Folks,
98FM's weekly sports show "Now That's What I Call Sport" airs every Sunday morning from 9-10am.
Presented by myself Johnny Lyons, this week's show is broadcast on Sunday February 9th and features the following guests :
1. Paul Bealin -
Now what kinda guy drives all the way from his home in Wexford at the crack of dawn to get to work on time in Dublin then motors in the evening to Westmeath virtually every day of the week and then faces into another hour plus drive at the dead of night back to his leaba?
Yep it's the commutes of your average GAA inter county manager.
Just like sports journalists, GAA managers don't have a job - they have a lifestyle!
But Bealo's no ordinary guy.
He was a marvellous roving midfielder in the great Dubs teams of the '90's and eventually his excellence was rewarded with an All Ireland winners' medal in 1995.
These days Paul's the bainisteoir of Westmeath.
They haven't been the happiest of campers since the dark days of '09 after which they suffered two National League relegations in as many years and, at one time managed to lose 14 games in a row.
But they're comin' on in leaps and bounds under Bealo and - who knows - might even beat the Dubs in Mullingar on Sunday !
Paul's also an advocate of the health screening process after one of his players Lorcan Smyth was found to have a minor heart abnormality which has just been sorted.
To the heart of darkness wee shall venture on Sunday !
2. Paddy McCarthy -
Some of you will be familiar with the Man U midfielder Darren Fletcher's absence from the game cos of ulcerative colitis.
Well, Paddy's the Irish version albeit with a different affliction.
The Dubliner was skipper of Crystal Palace going into their promotion winning season of 2012-13 in the Championship.
But disaster struck for the helpless Paddy when a routine injection into his groin in pre season caused a multitude of horrible side effects which saw him out of the game until last month.
The injection caused a reaction which saw his pubic bone area flare up and left the teak tough centre half virtually bed bound for a few months, wasting away, in and out of hospitals and specialists' waiting rooms and no wiser as to what the source of the problem was.
Eventually he found a Belgian doc (trivia fans - the same doc who operated on Liverpool's Stevie G) who got to the root of the problem, had him operated on in December 2012 and from then on it's been the slow route to recovery.
Delighted to say the dark days dissipated just last month when Paddy - still the club captain and that tells you what Palace think of him - wore the captain's armband as he played the 90 against Wigan in the FA Cup and then made his Premier League debut coming on as a sub in the win against Hull City.
Who knows, mebbe Martin O'Neill or Roy Keane will take a look at him in action soon.
3. Keith Wood -
Our resident Six Nations expert Woody looks back on Ireland's first real test of this year's Championship, against the Welsh at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Hopefully it'll be two wins out of two!
4. Leopardstown Gold Cup -
It's a giant day at Leopardstown this Sunday with the Hennessy Gold Cup taking place.
98 Horse Racing Correspondent Denis Kirwan has his usual comprehensive preview including an interview with Davy Russell.
Competition :
Another Six Nations Ireland jersey to give away with thanks to Elverys Sports.
Thanks,
Johnny.
