DON’T ask me how — I can’t remember — but I read once about the prevalence of crashes amongst Korean airlines and how aviation authorities cut them out.*

ROMANIA winger Catalin Fercu has revealed he pulled out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup squad at the last minute due to a fear of flying.

RORY McILROY showed no ill-effects from his recent wrist injury as he fired a 65 to tie for second place after the opening day of the European Masters in Switzerland.

WHEN it comes to the All-Ireland MHC there is one manager who stands head and shoulders above everyone else – Galway’s Mattie Murphy.

AS treasurer Eamonn Buckley told delegates after the 2008 accounts showed almost a 50% jump from the previous year’s figures: “You won’t have success without cost.”

CUSTOM dictates a piece like this should begin with the reigning champions.

SO round-the-world ticket sales are slow in the recession.

FOR Lee Westwood it was water-skiing, for Darren Clarke it was fishing and for Rory McIlroy it was watching girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki play tennis and treatment on his injured arm.

THE earnest young reporter who screamed “Everton fans, this is what you’ve been waiting for” as an unheard-of player from an unpronounceable club was linked with a loan move to Goodison will tell you otherwise; but transfer deadline day has rapidly become just another agonising parade of meaningless hype.

TEN years to the day and Glenn Whelan can tell you where he watched it, who else was there and what he was wearing. He’s not alone.

ARSENAL were last night embroiled in a desperate race against time to land Mikel Arteta as Arsene Wenger looked to fill the void created by the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

A WARM reception and snowy weather.

A LASTING image, and one of the very last images, from World Cup 2002.

TOMÁS O’LEARY, John Hayes, James Coughlan and Johne Murphy are named in the 28-man Munster squad for Saturday’s RaboDirect Pro12 opening fixture against Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park (7.45pm).

DECLAN KIDNEY’S side has taken longer than expected to get up to speed for the Rugby World Cup and there was more frustration yesterday when the first leg of the team’s mammoth 35-hour trip to New Zealand was delayed out of Dublin Airport.

IRELAND’S World Cup warm-ups may be behind them but not their injury worries.

IRELAND have had to absorb painful lessons over the course of the last four weeks and it remains to be seen if recent events will sharpen their World Cup appetite for battle or kill their enthusiasm for the fight.

UTV, which owns Cork’s 96FM, saw revenue at its Irish radio division fall 4% in the first six months of the year to £11 million (€12.4m).

THREE of Irish football’s most decorated stars have backed Robbie Keane’s move to the MLS.

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt has had to weather early-season panic before and has advised Ireland’s fretful supporters and critics alike to reserve their judgments until the business gets underway in New Zealand next month.