Peloton relieved in California

Saturday, May 19, 2012

It appears now that when professional cyclists ‘relieve’ themselves during a stage, they are a threat to mankind.

It appears now that when professional cyclists ‘relieve’ themselves during a stage, they are a threat to mankind.

So says the Department of Homeland Security in California, where public urination is seen as a sign of potential terrorist activity. Indeed, the Amgen Tour of California, where Irish riders Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan are competing, almost descended into farce this week when it was mooted that the entire peloton could be incarcerated due to the state’s restrictive nudity and waste disposal laws, with imprisonment one potential sanction.

However, in the nick of time came the race organiser with a brainwave — eight portable toilets to follow the peloton throughout the weeklong stage-race, so when the riders need ‘to go’ they slip back, dismount, do the business and ride back up to the bunch. Simple and practical.

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The debate over whether new GAA President Liam O’Neill branded Gaelic Football ‘boring’ at Congress last month in Portlaoise seems to be dragging on. O’Neill’s comments drew the ire of inter-county managers James Horan and Mickey Harte, but the Trumera native insists he was only alluding to one aspect of the game.

Hawk Eye heard O’Neill referenced the furore in his address in Mallow last Monday night at the launch of this year’s Munster senior championships.

O’Neill referenced the coverage of the opening weeks of his presidency and expressed his determination not “to give any more imaginative quotes” to the media.

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It’s 15 years since a Champions League final was held in Munich, but one player in the Bayern Munich side that takes to the field tonight against Chelsea has a link to the 1997 decider.

One of the ball boys that night, when Borussia Dortmund defeated Juventus 3-1 on a May evening in the

Olympiastadion, was current Bayern Munich and Germany captain Philipp Lahm.

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There seems to be confusion about the new square ball if we are to go by Dermot Earley. The Kildare great said on Thursday: “People are talking about people standing in the square, you know you want to make a contribution and you can’t really do that standing in the square.”

Clearly, there has to be more education about the rule which doesn’t allow attackers to enter the small rectangle at all times, only as soon as the final play is made into the area.

It might be fair to say those who know the rule best will profit from it in its infancy.

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Duffy’s early team call

GAA director general Paraic Duffy’s call for teams to be named earlier in the week seems to have got some purchase with four teams being named by Wednesday afternoon.

Galway, Cavan, Laois and Roscommon all announced their line-ups for tomorrow’s provincial openers earlier than usual. Duffy had asked managers via their county boards to be more aware of starting promotion of games at the start of the week.

But the question is just how many changes there will be to each of the teams that actually line out in Hyde Park, Pearse Park and Kingspan Breffni Park.

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IRB: We never ordered Samoa to ban centre

The IRB has denied ordering Samoa to exclude a player from its squad for the Pacific Nations Cup because of his history of controversial Twitter posts.

Centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu was banned for six months after last year’s Rugby World Cup for a Twitter post which described Welsh referee Nigel Owens as racist and biased.

The 23-Test veteran had been censured after likening Samoa’s World Cup schedule to slavery, apartheid and the Holocaust via Twitter.

In naming his squad for next month’s tournament, coach Stephen Betham said the IRB had instructed Samoa not to select Fuimaono-Sapolu.

But the IRB used its Twitter account to deny the claim: “Eliota Sapolu not banned or ineligible for IRB or international matches. Comments by Samoa head coach disappointing and untrue.”Home