IT’S difficult to concentrate on much else when surrounded by the after-effects of Sandy battering this city but I did want to finally bring the Notre Dame football team back to an Irish sports page.

All in all, it hasn’t been a bad weekend for boxing Stateside.

As the cooler weather set in around the northern states of the US this month, the question arose once again: why oh why does the baseball season extend into October?

In the basement of a Yonkers pub, aspiring hurling coaches from the New York area gathered around coffee cups and notepads early last Saturday morning.

Late last night in Miami, the old F Scott Fitzgerald adage about no second acts gracing American lives was given a run for its money by an inconsequential game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.

One of the many thankless tasks at live sporting events is held by the lonely soul singing the anthem.

Danny Doohan is too nervous to talk.

On Saturday I found myself having to explain to an American the fascination back home with Anton Ferdinand’s decision not to shake hands with John Terry and Ashley Cole before the QPR-Chelsea game.

It’s been quite the week for contrived crises over national identity.

Early on Sunday morning at Pennypack Park, about 20 minutes northeast of Philadelphia, you could still enjoy the last bits of calm before the third and final day of the North American GAA Championships really kicked into gear.