Having been rejected once for being too small, Clare’s Podge Collins made one vow — if he wasn’t going to catch ball above lads’ heads, he wasn’t going to get pushed off it either. The season he doesn’t want to end takes another twist today with Cratloe in a Clare football final.

It was a good weekend for two of the greatest, most divisive athletes in the world.

Back when I met Dave Hopla last March, he told a story which gives an insight into Kobe Bryant.

Sprung from the bench, he destroyed the New Jersey Nets with 25 points and seven assists.

IN THE heart of Upstate New York, where the accents and the temperatures begin to develop a more Canadian complexion, the Carrier Dome pops up out of the skyline of Syracuse’s southside, offering the prospect of some respite from the stubborn cold.