In our latest Hospital Pass, the former All-Star hurler who’s gone all Roy Chubby Brown, and more hurling humiliation for Laois.
Well, there’s women everywhere from Kiltimagh to Kilmacanogue tutting and blessing themselves anxiously after reading Ollie Canning’s comments in the Star this morning.
The Galway great gave a taster of the, eh, banter he likely engaged in during his on-field career with a passionate and, yes, potty-mouthed defence of his lil bro Joe and the rest of the Tribesmen.
John McIntyre’s men were embarrassed by Dublin last weekend, managing to average one paltry point every ten minutes in their Leinster championship defeat to upstarts Dublin.
The performance prompted what a lazier hack might call “a barrage of criticism”, with calls for McIntyre’s head (or failing that, his resignation) dominating RTE’s Take Your Rant phone-in on Sunday evening.
And Ollie might not have been impressed by Galway’s display, but he wasn’t impressed by the critics either. “I’ve heard stories this week which are complete bull****. That’s life and that’s what some people like to do. There are lots of stories out there now. I can guarantee you 90 per cent of them are complete crap.
“People will say they’ve never seen Joe hit as many wides and that is true, but he just needs to get back at it [but] sometimes s**t just happens. Joe needs to get on with it and get back training this week. Dwelling on it is not going to do anyone good.”
Laois and hurling humiliation – the perfect match
Meanwhile, the hurling community of Laois, trying to get back on its feet having been kicked in the stones last weekend, was unfortunately kneed in the back of the head on Wednesday night.
Having watched the seniors ship an incredible and perfectly symmetrical 10-20 against Cork last weekend, the county’s U21s agonisingly failed to go one better in their Leinster semi-final at Wexford Park.
Try as they might, they just failed to eclipse the record, with the final whistle sounding with Wexford’s tally reading a mere 7-18.
One nice little side-effect of the hurlers’ struggles is that it’s taken the spotlight off the failings of the county footballers. Never fear, though – they get the chance to restore the balance on Saturday night, when they fall victim to the shock of the first weekend of the qualifiers against Tipperary.
