Mine's a McGuinness

Gerrard and Rafael traded blows earlier in the day but it was Murphy who produced the real moment to remember, a blow of his own, a killer blow to the men from the west, not his first and certainly not his last. After gathering a long ball, yes a long ball, from Lacey and easily shrugging off the challenge of Keane, the only man to mimic Molloy smashed the ball past motionless Clarke. No need for formalities here. Surnames will do. Here's another. McGuinness. 

I was just a teenager when Molloy walked up the steps of the Hogan for the first time. Dublin hadn't been football's top dogs for nearly a decade but hunger is a great sauce and McEniff's men were not to be denied their first moment in the sun. Yesterday, they repeated the trick. The link? McGuinness. 

It came and went 'the promised land'

In last Friday's Evening Herald, Liam Hayes, who the author Kevin Doyle referred to as 'once a giant of Meath football', is quoted as saying that Dublin are heading for a 'bad ending' and that their manager Pat Gilroy 'had gone soft' and 'finished his job a year early'. 

Hayes has never been backward about coming forward and is known in media circles for being controversial for the sake of being controversial. However, on the first Sunday in September his premonition came to pass, and how. The 'bad ending' materialised, Dublin's limitations were alarmingly exposed and Gilroy's men had a 'job' done on them - by Mayo, again.

Tip your hat to the man from the top of the road

The much-hyped London Olympics is nearly upon us and the man on which most of the media attention will be focused is confident he can live up to his billing. 'The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt' is how Wikipedia title him. To us mere mortals he's just plain old Usain Bolt. From humble beginnings in Kingston, Bolt is, as we speak, a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medallist and without question the man to beat over the shorter distances at major championships. 

Bolt's done it all in his chosen field to date but there's more to come surely?!? 'If I'm in great shape nobody will beat me in London', the 25-year-old, in typically confident mood, proclaimed recently. Records are sure to fall, Bolt will seriously threaten a number of them, perhaps shatter them. However, there's one record Bolt is unaware of, a record that will be broken by a man, far from the glitz and glam of Stratford. That record will be broken where glitz and glam are in short supply, the Gaelic Grounds on the road out of Limerick city, heading for Ennis.

'I suppose' it WAS 'unbelievable'

We all go through the day talking, never paying much attention to what we're saying or how we're saying it. Thoughts come into our heads and we articulate them as best we can. We hope that people understand us and that we've gotten our point across. I'm sure I overuse words and phrases but I don't know if 'I suppose' is one of them. 'I suppose'. What does it mean? Seemingly it means I guess or I think. The problem is that using it indicates you don't actually know. The phrase is endemic in the GAA. Why don't GAA folk actually know?

They do know. They've just gotten lazy. Players, who appear to be afraid to give too much away, use 'I suppose' all the time. Managers are not averse to throwing in an 'I suppose' here and there. Funnily enough supporters seem to be able to steer clear of it. Supporters don't think before they speak. They just speak. Tell it as it is. It's refreshing.

He could go out on top with Tipp

Mick O'Dwyer has yet to decide whether his services will be on offer for the 2012 season. The Waterville legend's five-year stint with Wicklow ended on Saturday night in Aughrim. He had brought them as far as he could.

'I'd like to think my involvement in the game is not over yet,' is how the sprightly 75-year-old responded to queries about his future in football following the defeat to Armagh. So there is hope? Someone could avail of his services? What county would benefit most? And why can't 'Micko' walk away?

Galvin just can't help himself

Scores are what some players are all about. For others, tight marking is their bread and butter. High fielding is the speciality of a select few. Then there's Paul Galvin. Lamentably, the Kerry forward is becoming a one-trick pony. That trick is being sent-off.

There was plenty of hype surrounding the Munster SFC semi-final replay at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening. Cork looked the part in the Fitzgerald Stadium sunshine for most of the opening game. However, in the end they were hanging on despite the fact Bryan Sheehan levelled the game with seconds to go.