The passing of two sportsmen this week gave everybody pause, and little wonder.

You may or may not have heard the news about Cricket Ireland’s rather stunning sponsorship coup earlier this week.

IF THE prospect of a long, dark winter ahead fills you with gloom, there might be some consolation in reflecting that, while it seems like only yesterday Ireland’s 2010 World Cup campaign came to a shuddering halt, by this time next week the first match of the 2012 European Championship qualifiers will already be part of history. A game for all seasons, football’s big wheel is ever in spin.