Let's face it folks, when it comes to producing excellent, world-class athletes - boxers and golfers aside - Ireland has a lot of work to do. Sure our GAA athletes are pretty talented, but they exist in a vacuum. I've always had a hunch that if the Yanks or Australians seriously took up hurling, they'd be light years ahead of us. Instead, Ireland produces a great number of athletes who are neither exceptional physical specimens nor technical geniuses. We have a great many men who can run fast down the wing, but nary a one who can mentally and physically control a football game. Rather than bemoan our national shortcomings, Balls.ie has decided to celebrate them. Over the next week or so, we'll be releasing our B Team of the Year, the men and women whose sheer mediocrity on the playing field made 2011 memorable. These are athletes who did nothing truly great, but at the same time, did nothing truly terrible. In some occasions, their ability to avoid abject failure acquired a transcendent quality. In many ways, these are the athletes we should really savour as the calendar turns, for the remind us just truly average we can all be.
