Football Club saves lives:

Albinos: persecuted in Tanzania

"Football is a great healer" - is one of FIFA's main mantras and in the east African enclave of Tanzania, that is certainly the case.
In Tanzania; albinos are one of the most opressed minorities. They are totally under-valued and seen as freaks, facing daily persecution, violence and even death threats due to local superstition and beliefs about their condition. Albinoism results from a recessive gene that prevents the body from producing the pigment: melanin. A lot of people believe that you can become rich if you get hold of the organs of an albino. 
In 2008, a football club called Albino United was formed to help change perceptions in the country. "Football is loved around the World and this club can help promote our needs after a series of albino killings. I founded the club to help show that albinos are human beings just like everyone else and that they are not meant to be hunted down and kiled like animals." - says Albino United founder Oscar Daniel Haule. Albino United now plays in the country's Fourth Division professional league. 

Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer: Tanzania's first albino MP

The Tanzanian Government has taken notice and appointed its first albino MP which is seen as a major breakthrough for the entire albino community in the country.


With Albino United pushing for promotion, albinos all over Tanzania are showing that it's what's within and not the colour of the skin that's what is important.

SACK THE KNACK(ER):

Get the scum OUT of (Ipswich) Town

The calls are growing increasingly louder in Suffolk for Ipswich Town Chairman Marcus Evans to SACK knacker manager: ROY KEANE. "The Tractor Boys" have lost 10 of their last 14 matches and the fans would prefer for Cork scumbag Keane to be run over by a tractor rather than keep him on as manager. The headline on the left - which is a plea to Ipswich chairman/owner Marcus Evans to sack Keane - appeared on the FRONT PAGE of yesterday's Ipswich Evening Star and surely there will be a new man in charge of the club sooner rather than later. The fact that Keane has not stepped down in shame already says more about his stubborn ignorance than anything else.

GAA to discuss the hottest of hot potatoes tonight:

Double jobbing: Dublin football manager Pat Gilroy

The worst kept "secret" in the GAA; that is the under-the-counter payment of senior inter-county GAA managers, will be the hot topic on the agenda for the Central Competition Controls Committee (CCCC) of the GAA tonight. It is widely known in GAA circles that top inter-county managers get paid €30,000 - €50,000 per annum by their respective county boards.

Also on the agenda tonight will be the questioning of the Cavan inter-county football squad and management, who are alleged to have broken the GAA's ban on inter-county training during November and December. Cavan are also rumoured to be being brought to task tonight for renting out their home stadium; Kingspan Breffni Park for non-GAA purposes by a rival sporting body.

Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael: Criostóir Ó Cuana

Many believe that the GAA should scrap the ban on off-season inter-county squad training because it is turning players away from Gaelic Games, but the GAA are nothing if not strict (and sometimes old fashioned) disciplinarians. Interestingly, the GAA do not object to inter-county players partaking in rugby or soccer (or other "foreign" sports) during November and December. Times have indeed changed for those who remember Rule 27 of the GAA; more popularly known as "the Ban" on GAA players playing non-GAA sports. Hopefully, the GAA will consider abolishing the ban on collective training in the GAA off-season tonight. The meeting will be chaired by Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael: ó Eochail, Contae Chorcaí: Criostóir Ó Cuana: (GAA President: from Youghal, County Cork: Christy Cooney).

US soldiers watch a game of hurling on TV; liked what they saw and have now introduced the game to some 30 million plus Americans!

 
Monday, Jan 3rd, 2011 proved to be a memorable day for the sport of hurling and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) as the US National Guard soldiers of the Barley House Wolves hurling club from Concord, New Hampshire, appeared on TV screens across America, around the world and via the Internet, talking about their new-found passion for hurling.

The ‘Wolves story is truly unique in that they first discovered the ancient sport in 2005 while returning through Shannon Airport after a years deployment in Iraq.  The unit viewed hurling on an airport TV; liked what they saw and thought the game would be good for their unit. Since that time, while playing in the growing Junior C grade in the New Hampshire region, the ‘Wolves have become passionate about hurling and have competed at the US National Championships.

The Barley House Wolves recently peaked the interest of their colleagues in the military and were approached by the US TV channel,  The Pentagon Channel (tPC) for an exclusive half hour special on the unit and their love for hurling. The interview featured on the Pentagon Channel last night and can be viewed on www.pentagonchannel.mil featured in the videos for January, archived in RECON.

Impact of regular concussions obtained from violent contact sports:

Big hits and are an exciting - and terrifying - part of physical contact sports like American Football and rugby. However, the long-term effects of concussions - (which are a direct result of big hits) - can be devastating.

Fred McNeill: not the man he was in his NFL days

Dr. Sanjay Gupta - CNN's Chief Medical Correspondant has conducted an investigation into the long-term effects of concussions in top level professional sport - specifically the United States' favourite sport; American Football and the NFL. Dr. Sanjay spoke to former NFL linebacker Fred McNeill (who made two Super Bowl appearances with the Minnesota Vikings in 1975 & '77). Mr. McNeill (pictured left) says that upon receiving one of his most severe concussions, he felt dizzy for three weeks afterwards. Mr. McNeill has indeed paid a severe price for his "art" - which was to deliver massive hits on opponents. Mr. McNeill has said that he suffers regularly from clinical depression and severe memory loss. He says he has no idea whether he will remember speaking to Dr. Sanjay within days of their conversation ending. Then there are the mood swings which often manifest as rage - and Fred's regret afterwards. Mr. McNeill's wife Tia says the person she married is "not the same man" as the man she knows today. Mr. McNeill says he has considered suicide more than once. While this is often said as a meaningless platitude - in Fred McNeill's case, his words seem sincere. Fred McNeill felt it was all his own fault - but it wasn't.

CNN's Chief Medical Correspondant: Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Dr. Ann McKee MD: Associate Professor of Neurology:
Boston University School of Medicine

When other former NFL stars started reporting memory loss, bouts of depression, rage and other symptoms similar to Fred McNeill's, doctors started to take notice. Could regular concussions be the common denominator? Researchers at Boston University Medical School have started looking deep into the brain and spinal chord of former professional athletes to find out. They have compared a normal brain to that of a 45 year-old former NFL player. The brain of the 45 year-old former NFL player was in fact found to be comparable to that of a 70 year-old's brain - a 70 year-old with dementia. Dr. Ann McKee of Boston Universty Med. School has said: "This level of change is basically unheard of in a 45 year-old's brain." Doctors have diagnosed the condition as Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. These changes mentioned by Dr. McKee are directly associated with rage, depression and memory problems.

The National Football League (NFL) provided the following statement: 

"What we're trying to prevent is multiple concussions without recovery. We know there are long-term effects of concussion but they have not been fully characterized. The whole goal of the NFL is when in doubt, sit them out."

Dr. RICHARD ELLENBOGEN,

Co-Chair NFL Head,

Neck and Spine Medical Committee

Former Leinster & Ireland rugby international hooker Bernard Jackman (pictured below): had to retire from the sport in 2010 due to overly frequent concussions. He said he had been thinking about retirement from playing rugby for months and that after being regularly concussed, he couldn't walk up a stairs without falling over. He also suffered other side effects, such as severe headaches and nausea. Jackman said that in July every year, during pre-season, the club's medical team does cognitive tests with players and their results are recorded. If a player gets concussion whilst playing, he needs to get within 10% of his cognitive test score to be allowed to play again.

Bernard Jackman (centre of photo): too many big hits

However, there is no incentive for a player to score highly on a pre-season cognitive test, so players who do not want to miss games - can very easily cheat the system - to the detriment of their own health later on down the line. Jackman said that a few months before the end of the 2009 - '10 season, his symptoms reached a head and after forgetting where he was whilst on the rugby pitch, he told Leinster Head Coach (at the time) Michael Cheika that it was time for him to call it a day. Cheika, unsurprisingly, didn't take the revelation well and said that Jackman was letting his team-mates down. He also advised for Jackman to give it 24 hours and to talk things over with other senior players before he made a final decision. Jackman did that and was pleased to find out that top players such as Brian O'Driscoll backed the hooker's decision to call it a day. Jackman says that Cheika has not spoken to him since that day but the Carlow native has more pressing concerns - such as his long-term mental health - to worry about.

NFL: Final weekend of regular season: Play-offs, Divisional Championships & Wild Cards decided:

The Patriots: Kings of AFC East

 Going into last weekend's final regular season games: The New England Patriots were the only franchise to have secured a place in the NFL play-offs as they had already won the AFC East and finished with a league best 14-2 record with victory over Miami Saturday (1st January).

The Green Bay Packers clinched a wild card with a 3-10 road win over the Chicago Bears.

Atlanta, Indianapolis, Seattle and Pittsburgh Steelers all secured divisonal

Never mess with the Steelers

titles. The Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 41-9 in a tempestuous tie to secure the AFC North and earn a first-round play-off bye.

Seahawks (celebrating reaching play-offs):
won't apologise for reaching play-offs 
despite losing (7-9) record

The Seattle Seahawks look lucky to make the play-offs given their losing 7-9 record. The Seahawks are unlikely to progress any further, yet incredibly they have a home game in the play-offs against the Saints - eventhough the Saints have a 11-5 record. This anomaly is something which the NFL needs to look at - though the Saints should win comfortably.

Defending Super Bowl Champions The New Orleans Saints are through with a wild-card, despite losing 23-12 at Tampa Sunday (3rd January).

Bank Holiday Monday Championship round-up: With an Irish twist:

The nPower Championship is past the half-way stage now and the League Table is now painting an accurate picture at this time of the season, with teams jostling for position at both the top and bottom of the division.

Keane: ungraciously clings onto his

 job

Ipswich Town have lost yet again, this time losing 0-1 at home to Nottingham Forest. The winning goal came on the stroke of half-time and was a bizarre own goal from Damien Delaney, who just couldn't sort his feet out quickly enough after his 'keeper had parried the ball into the Cork man's path. The "Tractor Boys" have now lost seven of their last nine League matches (and have garnered zero league points in 10 of their last 14 ties). The club now stand just three points above the Championship relegation zone, yet manager Roy Keane is still somehow clinging onto his job. While Ipswich will nick a win here and there between now and the end of the season, they are certainly not going to get anywhere near promotion, in fact, they look much more likely to be dragged into a relegation battle than a promotion push, which, considering the tens of millions of pounds invested in the club, is a sad indictment of Roy Keane's managerial abilities. If Roy Keane had any dignity he would step aside and let a more capable man take over. Of course dignity is one quality which Mr. Keane has proven to be utterly bereft of time and time and time again.

Reading's Tipperary native (and ex minor inter-county hurler): former Cork City F.C. star Shane Long (pictured left) netted both goals in a 2-1 win for the home side over Burnley. Reading move up to eighth place with the win and are now just two points off the play-offs.

Elsewhere, two days after completing his permanent move to Portsmouth: Ireland international Liam Lawrence earned a penalty after a good run and then scored from the spot but couldn't prevent Pompey from losing 2-3 at home to Hull City in what was a Premier League fixture last season. Paul McShane's Hull move above Portsmouth into 15th with Pompey struggling in 18th place - five points above the nPower Championship relegation zone.