Latest news with #GloryDays'
RTÉ News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cork-Waterford showdown will come down to sheer desire
As I sat in the Ardán Ó Riain stand in Semple Stadium last Sunday after the final whistle, Tipperary fans all around me were soaking in a first championship hurling win in Thurles in six years. Bruce Springsteen's 'Glory Days' was blaring out over the speakers, the sun was shining and all was well in the world of Tipperary hurling. Our Under-20s had been crowned Munster champions a few days previously and are now looking forward to an All-Ireland final in two weeks. Tipperary hurling folk could not but be in great spirits as many gathered in the Dome to watch Limerick remind us all they are the best, no questions. The journey home was short as we stopped off to collect our kids from the out laws and the first question from them was "what did you bring us?". Nothing like the honesty of children to bring you back to reality, but even their roars of disapproval to no treats could not burst the bubble I was in after that win. The Sunday night fear was replaced with 'The Sunday Game' and the pausing of the Munster round-robin table to see the mission had very much been accomplished. We were out of Munster - progress has been made. It's a great feeling watching on this weekend not relying on anyone else to do you any favours to try and get through. I hope all the Tipp lads had a well deserved night out together last Sunday. Tipp are in a place now where no team will want to meet them but every team will still feel they can beat them. That's ideal for the Premier County. I know some will question this but for me I feel Tipp are as well off watching Limerick and Cork do battle in the Munster final this year. Next year we will be in a better place to go after that title but right now, with the form Limerick are in and the strength in depth they have, I feel the Munster seven-in-a-row is almost a done deal. So for me if Tipp can get their business done in a preliminary quarter-final without too much stress and then find themselves in an All-Ireland quarter-final against a wounded Dublin or Galway, they will really fancy that. The form will be mighty going into it and Tipp could easily find themselves back playing championship hurling in Croke Park for the first time in six years. That would be mighty progress for all involved. I'm pointing the car towards SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday for radio duty for the only game in Munster that really matters this weekend: Cork v Waterford. For me, the Rebels really need this win. This group has the potential to be the best around on any given day and I feel the capitulation last Sunday against Limerick will be the kick up the backside they never knew they needed. If they lose on Sunday, their year is over, their chance of bringing Liam MacCarthy back to Leeside gone for another year and there will be changes in the group. The simple question that needs to be posed this week in Cork training is, do ye want this to end now? Do ye want this to be your last week training as a group ever? It might sound a bit extreme but time waits for no one, lives move on, people's circumstances in sport and life change, people's outlook on things will change, so have no doubt that the dynamic of the group will change in some shape or form. This was supposed to be their year, the year they would dominate the hurling landscape and the league gave us no other reason to doubt this. But in championship hurling the copybook has a few marcanna dubh on it. What Cork don't have is time to dwell on any of this. They must have the Limerick loss parked by now and take whatever positives they can from it. Sometimes nothing needs to be said after such a performance or lack thereof. Yes Limerick were class but Cork didn't lay a glove on them. It's hard for a player to even get booked when they're just chasing shadows and fail to get any contact on an opposition player. That will have to be different this Sunday against a Waterford team that love playing in Cork and for 45 minutes in the league final looked so sharp in everything they did down there. Waterford are not under anywhere near the sort of pressure that Cork are and this should allow them to play with a freedom that often leads to a brilliant Déise performance. Everyone expects Cork to win and that will suit Waterford down to the ground. They can throw off the shackles and just go out and express themselves. Their leaders will need big games but they have that in the locker, their young guns will need to contribute with a savage intensity and work rate which they have shown they are capable of against Clare and in patches against Limerick and Tipp. It might not be the rivalry of the early noughties but none the less there is as much on the line in this game as there would be in a Munster final. As was said to me before, you can't win the game a few days before it but you can lose it. Lose it with your thoughts, with the 'what-ifs', with the energy sappers in your everyday life. These players need to surround themselves with positivity and good energy for the rest of this week. Match day will look after itself. Whichever team can bring the most energy on Sunday will win the game. They are both very good hurling teams but it's the desire now that will get them over the line. Both sides will want it as much as any win in their lives. Who will want it more? Which group feels they need it as much as water to survive? For me I feel the Rebels are that group right now.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bruce Springsteen to Release 7 Never-Before-Heard Albums Totaling 83 Songs: 'I Hope You Enjoy Them'
Bruce Springsteen fans are in for a treat. On Thursday, April 3, the "Hungry Heart" hitmaker announced the release of Tracks II: The Lost Albums, a collection of seven never-before-heard albums featuring music recorded between 1983 and 2018. According to a press release, The Lost Albums "fill in rich chapters of Springsteen's expansive career timeline — while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist." Related: Bruce Springsteen Pays Tribute to Late Friend Joe DePugh, Pitcher Who Inspired Hit 'Glory Days' After Chance 1973 Run-In ''The Lost Albums' were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,' said Springsteen in a statement. 'I've played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I'm glad you'll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.' Per a press release, the "lo-fi exploration of the lost album LA Garage Sessions '83 is "a crucial link" between 1982's Nebraska and 1984's Born in the U.S.A. and echoes the drum loop and synth sounds on Streets of Philadelphia Sessions. 'The ability to record at home whenever I wanted allowed me to go into a wide variety of different musical directions,' Springsteen said of his work. Also featured in the collection is a film soundtrack for a movie that was never made, called Faithless; an LP called Inyo, which is full of "richly-woven border tales;" and an "orchestra-driven, mid-century noir" project titled Twilight Hours. Springsteen also shared a first look at the 83-song collection with the track 'Rain In The River,' which comes from the lost album Perfect World and captures the project's "arena-ready E Street flavor." "Last night, I put on my jacket and I went for a ride / Smelled sweet mustard fields, and my Colt at my side / Like rain in the river / Rain in the river," he sings on the track. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: Bruce Springsteen Pays Tribute to Late Friend Joe DePugh, Pitcher Who Inspired Hit 'Glory Days' After Chance 1973 Run-In "The Boss" released his last studio album in 2022 with Only the Strong Survive, featuring covers of classics from the Four Tops, Supremes, Frankie Wilson, Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin and more. Additionally, the late soul icon and Springsteen collaborator Sam Moore, sang on two of the tracks. Tracks II: The Lost Albums is due June 27 via Sony Music. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Springsteen's Major Announcement Sends Boss Fans into a Frenzy
fans are in a frenzy after the 'Glory Days' rocker teased plans for a new release, likely featuring some of his most sought-after recordings from the vault, due on Thursday, April 3. Springsteen announced the project, Tracks II, just one day prior, on Wednesday, April 2, in posts on his social media channels that featured a short video with various clues about the release. It featured an unreleased instrumental track that was reminiscent of the song 'Easy Money' from his Wrecking Ball album. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 'FINALLY! I really hope Electric Nebraska is finally included and released. I mean it does say lost albums,' one fan commented, referring to the long rumored electric version of Springsteen's 1982 solo acoustic album. 'Bruce bringing the happiness & hope to this crazy world. Thank you Bruce, this is beyond exciting ❤️,' another fan responded. 'I am crying over here. This is utterly amazing ❤️🙌,' a third fan posted. The tease also included a link to a website, that offered additional clues, including a recording sheet from his Thrill Hill Recording studio that included the dates 1983-2018, along with a form for fans to join a mailing list. Fans also noted that the tease included what looked like the original lyric sheet for the song 'Delivery Man,' a cut that didn't make it onto 1983's Born in the U.S.A. album, along with a piece of studio notes from the 1993 sessions that resulted in the song 'Streets of Philadelphia.' Springsteen released the first Tracks collection, a four-CD set of unreleased outtakes, in 1998 and also included previously unreleased bonus tracks on the reissues of classic albums Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Bruce Springsteen pays tribute to Joe DePugh, 'Glory Days' inspiration
Bruce Springsteen pays tribute to Joe DePugh, 'Glory Days' inspiration Show Caption Hide Caption Bruce Springsteen's wife Patti Scialfa reveals cancer diagnosis Longtime E Street Band member and wife of Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, revealed she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2018. He was walking out and Bruce Springsteen was walking in. Joe DePugh, the Freehold, New Jersey native who inspired Springsteen's hit 'Glory Days' after a chance encounter in their shared hometown, has passed away. He was 75. DePugh died after a bout with cancer, Rich Kane, a friend and long-time Freehold Borough teacher told the Asbury Park Press. 'Just a moment to mark the passing of Freehold native and ballplayer Joe DePugh,' Springsteen wrote in a post to his Instagram Sunday. 'He was a good friend when I needed one. 'He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool' …. Glory Days my friend.' Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band still rock, quake and shake after 50 years The inspiration for 'Glory Days,' released in 1984 as part of Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' album, was largely a mystery until Freehold historian Kevin Coyne identified DePugh in a 2011 New York Times article. 'Whenever we're together, it's the same dynamic: I'm the star and he's the guy at the end of the bench," DePugh told the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2011. 'That's who he has always been to me, my right fielder.' DePugh was a stand-out pitcher who tried out for the Los Angeles Dodgers and played basketball at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, earning an English degree. Bruce Springsteen talks 'Road Diary' and being a band boss: 'You're not alone' Family circumstances caused DePugh to raise younger brothers, instead of them going to foster homes, Kane said. DePugh worked as a self-employed contractor and would play summer basketball, where he met Springsteen in 1973. 'Finally, I go to leave. But once I saw Bruce we went back in and closed the place,' DePugh told the Palm Beach Post of a bar they both frequented. 'He had a little entourage with him. They all sat in a booth, but it was just me and him at the bar. All of a sudden, it's 1:30 (a.m.) and they started blinking the lights." A decade later, the night was the setting for 'Glory Days,' one of Springsteen's biggest hit songs, going to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "I had a friend was a big baseball player\Back in high school," the lyrics go. "He could throw that speedball by you\Make you look like a fool, boy. Saw him the other night at this roadside bar\I was walking in, he was walking out\We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks\ But all he kept talking about was glory days." "When I first heard the song, I thought the song said 'and all we kept talking about was glory days,'" DePugh told the Palm Beach Post. "And years later, I finally saw the lyrics and saw 'all he kept talking about was glory days.' And I thought, 'Huh, (he) took a little shot at me!" "I was tickled pink I would even get into the song. I certainly wasn't going to complain about what he decided to write about," he continued. "It's about living in the past and letting go, especially for jocks, to get out of that and live in the present. That certainly wasn't the first time I was accused of that." Springsteen and DePugh were later part-time neighbors in Palm Beach County. DePugh, like Springsteen, never strayed far from his Freehold roots, visiting the borough at least twice a year when he went from Florida to his summer place in Vermont, and again on the trip south. "All he wanted to do was raise his brothers, play baseball, play basketball and just hang in Freehold Borough," Kane said. "This one hurt. Joe and I were very close."
New York Times
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Joe DePugh, who inspired Bruce Springsteen's ‘Glory Days,' dies at 75
Thanks to Bruce Springsteen, Joe DePugh's glory days never really passed him by. DePugh, who helped inspire 'Glory Days' — Springsteen's rollicking, yet bittersweet ode to youthful memories on his mega-selling 1984 album 'Born in the U.S.A.' — died of cancer in Florida this week at 75. 'Just a moment to mark the passing of Freehold native and ballplayer Joe DePugh,' Springsteen wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Sunday. ''He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool' …. Glory Days my friend.' Advertisement DePugh and Springsteen grew up in Freehold, N.J., and played youth baseball together. The two ran into each other in 1973 outside a bar called the Headliner in Neptune City, N.J. Springsteen was walking in and DePugh was, you guessed it, walking out. 'There I am going to the car in the parking lot and here comes Bruce. And I hadn't seen him since we graduated,' DePugh said in a video recorded for an exhibit in Freehold about the history of the song. 'It was great to see him again, and so we got talking, and we're out in the parking lot for a half hour and he said 'Let's go in,' so we went back in and had a drink and then another drink, and all of a sudden the guy's flashing the lights, it was 1 in the morning almost.' More than a decade later, 'Glory Days' hit the airwaves. 'I knew right away,' DePugh said in the video about the first time he heard the song. 'It's an incredible compliment.' For years, the true identity of the pitcher turned barroom companion remained unknown to the public. Former Freehold Little Leaguers had theories about who the arm behind the speedball belonged to — there was the former player who ran into Springsteen in a diner and the local pitcher who made it to the minors, among others. 'There were several candidates for it, people who thought they were the 'Glory Days' pitcher,' said Kevin Coyne, a writer and Freehold historian. 'Joe DePugh was sort of a dark horse.' In 2011, Coyne helped organize a 60th reunion for Freehold Little League, one of the older Little Leagues in the country. Springsteen did not attend, but other classmates did, one of whom identified the pitcher as DePugh. The confirmation had come from Springsteen himself. 'I said, 'Well, Bruce, is it true or is it not true?'' said Don Norkus, a friend of DePugh's who had previously run into Springsteen. 'And he said, 'Yeah, it's true.'' Advertisement Later that year, Coyne wrote an article about DePugh for The New York Times, making his connection with 'Glory Days' publicly known. It was a distinction DePugh wore lightly. 'He was a charming, charming, gracious, modest, lovely human being,' said Coyne, who got to know DePugh in the years since he wrote the article. 'He was not some blowhard, you know, ex-athlete who talked all about his past days. He was just a lovely, modest guy.' And he could really play ball. The Freehold Transcript, a local paper, wrote about a standout Babe Ruth League outing from DePugh on May 14, 1964, when he struck out 11 in a losing effort. The newspaper listed Springsteen on that same roster, but at the time, it was DePugh who enjoyed rock star status. 'Baseball was the world, and if you were good at it, you were a god,' Coyne said about DePugh's and Springsteen's era. Longtime friend Rich Kane recalled his first memory of DePugh at a local home run derby. 'We were older than Joe, but this little son of a gun beat us all and never let us hear the end of it,' Kane said. 'He was the smallest, youngest guy in the area, and he won it over all of these adults. That was my introduction to Joe DePugh. He was just a good guy.' And while some consider the message of 'Glory Days' to be melancholy, DePugh was not one of them. 'There's nothing about that song that bothered him,' Coyne said. 'There was nothing about it, because he was not that person. He was not a person who was living in those days. He had had those days, he had thrived in them and he had loved them, and then he had a nice life.' At the end of high school, DePugh tried out for the Los Angeles Dodgers before going on to play basketball and earning a degree at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. DePugh lost both his parents at a young age and became the legal guardian for two of his brothers. After college, he worked as a substitute teacher before becoming a contractor. He later moved from New Jersey, splitting his time between Vermont and Florida. He continued to make regular stops in Freehold to see old friends, including, on occasion, Springsteen. 'He said to me, 'Always remember I love you,'' DePugh said in the video about one such reunion. 'He kissed me on both cheeks, and then he was out the door.' (Photo courtesy of Don Norkus)
