IrishBeat.com

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was walking on the side
 of the road hitchhiking on a dark and stormy night. The rain and fog
 was so severe he could only see a few feet ahead of him. There were
 no cars in sight and John was beginning to panic.

 Suddenly, he saw headlights approaching. The car was traveling very
 slowly and came to a stop in front of him. Desperate for shelter and
 without thinking about it, John got into the car and closed the door.

 Only then did he realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the
 engine wasn’t running. The car started moving forward slowly. John
 looked at the road ahead and knew the car was approaching a sharp
 curve. Scared that the car would go over the embankment, John
 started to pray for his life.

 Just before the car hit the curve a hand appeared through the
 driver’s side window and turned the wheel. John was paralyzed with
 fear and terror as he watched the hand repeatedly come through the
 window though it never touched or harmed him.

 Shortly thereafter, John saw the lights of a pub ahead. Gathering
 all his strength, he opened the car door, jumped out, and ran
 towards the pub. Soaking wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and
 started telling everyone about the horrible experience he just had.
 A silence enveloped the pub when everyone realized he was
 crying……and wasn’t drunk.

 Suddenly, the pub door opened and two men walked in to escape the
 stormy night. They, like John, were soaking wet and out of breath.
 Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one
 said to the other, ‘Look Paddy, there’s that fooking idiot that got
 in our car while we were pushin it.’

With all this recent commentary about the state of affairs in our economy, I couldn’t help but wonder what Christmas would be like if we had stayed with the traditions of 50, 75, or 100 years ago. I’m not old enough to have experienced a Christmas then, but in what I can see from the media, it seems like Christmas sure was simpler and more focussed on religious and family traditions. Maybe there were a couple gifts, but not this orgy of packages under the tree. Sounds kinda nice.

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Pile o crap

With the economy in the state it’s in, it feels like we’re having Christmas shoved down our throats more than ever by the corporate greedy. The advertisers are playing into our attraction for a good bargain and selling us more crap that we really don’t need. I think it’s a good pill for the economy to take if, as Americans and consumers in general, we can learn to settle back into a simpler lifestyle, enjoy Christmas and the holidays for what they are and stop spending more than we have and buying more than what we need.  And maybe we might even be able to balance our own budgets.

I want to take just a few moments to point out a few problems with the athletics programs involving the Irish. And also acknowledge a few Athletes that excelled in this years games, since their sport was not given a great deal of air time.

Since the acknowledgment of these great athletes is more important than my rantings I will do it first. Ireland had three Olympic Athletes that medaled; all three in boxing. Imagine that an Irishman that can fight.

 silver

K. Egan

Light Heavyweight (75-81kg) (Men)

 bronze

P. Barnes

Light Flyweight (48kg) (Men)

 bronze

D. Sutherland

Middleweight (69-75kg) (Men)

Way to kick some butt!

My Complaints………

1. The Irish Olympic Committee has been very active in trying to identify athletic talent, cultivate and train this talent and provide them the financial means they need to focus on training. They have been very active in doing so since 2006! What t. h. Since 2006, where have they been for the last 15 summer Olympics?

2. Should Ireland not be given credit for the medals it won for England, prior to the 1954 games? I would say the same for the former countries of the Soviet Union.