Irish sports fans are today waking up to a disgusting snub at the hands of the people of the United States of America.
The American sports site The 365 Skinny have compiled a list of the greatest fifteen athletes of all time and in a major slight to the nation that have given them Bono, Riverdance, Billy Walsh, poorly-poured Guinness and The Dropkick Murphys, the site have included just one Irish person in the list.
Cavan's handball maestro Paul Brady has been included in a list which displays a quite obvious American bias. The list features fully 9 Americans, including LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens and Serena Williams.
We spoke to the founder of the US site that named Paul Brady among the greatest athletes of all time on The Racket today.
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The criteria for the list included the athlete's achievements (medals, personal awards etc.), the amount of time they spent dominating their sport, the athlete's respect among peers, impact beyond that sport along with many more.
Brady is placed 14th in the list, one ahead of Serena Williams. In a further snub, the writer has the temerity to open his copy on Paul Brady with this line:
Most people are probably asking,”WHO”? But, Brady is the greatest, and most accomplished handball player of all-time.
In fairness, the site lists Brady's staggering list of achievements, including his five world titles, eleven All-Ireland titles and, most importantly, the fact he was Man of the Match in the Cavan County final in 2012.
And thus ends the Irish representation upon this list. There are no mentions of Roy Keane or Brian O'Driscoll nor is there any mention of Paul O'Connell's retirement. Outrageous altogether. Katie Taylor, Ruby Walsh and Barry McGuigan are also notable by their absence. Hurling was totally ignored. It's as if the rest of the world couldn't care less about it. If Henry Shefflin isn't one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport, then we really don't want to know what kind of criteria they're using.
Similarly, there isn't even a mention of the great Ronnie O'Brien, who was nominated for TIME's Man of the Century.
Nonetheless, we would like to congratulate Ali, Williams, Pele and Jordan on their being ranked alongside Paul Brady.
The full list can be found here.
