Good things cometo those who wait — eventually

Two finals, three semi-finals and an awful lot of heartache; the near misses are scratched into the soul of every Munster supporter. Yet a dip into the sporting archives reveals that those who follow the advice of ancient Scottish king Robert The Bruce, to try, try and try again if at first they do not succeed, are very often rewarded. Eventually. SIMON LEWIS investigates.

BASEBALL’S Boston Red Sox seemed destined to suffer from the Curse of the Bambino for ever more after their failure to win a World Series stretched into an 85th year. The last time they had won baseball’s most coveted prize had been 1918 and when Babe Ruth, the Bambino, was sold to the New York Yankees two years later, many fans felt the dye had been cast.

As the Yankees became baseball’s ruling dynasty, the Red Sox went into seemingly terminal servitude, as fate, ill fortune and sometimes downright ineptitude intervened to keep them as perennial losers. It took until 1946 for Boston to appear in another World Series but they threw away the championship to the underdog St Louis Cardinals in the ninth and final innings of the seventh and deciding game. There were three more world series appearances after 1946, the most notable and dramatic came in 1986, when Boston had victory in their grasp, with only one rival batter left in Game Six. The game was first tied and then blown in the extra inning thanks to a fielding error by Bill Buckner. The game was lost and the Sox lost the seventh by throwing away a three-run lead. The opponents? The New York Mets.

Redemption, and the reverse of the curse, came in 2004, however, when the Red Sox came back from 0-3 games down to beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, and then beat the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series.

Remarkably, the Chicago White Sox last October ended a similar jinx, dating back to 1917, when they succeeded the Red Sox as champs for 2005.

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IF you had dressed the Australia’s men’s hockey team up in a pretty dress, thrown a bouquet over your shoulder at them and called them Sheila, no one would really have batted an eyelid.

The Kookaburras had become their sport’s greatest bridesmaids after losing three Olympic finals and making it to at least the semi-finals in eight of their last nine appearances at the Games since 1964. But they finally struck gold in Athens, thanks to a Jamie Dwyer golden goal in the eighth minute of extra time at the 2004 Games.

Dwyer rifled home the winning goal from a penalty corner against defending champions Holland to win 2-1 as the Aussies finally exchanged vows of their own with that most elusive of suitors, victory.

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IT took Middlesbrough Football Club 121 years to even reach a major cup final and when they did achieve the feat they managed to make it in two competitions and in the same season that they were relegated from the Premiership. Managed by Bryan Robson, Boro’s first appearance was in the 1997 League Cup final, when they drew 1-1 with Leicester City at Wembley and then lost 1-0 to the Foxes in the replay at Hillsborough.

They returned to the famous old stadium two months later for the FA Cup final, only to concede the fastest goal in an FA Cup Final when Roberto di Matteo sent Chelsea on the road to a 2-0 victory after just 43 seconds. Chelsea were again the party poopers the following year when Middlesbrough, as a first division side, once again made it to the League cup final. This time they not only stood firm for 42 seconds but for the entire 90 minutes before goals from Frank Sinclair and that man di Matteo again denied the Teessiders.

Boro would have to wait another six years before finally landing their first piece of silverware. The League Cup had changed its name twice from Coca-Cola to Worthington and now Carling Cup, when Steve McLaren guided them into the 2004 final and they beat Bolton 2-1.

This time it was Boro who got the job done early – Joseph Desire Job to be precise, who opened the scoring in the second minute before Boudewijn Zenden put matters beyond Wanderers reach with a seventh minute penalty.

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PHIL MICKELSON had seemed destined for golfing greatness while still an amateur. With three US collegiate NCAA Championships and the U.S. Amateur title under his belt, Lefty had even won on the PGA Tour, the last amateur to do so, when he landed the 1991 Northern Telecom Open while still at Arizona State University.

He won his first two titles as a professional in 1993 and raked in dollar after dollar on the Tour but the true measure of greatness, a Major victory, would elude him for another 11 years.

The American had played in 46 majors (42 as a pro), compiling 17 top-10 finishes and nine top-four placings and had long possessed the dreaded title ‘Greatest Player Never To Have Won A Major’ before finally making the breakthrough.

And when he did, at the 2004 Masters, it came in a thrilling manner, with Mickelson taking a birdie at the 72nd hole to claw back a three-shot deficit on Ernie Els, card an inward 31 and emphatically remove the monkey from his back.

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FOR those who stayed awake to see Graeme Dott land the world snooker title earlier this month, there will have been the reward of witnessing the triumph of determination.

In an often tedious match against Peter Ebdon, Dott had ground out his first title, seven years after competing in his first final.

In 1999, he reached the Regal Scottish decider only to roll over 9-1 to fellow Scot Stephen Hendry. Another Scotsman, John Higgins, then defeated him in the 2001 British Open final and Dott once again fell to Hendry in last year’s Malta Cup final. His first tilt at a World Championship final also ended in misery in 2004 when Ronnie O’Sullivan overcame a shock 5-0 deficit to foil Dott.

So when Dott finally overcame Ebdon 18-14 in the championship’s longest ever final, it proved good things do come to those who wait. And wait.