I read on the front page of this morning’s Irish Examiner of Tony Kelly who visited Muhammad Ali on his 72nd birthday last week.

It reminded me of the sculpted plaque that I spotted in Ennis some time back.

It brought back memories when growing up of days before Pay-Per-View or even Satellite Sports Channels on subscription; days when allowed to stay up late to watch world title boxing fights; days when there appeared to be only one world boxing champion.

Unfortunately that is the end of my opting-out for the day – reality beckons.

As regularly quoted – Not all progress is good. If I only knew then what I know now……..

No – not a reference to the Edinburgh match at Thomond later today.

I spotted this van in Cork a while ago and was amazed at the brand logo.

To me it did appear to step beyond the bounds of support and likeness into the realms of copying – but I am so far from a marketing and image guru that you might be better ignoring my view and decide yourself.

It is close to twenty years since I would have been to the Temple Inn in Ballintemple – with R.D. and some other bridge heads. They used to call it Longboats which did puzzle me somewhat. When I did question the title, I was told, ‘It was always called that’, and then a round was called.

While travelling to Macroom some weeks ago, I spotted a plaque on the wall of the Ovens Bar and stopped to investigate.

This could be argued to be another case of ‘paper never refusing ink’ or even ‘stone never refusing engraving’.

 So many unanswered questions:
 -         Why are  the winners not recorded?
 -         What makes this game so noteworthy, and so much more important that all others, to  warrant recording in stone?
 -         Why is this activity of the bishop more deserving of recognition that his other activities?

I spotted some street art recently that differed from the norm.

This is the first version of street art or graffiti that I can recall that is actually a game. I have passed by a few times since but have yet to see anyone availing of the art and throwing or kicking at the target.

I was in Mallow recently and a few thoughts came to mind when I
spotted the plaque:
-          If the site is redeveloped, and it is not a hotel, will the wording on the plaque need to change similar to Examiner building.
 -        The large screen printed signs are a lasting memory to the Celtic Tiger years – hiding buildings that have fallen into dereliction. I suspect that they will be around for some years to come.
 -          The  historic link was insufficient to protect the enterprise from the changing public expectation of hotels.

My niece provided this to add some balance to the sporting day – taken outside a butcher in Ennis.

Spotted this on a junction onto the Cork – Mallow Road and thought it appropriate for a blog entry on the day that is in it.

In May, Munster announced a sponsorship agreement with Bank of Ireland with regard to jerseys from the start of the 2013-14  season.

Tonight’s match is the first match that Peter O’Mahony will play for Munster in the Bank of Ireland jersey. Conor Murray has yet to make an appearance for Munster in a match this season in the new jersey.

The last time Munster played Leinster was on 13th April – when Munster wore Toyota  jerseys. 

If the event in the photograph actually took place at that match or even if the impression to be conveyed is that it was, it does raise some concern as to the truthfulness of the Irish Independent. 
 
I understand that the middle Munster player is C J Stander who has not played against Leinster in a Munster jersey for the first team. He did play for Munster A in a Toyota jersey against Leinster A on 12 March, 2013 but the others in the photograph did not play in that match.

Ian Madigan, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray, the other three in the photograph,did play in the match on 13th
April.

So it is very possible that the event portrayed did not happen and is an act of fiction created by Photoshop.

To replace the rugby ball with a bunch of papers is one act of distorting the truth. To change the jerseys, to me, is an insult to Toyota who paid Munster for the privilege of branding the jerseys at the time.

More concerning though, it is a distortion of the truth. I would have thought that a newspaper such as the Irish Independent would like to be known for disseminating fact and not  fiction.

We were out for a walk this morning and I noted some supporting signs, flags and bunting for the match this afternoon.


 The Maple Leaf in Blackrock appears to be really getting behind Cork by extending the rebellious streak to their spelling.

This afternoon, we attended the Under-16 B All-Ireland Camogie final in Mallow – to support  our neighbours’ daughter.

 The President of the Camogie Association was out of the country so another official deputised in the presentation of the cup. I did not manage to get a programme so do not know the name of the official.

 Rachel Harty won the player of the match award. My vote at the final whistle would have gone to Ellen Twomey.

 However, my vote for the most telling contribution of the day goes to the Camogie Association official who made the presentation who was willing to tell the truth.

 From the podium, which served to make his comments more earnest  and telling, he was correct in saying that the match was very exciting and
skilful but that there were incidents which were unacceptable on any field of play.

 I wish him well in his attempts to curtail incidents of assault. For the sake of my seven year old, just starting to play Camogie, I sincerely wish him well.

The photograph above was in the Irish Examiner earlier this week in a feature on the birth of Jack Doyle. Seemingly, there are a number of events planned in Cobh this weekend.

Stunning to see that many people so interested in the result of a boxing fight. In this wireless age of immediate connectivity, it is a reminder as to the speed of news in a previous age.

 I was particularly interested in the business names from 1932. The Efficient Engineering Company could claim to be seventy years ahead of the market.  The Cork Examiner – both name and lettering – would be familiar.

 I thought that the London & Newcastle Tea Co. was completely new to  me but it appears that the name was shortened to L& N which was taken over by Musgraves in 1995 and transferred to Supervalu Brand. The Supervalu shops in Youghal and Ballincollig are still referred to as L & N by some.