98FM's weekly sports show "Now That's What I Call Sport" airs every Sunday morning from 9-10am.
Johnny's still doing the samba in Brazil so Stephen Doyle here filling in for this week's show on Sunday July 20th, which features the following guests :
Jim Gavin - it's all being going swimmingly for the Dublin boss as he continues the defence of the Leinster and All-Ireland titles that the Boys in Blue claimed last year. After many barren years in the late 90s the Dubs have won 9 Leinster titles since the turn of the millenium and on Sunday they'll be gunning for four-in-a-row against the auld enemy, Meath! I caught up with Jim ahead of this Sunday's final and asked him what he's made of the Royals so far this year and if he's been picking up any coaching tips, watching what was an epic World Cup!
Kevin McManamon - one of my favourite current players whose low centre of gravity and super pace would remind you of Hill 16 favourite Dessie Farrell. Sadly Kev has been lumbered with the supersub tag over the years although this year he's fought his way into Gavin's starting team. The forward was the top scoring Dub in this year's league campaign and at last got a Champo start against Wexford last time out. Kev is one of the best lads on the team for a chinwag about all things GAA and that's exactly what we did in the build up to the Royal Rumble.
Paul Griffin (pictured above) - A superb player whose career was cut short by injury. Paul was skipper of the Dubs until he sustained a bad cruciate injury in 2010 which he sadly never recovered enough for him to wear the blue shirt again. A defender who was an integral part of the Dubs team that collected several Leinster titles in the '00's. Paul collected 5 himself and was on the panel that won Sam in 2011. The Kilmacud Crokes man also won 4 Dublin titles, 3 Leinster titles and the All-Ireland club title with that unstoppable Crokes team in 2008.
Graham Geraghty - the man Dubs love to hate! I have to admit, as a youngster on the Hill back in the 90s I did plenty of shouting at this Meath legend. As I got older (not necessarily more mature) I grew to appreciate the super talents of the great Seneschalstown club man. Graham was one of those lads that us limited sportsmen were very envious of...he could turn his hand to any sport. He had trials with Arsenal, played soccer with Drogheda United, rugby with Bucaneers and was decent at athletics as well. However it was on the GAA pitch where Graham shone winning 2 All-Ireland titles, 3 Leinster titles and 2 All Stars. Geraghty loved getting stuck into the Dubs as a player so lets see if he'll do just that this Sunday morning.
Liam Buckley - What a summer it's been for League of Ireland teams in Europe!! Sligo Rovers went to the great Rosenborg and nabbed a win while league champs St. Pats went to Polish side Legia Warsaw and drew a match they should have won. That's saying something when you consider there was 9 Polish internationals starting for the opposition! The Super Saints led for most of the match and conceded agonisingly in injury time. They still have a precious away goal and will take great confidence from what was an excellent performance in the first leg. The second leg will be in Tallaght Stadium on Wednesday and there is a serious prize on offer if they can progress...a possible 3rd round match against Celtic! I'll be speaking to Saints manager Liam Buckley about what he has planned for our Polish guests.
Conor McGregor - We're the only station in town covering what is one of the fastest growing sports in the world! The Premier League of Mixed Martial Arts, the UFC, is in Dublin on Saturday night and Phil Egan is going down to bash a few heads. If he gets out alive we should hopefully hear from a victorious Conor McGregor after his big fight at the O2.
Competition: 2 x pairs of tickets for this Sunday's Leinster Football Final between Dublin and Meath.
