Championship Preview: Is juice worth the squeeze?

The former Dublin attacker on the win-at-all-costs debate that has moved beyond cynically killing a goal-scoring opportunity for the opposition.

I spent some time in the US in recent weeks where the major sports story is not the NBA or NHL play-offs - though they are producing high quality excitement on a daily basis - but the story of American Football star Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback who has been suspended for the first four games of the upcoming regular season without pay (approx $1.8m) as well as his team being fined $1m and losing future draft picks.

His crime? Apparently he was involved in deflating the pressure of the footballs used in the AFC Conference final (effectively an All-Ireland semi-final) on their way to winning last season’s Superbowl. By reducing the air pressure slightly it would give him an improved grip on the ball and it can also be easier to catch and throw, obvious benefits to him and his Patriots team mates.