Well, the NFL Mini-League was good fun and all that but, of course, it was only the league (will SixPointsUp suffer the fate of other NFL winners by coming up short in the championship, I wonder?) and now the real action is about to get underway once more. So, to keep you all on your toes, like, this humble site has renewed its ties with those good Club Mayo Dublin people to bring you the Championship 2009 Mini-League, which has now officially opened its doors to all aspiring mega-predictors out there. (Oh, go on then – all the rest of you who can’t predict your way out of a brown paper bag can join too; after all, I’m in there again despite my less-than-stellar performance in the last one).
It’s the same crack as before, viz. you need to send me an email (to williejoe@mayogaablog.com) and I’ll generate an invite to join the mini-league which will then be sent to your email address (I think, though I’m not sure, that this email will come to you direct from FaceTheBall.com). I assume this will contain an activation link which you’ll need to click to join the mini-league. Obviously, if you weren’t in the NFL mini-league, you’ll need to register first with FaceTheBall.com. That’s all that’s to it.
There’ll be prizes again but, of course, in true GAA fashion, you won’t be thinking about what kind of loot is at the end of this particular rainbow, now will you? The glory of winning, of looking down your snout at all and sundry will surely be enough reward but I’d say we might be able to rustle up a few DVDs, books or whatever as well. We haven’t sorted out what these prizes will be yet but I’m sure we’ll come up with something commensurate with the achievement in question.
That’s it: don’t delay, email today – or as soon as you can, as all the admin needs to be done ahead of our match with New York on the 10th of May.
I see that the overall winner of the last competition was a Kerryman. Is there nothing these hoors will let the rest of us win.
Anyone in Dublin for the weekend and suffering withdrawal symptoms at the end of the League and exit from the U21 championship may be interested in having a look at the Feile Peil na nOg Dublin finals in Parnell Park on Sunday. The preliminary rounds are held on Saturday and the finals begin with the Division 8 game at 11am on Sunday morning. The games are 20mins a half and the finals are run off in one hour slots. The Division 1 final begins at 6pm.
The Feile is for U14 footballers and is a huge club based event for the GAA in every county. About 25,000 footballers are involved nationally each year. The winners of each division from each county qualify for the National Feile 2009 which takes place in Kildare on the first weekend in July.
Mayo supporters might be interested to know that Aughamore won the national Division 2 title in 2008.
For those into the small balls and big sticks, Feile na nGael is just as big an event. It includes caomgie and handball as well as hurling and consequently is often seen as a more inclusive event. The Dublin finals take place on Sunday 17th May with the National Feile on Offaly on 20th/21st June (Only spotted that as a problem date now!). Mayo’s last national honours in the Hurling Feile was Tooreen’s Division 3 title in 2004.