Best Roadhouse This Side of Austin - Irish American News

28 IRISH AMERICAN NEWS June 2008Sporting LogSean Og. O CeallachainManagers of present day GAA teams areunder fierce pressure to capture titles or trophieswhich will sit on the sideboard when the year isover. Every time a manager puts a team on thefield he is expected to field a winning team, andif not, he is in trouble. The position is worseat inter-county level, where the demands aregreater on managers. The successful team officialis the one who coaches the best players andhe is rewarded every time his players compete against topopposition. Recently John Maughan stepped down from hismanager’s job with Roscommon footballers simply becausea section of the team followers began to abuse him from thesidelines and throw bottles at him. The reason? Roscommonwere losing matches because the players were not putting inthe effort. That was just one example. Another reason wassome players did not turn up for training for frivolous reasons.Roscommon had a disastrous League run which ended up withthe county being demoted to a lower division. To be fair toJohn Maughan, he took on a very onerous job. Some of theolder players decided to call it a day and a number of youngplayers were added to the panel. It takes time and patienceto groom a team for the hard grind of inter-county football.Obviously a number of Roscommon followers were lookingfor instant success and when that wasn’t forthcoming theylaid the blame on the manager.Berating a manager from the sideline is no way to treata team official who is only doing his best with the talent athis disposal. When Maughan decided to step down he didso with great regret and a number of the players vented theiranger at the small band of supporters who had made JohnMaughan’s job untenable. It saddens me to see a great coachsuch as John Maughan, forced out of the position he enjoyedby individuals who should have known better. The RoscommonCounty Board engaged former star Paul Earley as temporarymanager until a new coach is appointed. It is never easy tocome up with an official who will satisfy everyone. Let’s hopeRoscommon will succeed in their quest and quickly. StandbyPaul Earley whose older brother, Dermot, played for Roscommonfor 15 years and later as manager, paid a warm tributeto John Maughan and his co-selectors Eamon McManus andGerry Fitzmaurice,Banned Dublin statistician Ray Boyne will be free to attendas many games as he likes during the course of his 16 weekssuspension. The GAA Central Competition Controls Committee(CCCC) made that clear when confirming that Boyne,who head-butted Monaghan’s Tommy Freeman at the recentDublin-Monaghan NFL match at Parnell Park, had indicatedthat he would not be appealing the ban. The suspension meansthat Boyne cannot have any roles with the Dublin team.Henry Coyle after his TKO of Ben Aragon in3rd round on May 9, 20088th Annual Irish Immigration Golf OpenChicago Irish Immigrant Support (a non-profit organizationproviding much needed support to Irish immigrants in Chicagoand beyond) is hosting their 8th annual Golf tournament on June16th at St. Andrew’s Golf and Country Club, 3 N441 Route 59in West Chicago (1/4 mile N. of North Ave. on Route 59). Firsttee will be at 9am with dinner and prizes awarded at 6pm.The entry fee is $100 per person, proceeds of which willhelp keep the center’s doors open. This year’s outing promisesto be an exciting event. Prizes will be awarded for lowest gross,lowest net, nearest the pin and longest drive. There will be a$10,000.00 prize for a hole in one at a designated par 3.To help support or attend this event irishoverhere@sbcglobal.net or call Fr. Michael Leonard, Director (773-677-5341).