Latest news with #championship
Irish Times
an hour ago
- General
- Irish Times
Con O'Callaghan's loss highlights how long it's been since Dublin found a diamond
No Con . That's what they're telling us anyway. If Hamlet was a Central Council delegate, he'd point out that the rules around intercounty teams announcing their squads on a Friday – and, more to the point, sticking with them across the weekend – have been honoured more in the breach than the observance during this championship. But even so, it seems that this one is likely true. Dublin are about to play a significant championship match without Con O'Callaghan for the first time since Kerry beat them in 2023. When the squad for the weekend was announced late on Thursday night, his name was the first and last thing most people looked for. If you got sent a screenshot, it was the only comment worth making or worth receiving. No Con. For all the good Dublin would have taken out of nicking the win in Salthill a fortnight ago, suddenly Dessie Farrell's cupboard undeniably looks a little bare. Armagh are coming to HQ to face a Dublin squad – and again, we're taking it on trust here that the 26 Dessie Farrell has named is the 26 that will be fielded – in which no fewer than 10 players have never started a championship game in Croke Park. Eight of them have never played a minute of championship football there full-stop. With Con in the mix, that might get brushed over or feel like a kind of a statistical quirk. Dublin could rely on him to bang in a goal and pop over a few two-pointers and lay on a few more and generally just Be Con. As long as he's doing that, who really cares what names are filling out the bench? READ MORE Without Con, suddenly the humble Dub is shook. You mean to tell us that 40 per cent of the Dublin squad don't have their own bespoke ass groove in the Hogan Stand dressingroom nearest the Hill? That anything up to half a dozen of them might get their first taste of champo at Croker this weekend with the All-Ireland champions pawing the dirt and hunting for scalps? Isn't that sort of thing only supposed to happen to hayseeds and culchies? [ Darragh Ó Sé: Rian O'Neill being back for Armagh is good news for everyone, especially Rian O'Neill Opens in new window ] If nothing else, Con's absence this weekend will probably mean that the churn in the Dublin panel will become far more obvious to far more people than has heretofore been the case. Of the starting 15 who played Galway in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final, five have left the squad and two more are injured. That septet reads Mick Fitzsimons, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey, Eoin Murchan and now Con O'Callaghan. James McCarthy and Michael Fitzsimons after last year's All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Widen it out and of the 26-man panel who suited up for that Galway game, only 15 are named this weekend. For the sake of comparison, look at Galway then and Galway now. Of the 26 named by Pádraic Joyce last June, 21 are in the panel this weekend. Thirteen of the starting 15 are named to start again. In and of itself, a bit of churn is no harm. It's to be welcomed, in fact. Keeps everyone pulling on the rope, trying to find the inches. It feels like no time at all since Bernard Brogan was spending a full season torturing himself at training just to make the match day 26 for an All-Ireland final replay. But of course that's six years ago now. A lifetime. It's so long in the past that some of the Dublin players who have come through to fill the gaps left by the immortals are already longer in the tooth than you think. Colm Basquel is 29, Paddy Small is 28, Seán Bugler and Seán MacMahon are both 27, Peadar Ó Coifigh Byrne is 26. The supporting cast in the times of plenty who are the officer class now – the likes of Davy Byrne, Cormac Costello and Niall Scully – are all either 31 or 32 this year. It won't be long until they start ageing out too. Now look. This is clearly a first-world problem. The Liffey will not dry up, Dublin will not run short on footballers. But equally, it's been obvious for a while that for all the demographic and financial advantages at their disposal, Dublin haven't been bringing through anything like the quality of player that was once routine. When the rest of the country wrung its hands over the idea of a permanent Dub empire, it was the annual injection of elite quality that really scared the horses. It started with McCarthy in 2011, Kilkenny and Dean Rock in 2012, Mannion and McCaffrey in 2013, Fenton and John Small in 2015, O'Callaghan in 2016, Murchan and Brian Howard in 2018. The key attribute they all shared wasn't just that they were so good, it was that they were so good so very quickly. Of those 10 players, eight were under 25 when they won their first All Star. Only Rock and Small had to wait until they were older than that and both had won multiple All-Irelands by then anyway and nobody doubted their worth. By contrast, of the 14 All Stars Dublin have won this decade, only two have gone to players under the age of 25. Con and Eoin Murchan were both 24 in 2020 – since then, the youngest Dub to win an All Star was then 27-year-old Basquel in 2023. The point is, it's a very long time since Dublin produced anyone that immediately got the Hill abuzz. Lee Gannon is probably the closest but he's been wracked by injuries since his debut season. Otherwise, it's been a lot of dutiful, solid, honest players who come in and do their job and keep the Dublin show rolling. As for the remaining all-timers, Stephen Cluxton is 107, John Small and Ciarán Kilkenny are 32 and O'Callaghan himself is 29. Dublin are going to need to source some stardust from somewhere in the coming years. Nothing will highlight that more than a weekend with no Con.
New York Times
an hour ago
- General
- New York Times
LSU Shreveport, with longest win streak in college baseball history, wins NAIA championship
LSU Shreveport completed the most dominant season in college baseball history, beating Southeastern University (Fla.) 13–7 on Friday in Lewiston, Idaho, to finish 59-0 and win the NAIA national championship. The win was far from guaranteed. At various points Friday, LSU Shreveport came back from 4-0 and 7-5 deficits — a reminder that even undefeated teams have to get every out. But LSU Shreveport ultimately showed why it has the longest win streak in college baseball, securing the championship. A day earlier, the Pilots set a college baseball record — for all levels — with their 58th consecutive win, a 14-4 victory over Hope International (Calif.). Friday, they secured the first national title in school history with their 59th win. Earlier this season, LSU Shreveport broke the record for most consecutive wins by a four-year school, 46, previously held by Division II Savannah State across the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Friday's win broke the record for all levels, 57, set in 2009 by Howard College, a junior college in Texas. The Division I record is 34 straight wins, shared by Texas (1977) and FAU (1999). LSU Shreveport, which went 30-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference, won 28 games by at least 10 runs. Coach Brad Neffendorf is 270-49 in six seasons at the school.
CBC
7 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Canada off to gold-medal game at para hockey worlds after win over Czech Republic
Liam Hickey and Adam Dixon scored 18 seconds apart in the opening period as Canada booked its ticket to the gold-medal game of the world para ice hockey championship on Friday with a 3-0 win over Czechia. Tyler McGregor also scored for Canada. Hickey and McGregor both had an assist in the game at LECOM Harborcenter. Canada will next face the United States in the final after the Americans defeated China 6-1 in their semifinal game. "We came out flying and kept our composure all night," Hickey said. "When we take over games early, there isn't much that can slow us down and I think we did a great job right from the start. Physicality is something the boys love. We play fast and hard. WATCH | Canadian Para hockey team gears up for U.S. rivalry: Canadian Para hockey team gears up for U.S. rivalry 21 minutes ago Duration 0:44 "Honestly, the Czechs brought it tonight. They came ready to play, but we wore them down. Hard-hitting games like that are so much fun to play in and that mentality of `hard to play against' is what we will need tomorrow in the gold-medal game, no matter who the opponent is." The Canadians have outscored their opponents 30-2, including Friday's win, across four games in the tournament. Only China has managed to score against Canada, with Canada taking that game 4-2 on Tuesday.
BBC News
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Aspinall shares petition for UFC to strip Jones of belt
Tom Aspinall is continuing his campaign to fight for the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship by sharing a link on Instagram to a petition urging the promotion company to strip Jon Jones of his 32, has been interim heavyweight champion for 18 months and was passed over by Jones as his opponent for his injury comeback last November, with the 37-year-old fighting Stipe Miocic months later, Manchester's Aspinall has repeatedly said he is unsure if he will fight Jones UFC fans have tried to take matters into their own hands by setting up a petition, with more than 150,000 people calling for Jones' title to be taken off from Thailand this week, Jones has continued to keep his cards close to his chest regarding his future."I don't know what life holds as far as fighting and competing," Jones said on DeepCut with VicBlends., external"There's a lot of great competition still in the UFC. I do view myself as more than a fighter, and being in my position, I feel like I have a lot more options than a lot of the other fighters as far as the ability to leave and return and things like that."Aspinall has beaten every fighter in the top five of the rankings except Frenchman Ciryl Gane, who sits at number two. Jones enjoys teasing people on social media and said last week he had already told the UFC his plans, and was unsure why it had not shared them with the American hinted he was retired, before appearing to suggest he would be open to fighting in the UFC is widely considered one of, if not the best, MMA fighter of all time and has an overall record of 28 wins, one loss and one became the youngest UFC champion aged 23, a two-weight champion, and is undefeated in 20 UFC fights in a row - the company's longest unbeaten streak."I'm so connected to winning, it's probably not even healthy," Jones said."I see fighters that take losses and they smile, they hug their wives, 'better luck next time'."If I were to ever lose I'd be devastated, angry, upset, and depressed."
CTV News
19 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Driver charged with Liverpool soccer parade tragedy appears in court
Fans leave as police and emergency personnel deal with an incident after a car collided with pedestrians in Liverpool, England, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super) LONDON — A driver charged with multiple counts of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm for ramming into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team's Premier League championship made his first court appearance Friday. Paul Doyle, wearing a black suit, white shirt and gray tie, looked emotional as he spoke only to confirm his name, address and birth date in a hearing in Liverpool Magistrates' Court. Doyle, 53, faces a charge of dangerous driving and and six serious offenses alleging he caused or tried to cause grievous bodily harm. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted. The charges are related to four adults and two children who were among the 79 people injured following the team parade on Monday. The victims ranged in age from 9 to 78, police said. Seven people remained in the hospital on Thursday. The city had been celebrating Liverpool's record-tying 20th title when Doyle turned down a street full of fans and joy quickly turned to tragedy. Police said they believed Doyle got past a road block by following an ambulance that was trying to reach a possible heart attack victim. Videos showed the car hit and toss a person wrapped in a red Liverpool flag into the air and then swerve into a sea of people packed on the side of the road. At least four people, including a child, were rescued from beneath the vehicle when it came to a halt. Merseyside Police said the driver was believed to have acted alone and they did not suspect terrorism. They have not disclosed an alleged motive for the act. The Associated Press
