Andrew Trimble's Ronny Rosenthal Moment

Sean Avery meet Paul Galvin

Meet Sean Avery Ice hockey player and sporting soul mate of Paul Galvin. You see although the connection between the Kerry man and the New York Ranger’s left wing may not appear obvious at first when you look more closely the two men you will find that they are in fact are mirror images of each other.

Both are highly skilled at their respective sports, both are magnets for controversy and are unafraid to engage in the more physical side of their sport be it legal or illegal. However while they may not share the same allegedly surly disposition towards mimics who parody them or accusing fellow members of the Ice Hockey brotherhood who are dating an ex girlfriend of enjoying their “Sloppy Seconds”.

  What really seals this connection is both men’s love of fashion. While Galvin toils away through mountains of thread and sea of sowing machines, Avery is already strutting his stuff on the catwalks of New York.

One can only hope that faith or perhaps the next time the GAA Football All Stars play in New York that Galvin and Avery can get together and exchange ideas on the growing Fashion trends and the best ways to annoy opponents.

Monday Night Football LIVE!!!

Due to a combination of insomnia and boredom I have decided to break out the first of what is hopefully a series of live blogs covering the last six weeks of the NFL season. Due to my unemployed status although I do prefer the term work challenged, I do not have to deal with trivial matters such as getting up before lunch time making this goal achievable. We kick things off with a match between the 6-4 New York Football Giants against the 7-3 New Orleans Saints or as ESPN will make it Eli Manning against the team his dad used to quarterback for. If you are looking for a quick way to get drunken just down a beer every time the show/mention Archie Manning, I promise you will have nice buzz going before the coin hits the ground during the Coin Flip.


I hate Chris Berman there I said it no doubt it will hurt my chances to one day work at ESPN but Berman only found out recently what the internet was wait till he discovers these new fangled devices called mobile phones a phone that allows you to make calls without a phone line genius.

Archie Manning is in the intro see I was right the first of a million Archie shots and if you are playing along at home the first of your many shots.

Do you think John Gruden practices his snarl? I have this imagine of Gruden grun in a mirror so he can get the muscles in his face lose for his snarl.

We just got a look inside the Saints Hotel from last night going over the game plan a fascinating look at the symmetry between Brees and Payton. I mean I think they were going over the plays that or ordering lunch in double Dutch.

From what I can gather the Giants better look out for the sticky dragon. Not Barney or Puff but Sticky.

The first series of the game sees the Saints go marching down the field ends up with a failed fake field goal attempt on the Giants ten yard line gutsy call from Payton but as Gruden noted The New Orleans coach is “up and atom” the Giants from the off.

Giants take over and Archie, sorry Eli Manning looks sharp. Hard to tell which Manning is playing judging by the Trico and co’s call.

INTERCEPTION!!! Eli just under cooked his throw to Tight End, Jake Ballard and the ball was picked off by the Saints in the end zone. Nearly a touchdown for the Giants but then again if my Auntie had balls she would be my Uncle C’est la vie.

End of 1st Quarter Giants 0-0 Saints Sporles’s electrifying running has Saints knocking on the door. Sporles is everything the Saints thought they were going to get when they drafted Reggie Bush. An elusive runner and dual threat in running and pass game.

TOUCHDOWN! Lance Moore, with the catch to give the Saints a lead. New Orleans Attacking weapons are like a human bat belt an answer for every question posed by opposing enemies.

Just Realised next Monday Night’s game is Jags v Chargers; this may be the first and last live Blog.

FIELD GOAL! Giants put together another nice drive but like a groom who gets too drunken and passes out on his wedding night, fail to seal the deal and have to settle for a field goal. 7-3 Saints

Dubious roughing the passer call on the Saints, it seems touching the quarterback at times is deemed illegal by umpires.

Eli starting to look frustrated, first hint of the Eli face after back to back three and outs.

ESPN are now playing the type of music usually saved for Award Show Tributes to those who have recently passed away, over pictures of Sean Payton tearing his ACL and MCL. RIP Sean Payton’s ACL and MCL.

TOUCHDOWN! Jimmy Graham obviously inspired by ESPN’s touching tribute to his Coaches long gone knee ligaments scores a touchdown to extend the Saints lead. Caught a slant pass from Brees. At 6’6 Jimmy Graham is a tough match up for defensive backs, part of a new class of tight end along with Gronk in New England who could redefine the position.

TOUCHDOWN! Saints, Lance Moore scores again as Brees puts on a master class with his accurate passes slicing and dicing the Giants defence with surgical precision, Saints on a roll Giants need the next score and quick to stay in this thing as the Saints look like they can score at will.

Lawrence Tynes misses a 61 yard field goal shot to nothing to bring the first half to a close. Giants defence needs to step up and get pressure on Brees. The saint’s quarterback has all kinds of time in the pocket and is punishing the Giants.

Second Half Kicks off and away we go with the Giants getting the ball first in a crucial set of downs. Isa Abdul Osaba just laid out Hakeem Hicks earning himself the adulation of the crowd, a penalty for his team and a hefty fine from the Commish in the process.

Mike Trico just pointed out the Giants like to call the Red Zone the Green Zone. Not because they are environmentally friendly no my friends the reason been green means go you see. Tom Coughlin a rebel.

TOUCHDOWN! Giants Brandon Jacobs rumbles in from two yards out to make 21-10 Saints.

BREAKING NEWS Gruden announces to the world that Sean Payton likes to stimulate Drew Brees, I knew they had a close relationship but I didn’t fully realise how close till now...



TOUCHDOWN Drew Brees unreal shows great mobility to run in for a touchdown .Used his Legs to keep the drive alive also earlier in the series. The more I see this Saints offense the more I think they could give the Packers some real problems if they were to meet in the playoffs. Would have no problems exchanging scores with the defending super bowl champs and Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams a mad Scientist of defensive schemes could stifle Aaron Rodgers just long enough for the Saints to sneak the win.

FUMBLE! Saints recover a fumble from the Giants and have a chance to stick a dagger in the men from New York on this Drive.

TOUCHDOWN! Dagger delivered! Brees finds Jimmy Graham deep down the field. Graham then shows balance like a tight rope walker as he tip toes his way in from 5 yards out. 35- 10 Saints big Statement game here from Saints. Giants need a strong finish or I fear a late season swoon could be on the cards.

Giant mess two near fumbles. Saints dialling it up!

I have no idea what Steve Weatherford was thinking there I don’t think he knows what he was thinking The punter decides to run on his own, would not be surprised if he is cut by Coughlin tomorrow.

TOUCHDOWN! Giants just as I was about to go to bed Eli finds Victor Cruz with a bomb to make it 35-17 Saints. Blown Coverage by the Saints, getting blitz happy and leaving huge hole in the backend for an easy catch and run.

Payback Jimmy Graham just took a vicious hit from Kenny Philips. Bent Backwards on the ground a head to head hit by Philips possible revenge for the Saints hit on Hakeem Hicks.

TOUCHDOWN! Thomas easy run in Giants look like they have quiet in this game and Saint all too easy touchdown and a 42-17 lead.

Don’t like what I am seeing from the Giants tonight the score and their inability to rush the passer or catch the ball are one thing but they look like they have giving up this could turn bowling shoe ugly in a hurry.

The Giants have quit and so will I with ten mins left in the fourth quarter the game is a done deal I terms of been competitive, only question now is how larger the winning margin will be for the Saints

One last shot of Archie before I go to bed. Drink Up

The Comeback Kid

After ten long agonising months, paced by false starts and a lost season Sid the Kid is back. Sidney Crosby, the Captain and star centre for the Pittsburgh Penguins, finally got back to doing what he does best when he skated on to the ice of the Consol energy Centre in Pittsburgh Monday night to rapturous applause and audible sighs of relief from the penguins faithful, who gathered to see their hero make his long awaited return.

Sidney Crosby is a hockey superstar and a Canadian icon. At twenty four years of age Crosby’s list of achievements is inscribed with every major individual and team honour in the game. Destined for greatness from a young age Crosby was shooting pucks at the age of two clanging shot after shot off his family’s washing machine down in the basement and skating by age three. By seven he was giving his first media interviews as the buzz about the young hockey prodigal began to spread around Canada. The hype was justified as Crosby would go on to dominate every level of amateur hockey he played. His play was so outstanding that he was capped for Canada at the age of sixteen at the World Junior Championships.

“The Great one” himself Wayne Gretzky, singled out Crosby as the man to one day best his records. Gretzky was quoted as saying he hadn’t seen a player so talented since the emergence of Hall a famer Mario Lemieux. It was to no one’s surprise than that Lemieux himself drafted Crosby with the 1st pick in the 2005 NHL Draft.

In his first season wearing the black, gold and white of Pittsburgh Crosby set franchise records for a rookie in assist and points. His encore was even better leading the NHL in scoring and been handed the captaincy of the Penguins all at the tender age of nineteen. Two years Later, Crosby would lead his Team to a Stanley Cup Victory against the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings in Seven Games. Making him the youngest winning Stanley cup captain in the history of the NHL. Indeed it was a puck that flew off his stick past USA Goaltender Ryan Miller that won Canada Olympic gold in 2010.

However While Crosby’s past is the stuff of fairytales modern day times for Sid the kid have been nothing short of a hazy concussion induced nightmare. Up until Monday’s game Crosby had not graced the ice with his once in a generation talent since a game on January 5th. In that Contest Crosby suffered a concussion following an innocuous looking hit from Tampa Bay Lighting, Player, Victor Hedman, A hit that trigged an anything but innocuous aftermath for Crosby.

Initial ruled day to day Crosby struggled to recover from what was diagnosed as concussion like symptoms. These symptoms derailed numerous attempts by Sidney to get back on the ice, the closet coming in late March when he was cleared by doctors to resume practice with his teammates only for it to be abandoned after Crosby later admitted he had suffered a setback. With his health as tightly a guarded secret as that of a matter national security the rumour mill ran rife that Sid the kid was going to retire at the age of twenty four.

Crosby came out and vehemently denied these rumours, but yet with his team doctors unable to commit to anything more that an broad indefinite absence prognosis for Crosby many wonder would he ever step on the ice again and if so would he ever be the same dynamic player that had an ability to leave opposing defenders chasing his shadow and goaltenders quaking in their pads as Crosby bore down on goal.

On Monday Night after ten months spent in Hockey purgatory ten months of CT scans and hospital visits, ten months of nausea, ten months of the bright lights that once adored him now causing dizziness, ten months of self doubt and determination and ten months of listening to pundits and fans alike question would he ever return Crosby had a chance to answer those questions.

A return that was greeted with giddy anticipation. Imagine the Obama and the Queen visits combined with another great Canadian, Michael Buble turning on the Christmas lights rolled into one and multiplied tenfold. Crosby showed that while others who had suffered similar absences in sports might be rusty his talent and skills are so sharp that his prolonged abscence could not dull them. A breathtaking two goal and one assist return performance that showed everyone that the comeback kid was still Sid the Kid.

Heineken Hangover Week one

As we wrap up the first weekend of this year’s Heineken Cup here is a few quick thoughts on the action so far:

The more I see Leinster and particular Johnny Sexton run the loop play the more it reminds me of the option pass Quarterbacks in College Football in America use. The option pass is a play where the Quarterback can either run with the ball himself or pitch it out to his running back that is in close support. The option pass only works with a quarterback who can read opposing defences quickly and recognise whether he has the space to run or if his running back has a better chance to make a gain. To me it looks like Sexton has been giving by the Leinster Coaches the same options as a college Quarterback and speaks volumes of Joe Schmidt and Co confidence in their Fly Half’s ability to decipher defences and make the right decisions. Despite living in age were teams often study countless hours of tape the Leinster loop remains a very effective attacking weapon and much of the credit for that belongs to Sexton.

It is staggering the difference between Sexton the Leinster Kicker and Sexton the Ireland Kicker. It is almost like Johnny Sexton’s less talented twin brother was actually in New Zealand as not only are the results different but also the change in confidence is noticeable. There was never a doubt in my mind that as Sexton was lining up a shot goal to save the Leinster’s bacon in the dying embers of Yesterdays match against Montpellier that he was going to make it. Yet if he had been faced with the same kick during the world cup I would have been hiding behind the sofa unable to take the sight of another kick sailing wide right of the posts.
I wonder what type of World Cup Johnny Sexton would have had if Leinster Kicking Coach Richie Murphy was in New Zealand? Murphy a prolific Kicker in his playing days is a highly articulate and intelligent rugby thinker who seems to bring out the best of Sexton.

A lot was made of the match ball in the World Cup and to some extent that is a valid point as Sexton was not alone in the Kicker brotherhood guilty of profligacy in front of the posts. However as some media commentators pointed out it looked like Sexton’s pre kick routine and run up had changed from the one he had used with Leinster. As the old saying goes if it ain't broke don’t fix it and serious questions have to be raised about Ireland kicking coach Mart Tainton role. It was either Tainton’s choice to alter Sexton’s routine or he failed as a coach to stop the fly half from tinker with it. Sexton’s kicking woes clearly and undeniable sucked the confidence out of the Fly Half and Declan Kidney was left with no choice but to drop him. If Murphy was there would Sexton suffered such a torrid time with the boot I for one highly doubt it.

While the absence of Brian O ‘Driscoll rightfully dominants all the headlines for the Leinster I think the loss of Cian Healy was far more damaging to the reigning champions Yesterday. Montpellier has a huge pack and put Leinster under serious pressure at scrum time particularly targeting Healy’s replacement Heinke van der Merwe.
van der Merwe struggled mightily causing Leinster to struggle with getting a platform for much of the game. Not only at scrum time was Healy a loss but also in running play. Healy is the best attacking prop in the world wit ball in hand almost like a fourth back rower at times for Leinister. Leinster's tactics at in the game was to try and power their way through Montpelier and meet the French Sides huge monstrous players head on this resulted in a lot of ball going to Mike Ross and Leo Cullen not noted ball carries, and it showed as time and time again Leinster were driven backwards. Indeed the value of what Healy could have meant to Leinster’s charge yesterday was puncuated by Sean Cronin’s the dynamic hooker had a Healy like run that tore open the Montpelier defence for Leinster’s only try.

Wow that’s all you can say about Munster’s win over Northampton yesterday. It was impossible, imaginable, and improbable and yet once again a magical Thomond park moment was born. Forty one phases in which Munster where driven back from the Northampton twenty-two to midfield and marched their way back again in a feat that can only be matched by Moses parting of the red sea. A remarkable display of patience and a basic refusal to lose on their home patch from a group of players still hurting from last year’s early exit from the Heineken Cup. Stunning

For all of Northampton’s cutting edge in attack and bulldozers up front last year’s runner ups have now displayed twice in their last two Heineken Cup games they lack the know how or the basic cuteness to close out a big game. They should never have lost last Year’s Final to Leinster and how they conspired to lose the game against Munster only they will know.

Speaking of Irish fortress and fragile Teams Ulster put themselves in the driven seat to repeat last year’s achievement of getting out of the Group. Yesterdays win over Clermont combined with Leisters’ inability to cross the line for a fourth time and a bonus point against Aironi means the Ulsterman are sitting pretty. Ravenhill has now become one of the toughest places in European rugby to win for opposing teams. If Ulster can see of Leister at home and are able to secure a bonus point against Aironi home and away then the Ulstermen will top their group and put themselves in contention for that all important home draw in the quarter finals and a real chance to go one better than last year.

Clermont have yet to win on Irish soil and the wait will have to go on they looked in good position to break that duck yesterday but some curious substitution and Brock James once again crumbling in the face of pressure means the French go home still in search of the win and the courage and spine they will require if they want to achieve any European success.

Welsh Rugby is clearly riding a crest of a wave with all three Welsh club sides winning their games yesterday. No welsh side has reached the Final of the completion since Cardiff Blues way back in 1995. Could this be the year where a Welsh side wins the Heineken Cup?

We have only seen the first weekend of the Heineken Cup but already we have been treated to two last gasp wins by Munster and Glasgow, Leinster the Champions pushed to the brink and hugely entertaining rugby. I for one am so happy it is back in my life.

The Bear's Necessity

“Show me the money”

Rod Tidwell (Jerry Maguire, 1996)

For Chicago Bears running back, Matt Forte those four words are dancing around his head in the same manner he himself dances and glides past defenders. Forte is an elite running back, a two headed catching and rushing monster having his best ever season in the NFL. Nearly half of his team’s offensive production, 47% is down to his dancing feet, soft hands, blistering speed and exceptional vision that allows him to see gaps in the sea of 300 plus pound men all trying to be roadblocks.

This year he leads the NFL in total yards and he is also only the second player in the history of the NFL to have 700 rushing and 400 receiving yards for the first four years of a career. Those numbers make Forte by far the most valuable player on the Bears and yet for all his gaudy stats the Bears have not shown Forte their appreciation by showering him with a gaudy pay check.

Matt Forte is entering the last year of his contract signed when the Bears drafted him in the second round of the 2008 draft out of Tulane. Forte has made no secret of his desire for a big pay day. He does not crack the top 10 of highest paid running backs this season and has seen fellow members of the running back brotherhood Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Jamal Charles all rewarded with lucrative new contracts.

The Bears have reached out to their star running back with General Manager, Jerry Angelo, in a recent radio interviewing stating the club offered a contract in the region of 30-40 million dollars an offer Forte turned down. In response an increasingly frustrated Forte muttered to the media that any other team would have paid him by now .The gap in money between the two sides in unknown but it seems that the Bears are in no rush to financially appease their disgruntled superstar.
The reason for their reluctant is simple, history. Running backs are viewed as interchangeable parts for many NFL teams. Cogs in a machine who when they are broken down can be easily replaced by another. Current Washington Redskins, Coach, Mike Shannhan once remarked when he was coaching the Broncos that could turn any running back into a 1,000 yard rusher.

Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Rueben Droughns and Tatum Bell a list of one hit wonders only rivaled by that of past X factor winners. No name journeymen plucked from obscurity that proved Shannahan’s theory correct. Turned into stars and disappeared all in the blink of an eye. Yet the self appointed running back guru was also blessed with a once a generation talent in Terrell Davis.

Davis was picked in the sixth round of the NFL draft by Shannahan’s Broncos in 1995. Pencilled in as the sixth running back on the teams Depth chart heading into that season Davis quickly rose up the ranks and was named the Bronco’s opening day starter. In four seasons Davis would go on to become the Denver’s all time leading rusher gaining 7,607 rushing yards. In 1996 he set a team record with 13 rushing touchdowns and helped the Bronco’s win its first ever Super Bowl crown winning MVP honors in the Final. The following year Davis’s encore was even better rushing for the third highest single season yardage ever with 2,008 the fourth man ever to run for over 2,000 yards, a league MVP awarded and retainating of the Super Bowl.

Terrell Davis was at the peak of his powers a one man offensive machine who put together an unparrlled first four season of his career indeed no running back in the NFL hall of fame can match Davis’s 56 rushing touchdowns in their first four season. With the sky the limit the soaring Davis crashed down to earth in a hurry the next season. Terrell, tore his ACL and MCL an injury that took away his legs and effectively ended his career Davis retired in 2002 at the age of 29 only four injury plagued years removed from being the best player in the league.

It can be argued that those 2,008 yards that Davis ran for shaved at least two or three years off his career. Running back years are a lot like dog years. Taking the ball and bobbing and weaving between men who can run like Olympic sprinters and hit like a freight train adds wear and tear to the body. A 24 year old running back that has been in the league four years actually has the knees of a 31 year old and as the aforementioned Davis can attest to once your legs go so does the ability to be productive on the field.

Matt Forte is now 26 years old and is entering his fourth season in the NFL .The Bears rely on Forte the same way the Broncos did Davis. As already stated Forte accounts for a remarkably 47% of his team’s Offensive a staggering number. A Figure that is well known to all defensive coordinators in the league who make it their number one mission to stop Forte. If you stop Forte you stop the Bears. Indeed the Bears do not have to look far for reason to have pause about shelling out money on Forte. The current poster child for the dangers of paying running backs is Chris Johnson.

Chris Johnson is the same age as Matt Forte and was drafted in the same year in 2008, going in the first round to the Tennessee Titans. Johnson is an elusive runner blessed with sprinter speed a nightmare for opposition when he is in open field. In his first season in the league he finished as runner up in the rookie of the year vote in his second season he had a Terrell Davis like year rushing for over 2,000 yards becoming the sixth man to do so as well as breaking Marshall Faulks all time record for most yards from scrimmage in a single season.

The best running back in the league since his debut Johnson, decided to try and cash in on his success demanding a new contract from the Titans. He refused to show up to the teams off season training camp this summer until they gave him one. The standoff lasted most of the summer before Titans management buckled and handed Johnson a deal on September 1st. The deal makes him the highest paid running back in the league.
A deal that has backfired spectacular on the Titans this season as Johnson has inexplicably gotten old in a hurry and has lost his spark. Johnson only ranks 28th out of all running backs in terms of yards rushed this season with a measly 366 halfway through the season. A far cry from his recorded stetting performance just two years ago, Johnson’s performance is so bad this year that some members of the media and management of other teams are wondering will the Titans just get rid of Johnson a mere two months after handing him the biggest pay day a running back has ever seen.

The Bears are justified to have concerns about the ability of Forte to perform for the length of his contract given the past and recent history of NFL running backs just losing their ability overnight. There is no Benjamin Button like cure that comes with these contracts that reserves the ageing process in running backs and despite Forte’s unquestioned importance to their scoring efforts the Bears might decide to spend the money elsewhere and grant Forte his wish of seening if indeed another NFL team will pay him. Yet you cannot blame Forte however if more words are floating around his head every time he gets ready to take the handoff or dusts himself off after been tackled.

“I got a shelf life of ten years, tops. My next contract's gotta bring me the dollars that'll last me and mine a long time. Shit, I'm out of this sport in 5 years. What's my family gonna live on? Huh” (Rod Tidwell, Jerry Maguire 1996)

The Importance of Team Cohesion

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
Michael Jordan
Carron (1982) defines team cohesion as “a dynamic process which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its goals and objectives” in other words the ability of a team to come together and remain cohesive in achieving their common goal no matter what challenges they are faced with.

Groups and teams share similar charteristics. They are both a collection of people who share a common goal and have a shared interest. An example of this would be accountants, who work in an office; they have shared interest of doing the same type of job in an equal setting as their colleagues. The key difference and what separates the two is that a team must, if it wishes to be successful, interact with and depend on the other members of the team to achieve its goal of winning a championship.

This answer will look in detail at the characteristics of a team, the internal factors and external factors that affect a team’s ability to become cohesive or indeed stay cohesive, for example the size of the team, whether the sport is co-active or interactive, the effect of infighting or a bad result may have on the team and social loafing.

It will also examine the positives and negatives of Tuckmans (1965) Linear group team model that explains that a team comes together through a set of stages; forming, norming, storming and performing as well as Carron’s (1984) Pendulum Model for team cohesion, which explains cohesion as a dynamic process that swings back and forth..This answer will also assess whether team cohesion leads to greater performance and is an important factor in a team winning or losing.

Before we can look at if indeed Team Cohesion affects performance we must first look at what a team is. Kremer and Moran (2008) argues that a team is made up of five characteristics those being interaction, structure, cohesion, identity and the goals of the team.

They theorized that the cohesion aspect is multi dimensional between social (meaning how a team gets on off the pitch) and task (meaning how well a team plays together to achieve its goal of winning). A good example of a team who not only met all five of those characteristics but excelled in them would be the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

In Seth Mnookin’s (2006) book, Feeding the Monster about the 2004 Red Sox he points out that they were a very close knit unit that rallied around the mantra of Pitcher Curt Schilling “why not us” a simple question that asked his team mates why could they not become World Series champions. Schilling got every member of the Team a t-shirt with that slogan, a shirt all the team wore through the playoffs. Mnookin also noted that at times during the season it looked like the Red Sox were “communicating in some sort of goofy sign language that involved lots of fist thumping and pointing at the sky” and only really started to take off later in the season when they embraced their identity as self professed idiots.

The turning Point Came on July 31st of that year when the team traded star shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra from the team. Mnookin notes that Nomar was unhappy with the team and threatened to sit out the last two months of the season, causing distraction in the locker room. After a clear-the-air meeting failed between both sides Mnookin quotes team President Larry Luccino as saying “by that point there was a high degree of alienation on Nomar’s part from the team”.
In exchange for Garciaparra the Red Sox got Orlando Cabrera, a player of lesser skill then Graciappara. According to the Baseball Reference website, Garciaparra is a career .313 hitter while Cabrera is a career .274 hitter. But Cabrera fitted in seamlessly with the club. The book shows that Cabrera created indivdual handshakes for every member of the team that he would use whenever a particular player made a good fielding play or got a hit.

Statistics (Baseball Reference) show that with Garciaparra the Red Sox had 56 victories to 46 losses and would not have qualified for the playoffs. After Garciappara they went 46-18, qualified for the playoffs and ultimately became Champions.

Kremer and Moran(2008) argue that sports that are interactive i.e., sports that require co-ordination between team members like football to advance up the pitch (you must pass the ball to a teammate to break down the defensive wall) need a higher level of team cohesion than a sport that is co – active. In a sport like golf, for example in the Ryder cup ,the golfers while in a team setting play their own shot and they do not need a teammate to aid them.
But it can be said that the above example dispels this notion and that team cohesion is important in all sports. Baseball is a unique mixture of the co-active and interactive but it is a primarily a co-active sport. Batting is co-active and while some elements of fielding are interactive. As seen above the Red Sox did not realize their true potential until they became a more cohesive unit when they got rid of star player Garciapparra for another player of lesser talent that fitted in better in terms of getting on with team mates.

Others who disagree with the idea of cohesion being essential to performance may use another Baseball example of the 1977-78 New York Yankees, a team famously dubbed the Bronx Zoo according to Jonathan Mahler (2005) in his book the Bronx is burning. A team that despite a volatile manager in Billy Martin and a bullying owner, George Steinbrenner, won back to back World Series led by star player, Reggie Jackson, who famously got into a fist fight with Martin on June 28th 1977 in a game against the Red Sox.

Ron Guidry, a pitcher on the team, notes in the same book however that that time period was the best time of his career. Which suggest that despite the infighting and volatile nature of the clubhouse it was a bond not unlike one shared by survivors of accidents, that while not cohesive in a stereotypical way the team still was cohesive after going through such a unique experience as a team. While their social cohesion was weak their task cohesion was very strong.
Moran and Kremer (2008) suggest in their book that in extreme circumstances chaos in a team is not always a bad thing and that sometimes it can even spur on players in the team.

Another anecdotal example of this would be in the TV show Hard Knocks, (2010) New York Jets head coach, Rex Ryan, wanted to spur on one of his players, Vernon Goldstein, so he arranged for this player to get into a fight with a bigger player on the team to drive him on.
Moran and Kremer (2008) also points out that by allowing conflict in a team encourages the team to express ideas and opinions. They argue that a team that is fully supportive of each other will fall into what they call group thinking.
Teams that suffer from group thinking and that are too afraid to disagree suffer as they underperform and it can have a negative effect on individual talent as no one player wants to stand out and disagree for fear of a backlash from the team.
This idea is similar to the idea of social loafing. The concept as Moran and Kremer (2008) explain is when a team, bonded by a common goal, does not perform as well collectively as it would as individuals given the same task. Sometimes members of a team will not try as hard in a team setting as opposed to an individual setting. Players won’t try as hard if they know they won’t get the recognition.

A study in America done by Rune Høigaard and Rolf P. Ingvaldsen (2006) on the sport of floor ball found that the players reported greater effort and a reduction in their social loafing when they were recognised for their efforts. The study even finds that athletes who are highly skilled and highly motivated suffer from social loafing also only to be re-motivated by their individual performance being identified.

It can then be theorized that a current example of social loafing is the Miami Heat. This Basketball club in the offseason signed Lebron James and Chris Bosh to go along with star player, Dwayne Wade.
Wade, Lebron and Bosh are considered by basketball experts as three of the top twenty players in the game and in the case of Wade and Lebrons two of the top five.
Yet they got off to a sluggish start and won 9 games and lost eight although have rebouned lately. It can be said that because they are the three main players on the Heat and were the stars on their previous teams that they are suffering from social loafing as they were no longer individuals heaped with praise for a team win as the outstanding player. Instead they are now just another guy on a superstar team. And thus may not be trying as hard.

Research on the subject of team cohesion is usually done through individual questionnaires. The most popular model of these measures has become the Group Environment Questionnaire .This is based on the concept of Caron, Widemeyer and Brawley (1985) which broke cohesion down into four different sections;
Group integration, task, social and an individual’s attraction to group. Group integration means how a team member views the closeness of the team overall, While individual attraction measures what makes them participate and want to stay a member of the team. The questionnaire asks the participations eighteen different questions broken into the above sections and asking members to rank on a scale of one to nine whether they agree or disagree with statements.

Carron, Colman, Wheeler and Stevens (2002) carried out a study which shows that cohesion has a large effect on performance, that how cohesive a team was had a direct link with how a team performed. They also found that both task and social cohesion affected performance. This is in contrast to Mullen and Cooper (1994) that summarised that task cohesion was more important and that in essence it was a waste of time for team to do team building exercises.
However, researchers point out that there is no one way to truly measure the effect cohesion has on a team’s performance for empirical evidence. Widemeyer, Carron and Brawley (2002) say that there is no theoretical or conceptual model that can be used to measure cohesiveness.

Murdak (1989) argues that while cohesion measures groups it is hard to measure as a whole. While the GEQ is the most reliable test Dion (2002) argues it does not measure the group as a whole. How an individual may feel personally towards his playing time may not affect how he interacts with the group. He may be personally unhappy but it does not affect the group as they may not express their unhappiness outwardly and thus have no effect on team chemistry at all.
It can be argued that another flaw in the way cohesion in a team is measured is that while all the researchers on this topic agree that team cohesion is a dynamic process meaning it is ever changing, for example a team could have good cohesion after a comprehensive victory or an important win whereas their cohesion may be low after a loss. Only one study has been done on a team through a season and that was by Holt and Sparkes (2001) who documented a university football team in the United States and how it changed over the year.

In that study Holt and Sparkes found that when the team was eliminated from a tournament they as a collective revised their goals to focus on winning other tournaments
External factors can have a huge effect on a team’s cohesion both positive and negative. As mentioned above it is a commonly held belief that while a loss is detrimental to a team’s cohesion a win can also be equally detrimental.

Basketball coach, Pat Reilly, believes that winning for teams that experience sudden success could cause members of the team to become more focused on themselves. Despite a team win some members will be unhappy unless they get all the credit. Riley relays his own personal experience when he was coach of the LA Lakers in the 1980’s in his book, winning from within; players became more invested in trying to take credit for winning the championship and establishing themselves as the alpha dog of the team. Riley says that star player, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, worked harder then ever in the offseason and came back in the best shape of his life. His main goal was to establish himself as the best player on the team and not the winning of the championship. His wish to get all the credit for the team’s success caused the locker room to divide into cliques and ultimately led to the departure of Jabbar from the team. Riley calls this theory “the disease of me” when the team gets more focused on the me instead of the we.

However cliques can be considered either a good or a bad thing. Weinberg and Gould view cliques as bad, noting that it only benefits the few who are in the clique while alienating the rest of the team.

Dr Katie Gentile, a psychologist, in a videotaped interview for American radio station PBS, suggested that cliques can also be
She found that a clique like a family .It lets members experiment with different identties and find who you they are and what theyare good at. It can be argued then that cliques can also cause teammates to become close to one another in the face of adversity.

The structure of the team may also affect how together a team is. For instance, the number of players in the group may affect the cohesion. A smaller group of players like a basketball squad for instance which has a 15 man roster is easier to control then a rugby squad which has 25 players who are further fragmented into forwards and backs.

New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichik, in a recent interview detailed how he dealt with a larger group. In American football the roster of the team is 53 players. To makes sure his message is getting through and that all the players and staff are on the same page Belichick uses techniques such as regular meetings with the captain of each unit to get them to help relay his message and goals for the team back to the other players. He also likes to have a smaller coaching staff because “it's easier for me to communicate with a smaller group of coaches and get us all on the same page, rather than have 25 assistants and for us to all get on the same page, then get all the players on that same page”
All the above agreements would support the Carron model of team cohesion which is more of a dynamic model of cohesion rather than the Tuckman model which is more rigid.
Tuckman (1965) believes that every team goes through the following stages as follows;
Forming, when a team gets together for the first time,
Storming, the process in which the team comes together exchanges ideas on how to tackle the challenges that faces them;

Norming when team members start to fall into roles in the team both informal and formal and have their own code of rules and ethics. An example of a team’s rules is when Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver, Dez Bryant, refused to take part in the traditional rookie hazing from veteran players on the team. As a punishment Bryant had to take all the players out for dinner. The players ordered everything on the menu and left Bryant with a bill for 55,000 dollars.
Performing, where the team is now in theory a cohesive unit and is able to bring everything together and win.

Tuckman believes that whenever a new player comes aboard that the team must start a new and begin the process from the first stage again.
Moran and Kremer disagree with this model. They argue that this model fails to consider what happens after the stages of development. Moran and Kremer propose the introduction of a new stage called Waving, a more dynamic stage that would allow a team to deal with conflict, infighting, and poor team morale after a bad result within the set structure of the team i.e. those rules drawn up in the norming stage.
Carron’s theory therefore lends itself more to the idea of team dynamics. In his model, Carron believes that team cohesion is like a pendulum that swings back and forth and is always dynamic depending on what a team is facing.

Conclusion
While there is no one generally accepted method for calculating the true value of cohesion on a team’s performance it can be said that the above evidence supports the idea that cohesion lends itself to greater team performance. A team that is together will be willing to try harder and perform better if they are having fun and like their teammates as opposed to a team that is in an unhappy environment. While there are exceptions to the rule in most instances successful teams must have either a strong sense of task or social cohesion if it wants to reach its fullest potential.

Nothing is quite like it Sheens

I admit it I was just as bad as everyone else. I just could not get enough of the wildly amusing ramblings of a mad man. I tried to fit the words WINNING and TIGERBLOOD into every situation be it paying for something in the shop or in conversations with family and friends. If Charlie Sheen was addicted to winning then I was addicted to his tales of Tiger blood and Warlocks. But somewhere between the talk of fighting his boss and losing custody of his two kids the ramblings became as funny as a Brendan O’Carroll routine. The laughs stopped when it became apparent that the only thing Sheen was winning at was self destruction.

After “careful consideration” the head honchos at CBS have decided that Sheen is no longer fit for work and have fired him as the star of Two and a Half men. What they had to consider is beyond me even Stephen Ireland looks at Charlie Sheen and thinks wow that guy is nuts. You know things are bad for Sheen considering CBS did not fire him when he allegedly beat up his ex wife and thrashed a hotel room on a drugs binge. They stood by him as Two and a Half men raked in an estimated 155 million dollars in profits to CBS a year. However his latest behaviour has made him a 155 million dollar headache not worth dealing with.

Let’s thinking about that for a second how destructive does your behaviour have to become that a company walks away from 155 million a year just because of the actions of one man? Most times with diva actors studios and executives just suck it up and take the outlandish behaviour and soothe themselves with their riches. 155 million dollars can buy a lot of relaxing holidays to the Caribbean. But not in the case of Sheen once the golden boy of network sitcoms he has turned himself into been as un hireable as Mel Gibson.

Sheen transformation and indeed downward spiral has been unprecedented. Sure we have all seen crazy celebrity antics before be it Britney, shaving her head, Winona Ryder, shop lifting or anything Lindsay Lohan does but what makes this sad tale different is that through social media we all have a front row seat to the madness.
When the self professed rockstar from Mars joined Twitter he amassed over two million followers in the space of two days all eager to feast upon the morsels of WINNING insight he fed us. Now as I said above I was one of those people, but when Sheen started to go off on increasingly bizarre tangents about torpedoes of truth and promoted his radio show and webcam broadcasts where haggard and sickly looking Sheen spewed out his inner drug fuelled thoughts something dawned on me. In America you or I if we were so inclined could pop along to our local Prison take a seat and watch a man be executed in front of our very eyes and that’s is how this whole Charlie Sheen Twitter thing feels to me. We are all witness to the last words and testament of a man who is seriously ill, whose addiction has taken over him and who and to put it frankly seems like he is dying in the glare of the media spotlight.

What is lost in this entire mess are his kids. Not to sound like the Reverend’s wife in the Simpsons but won’t someone think of the children. He has five young children he has lost custody to those children and there is a real chance unless he gets some help that he will not see them again. This is a man behind all the bravado and bullshit sayings who is in serious need of help but currently he is surrounded by enablers be it his two goddess the Nanny and porn star he lives with clinging on to him for fifteen minutes of fame or his friends egging him on so they can profit through t-shirts with his slogans or the attention it brings. If they really truly cared about Sheen they would get him the help he clearly needs but I fear they are not like CBS and are unwilling to walk away from the money Sheen is bringing in. For that reason I fear that the madness will continue until its natural untimely deathly conclusion.

Super Bowl Preview

They say everything is bigger in Texas and this Sunday’s Super Bowl clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers in Cowboy Stadium, Arlington, Texas could be the biggest of them all.

The matchup between two of the NFL’s traditional powerhouses, both of whom enjoy fanatical fan bases in Pittsburgh’s “Steelers Nation” and Green Bay’s “Cheese Heads”, is expected to attract over one hundred thousand people to the game more than the entire population of the city of Green Bay and become the highest rated show in American television history.

The Super Bowl is a sporting event unlike any other, a spectacle in which the commercials and halftime show are as much as part of the viewing experience as the game itself. How much will said commercial cost those companies who wish to peddle their latest products? $5 million per minute or because we are in the midst of a global recession they may prefer the cheaper option of $.2.5-3 million for thirty seconds. Super Bowl Sunday sees an estimated fifty million dollars spent on food and 325 million gallons of beer to wash it all down. It is no surprise then that after all that gluten and excess that 6% of Americans will call in sick the next day and with the growing popularity of the sport here in Ireland I am sure there is a few people reading this are planning on doing the same thing.

The Steelers and Packers are both steeped in a rich history of success. Since the introduction of the playoff system the Packers and Steelers rank number one and two respectively in terms of best winning percentage in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh, owned by American ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, comes into the contest as the most succesful team in Super Bowl history with a record six titles. The Steelers rose to prominence n the seventies lead by head coach, Chuck Noll, flamboyant Quarterback, Terry Bradshaw and one of the most dominant defences in NFL history. Dubbed the steel curtain the unit was fronted by the legendary quartet of Mean Joe Greene, L.C Greenwood, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White. They won four Super Bowls in six years during that time period and remain the only team to have achieved such a feat, their last title coming in 1979.The Steelers would have to wait a further twenty seven years to lift the trophy again when they bested the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl Forty in 2005 They captured title number six under the tutelage of current Head Coach, Mike Tomlin, who became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl in 2007.

The Green Bay Packers themselves are three time Super Bowl winners. Although they may be based in a small city, when it comes to winning the Packers are anything but small time. Before the Super Bowl was invented they had twelve NFL championships on their resume. The team won their first two Super Bowls with back to back wins in Super Bowls One and Two in 1966 and 1967.It was a team filled with NFL icons such as Quarterback Bart Starr, Halfback Paul Hornung and ferocious linebacker Ray Nitschke with charismatic Head Coach, Vince Lombardi, at the helm. Lombardi had led the Packers to five championships in his seven seasons as head coach and was just as adept at conjuring up a inspirational quote as a winning game plan. When Coach Lombardi passed away at the age of fifty seven due to cancer the NFL decided to honour his immense contribution to the game by renaming the Super Bowl trophy after him. The Packers faded in to mediocrity after Lombardi departed following their second Super Bowl win. It would not be until 1992 when the Packers hired Coach Mike Holmgren, and traded for Quarterback, Brett Favre that they would start to become relevant again. Favre was like an old- fashioned wild west gun slinger, a brilliant yet flawed player who zipped the ball up and down the field with sometimes reckless abandon. Indeed Favre holds the NFL record for most touchdown passes thrown and interceptions thrown. With the addition in 1993 of Defensive Lineman, Reggie White, nicknamed the Minister for Defence as he was an Evangelical minister, the Packers became a more complete team and in 1996 captured their third super bowl with a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots.

While the championship pedigree of the two clubs may favour the Steelers the momentum going into the game is most definitely with the Packers. They come into the game as the slight favourites with bookmakers. Green Bay, plagued by injury in the early part of their campaign, saw some of their key players lost for the season. The Packers scraped into the Playoffs as the sixth and last seed in the NFC with a record of 10-6. They were aided by a stingy defence that has allowed an average of just twelve points against in its last twelve games headed by dynamic Linebacker, Clay Matthews, who leads the NFL in sacks and with Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, whose outstanding play both with his arm and legs has led his team to the big dance, pulling the strings for an explosive offense. Green Bay looked like it had put all the pieces together just in time for a run at the Super Bowl as they saw off the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears to reach the final.

The Steelers faced some adversity of their own at the start of the season when Quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the bathroom of a nightclub during the offseason. He was not charged but the NFL suspended him for the first four games of the season as this was the second time in his career that he was accused of such behaviour. Despite that the emergence of wide receivers, Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders, complimented by a mean defence headlined by defensive player of the year, Troy Polamalu and hard hitting Linebacker, James Harrison, whose aggressive style has earned him 100,000 dollars in fines during the season, helped the Steelers finish the season with a 12-4 record. This was good enough for second seed in the AFC and overcame bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, to reach this Sunday’s championship showdown.

Pittsburgh go into the game with centre Maurkice Pouncey a doubt. Pouncey broke a bone in his ankle against the Jets but lists himself as having a 75% chance of playing. If Pouncey is unable to play that would leave the Steelers with a make- shift offensive line charged with protecting their Quarterback from the oncoming rush of a very dangerous Packers defence. .This could see Rotheilsberger getting acquainted with the cowboy stadium turf for most of the game. The mobility of Ben Roethlisberger and his almost Houdini- like ability to escape the grasp of oncoming defenders and make plays when it looks like all hope is gone could well be vital to the Steelers’ chances of success.

The fact that the game will be played indoors plays well to the strength of the Packers team speed. The Packers’ offense averages 31 points in games played indoors. The Steelers this season have struggled against offenses like the Packers who can spread the field and open up the big play opportunity and Green Bay will be hoping to turn the game into a track meet with their Wide Receivers running down the field at will . However despite all their offensive weapons the Packers inability to knock opponents out when they are on the ropes could hurt them. Pittsburgh are a tough team and come into the game with recent championship experience. For the Steelers to be successful on Sunday night they must hope running back, Rashard Mendenhall, is successful running the ball. They must dominate time of possession and do everything they can to keep the ball away from Rodgers and Co. If they fail to achieve any of those things then the Lombardi Trophy will be making its way home to Green Bay for a fourth time.

Tears of a Clowen

In the book The Late Shift writer Bill Carter chronicles the battle to replace legendary American performer Johnny Carson as host of the Tonight Show.TV executives were faced with the choice of either safe, inoffensive, yet dull Jay Leno, or vibrant, edgy, but troublesome, David Letterman. Initially the network picked Leno but when his show began to flounder serious discussion were held to replace him with Letterman.

The key scene of the book sees a meeting of the head honchos of the network discussing whether to ditch Jay for Dave. Unbeknownst to those at the meeting was the fact that Leno had snuck into a closet in the room and was listening intently as the pro and cons of each man were batted around. Armed with this vital information Leno plotted and schemed to keep his show.
It is by no means a stretch of the imagination to image Brian Cowen hiding away in some closet puffing nervously on a cigarette with a Guinness in hand as he tried desperately to persuade the Fianna Fail delegates to pick him for the coveted role of party leader on Tuesday night.

Fianna Fail were faced with a similar decision to those network executives back in 1993 stay with the steady pair of hands or chose the younger more dynamic yet unproven model to try and save a party that was suffering from low ratings. Cowen survived but it was the equivalent of winning a stupidest person in the world contest. Yes you’re the best at what you do but what you excel at is been stupid.
On the other hand it can be said that there is something noble about Cowen wanting to fight on and stay as party leader. While the other rats have already decided to abandon ship he will play the role of captain ready to go down with the ship he has steered to ruin. Then again it might just be a simple case that Cowen is still hungover from that infamous Galway hotel session and thinks that he can win the next general election.

Most political pundits are predicting political Armageddon for Fianna Fail on March 11th. However what a person does in the privacy of the voting booth is very different to how a person may answer a poll questions, the fear of going against popular public opinion may change their answer. In essence Fianna Fail are like the bad guy in a horror movie you do not believe they are dead until you see their head cut off and despite numerous scandals in the past they have survived. During a interview I did with retiring Labour TD, Liz McManus, just after the last general election which was at the height of Bertiegate Mrs. McManus remarked how the polls leading up to the vote favoured a change in government but when judgement day happened the old guard of Fianna Fail survived.While maybe this recession and IMF invasion on our finances may be one hurdle to many for Fianna Fail, the notion they will be wiped out is fool hardy and short sided.

It is not like Cowen is going against people who the public are madly in love with. Eamon Gilmore is all sizzle and no steak and Enda Kenny reminds me of the priest from Father Ted with the boring voice that helped Ted and Co escape from the largest Lingerie section in Ireland. A result better than expected would look favourably for Cowen, that despite unprecedented outrage at his party they had avoided a total wipe-out.

In the end all Brian Cowen won himself was a seven week stay of execution on Tuesday night and proved to himself that there was some political game left in the old dog .It will most likely be his last political victory of his career, come March 11th he and his colleagues who have overseen Ireland go from a position of great wealth and stature to poor and a laughing stock put their futures in the hands of country fed up, disenchanted and eager to wield the axe. Sure isn’t that a thought scary enough to drive anyone to drink?