It's been a mad year for sports and over the last year, we've been introduced to real-life characters we never knew existed. For the inaugural Balls.ie Irishman of the Year, we give you some of the people who made 2012 enjoyable for us: a Galway man on a rampage three days after his wedding, a Tipp-born licker of Croatian nipples, a bareknuckle scrapper from the midlands, a Corkman who always wanted to be an announcer on NBA Jam and a Belfast boxer who may be the funniest man in Irish sport.
The Balls team have made their case for each nominee below. Vote early and vote often. We'll announce the winner before the world ends on Friday. Note: with thanks to the great people at Paddy Power, you can now bet on the winner of the Irishman of the Year.
The Case For Paddy Barnes.
Katie Taylor rightly gets the plaudits winning gold in London, but in my eyes, the real star of the Irish Olympics team was Belfast's Paddy Barnes. If ever a man was born for social media, it's Barnes, and RTE and the BBC continue to show their disregard for entertaining their customers by refusing to commission a reality show starring Paddy and best bro Mick Conlon. What might get lost in all of the mischied and tomfoolery that has followed - such as the boat rave, the time he wore the Mayo jersey to the All-Ireland, and the time he offered a solution to the flag-flying controversy in Belfast - is that Barnes deserved a gold-medal shot for that incredible last round against the man who destroyed him in Beijing. It seems to me that Barnes embodies everything that great about what Irishmen can be- mischievous, hard as nails and sometimes hard to understand.
The Case For Eamon Keegan.
I first learned about him via a tweet from Sean St Ledger. If the Irish supporters outshone the Irish team in Poland, then Eamon Keegan was clearly our captain. Many people have asked themselves what they would do if put in Keegan's unique position: two buxom middle-aged Croatian women lifting their jerseys up in the Municipal Stadium in Poznan. Keegan and his tongue went farther than most of us would dare in a public setting, and for his outlandishness, found himself on the front of newspapers all across Europe. No one summed up the mental spirit of the Irish support than Keegan, who rightly embraced the limelight in the aftermath. When the Balotelli photoshops started to pop up, I knew that Keegan had transcended mere boorish behaviour. We all get our fifteen minutes - at least Keegan's 15 were outrageous.
The Case For Big Joe Joyce.
Big Joe Joyce has probably had a quieter 2012 than the other candidates but just like his fighting style, he has been prolific in short bursts. This was the year the documentary “Knuckle” was shown on RTE, bringing the wonder that is Big Joe to a national audience. Here is a selection of quotes and facts that should make a compelling case for Big Joe Joyce to be named Balls.ie Irishman of the year.
As Big Joe says, he hasn’t had a fair fight in over ten years but by no means is that meant to imply that he has been defeated. His fight against his old rival Barney McGinley was seen during “Knuckle” but it was ended prematurely amidst accusations that McGinley was biting. His secret to success in his own words is: “I soak my hands in petrol for 20 minutes a day in the build up to a fight. Then they’re as hard as stone.”
He is a man that once made a video of him lifting weights in a suit jacket: “I’ve a seven kilo dumbell in my right hand and a nine kilo dumbell in my left hand.” Big Joe Joyce was no doubt training to correct his natural bias towards his petrol soaked rock hard right hand.
Big Joe doesn’t like to wear bandages, they just get in his way. “Bandage’s is for the ring, you can’t give someone a proper clout if you’re wearing bandages.”
Big Joe vs Banty McEnaney has to be in the mix for meme of the year. This transcended memory as many actually thought either the two men were related or the fight was actually going to happen.
Big Joe is the Ali of bare knuckle boxing, except nobody will fight Big Joe because he is so old. But the brashness is certainly still there: “You’re looking at the boss here, the real boss. I will fight until I’m 85. I am the boss of all men.”
If you aren't prepared to give Big Joe your vote at least consider him for a lifetime achievement award.
The Case For Johnny Maher
When Johnny Maher struck out at those two St. Thomas players in the Galway Club Hurling Final no one could have known the social media frenzy that was about to be unleashed. Word spread quickly of his deeds and once videos began to appear on YouTube on Monday everyone knew what Johnny had been up to. He even made an appearance on American sports site Deadspin and there were rumours of Dan LeBatard using footage of the incident on his ESPN show, 'Dan LeBatard Is Highly Questionable'.
What made the episode all the more remarkable, apart from all this happening just 3 days after his wedding was Johnny Maher getting away with it (initially). After levelling the two St. Thomas players to the floor he walked away calmly and called for a towel to wipe his hurl before taking the penalty. Not content with that, he threw out a leg post penalty to trip up a another opposition player.
He was a chancer, another lovable Irish rogue. And we can't get enough of those.
So vote for a man who sparked memes, a hashtag, a Downfall parody video and his very own 'leave it out' video.
The Case For Timmy McCarthy
I absolutely hate Mark Lawrenson. I'm nearly certain that deep down he despises football, you can almost hear the disdain in his voice when he is forced to commentate on a game. It can make watching that game a real trial.
You don't get that with Timmy McCarthy though. He loves basketball. With him you get levels of enthusiasm never before seen in Irish sports commentary. He really lit up basketball in the Olympics for the Irish public. Many people watched solely because Timmy was calling the game. A dunk was not a dunk without a 'boom-shaka-laka' from him. An alley-oop somehow was less spectacular unless it was accompanied by a 'boom' from him.
When he took a day off during the Olympics for the wedding of his son, the disappointment online was palpable. It just was not the same without our favourite basketball commentator.
Generally in an Olympic year, Olympic athletes are more heralded than others. It should be the same with Timmy McCarthy, because it will be another four years until he graces us with boundless zest for the game.
