Opening Lines

IT doesn’t lend itself to healthy eating, this World Cup.

There’s too much snacking on pistachios and sliced pan while waiting for RTÉ’s streaming to reload. And the football has been so good, the tournament is a bit like eating steak on holiday. Just when you think you couldn’t manage another one, you think “Feck it, it’s steak.When am I going to get this again?”

Even the punditry is compelling. Not everything they say is wisdom, but there is a sort of soap opera on the RTÉ panel that raises it above the level of the Tightly Fitting Shirts on the other channels. It’s as if the retirement of Bill O’Herlihy has suddenly made everyone realise that the old Gang of Four of Bill, John, Eamon, and Liam will not be around for ever. The second generation of pundits are circling each other, snarling like senators in ancient Rome. Meanwhile, the old guys are mellowing, as if aware that nothing matters that much because everything ends, in the end.