LAST YEAR, following a performance on Challenging Times that even very poor people indeed termed "poor", your correspondent made some unkind and quite possibly hurtful remarks about the members of the TCD team.
I intimated that the members of the TCD team came from the shallow end of their respective families gene pool and that the awfulness of their performance was, quite frankly, of Oliver McCall proportions, except they didn't have drugs as an excuse.
The only survivor of that ill fated team, Ivan Morrin, can at least hold his head up in pride once again following TCD's victory over Tallaght RTC in last week's heat. Small children will, presumably, now stop mocking him in the street and dogs will no longer skulk away at his approach.
The TCD team of Morrin, Tony Wall, William Mann - from London via north Kerry, apparently - and sub Joseph O'Gorman cruised to a 225-70 victory over the RTC team of Donal Rogers, Keith O'Connor, Nollaig Doughan and sub Rodger Faherty.
Tonight DCU takes on the DIT in the penultimate first round heat. Challenging Times can be seen every Tuesday on RTE1 at 8.30p.m. and is repeated at 11 a.m. on Fridays, again on RTE 1. The question master is, as ever, the Irish language's best mate, Kevin Myers.
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