SOME things haven’tchanged at the basketball.

SEVENTY years ago Billy Conn, weighing 174 pounds and fighting out of East Liberty, Pittsburgh, took on the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, for the heavyweight title.

AFTER years of success with Glanmire in ladies basketball, Mark Scannell realised his appetite wasn’t what it used to be.

THEY say every man thinks less of himself if he has never been a soldier.

IF YOU’RE a sportswriting fan – and given what you’re holding in your hands, you probably are – you’ve noticed the recent explosion in the number and variety of Irish sports books.

OVER the last couple of days you could probably hear the sighing of thanks all over the country as GAA hacks exhaled their gratitude for Michael Ryan’s decision to drop Eoin Kelly from the Waterford senior hurling panel.

HAPPY new year to all readers, and fear not.

MM: How important is a winning pro franchise to a city?

USUALLY, the end of year column runs along lines as familiar as the main tracks from Kent to Heuston.

EVERY now and then Irish sports journalists of a certain vintage get wistful.