Carrzone: Generations of misery end for people of Westmeath
Westmeath's Championship defeat of Meath was a historic first. The fact that they came from being nine points down to win by a goal and a point made for a thrilling match that still has all who saw the match buzzing.
Knowing the determination of this Westmeath panel, I predicted in The Herald on Friday: "Meath will endure an onslaught from Westmeath."
But a win was so contrary to the weight of history that I half-expected Meath to stick with tradition and grab a late winning goal. Allowing the evidence of statistics to overrule my gut feeling I added, "Intuition tells you that, once there's an umpire with a green flag, Meath can't be written off."
The irony is that if Meath had settled for a point in some of their late scoring chances instead of over-elaborating, and taking foolhardy options, they could have closed out the game. Another cautionary caveat I sounded on Friday rang true. "
Meath will need to be wary of the influential John Heslin." The St Loman's man's coup de grace ended years of Westmeath grief.
Djokovic gets away from Becker in Buddhist temple
As Wimbledon officials prepare to dish out fines to players heard swearing on court, it's unlikely that they'll have any problem with defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Having already shrugged off accusations that he receives advice illegally from his coaching team during matches, the exasperated Serbian has revealed that, while at Wimbledon, he visits a Buddhist temple where he relaxes and meditates in peaceful surroundings.
With a third Wimbledon title his target, the monks at the nearby Buddhapadipa Temple can expect a few visits from the World No. 1 even if it's just to escape the pressures of scrutiny inadvertently piled on the player by the revelations of his head coach Boris Becker who rashly revealed: "There are special ways of communication.
Closed cockpits for F1?
The Austrian Grand Prix 100miles per hour prang that saw Fernando Alonso's McLaren end up on top of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, almost decapitating the Finnish driver, has added urgency to the debate for improved driver protection with the possibility of closed cockpits being considered.