As a trailblazing, investigative writer who buries himself in research on a daily basis, sometimes you'll come across data that is utterly inconsequential, completely ephemeral, of interest to nobody. And then other days, you'll happen upon a veritable goldmine, material of such value, you'll literally shake with excitement and approach it almost with trepidation.
Today is one of those days.
We have uncovered the final table of the Superstars World Final in 1979.
These material has rarely been brought to light but some intrepid sleuthing has led to us the final standings. Not only this but we have the Top 5 for each of the individual events. We can now reveal where Pat Spillane finished.
Spillane, as anyone who has ever seen Reeling in the Years knows, won the Irish edition of Superstars, beating out the likes of Dave O'Leary. The dubious prize for this, alongside the money presumably, was a chance to go to Bahamas to compete in the World Final. We know he suffered in the heat but it was rarely pointed out exactly where he ended up in the table.
There were twelve competitors.
The event was won for the second year running by Canadian footballer Brian Budd, beating out the USA's Wayne Grimditch and winning total prize money of $38,800. Spillane performed admirably as an amateur competing against a host of professional sportsmen, but he ended up finishing in 11th and second last place.
However, he did finish ahead of two-time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZUJ_bV2eHk&feature=youtu.be
Here are some of the individual event standings:
Anyone who saw Spillane's energetic displays in over 15 years of playing for Kerry will be unsurprised that he more than held his own in the running and endurance events. He was nowhere in soccer, in tennis, and in the obstacle course.
He also showed some decent skills on the bike...
The pool standings also showed Spillane nearer the top than the bottom.
