Who would Limerick vote for next Tuesday?*

A short vox pop, conducted on the streets of Limerick, last Tuesday, in which folk were asked which US presidential candidate they would vote for if they had the chance to do so.

On a related note, below is a still from the excellent music video over at JibJab.com of the Bob Dylanesque song "Time for some Campaigning". Check it out.


*Clue: His first name has more than four letters.

Not the best advertisement for long-distance running

In most normal sports, when an athlete comes off the pitch after a victory or fine performance, normally they offer platitudes expressing their delight and elation. Not so Galwayman Michael O'Connor, best of the Irish in last Monday's Dublin Marathon. In an immediate post-race interview reported by the Irish Times, O'Connor was quoted as saying:

"It's my last run," the father-of-two declared. "I've arthritis in both feet and I'm sick of it. It's time to go playing football with the young lad I think, and drink a few pints."

I just really can't imagine the such a frankly downbeat reaction coming from the winner of a national title in rival sports, such as Gaelic Football or soccer. Hardly the best advertisment to get youngsters into the marathoning, but then again I reckon if you've just run 26 and a bit miles in 02:21:00 you're pretty much entitled to say whatever the hell you want to say.

Blatter gets tough on fat cats in football just for the money

"There are national laws in Switzerland, for example, when you buy property or make an investment, you must prove yourself," he explained. "You have to prove your link with the area.

"We must ask ourselves about what motivates these owners and are they really interested in the game or just making money?

So said FIFA President Sepp Blatter at a meeting at the European Parliament yesterday, in which he expressed alarm over foreign ownership of football clubs in Europe.

Interesting that ice hockey-loving Sepp could say this with a straight face, considering his own rather tenuous links with the canton in Switzerland where he was registered as a resident in order to cut his tax-bill, as detailed in Andrew Jennings' 2006 book, Foul!: The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals.

America has a lot to answer for

And I'm not talking about the rights and wrongs of leaving the world's financial system in a holy mess through wreckless lending by American banks and lacklustre enforcement of financial regulations. No, it's far more serious than that.

If my understanding of this Runner's World article is to be believed, and I'm not sure if it should be, it appears that some American Universities allow their students take modules in marathon training.

No wonder high-skilled jobs are being outsourced east faster than Haile Gebreselassie last Sunday in Berlin.