly with walking breaks making up the other two. My aim was to get an extra half mile of solid running in but it's far from panic inducing.

Next Saturday is the Adidas 10 miler in the Phoenix Park. The plan is to run 6 of the 10 miles, which should be enough to beat my PB of 2 hours 19 minutes and 54 seconds. In truth I'll be looking to lob a large chunk off this time so anything less than a new best should set the panic alarm.

At present our training schedule consists of 2 kilometres of circuits, where we mix sprinting with jogging, on Tuesdays and a two mile run on Thursdays. Coupled with the longer weekend runs and races this is likely to be our schedule for the foreseeable future, possibly adding half a kilometre to Tuesdays and/or a third mile to Thursdays.

Next week's edition column will look in detail at how the 10 miler went.

The Sunday Column - We have a winner

2008-08-04T16:14:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Bob Corr who has won tickets to the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals this Saturday in Croke Park. My apologies to Bob for mispronouncing his surname in the video, I read his name as Carr on the list of tickets sold.

If you didn't win fear not for everyone who participated in this draw will be entered into the main draw for the big prizes next month.

Tickets are still available by contacting me at emmetryan@gmail.com

Remember all the money raised goes towards the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland as part of our 2008 which climaxes this November when I run the New York City Marathon.

Last chance to win Premium tickets to the All Ireland Quarter Finals

2008-07-28T10:35:00.005+01:00

The early entry deadline for the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw is this Saturday night. Anyone who hasn't reserved a ticket before this date will miss out on a chance to win 2 Premium tickets to an All Ireland Football Quarter Finals double header in Croke Park on Saturday the 9th of August.

The winner will be announced through a video which we will post in the next edition of The Sunday Column. This means it will likely go up on Monday the 4th seeing as my internet connectivity as of late hasn't been smashing.

We will still be selling tickets after this Saturday and everyone who buys a ticket will get a shot at the big prizes which are listed here.

Tickets cost €25 and can be bought by emailing emmetryan@gmail.com

The Sunday Column - Stick with the day job

2008-07-28T07:10:00.003+01:00

"Ooh a 99," I say. No, not the ice-cream. I was expressing my delight at breaking 100 on a pitch & putt course, where par is 54. My cohorts were little better. My flatmate shot 86 while my coach and training partner for the marathon covered the 18 holes in 80.

Not one of our tee shots finished on the green, the closest amusingly being one by myself that was about a foot off. Even that was a fluke taking a wicked hit off a tree.

Here's the scary part. That's our best combined performance since we started semi-regularly playing around a month ago. Needless to say none of us will be getting called up to the PGA tour anytime soon.

The real race training steps up a gear this week. I can confidently say that there is no way it will be as embarassing as our performance out in Sandyford. It might still be dire and woeful but not on the same level as my short game.

Check out my guest post at Creative Writing Corner

2008-07-22T16:05:00.003+01:00

I recently guest posted on teen writing at Blair Hurley's Creative Writing Corner blog. In the post I take a look at the impact the internet is having on the writing habits of teenagers, referencing a recent Pew study that found the positives largely outweighed the negatives.

I found Blair's blog around 9 months ago and have been regularly following it ever since. She's a very talented young writer that is currently studying in Princeton and her blog is well worth checking out.

Keep an eye out here on STIG for CF Ireland for a guest post from Blair in the near future.

The Sunday Column - Back on the road

2008-07-22T15:46:00.004+01:00

Around 5pm on Sunday the American Football season ended for the DCU Saints. For me this was the end of one regimen and the beginning of another. At around 7.30 this morning it was go time. The pads were put away for the summer and out came the runners, shorts and t-shirt.

As with any programme I’ve got to begin lightly but there is the added pressure that as I’m behind I’ll need to ramp it up a bit to be ready for the half-marathon in September. This morning was only a half hour jog around Ranelagh and into Rathmines. Tomorrow will likely be similar but soon, very soon it’ll be longer. It’ll be harder and it’ll be faster.

It will also likely not feature any knocks to my noggin, at least none that are deliberate. I gave a few of the lads a bit of a scare yesterday when I spoke rather butchly about the dents in my forehead following the Cork game on Sunday and how they likely explained the killer headache I had. They dents were a result of the force of impact and not due to the helmet’s tightness, I knew it was too loose to be anything other than hits. I’m sure the other guy looks worse though.

Having thought nothing of it myself (I’m well used to getting knocks to the head at this stage, it comes with the territory) I had gone about my day normally, after all I had work to do.

After a bit of coaxing I eventually agreed to go to see my GP about it to make sure I hadn’t got a concussion or anything else. My regular doc wasn’t in so I saw the other one in the clinic who isn’t used to my regular visits about my litany of injuries. As a result she was taken aback about my unconcerned attitude towards the aforementioned dents. It turned out that I was grand and hadn’t suffered any damage.

The visit did at least give me the opportunity to share war stories with Lucy, my GP’s receptionist, about various knocks we’d both received on the playing field. She used to play hockey and had taken some nasty hits from a hockey ball a few times, and trust me those things are like rocks.

Neither of us however could claim an injury as unfortunately amusing as Anna who used to be in Commerce International with me. She got hit in the face with a hockey ball shortly before our exams in second year. The result was extensive bruising that covered around both eyes and her nose. Those of us who didn’t know she played hockey immediately thought she had been beaten up and she had to repeatedly tell people that she was not the victim of an attack.

Well that was all a bit of a tangent. Anyway as I was saying the real training is underway. I’ll keep you all informed of the early progress over the coming weeks.

Getting in shape and giving away prizes

2008-07-18T15:03:00.004+01:00

As the video shows I've a bit of catching up to do if I want to be in shape come November 2nd.

A much closer date to keep in your diaries is the 2nd of August. That's the day we announce who has won 2 tickets to the All Ireland Football Quarter Finals. The tickets are for the Premium section of the ground and are for a double-header on the 9th of August.

The big match tickets are part of the STIG for CF Ireland Prize Draw. Only 200 tickets are being sold in all at €25 each.

On top of the GAA tickets we're giving away a €250 voucher for Brown Thomas, a €200 voucher for Nue Blue Eriu, a signed Dublin Gaelic Football jersey, a signed Tipperary hurling jersey and a Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 red handset.

The main draw will take place in September but any tickets bought before the 2nd of August will also be entered into the draw for the Premium ticekts, giving you a chance to win on the double.

All the money raised will go towards our 2008 STIG for CF Ireland campaign.

Just another day

2008-07-16T11:53:00.010+01:00

“Life goes by pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

I can’t find an adjective. There is no simple way to describe it. In the 24 hours from 10pm on Monday through to the same time yesterday I did a whole lot of living and I nearly didn’t realise it. It’s not that it was wholly interesting, it wasn’t unless you lived it, it’s just that it’s the type of stuff you tend to not acknowledge.

I had to take an early night on Monday. Having just come home from a great night meeting Dundee United fans at the UCD game I needed some rest before my flight to London in the morning.

Unfortunately for me the garden next door had other plans. The rowdiness coming from Garret Fitzgerald’s backyard just wasn’t welcome. I always figured it would be the former Taoiseach that would take umbrage with my shenanigans some day. Instead there was a gang of young ladies in his garden shouting and chatting until well after midnight.

Yeah I sound like an old fogey but my alarm was set to go off at 3.45 am. This was the next part of the tale. It was the earliest I had been up in 7 years. That I even remember is odd but I remember why. It was the day I first moved to Aberdeen in 2001 and I had to get up early because there were huge delays in the airport due to the post 9/11 chaos.

It was that year in Aberdeen that led to my even caring about Dundee United visiting UCD on Monday but this story isn’t about Zen. It’s about noticing stuff.

You see I was up so early as I had to catch a flight to London where Lenovo had an event on. You might remember them as the company whose laptop I killed. Well the dude that gave the green light to that experiment was there and it’s fair to say it was a little frosty.

I was back in Dublin by 6.30pm and home by 7.10pm. It’s easy to forget that most people don’t travel as much as I do in my job but rather than think about that all I had in mind was dinner. So off we, at this stage Ciaran my flatmate was in tow, went to McSorley’s.

In my life I do a fair bit of flirting and eat a decent amount of soup. Neither of these points is surprising but it’s rare the two coincide. Yet here I was having some banter with an American barmaid because they were serving a concoction as odd as carrot and orange soup. The barmaid meanwhile turned out to be an ex PR person and I had spent the day largely in the presence of PR folk but to avoid me going off on another Zen tangent I want you to stop and think about this.

All these two foodstuffs, that’s orange and carrot for those that got distracted, have in common is colour but somehow it worked. I mean, how often does soup genuinely surprise you? I don’t get genuinely surprised by anything all that often so why not by soup I suppose.

And that’s how the story ends. With soup and a mixed view from Ellen the barmaid about my plans to grow a fro. In truth Ferris Bueller said all that I needed to say at the start of this post but I’m glad I said it anyway.

The Sunday Column – The drawbacks of success

2008-07-14T17:32:00.002+01:00

This coming Sunday I play what will be the most important game I’ve played since I took up American Football three years ago. It’s also the cause of a substantial obstacle to my marathon preparations.

While I am delighted to be on a team in the playoffs I have noticed the difference in my fitness over the past few weeks. I’m in optimum condition for football but that is not necessarily the best shape for running.

Last Saturday should have been the first preparatory race for the New York City Marathon, the Adidas 5-miler in the Phoenix Park. Due to the extension to the football season I had to give this a miss as I have with much of my running based training. I’ve bulked back up slightly, which is necessary for the upcoming game or games, but the challenge will be to drop this again after the season ends. There is an upside, strength-wise I’m doing fine and frankly don’t need to build up on the power front any more for the race. While crushing people generally isn’t an important part of marathon-running, this part of my preparations should still translate well on the stamina front when I start back running again. Still it will take my body a couple of weeks to adjust.

The knock on effect is that with a 10-miler ahead in August I’ll need to ramp up the early part of my resumption of training in order for this race to be of any real use.

Essentially the biggest drawback is that I have to shuffle matters around in order for the half marathon in the Phoenix Park in September to be at the point in preparations that I need it to be.

If I had the choice would I change any of this to be able to prepare earlier? Not a chance in hell. New York can wait; I have business in Cork to attend to first. The Admirals are my only priority for now.

Maynooth and Sligo students take eco-friendly approaches to driving

2008-07-07T21:26:00.004+01:00

I mentioned in the Sunday Column that I was in Paris for the Imagine Cup. The competition is basically the World Cup of Science and my video reports are now online so you can find out more about the great ideas these students have.

AcidRain from NUI Maynooth have developed an engine that runs on cooking oil. Yes it's been done before but this one is way more efficient. The lads find out tomorrow if they've won the World title.

Sligo IT's ParkIT meanwhile have developed software that informs drivers about the availability of parking spaces. The team hopes to bring the product to market next year.

The Sunday Column - Imagining victory

2008-07-05T18:44:00.005+01:00

The column that refuses to go up on its intended day arrives early for once this week.

I'm over in Paris this weekend to cover the Imagine Cup, essentially the World Student games of Innovation. I'm here with fellows hacks Marie Boran and Karlin Lillington.

The Irish sides competing have put in a good showing. Acid Rain from NUI Maynooth drove all the way here (well they went on a ferry as well) from Dublin in a cooking oil powered car. The Opel Astra used is demonstrating a new technology aimed at making it easier to use biofuels in cars. Despite being the only team to make the judges stand in the rain, the Maynooth boys did enough to progress to the final. They have a legit shot at the world title when the winner is announced on Tuesday.

Sadly there was disappointment for Sligo IT's Park it team. The students from the North West had designed software to aid people when looking for parking. Despite putting in a solid presentation, Sligo failed to make it through to the semi final.

Congratulations to both teams on making it to the final. As a cheesy tribute here's an aptly named ditty by Belouis Some. I opted against a certain John Lennon song as it's just too obvious.

The Sunday Column - A wonderful delay

2008-06-30T11:57:00.003+01:00

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

2008-06-23T10:24:00.004+01:00

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

2008-06-19T10:14:00.004+01:00

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

2008-06-17T20:31:00.004+01:00

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

2008-06-17T20:23:00.005+01:00

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

2008-06-08T21:53:00.007+01:00

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.