It’s an all-Leinster bias in today’s Hospital Pass as we brush over the coals of an unseemly row involving just one real person and consider more trouble brewing in Meath.
Dastardly fake tweeters. Colm Parkinson, the legendary former Laois player turned outspoken Newstalk and RTÉ pundit, found himself outwitted on Twitter – out-twitted, in other words – by Wicklow midfielder James Stafford.
Or as Woolly found out over time, someone masquerading as Wicklow midfielder James Stafford.
Parkinson was a player so versatile in his heyday that he could play anywhere – in the backs, in the forwards, in Laois and in Dublin.
So he knows versatility when he sees it. And he doesn’t see it in Stafford, labelling him a “one-trick pony” during analysis of Meath’s win over Wicklow on Sunday.
That prompted a foul-mouthed Twitter outburst from a fake Twitter account purporting to be Stafford, and Parkinson certainly isn’t impressed by hoax Twitter accounts. At least those that aren’t funny:
Trouble a-brew in Meath
Meath might have breathed a sigh of relief after quelling the uprising of Wicklow at the weekend but the panel have hardly turned their gaze on Carlow before another setback has hit the camp.
The Royals have had a troubling time of it so far in 2012, suffering a relegation to Division 3 of the National League that was as humiliating as it was reflective of their current status before the crazy debacle of the Banty-Boylan-Barney politicking triumvirate.
After all that drama things looked a lot rosier on Sunday as they ran out convincing winners over the Division 4 champions, with Joe Sheridan back in situ and Graham Reilly firing point after brilliant point from an unusual deep midfield role.
Less than 48 hours on, however, and there’s the news that Caoimhin King, among the longest serving members of the current Meath panel, has decided to drop himself off Seamus McEnaney’s panel with immediate effect.
King, a regular at wing back in the past, found himself overlooked in favour of Donnacha Tobin and Seamus Kenny for those positions on Sunday, and his true position in the pecking order was apparent when Banty turned to Donal Keoghan after Kenny was forced off through injury.
As summers go, one spent doing lots of running during the week and lots of sitting down at the weekend clearly isn’t an appetising one.
Especially when you’re a King from the Royal County.
