Mixed Bag with Frank Browne

Deniese catches up with Frank. They talk about the Camogie Finals, Mayo's wonderful All-Ireland win, and who Frank thinks made Longford hurling sexy again

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Expert is like these four. Well, hello stranger. We have lots to talk about to talk about Frank. So first of all, we'll talk about Smogie, the biggest attendant ever. In the Premier Junior, Armad won. I was hoping Calvin would do it because of Philip Brady, I know him, and then obviously Patty Cullen, you had Paddy West Longfridge. And it was great to see Calvin back in it. Antrim won the intermediate. And then the big one was the senior. Cork won by a point to reclaim the O'Duffy Cup. First of all, we talk about the attendance. Fantastic attendance.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Great attendance, yeah. You know, I think we just over 33,140 million. I think I saw the final figure on it, but yeah, you know, like and I suppose that has to go on it. We'll probably chat about it after a little while as well, in comparison to it's a really kind of disappointing crowd that the ladies last or the week before it had 27,000. Um give her take it the loose change at it. But look, um I think it's probably Cork and Galway attracted. I think maybe the ladies' game the previous week got caught with with the male win and the men's kind of having real GA coverage, Denise, it was kind of really very much kind of anti-collaring just were still going to the male celebrations. So maybe left the LGFA in a little bit of a bad race there. Look, I know, sure. Look at we all know the commodity association has been pushing hard to try and get the attendances up. And I'd say once they got over 30,000, I think they had 27,000 pre-sales, once they got over 30,000, they were were delighted with it. So that as well, though, it's getting I mean great, yeah. But I think I think the Calvin story is a lovely story, Greece, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Because I had covered them, I had covered them way back, and then the likes of Aaron Gallaghan there, who, you know, had worked so hard over the years for Calvin, and then they decide, you know, we're gonna do this, and then to not just only come back, but to come back and get to an all-Ireland final, please God, it's something for them to build on. Obviously, you know Paddy Collinwell and then Philip Friday, I know him from Mullerhorn. So got two good guys who really love their hurling.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Do you know? It's funny you say that because and it's not so long ago, like we were we were looking and we were reading and we were hearing about how Harlem in Cavan itself, remember it was pulled out and went away, and I'm serious to the prize in Captain. It went very back to basic and said, right, let's start growing this at underage, and under eight, under ten, under twelve, and it's gonna take us a couple of years, but we get there. And I think they deserve an awful lot of credit for that as well, because all the time we talk about the needs as well, don't we? And like the growing Harlem in these counties is not about a revolution, it's about evolution and letting the game evolve and putting the people in place. But as you said, with Philip there and Patty, like they'd be absolute Harlan fundamentals, like that would be Harlan would be their thing, it'd be their love, it'll be their passion, you know. And and and I'm absolutely, I'm absolutely delighted, really am now, you know. But it just goes to show as well, Denise, you know, because all of this debate we hear all the time about Harlan and Harlan is dying, how are we going to promote it? But that yesterday proves that if you take the time, you put the right people in place, put the right resources with them, you can actually get results out of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Yeah, and you look at a Camoge now in Ulster, Armah, Antrim, and then obviously then Antrim the week before, like my dad said to me yesterday, which is a great point, Antrim were the only team to do a double with the football and the Camoge, whereas everyone else, which was great to see we did a great spread um across all boards and all divides in it. The the Cork Galway game, it was always going to be a tight of the Cork. Allway were hit injuries and all. Cork, when you think of what Cork have done and the amount of players that they have lost and to come back and win the All Ireland.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

But there was almost a sense with Cork and Jeremy Manley yesterday now watching it that we're we're kind of on a bit of a mission here, you know, that we're we're we're sore after last year and we're on a mission here to see like how can we fucking sorry, how can we get the All Ireland final, how can we win this here now, you know. Like in and I was delightful now. That being said, Denise, that being said, Gorway had the chances coming down the stretch, you know. They had the stretches there, a young island guard who's a great commodity player, but she had a couple of wides coming down and read the end.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

And Carrie Dolan hit wide, which you would have expected Carrie Dolan, and then we'll also talk because there was a lot said about Carrie Dole and should she have been on the pitch for a lot of those wides.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Yeah, you know, and but Carrie, in fairness to Carrie too, though, like probably pound for pound, she's probably one of the best commogue players in the country at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

You know, no doubt about it, but it is, and it just seemed like to me, Denise, it just seemed like it was written in the stars that it was Clark's day, you know. But definitely licking the rules to the fence that certainly, whatever we're winning it, we certainly should have dragged the draw out of it there now, you know, and they'll go away, you know. But the both teams thought there were both teams, and I think Carl wasn't they were saying yesterday there that, you know, if these guys, Carl Murray shouldn't be saying shouldn't be going around Jake and Buckets now to have a team holiday, you know. We got 33,000 in there, one commodity association. And if we're if we're really, you know, three years as well, let's draw a couple of quid and let these guys go on a holiday. You know, and they shouldn't be having to go around Jake and Bucketz and saying, look at it, you know, will you send to me, please go on a holiday? Will you be nice to us? You know, I think that's and I think it's time now for the Komogi Association if they've done that, Denise. I think it would earn them a huge amount of code available, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Yeah, because the thing about it is the Camogie Association brought that crowd into Crow Park yesterday. I know they're all different associations, and Crow Park obviously had vendors open and everything, so they got money out of it. And obviously if there's a big game this week where Crow Park are gonna get it. It would be nice if Crow Park gave something towards it. Like I had James Daly on a few weeks ago, and James was on about the difference between Donegal ladies and Donegal men, but he said credit to the county board. Now and I have to say there was a story up on her sport that I yesterday I saw it, whereas this girl said about she lived with a player who played for Donegal and she was getting nothing compared to the football. And I went, hold on a minute, you know, sometimes these people like their clicks. That's not right. Because James had told me that credit to the Donegal ladies, county boards that's the at the end of the league and at the end of the championship, to give the player something towards the expenses. Now, obviously it's nothing compared to the men, but great credit, and you know, that should have been the story, not the fact that this girl was looking for something.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

And I see the same, I see the same Denise and West Mead too. I genuinely, genuinely think elected on the all-count work. So they're very, very best regards. Because they've realized that if we're to grow Navy football in the county, we need the Blue Ribbon team, which is your senior county team, to be doing well. And I think there's a realisation now as well that like you have to put resources into these teams. The modern game, you know, it it needs resources. You have to be doing that if you in order to be successful. And I genuinely think, you know, it could be a spoken enough now and become county boards at times than the few window. But I genuinely think you're gonna go and certainly in Westmead, certainly they're doing their absolute very best for the case.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah, because we're quick to give out about county boards, but there's a there's stories that you know these county boards should be credited for and should be thanked for what they're doing because the LGB it is tough, and as you say, compared to, you know, you've been with both, so you know exactly how tough it is. I'm just wondering, Frank, we're still talking about the integration. What is the story?

SPEAKER_02 7:58

I I yeah, I don't know. It's funny because kind of this this conversation is, I have to say, going into that a little bit now. And I I personally think I know there's work going on behind the scenes, or we're we're told there's work going on behind the scenes. I personally don't see it being any closer to integration at the moment. And you're you're in you're in GES day games, Ireland football, commodity lady football, every weekend of the year. And I just don't see I don't just don't see it being any closer to integration than we were three years ago, to be brutally honest with you, you know. Is there a will, is there a way? Yeah, even a club. But I think that the the clubs, the clubs are we have one club and all that kind of thing, but the clubs are just making the best of it, and I think that's a kind of as much an economic thing where clubs are saying, well, hold on a minute, we can't have the LGFA, you know, doing a lot of and us doing a lotto, and Ireland doing a lotto. Let's just have one and we have one pitch, so let's, you know, I see that my own club are very honest there. Like, yeah, people said a lotto, all the money, any money to come into LGFA or in the football, all goes into the one part. And the best facilities we have. And I just thought one club is happening on the ground every day of the week, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 9:11

See, that's where it's happening, is in the grassroots level, and I must give a big shout out to the Granard ladies because um after so many years the club reformed and yesterday the junior team took to the pitch for their first championship game. I know it didn't go their way, but it's fantastic to see. But we've got people on both sides. But someone made a very good point about um we're talking about Roscommon, and I was on sorry for mentioning Roscommon. Frank, I was actually there, yeah. Joe Finnegan. I was on Joe Finnegan a few weeks ago and we're just talking about how the county boards in Roscommon uh had games fixed, but the chairman, vice chair, was on and he said that they did ask clubs did they want to change? If you know one lad was saying to me the foliage wanted to change, but whoever they were playing wouldn't change. And someone made a point to Daddy, they were listening to the story, and they said that when you look at it in every club in Ireland, who were the people that do most of the work? The women.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Yeah, 100%, 100% agree. Yeah, 100% agree. And I saw it when when Lady Football came in to our club in Ballyhon, it's maybe probably twelve or thirteen years ago now. But that brought a whole new set of people, a whole new set of ideas, a whole new blast of enthusiasm into the club. And it's not not only good. It absolutely done nothing only good, but like I I and as well as that, Denise, and this is something we we talk about all the time. We have to move away from, okay, well, we're going into the match to see the girlings. Ah, the lovely girls, we go in and give the girls a bit of a shout, a bit of support. If that's your if that's why you're going in, don't borrow gone in. Go in to see the female athletes. Play. You're going into a game, you're you're not going into support, ah, the good little girlings, we're going to support them. If that's it, don't be patronized and don't borrow going in at all, then. Go in to see a game and a really high quality game or you know, high power athletes, and that's why you should be gone. You know? You don't hear them say, are we going to support the for all boys?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

That's the case, go paragon. Exactly. That'd be my and we have to move. Do you but do people go to the Wimbledon women's final to support the girls? They're going to see top class international tennis players having a match. That's what they go for, and I think we have to we have to get to a situation as well. Yeah, I've a friend.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

I have a friend over in he is a soccer coach and he's over in Iceland and he hates women's soccer. He hates that. It should be just called soccer. And I think that's the one thing as well that we have to pull away from that. As you said, it's a game, it's a game between high class athletes and top class athletes, and you look at the European championships are on now, and we're going to have a field of fantastic athletes, no matter if they're male or female. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Like do we do we care if if you know, if if if you know one of our athletes, you know, be it Mosley or English, whoever, we just want our athlete to win.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

You know. And if that means he's running the eight hundred metres men, it's brilliant. And if he's running the four hundred metres women, that's brilliant too. We just want our athlete to win, and we have to go. We really have to, you know, like some of the finest athletes we produce in this country are female besides. Yeah. The finest, the fine athletes we produce in this country. And they're factor female makes no difference. But look at even if we all still have the screens, you know, we'll we'll filter up out in a couple of weeks' time for Katie Taylor. Probably one of the greatest ever athletes we produced. Do we care that there's a man or a woman? No, we're gonna support her. We're gonna support her because we want to see an athlete at the top of her game produce.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

But it was sad that Joe got texts in that day to say kind of could you move on? Like we were previewing obviously the finals because for men who were playing Ross Common and they had listeners in both areas, and it was great that um I had a chance to go to come on and talk about it. But then Joe got this text, could you move on please? And I just thought that is ignorance.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

But Joe deserves a huge amount of credit too because he'll always beat the female drum as well, it's fairness to him.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

You know, he'll always fight that, you know. I'd done a bit with him there a while ago when we had the whole thing about the whole transgender and all then CFA and all, and and you know what, it would have been easy for Joe just to let that fly past and not get involved in that. But he didn't. He had a strength that was going to say, actually, you know what? As as a country and as a society, we need to talk about this. We need to look into this, and he brought it up and the more like but as you say, it's terrible sad that people are saying, Move on. Move on to what? Talking about the price of butter.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Yeah, that's exactly it. I think sport gives us, and even during COVID when T.G. Carr reshowed games and different things, it was just sport gives us the release. Sometimes you look at sport. Now, Friday night I went to it long. Terrible result for the town. Saturday there was games on. Then um obviously then a Friday night as well, the Rhinos had a great comeback win. Then all day yesterday I had Celtic on, then the Camogey on, I was switching then to see how the Rangers game was going. I kind of just thought, you know, if I wasn't working, you know, my weekends are just sport, and that's what I love for me. And it just gives us that release and we you know, we should be talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Well didn't leave and we saw that in Mayo so much a couple of weeks ago. Ultimately, yeah, no, no, no, no, but ultimately sport, and we say it when we're chatting all the time, ultimately, ultimately, ultimately, sport is about creating joy. And we saw that in Mayo where I would think if if we added up all the people who went to homecomings, it's probably a population of a quarter of a million in Mayo because people just wanted to be, you know, surfing on that wave of joy.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

And I was, you know Yeah, I wanted to actually talk about that because it's two weeks ago, just over two weeks ago, since that day in Crow Park.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

It was a gorgeous innocence to it. In the modern kind of we talk all the time about modern sport and modern life and it it was just a gorgeous innocence to we've actually won Sam in seventy-five years and we're just gonna have a party. Oh Frank, I And there's real innocence to it now, you know. I coming out of Crock Park Denise that evening, there was me or people looking at their pints thinking, actually, I'm not really sure what we should be doing now, you know. Um Normie is coming out and I don't know, yeah, no share was terrible and Jesus Andy would have kicked out or was terrible, it was winging into your pine, but this people were genuinely looking at their pine thinking, Well, I'm really, really kinda not sure. And the other thing that was amazing to see you know yourself it's at all are the finals kind of it's really you won't get to see sit with people because there's a ticket here and a ticket there. But the amount of people just looking for their son or their daughter their brother or their mammy, just to give 'em a hug and say, Yeah, yeah, you know what? We and and ultimately it just to me, Denise, and sometimes we talk about sport here, me and you, and we can kind of be cynical about it. I mean But ultimately this was about the creation of a huge amount of joy. And everybody, even Carrie people. Yeah, it wasn't just for real people.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah, it was the whole and not just the whole island of Ireland it captured. You know, I looked at it went all over, it went viral, like America, Australia, England.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

People were just it was you know, it was the perfect mix too though, wasn't it? You had you had the the the the legend it was Andy coming back as the manager. You had the son of God, Karen Macdonald, as the superstar. Yeah. You had white jerseys. You were playing against the great red lads coming in, you know, Dara and Kobe coming in, and after doing the leave-in search, he just didn't give uh a hoot they were going to go and celebrate and play. And it just was nearly the perfect storm in a gorgeous way, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Uh you know, if you wanted to to write the perfect sports story, that that is you don't even have to. Like I Patty McGivney and Robert Higgins here in Granard are filmmakers, and d they wouldn't even have to write a script because that was really.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

If you read that as a script, you'd say, ah yeah, that'd be great in Hollywood, but it won't really happen. You know, like the son of you know Denise, like Kerr McDonald would be looked upon as a god here in Mayo. And suddenly now the son of God was gonna come and be the saviour before he jumped on an airplane to go to that dress to save as he rules, you know. It's like you couldn't write the script of a good shit.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

You sent me a lovely text, Frank, about ninety-six. You're a Mayor man now, you've got a family down there, you know, D and Holly.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

And and it was that thing there, Denise, about people said to me, you know, was it as good as ninety-six? And ninety-six was amazing, absolutely brilliant. First time in twenty-eight years, you know, it was brilliant. But suddenly I've been, you know, I've been out of Wexford for fucking thirty-nine years, so Mayo's home and I've kind of realized this is my this is my home now. This is where I've been there and yeah, ma'am is the same with with Brannard.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

You know, Mullahhorn is where she's from and where she was born.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

I still love Wexford Denise. I still savage will always be a little bit more. It was just it was just an amazing it was just an amazing week and you know and the funny thing is, you know, as everybody is saying now, there's two big debates in Mayo at the moment. Debate number one is, would it be as good if we win it again? That's the significant debate going on. Well, it could it ever be as good again? And the second one is who's the better footballer, Dara Byrne or Kobe? That's the huge debate going on at the moment. You know, 'cause Kobe has the charisma and he has, you know, uh and the all the backstory. But Dara is it, Jesus, just like the point that Dara scored actually about twenty minutes in from underneath the Cusick standard on the twenty meter line was in because the wind was swirling around.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

But it was something that Aidan O'Shea, Morris Fitzgerald, Gooch, all the great footballers would love to have scored.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Oh Lord, absolutely, like, and he caught it right on the meet. And but it was funny that day as well, Denise, looking back on it, you know. The male crowd there, like, if if if Tommy Conway would have come out for the pre-match warm-up and opened the pack of Chris, everybody would have cheered in the face, you know. It was just that special, it was just the energy in the stadium that day. But I tell you, around the stadium, you know, it was good.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Andy Moorne had a pair on him that when he realized things to bring on Tommy, because he'd normally bring him on further on in the game, but to make that substitute, to make that switch, it was very good.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

It was a massive call, wasn't it? But Andy got all the calls, and fairly something got the calls right, and it just said but you said he's a pair on him, but you you don't get to be an intercounty corner forward at the very highest level without having a bit of steel in your back button. Did you know? You're going up with Ricey McMinneman and Philly McMahon, you have to have a bit of steel. And do you know I thought really what he how he handled the media and handled like we're gonna go nuts?

SPEAKER_00 20:01

The semi-final, that was brilliant. Do you think we're gonna like who here thinks and he was throwing the question back at the journalists, which I thought was brilliant. Frank Brown, in all honesty, I did think when I heard about the Mio job and I thought maybe will Andy stay an extra year in Monaghan, give him the experience. I thought, you know, was it a bit too much for him? Did anyone think No. No. When after the Ross Comedy game.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Yeah, it was Andy, oh my god, and the negative press. But you have to give them credit for I would think if you probably sat Andy down with a bottle of beer at Christmas and you said Randy, he probably would have said, I would have liked another year in Monaghan just to fine-tune, but when the opportunity came up, I couldn't say no. You know, and I think that's what I was, and but I think he just grew into it. You know, his injuries started coming right at the right time. Dara and O McGrail and and Kobe came in after the under twenty and brought a whole new freshness and energy and enthusiasm and it's quite like Ryan Ryan, I don't know who said that came in and just went out. It made Ryan start to enjoy playing football all over again because and that's the that's the beauty of youth as well, isn't it? Two minutes after the final whistle, I was I was in I was in the upper queues again. Kobe wandered down to Hill 16 and he was like kind of pogbar one of these, he just looked at the hill, he put out his arms and said, Yeah, Kobe's in, Kobe is in now. And it was just really for a young lad that on his leaving, it was an incredible interviews have been incredibly mature as well, haven't they?

SPEAKER_00 21:33

But you know what, Frank, they have showed a maturity about them. And sometimes people can go OTT and there's videos of them, but how the Mio lads handled everything coming up to it and how they did. They were an absolute I tell you, to their parents, to their families, to and but then I suppose when you have a man like Andy Mourn in charge, that's what you get.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Andy is just he's just one of the good guys.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

You know, he's just one of the good guys. And that comes out in the team. That comes out in the back room people he put around, you know, Colin Boyle, Keith Higgins, you know, all of these lads that he put around him as well. And then he'd paddy tally thrown into the mix, you know. Like he's got Andy has to take a massive amount of credit, I think, to be honest, which is the and all the claudits and all the pats on the back he gets but Andy would always be the first to tell you as well. You know, he'd always remember there's only two foot between the pat on the back and the kick of the hole. And Andy would know that better than anybody after the season he had.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

See, up here in Longford, we're really taking him because obviously he played soccer with Longford Town, could have made it, but decided to stick with the GE a bit like Ryan O'Donnew. And then obviously his wife was half Longford, and I thought it was lovely after the the the match, and he was doing the post-match interview, and he mentioned. Then he mentioned Aidan Drake, and I just enjoyed it well, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

But isn't it isn't it a very Irishy thing that he brings, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 23:00

But I don't know as well. Um it's a bit of an Irish thing because several times I've been at a game and I take out a a prayer thing that I have on my a hand, or I'd say we prayer to my nan and granddad or my uncle John or something like that. Oh please, please, please. It's such an Irish thing that we do we do still have that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

And I make no bones about it as well, Denise, when the final win we take it. No, I thought about I thought of Pierce, yeah, I really did. I I thought of him and I had a tear in my eye thinking of him, you know, and I I did because I just stayed him and that's what and then they you know, we all thought of the people who just didn't get around to seeing today. You know, and I thought John O like it was a lovely it was a lovely little thing for John O as well. And and I suppose it was upon it that John O's wife was there as well, you know, with the with the the Centennial team from Galway, you know, that she was there being represented as well. It was just like it was just like all the planets just seemed to align on a on a Sunday afternoon in Crowe Park, you know, and it was just it was amazing, Denise. It was absolutely amazing and you know, um but I think the point you make there, how the players carry themselves, you know. And there was plenty of porter taken, but we haven't seen any videos, any stupid. No, I've seen and you know in an age of minded each other.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah, in the in the social media age where everyone has a camera out. No, I have to say, um some of the singing, uh I have to say Aid N O'Shea, very impressed with him. Very impressed with him singing um the River Bike Art Brooks.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

I have to say that, you know, better singing though now, probably I don't think to be getting a place in the choir in Granada.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

We need a few men for the float choir, but I don't think I think you might say to him, look at don't call us, we call you. You know, but it's funny you're talking about Joe. I done a bit with Joe Joe Finnegan on the Tuesday and we were chatting and Louis Walsh was on and he reckons that uh he's finally ain't no shade to sing the river.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

I said that, yeah. Isn't it funny how if you're into that kind of thing, you know, singing and that you do listen to it and you're there going and there was no one like remembered the whole thing over Kyle Hayes singing the King of the Road and all that, and there was that crap over it. Whereas there was nothing like that about any of the Miola ads.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

There was no, there was an innocence to it. And look, I was lucky to get away. You're big children, really on the key team. I was lucky to need to be around the team a couple of times since it there and just absolutely first class individuals, absolutely, you know, no bullshit, no nothing, and I've been, you know, and but as you say, Andy made him in his own image too, because that'd be Andy too. Like you've done interviews with Andy, you saw him at soccer and all. He's just a good guy, isn't he?

SPEAKER_00 25:35

He is an absolutely lovely, lovely guy, and you can get it. And I have to say now, I thought Ollie singing the greener red and Mayo was absolutely brilliant. The the homecoming was absolutely but even I tell you, someone said about the saw doctor's accountant between um Galway and Mayo in the last Yeah, yeah, but you never feel in the Mayo now is oh okay, can we just have something different than the green or red or something?

SPEAKER_02 26:01

Club Championship Club Championship study yesterday, so it's the beat now and mail.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

I seen Ballan hour beaten, it's a bit like here, but I've just you know took into the whole thing about I'm a bit a a romantic when it comes to sports stories and that final whistle, it's and I keep on mentioned it so many times about how long it is since we've won a championship in Granage, and I just thought, would that be me? Would that be the release that I would have? And I would say so because no matter who you are or where you're from, like I'm going to Belfast next week to see Lewis Capaldi and the outset Mary's jersey would be flung into the bag and you know different things like that. But I tell you, I always said that whatever it is, Mio and Kerry jerseys were always top sellers. But my gosh, I say that Mio jersey, we will see it all over the world.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

And they deserve so much credit, you know. And uh but it did as you said, Denise, they've done all the good they've done it they brought forward all the good things that we love about sport. Yes. The underdog, the curse. But you're saying it wasn't how they carry themselves as well. So important. Because you know what, all the time on this on our pod, Denise, we talk about role models and the importance of role models, and oh my god, didn't we see brilliant role models with the lads?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

The thing about it is Andy didn't hide any of them away. Like, especially in the homecomings, them young lads, Kobe was allowed to do interviews, they were allowed to because as you said, they're intelligent young lads. Now I have to say I switched over between BBC and RTE because I wanted to see the reaction. And I just thought with Lee Keegan it was absolutely brilliant on RT, and then you had Paury Gahora um on BBC because these are their lads that would have given everything.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

They've been in the trenches like in and recently in the trenches.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

You see, there you you have it again. If you didn't have all that hurt, if it was really second final in seventy-five years, but the fact that you had, I think that's what made it all. And I used to watch, and I remember saying to Diane O'Hora, do you not want to get beaten in a semi-final? Because it was an all-Ireland final again, and the crowds, and I remember Jimmy Connell put up a video this time, and uh Laura Doyle as well, Laura Vargeon, um had a picture of videos up of the crowds going to Crow Park, and I just thought it was a pilgrimage for me. They are and I'm not just saying Frank, they're the best supporters around.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

And sometimes it was like climbing the Reg in your bare feet, it was a painful, painful pilgrim pilgrimage, but when you got to the top of you, it was amazing up there, you know, and it was a little bit like that as well. But it was, and it feels to the Mio supporters to bring the more than the dubs as well, and I'd love to know, to bring that bit of rabbit as and that bit of you know, that that we need in sport as well, to bring just that little bit of extra to it, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 28:59

You mentioned the Reek and it all it was like all these uh the stars align, because week Sunday, there was mass that day, it was from uh the Basilica in Knock and the priest said a wee prayer for me. Oh it was just you could yeah, could not. Steven Spielberg could not write this.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Yeah, and then you know, I don't know when we're gonna put this one out, but you know, it's it's um it's Monday now and uh the climb to Reek today, you know, Andy Enedo, uh the good few of them there, Climb Derek, and they brought they brought Sam to the summit today and that would have been uh very emotional as well, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Do you know what? That's Sam McGuire and it's not absolutely brilliant, will have seen every part of me oh and people talk about oh having the finals back in September and all that. But do you know what? Them children, people would not have got to have them couple of weeks. No school.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

I thought it was actually spectacular what they've done on the Friday, Denise, they've done an umbrella bus tour.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Uh and then the goal with bus.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

They got the goal with bus, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then I suppose I forgot about winning the ladies' football the following week because we had to give the bus back to the ball. Yeah, but right now but you know, and they went in and the crowds there and it it was really special on the Tuesday in Belly Hornets because it was Jack, the captain, coming back to his own people and Keith as well as the selector coming back to his own people, and it was just and I have to say, you know, Denise, for the real for the real supporters, yeah, the homecoming of Casabar was brilliant and fifty or sixty thousand edits. But for the real, real GS ball the day it came to your club was the day. You know, the day that Sam came to Ballyhorn, the day that Sam went to Belmullers would always strike me as yeah, that's the day you know you've done it. You know, that's the day to me that's how I'd look at it now. You know, and I think it was as they say Belly Holland was amazing, there was only ten thousand people in the place and it was jumping and uh it's it's why we love sport, Denise, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 31:03

So how was the head anywhere, Frank?

SPEAKER_02 31:05

The head was only middling now, Denise, but I kinda decided that if I kept partying, you could probably delay the head to do it a little bit. So that was kind of my I think I jumped onto the bandwagon over done that now. And yeah, Asher, look, if we can't celebrate that though, Denise, why are you gonna celebrate? No, no, no, no. There's no part of being involved in. And to be honest with you, I was really after being beaten the in the All-Liver final by Ross Common, you know, like sport, but probably the last thing on my mind. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

I was afraid I wasn't afraid to ring you. I just didn't want to ring you, and I said, What am I meant to say? And it was literally like, and you always say it to me, you know, there's more to life than sport, but still I just wanted to give you a hug.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

But sometimes you need that bit of you just need a bit of space and you know, and just you go in your lick your rooms and I said the the big thing, you know, and I'd say this to people when you're managing, the big thing you do after a defeat like that is like I don't care who you are, Andy Moon, whoever, you know, Ancelotti, anyone you you go and you start analysing every decision you made yourself. So that is the nature of it. You know, you go and you know, that night, that Tuesday night when we were training, should I have said this and you start running you start running that video in your head all over these and you spend a couple of days, yeah, what if and could I have done this better, did we get that decision right? And there's just so many of them, but that's you just get wrecked with kind of self-doubt and you know, did I could I should I am I the one that'll help? Does it need something else? Where are we going right? And you have that kind of you know, it's a it's a world of pain for a couple of days, and it is, you know, it's not the same as somebody losing a lung bone or anything like that, but you're in a world of pain, the you've generated it in your own head and you just have to kind of to me anyway, Denise, I just have to kind of process that and do that bit of mental filing in my head with you know when I've findings under that and I'll file this.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Because we're talking about we're talking about Andy, you know, when winning in all Ireland, but now we're seeing the you know, the different side of it. And the only consolation sorry, if there is a consolation, is in the last couple of years the teams that have beaten.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

And there's a s there's a huge consolation in that, Denise, but at the same time there's not because you're saying if we'd have been a semi-final, there's gonna be left behind. There's gonna be left behind. Now, you know, and I think um I think for and fair play to Roscommon, you know, and fair play to Finball and there was absolutely no complaints, they won fair and square, they were better than the sun today, they turned up and we didn't, and I no I guess was the real the real world of pain is trying to figure out why didn't we turn up and could we have done this better? And you know, it's a phrase we always used that I feel like is like we we knew we had to mix to make the cake, but did we get we did we have to mix right in the ball to bake a proper cake? I uh you know, and obviously we didn't because we didn't win the match, you know. And but then that being said, we've had a couple of great years, we had back to back blendsters, we had a lot of really good days.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Yeah, I know it is it is tough because as I said, you know, we talk about Andy Andy Moore and then we have the opposite side of it and that's exactly.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

But you love your soul into it, Denise, don't you? You know, it's like you and your career there, you know, you put everything you have into it. You know, and I know say the local parish priest there, you know, Father Stephen, he he is a great friend sometimes. The price of great love sometimes is a great pain. And it's a bit like this as well. The price of chasing this dream to win in all Ireland or whatever can be great pain as well. But we know that when we walk in the door on the very first day we know you know, we walk your chances of winning or slam and or whatever, you know. But we still why? Because we're chasing that we're chasing that elusive dream, you know, and as long as we keep doing that and feel the joy, sir, we keep doing it.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

And I was gonna say that and we will keep on coming back and we'll keep on because that's we will.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

We will, and you know, and especially as Irish people as well, I think, you know, like in the world the the the European Athletics are on there this week now and we've we've a chance of winning medals and oh my god, so we'll be delighted, you know, because you know, because we just support our people, don't we?

SPEAKER_00 35:02

I should look at even Saturday night. Um Daddy went to flicked over just to see how um Ward was doing, and then we sat down and watched the whole the whole f the whole fight, and then Aaron McKenna and it was just and Callum Walls because we want to see one of our own do well. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 35:18

It doesn't matter as long as that person in the next bet as Irish people we'll be grudged, but at the time we don't, you know, we'll begrudge it at some stage, but you know you can't When Westmead play Longford or Westcommon play Longford, they're enemies.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

But it said to Paddy Joe, Burke it was like I was supporting them this year and it's because and even Friday night in Atlone I was having the banter with the lads, but the thing about it is down to the years in St. Mel's Park and then in the Atlone Town Stadium, Atlone Town have always been absolutely brilliant to me. And I couldn't say anything about them, but you have to have that bit of crack. But when it comes to obviously United and Rangers, I'd have absolutely no time for them.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

But when you're in the same gene pool at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

That's exactly it.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

We're a Celtic nation on the edge of Western Europe and we'll kill each other, you know. Sometimes oftentimes we talked about in in the West Meadress Room, we were kind of a little bit like a dysfunctional family. You know, we kill each other, but underneath it all we loved each other, you know. Oh, sure. And that's uh that's who we are as a nation as well, you know. That's exactly each other, but you' when when the pressure will come on, or you know, like I'd like it's not I think it's gonna be fabulous for for for and not gonna for boxing, you know, the Katie Taylor, and nothing's gonna say for women's boxing or ladies' boxing. It's gonna be fabulous if one of our heroes is gonna be celebrated in one of the finest stadiums in Europe. Like one of the interesting things there, I was watching the All Ireland Heard of final, which was on the same day as the World Cup. And on the Planet Aert, the biggest spectator viewing event wasn't the World Cup final, there was only eighty two thousand others.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

There was eighty-two thousand three hundred people crammed into a stadium that was built by volunteers in the middle of it in Dublin, north Dublin, inner city.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:03

And that was the biggest spectacle in the world on that day, and that says an awful lot for who we are as a people.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Oh, exactly. And by gosh, were we so proud then, busy sharing all the videos of me oh and even at the weekend, Frank, what's gone past with the last week, the fla. We put on last night, and I just I said to Mammy, I'm not gonna tell my brother and his partner what to do, but I said, I hope the boys play an instrument because we have a young lad here, now obviously there was a whole group of them, but Liam O'Hara, Liam actually was getting his hair cut when we went into Jane Divine, and uh Liam became an all Ireland uh winner. We were absolutely delighted, and then just watching it last night, and we watched just um before that, but then I loved the last night because obviously you're the winners of the senior Cayley and just how we just like the last couple of weeks of Irishness. I should say the last couple of weeks between obviously, you know, Limerick won. It was great to see Limerick actually, well, probably for not for Galway people, but you know, Limerick were back, um probably one of the best teams we've had around, and then Meo, and then Galway bridging that gap. And it was just then the flaw, and it was just 100%.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

And then and then, you know, and we had it and we had a good summer on top of all that for people in good form as well. You know, like it was just one of them ones when we look back, you know, like Reading in their years will be absolutely brilliant from 2026. But you know, when I'm all at my mental nursing home and I'm looking into the fire, and please God I'm 103 just after coming in after the union cycle. I'll say, Do you remember the summer of twenty-six? Oh my god, wasn't it brilliant? You know, and Holly will tell her grand my my grandchildren and her children the summer of twenty-six was amazing. And I think that's the way everybody look back, and I'd love to see the athletes doing something this week, and I'd love to see you know, I I'd love to be in Incroy Park for Katie Taylor rocking the place, you know, and we'll look back and we'll say twenty-six was exemplary.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

And even like it was the year of the underdog as well, especially in Gaelic football.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's funny, I was I just happened to be talking to Jar Brennan, the Dublin manager there, and we were just saying, wasn't it a crazy season? You know, like for Jarr it was anyway, because he spent the first three months with us sitting on his arse in the stands, you know.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

But the thing about it is looking even Wicklow. Wicklow lost to Longford.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

Wicklow, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Wicklow threw away, like Wicklow should have been rele should have been promoted. Anyone from Longford will tell you that and then look.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

100%. And there they are, you know, and it's just but it's why we love it, Denise. It's just it's just why we bloody love it, and we keep going back and we keep talking about it, and we keep chasing that bloody dream and and long way to laugh because I was gonna say that to you.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

Uh you know, I hate asking managers what's next, and you know, even talking to Jeremy Call with Longford and he got there with Delori Maher, and you know, you don't want to ask a manager, but talking to you, it's not a case of what's next, because I think you're just gonna always have that little bit that you want more, Frank.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

You're always chasing, you know, you're always like, and I sometimes look back and actually a picture of you know, two pictures popped up on my phone the other day. Um I happened to bump into Declan Tanner at the at the at the races in Kilbegan on Saturday night, and we just, you know, Deck, the legend that's Declan Tanner, you know, and there there's a famous picture of myself and Dick just when the Larry Marr final whistle goes, and you know, Deck is I don't know whether he's crying or he's laughing, or he's I don't know what he's doing, but it's it's a gorgeous. But the other one that popped up myself and Mikkel Rock rolling around on the sideline, you know, is a brilliant and and the one one of the special ones in my heart to meet is, you know, we met that day in the tunnel and it was just yeah, you know what I mean. Colleen Duffy took a photograph. Yeah, and it was just like it was delivered. You had said that to me though, Frank.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

We were on a j you had said that to me, we were on a journey.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

Yeah, and we didn't know the bumps and where the journey was. And I I just looked there now as well, you know. I just look at Mihawk Carraghi, who was chairman of the Hurling Board, and he had a long journey. And I was so delighted, you know, regardless of your politics, you'd be delighted for Mihawk, because he chased and he believed in himself and he worked hard, regardless of whether you're Finney Falcon again, Sinn Fein, or or whoever you are. For the likes of him, Mihal, you just have to be it's kind of like Meo and you'd have to be happy for him because just he worked incredibly hard, didn't he? And he stayed true to himself. You know, whether you agree with his politics or not, he still has attained the office of Chocolate Ola and he's got to be a good thing. Oh, that's exactly it.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Yeah, you know, um I I wouldn't I wouldn't be uh uh uh persuasion. Yeah, it wouldn't be my persuasion. But I've always gotten on very well, and there's times when I've needed to text Mi Hall about something and he will always get back to you. And as you said with him with with the hurling, because I remember n I'll never forget, you know, because a bit like Kavan and a bit like Kevin Kamoki. Yeah. Longford Hurling was nearly on the way out.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

Well Longford Harlem wasn't sexy now. I can tell you that. You know, Longford Longford Harlem wasn't sexy, and he killed me for saying this. Longford Harlem wasn't sexy till Johnny Casey came along.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Mother of gosh.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

We'll have to play him this sound clip, you know. Johnny Casey is the one that made a lot for the sexy. But imagine when he gave just a smiley live on the face.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

He won't get his head inside the kitchen anymore.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

Like we're thinking of other people, and now all of a sudden now you just put John Like, could we not have had someone else? Like, even if you'd have said Mick Aurora for yourself, like Paul Bardon. Well, actually, you were the matchmaker, weren't you, with Paul Bardin?

SPEAKER_02 42:35

I was the matchmaker with Paul and his gorgeous wife, Laura. And the and the old crazy is their daughter Holly, the same as myself now. But brilliant, but brilliant people though, brilliant Langford people, brilliant Harlem people, you know.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Uh that was there. That was yeah, that that they were great times, you know, when and from a small county like Longford, we have to kind of cherish those times and treasure those times. And I think from the likes of you, you're from Wexford, and you know, uh Dear McCall came up and this man from Tipperary came up and obviously he'd been with Westmead, so he and he knew the story, but then coming into Longford and realised that there are people in Longford who love the hurling just as much as down in Limerick or down in Cork or down in Galway.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

One of the common things I was saying, you know, people have said to me, Well done, Frank, well done, but you're uh and I'd say, Well, it doesn't matter. That was the only competition we could play in and we won it. Doesn't matter. We couldn't we could we were never gonna win the Lee McCarthy because we weren't in the competition. That's like telling a junior team you're gonna win the senior county championship, but we're not. All they can do is win the junior championship and try and move up, and that was our goal, and that's what we achieved. And you know, the thing you were there for the journey, and that was three years of chasing that dream, you know. First the first year we went up to play we went up tennis gilling to play for mana. I think we had sixteen on the bus. But we stuck at it. We stuck at it, we rolled in the bowl wag Egan and we we rolled in the bag the bowl declant and you know like there was the famous uh you were there that evening, you know, gorgeous George O'Connor came up to Paris Park to do uh to do a training session with us. Ollie Cannon came down and done a training session with us, you know, and we we built momentum and we and we and we saw it out and it was a it was a brilliant time. It was an absolutely brilliant time and I'd look back and I can look back and say, you know, yeah, I walked alive in Crow Park and we won a national title, Andy. We always talk about it. First time that Hawkeye was operated by Dickie Murphy was Joe Bryan in the in the Larry Mall final the year before.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

Yeah, because you go one up now on Andy Moore, and if you don't chatting to Andy, you know, well Andy, I you've been a an All-Ireland winner manager in Crow Park before you.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because me and me and you, Andy. So I'm gonna run the first.

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Frank, absolutely great adding to you. We will catch up again. We will start with the first time.