Latest news with #McCabe
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Airdrie 'shot themselves in the foot' in Alloa defeat, says gutted gaffer Rhys McCabe
The Championship side missed out on the last 16 in agonising fashion to their League One counterparts Frustrated Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe admits they only have themselves to blame for being knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup by League One Alloa. The Diamonds had fought back from a first-half header from Owen Foster in their winner-takes-all clash at the top of Group C to lead 2-1 after an hour at New Broomfield. But a stunning striker from skipper Aidan Wilson and a Euan Henderson penalty for the Championship side counted for nothing as two errors from summer signing Sean McGinty gifted the Wasps a last-gasp win that sent them through as group winners. The former Hamilton Accies defender gave away a penalty just five minutes after Airdrie had taken the lead, fouling Kurtis Roberts in the box before Scott Taggart converted the spot-kick after 65 minutes. And in the 89th minute, McGinty gave the ball away to Steven Buchanan with a loose pass just inside the visitors' half and the Wasps striker punished Airdrie by charging forward and unleashing a low drive into the bottom corner. It means Airdrie miss out on a place in the last 16 as one of the three best runners-up due to them having scored fewer goals than the current third-placed team, Dunfermline. And gutted McCabe said: "We've had a wee chat in the dressing room and we know that we shot ourselves in the foot today. "But I don't want to take anything away from Alloa. They've had a great campaign, four wins out of four. They had a solid game plan but the way that we gifted them a way back into the game when we go 2-1 up is something that shouldn't be happening. "Sean is experienced enough to know that five minutes after you score, you don't take unnecessary risks. It was one of those ones where he has mistimed it. He thinks he can get the ball, but the boy nips in front of him and gets the ball. "But that was easily avoidable and that is the frustrating bit. "At the final goal, he tries to play in somebody [Dylan Williams] short but he turns his back at the wrong time and it is just a wee bit of miscommunication there. "Overall, we controlled a lot of the ball, we were decent in spells, but we didn't test their goalkeeper enough for all the possession we had. "I think we spent a lot of time in their half but we need to be more effective. "Of course I am disappointed. It's raw and I'm emotional after the game, but it has been a positive start [aside from this result]." The Diamonds had two goals ruled out in the first-half by referee Sean Murdoch, with Aidan Wilson and Chris Mochrie seeing their efforts chalked off for offside and handball in the build-up to their strikes. Asked what he made of the decisions, McCabe added: "I don't know, to be honest. I don't ask the referees anymore. "If he has given offside, sound, he's given offside. I've got no clue what they were ruled out for." Airdrie now look to their Championship opener next Saturday when they play host to Ross County.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
What does a PGA Tour tournament director think about six months from an event?
The 2025 American Express PGA Tour event in La Quinta had perhaps the most inauspicious start in the tournament's six-decade history. A week before the tournament world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler withdrew from the tournament, the result of minor hand surgery from a cooking accident. Then just days later, Xander Schauffele, at the time the No. 2 player in the world, and winner of two major championships in 2024, withdrew with a rib injury that would keep him off the tour for weeks. Somehow, the tournament's executive director said, those two losses didn't damage the desert's PGA Tour event that much. 'I don't think it did,' said Pat McCabe on Wednesday. 'Anytime you lose the world No. 1 and No. 2 in your field, it's a hit, whatever you think. But it's not like they played the following week. They were out for a period of time. I can't recall exactly when they returned, but it was multiple weeks after for AmEx. And our field was still again very strong. So that is something for us to hang our hat on.' Those high-profile withdrawals were six months ago, and with six months remaining before the 2026 American Express, McCabe finds himself thinking about everything from the strength of the field to ticket prices to bands for concerts next January. Austrian Sepp Straka won the 2025 American Express, and while he might not have been a household name for American fans despite already playing in a Ryder Cup, Straka has kept the name of The American Express event alive since his win. He won a second time this year at the signature Trusist Championship and is third in the season-long FedEx Cup race behind only Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Here are the things McCabe and his team from SportFive are focusing on six months away from the next The American Express: Players McCabe admits the attempt to recruit players to the La Quinta tournament won't really ramp up for a few months. 'Look, they just finished their final major of the year. Scottie (Scheffler) put on a clinic over there at the British Open),' McCabe said. 'They are going to turn their focus to the FedEx Cup playoffs and then the Ryder Cup. So really not until some point in the fall will we start engaged and having discussions with guys. That's when they are making their schedules. These guys are committing later and later, so we will start diving in an engaging in the fall at some point and look to make the announcements on that same cadence something in the fall and early winter.' Sponsorships Title sponsor American Express is signed through 2028, but smaller sponsorships for hospitality venues and the like still need to be the focus for the tournament. 'Sponsorship is a big one for us. We've got a great list of returning partners for us. That's one of the things. We tear the golf tournament down, we are off the property mid-February,' McCabe said. 'And then it is all full-speed ahead of renewal of sponsorships, critiquing.' McCabe said increasingly sponsors are signing multi-year deals, meaning the tournament doesn't have to seek renewals each year. Many of those sponsorships include berths into the tournament's pro-ams, either a Monday or Wednesday one-day pro-am or the official three-day pro-am starting Thursday of tournament week alongside the PGA Tour pros. McCabe said he's having to make some difficult phone calls these days to tell golfers wanting to purchase pro-am berths that there is no space for them because of the berths going to the growing sponsorship roster. That sponsorship roster is helped by American Express. 'They have got their various relationships within the business community, but also they are able to introduce us to partners of theirs,' McCabe said. 'But a lot of the credit goes to our host organization, Impact Through Golf. Our board of directors is very well connected, so they have been extremely instrumental in soliciting sponsors, making introductions, kind of having people come one year and experience the tournament as a participant and then getting their company involved.' Bands McCabe laughs when he admits he gets as many questions about who the bands for the Friday and Saturday concerts will be as who the professional golfers in the field will be. Last January, those bands were Journey and Little Big Town. McCabe isn't ready to announce the 2026 bands yet, but the tournament is close to finalizing those deals, he said. 'We are hoping to announce much earlier than normal,' McCabe said. 'We have got offers out, one actually I think is very close to confirming. The other one, hopefully they will confirm within the next week or two. Historically, we haven't been able to launch until end of October, early November time frame. Our ultimate goal is we could be in the market by mid-September.' Golf courses For the 11th consecutive year, the three-course rotation for The American Express will remain the same, with La Quinta Country Club, the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West being played each of the first three days, and the Stadium Course hosting Sunday's final round. The 2025 event was dominated by talk of renovations to all 18 green complexes at the Stadium Course, which led to firmer greens and higher scores on the course. McCabe said he's aware only of some small tweaks to four of the Stadium Course greens, nothing that will likely impact play in 2026.
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Airdrie v Alloa: Diamonds boss will treat clash like cup final as side bid to top group
Airdrie and Alloa both have 100 per cent records ahead of today's Group C showdown Airdrie have put themselves into pole position to win Premier Sports Cup Group C – but boss Rhys McCabe says the now face a 'cup final' with Alloa today to top the table and reach the last 16. The Diamonds beat Premiership side Dundee 1-0 at Dens Park to open their group on July 12, and followed that up with a 3-0 win over Bonnyrigg Rose at New Broomfield and a 2-1 win at Montrose on Wednesday night. They now host Alloa today in a winner-takes-all clash. While that gives Airdrie a chance to qualify as group leaders and get a seeded draw in the next round, McCabe isn't taking anything for granted. 'It's a good opportunity, especially after the start we've had,' said McCabe. 'We've had good wins, good performances and clean sheets in there, so there are a lot of positives to build on – but we know we have to try to get the job done. 'Getting that first win against Dundee gives you the catalyst and the position that we're in, as a Championship club, you're looking strong. But you still have to go out and put those performances and results together. 'We've given ourselves a chance with a right positive start, but we're looking to continue that and not slack off. 'We've played different levels of opposition, we've been really strong defensively. There are loads of positives to build on, but we know the work is not finished.' Both Airdrie and Alloa have 100 per cent records and McCabe was full of praise for the Wasps ahead of their showdown. He said: 'Full credit to them for three really good results, and performances to go with that. It sets us up almost for a shoot-out. Hopefully we can go in on Saturday, get the job done, and top the group. 'It's a chance to go through seeded and win all the games in your group, so it becomes almost a final. That's the way I look at it. We're at home, we know the pitch, and we've got to make sure that we take the good elements of the last three games and tidy up on a few wee bits and bobs. We go into it at home with the full intent to win the game.'
Irish Independent
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Independent
PJ Gallagher and Jim McCabe licensed to thrill in Cannonball 2025
The action-packed supercar spectacle is set to roll off from Johnstown Estate, Enfield, on September 12. It will take in Ballymaloe, Tralee, Killarney, Clare, Sligo and Cavan before finishing in Naas on September 14. Cannonball is the largest organised road trip in Europe, featuring the finest cars in the world. Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Aston Martin and Maserati are all taking part. Over 200,000 spectators are expected, with free festivals organised from coast to coast. Gallagher and McCabe were joined by Jude (4) and Cillian Mangan (7), mum Sandra and dad Ruairi for the launch. The Dubliners are just one of the 440 families across Ireland currently under the care of the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation.
The Herald Scotland
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
LGBT-inclusive education 'would have changed my life'
Winner of the second annual Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award in March 2024, McCabe has also appeared on programmes such as Scot Squad, Have I Got News For You, and Frankie Boyle's New World Order. Her stand-up show Femme Fatality was recorded for the BBC, and she is planning a four-week run at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She was announced as the patron of TIE in January this year, saying at the time: 'In a society that feels more polarised, and I can see some of the same old rhetoric from the past, LGBT inclusive education is too important to ignore. I will bring humour, passion, and fight to this role to make sure that not one young person feels the way that I felt because of their sexuality.' READ MORE Speaking to The Herald, McCabe discussed being made homeless after coming out to her parents, middle-class homophobia, and the need to continue fighting for progress for the LGBT+ community. Susie McCabe spoke exclusively to education specialist James McEnaney (Image: Gordon Terris / The Herald) 'I think you get to a stage where you realise you're living your life but the decisions you make are really going to impact the people coming behind you. I'm still of a generation of gay people who had a generation above them that taught them things. That generation went to more funerals than I'll ever go to in my life. That generation worked really hard for me to be accepted and get my equality. They kicked in the doors. 'As I was starting to see us lurch to the right. I was seeing things and hearing things that I would have seen and heard in the 1980s. 'I started to see people in public office use language that jarred me. She says that the work being done by TIE, and the message of acceptance it sends to all young people, is something she wants to support and protect: 'That would have changed my life.'
