January Connacht rugby rises up and calls the IRFU to task as rumours abound that the province is about to be cut loose as a professional entity. The banners come out and the marches begin. Gloucester will testify to that as they faced Munster in the European Cup in Thomond Park
Munster walk all over them. Needing to win by four tries and 27 points to advance, they do it. So does Serena Williams in Australia when she defeats sister Venus to earn a rare career slam, thus owning the French, Wimbledon, US Open and Australian titles at the same time. Andre Agassi, at 32, wins the men's trophy. Brian Kerr enters the shark pool of international team management and lands the top Irish job. At 49, he's just three years older than Martina Navratilova, who claims her 57th Grand Slam title in mixed doubles with Leander Paes.
February
Jim Rock hits the canvas for the first time in his career at the Odyssey in his light-middleweight world title bid. University of Limerick claim the National Cup final in women's basketball with UCC Demons taking the men's prize by one point.
Munster do it again for Irish rugby when they travel to Cardiff to meet Neath in the Celtic League final, their 37-17 win earning them their first Celtic League title and Ronan O'Gara an infamous stamping from Neath flanker Brett Sinkinson.
Beef Or Salmon wins the Hennessy at Leopardstown and Ireland rout Scotland 36-6 in Murrayfield after 18 years of trying. Eddie O'Sullivan's team also win in Italy the following weekend. But it is Roy Keane who stops Irish pulses for a split second with a comment on whether he could work with Brian Kerr. He says, "never say never." He really means "never."
March
At the Cheltenham Festival Rooster Booster wins the Champion Hurdle, Barry Geraghty and Moscow Flyer claim the Champion Chase while Jim Culloty and Best Mate cruise to their second Gold Cup in a row. Tiger Woods wins something but not a major - the World Matchplay Championship. For that he'll be thankful. An equally big hitter, Roy Jones jnr, the former world middleweight champion, does what many boxers dream of and wins the WBA heavyweight title. In the Six Nations Championship Ireland go marching on towards a showdown with England. France arrive at Lansdowne Road and are beaten 15-12. Ireland win the match ugly and follow it with a last-gasp 25-24 win over Wales. So to England. Alas Woodward and his men depart Dublin with the Grand Slam. Score 42-6. Ireland's Paul McKee wins bronze in the 400 metres at the World Indoor Championships and Wayne McCullough loses his comeback world-title fight against Scotland's Scott Harrison in Glasgow. At home, Birr win a record fourth All-Ireland club hurling championship, beating Dunloy in the final, and Nemo Rangers defeat Crossmolina for the football championship. Loreto women claim the Irish Senior hockey Cup. Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the Irish Masters Snooker with a final frame shoot-out with John Higgins.
April
Jimmy Mangan and Monty's Pass come into our lives at the Grand National, winning the famous Aintree race at a price of 16 to 1. Eddie Jordan thinks he's done the same at Interlagos for the first time since 1999 until a shortened race result puts Giancarlo Fisichella back to second. A timing error is discovered and Jordan subsequently gets the win, Fisichella collecting his trophy at the San Marino GP. Paula Radcliffe runs the London Marathon faster than anyone in history. Radcliffe, with the help of emu oil, cuts almost two minutes off her previous record to win in 2:15:25. At the US Masters in Augusta, left-hander Mike Weir from Canada takes the title. Leinster Lions expect to win too as they face Perpignan in the European Cup semi-final. No flashing claws, they depart 21-14, the enduring image being Brian O'Driscoll limping off injured. Former Dublin dual star and county hurling manager Lar Foley dies.
May
Manchester United pop the corks when they gain their eighth English title in 11 years. Alex Ferguson claims it is his greatest achievement yet. Arsenal have to settle for the FA Cup, defeating Southampton in Cardiff. AC Milan overcome rivals Juventus in a penalty shoot-out at Old Trafford to reclaim the Champions League crown while Celtic's hopes are dashed by Porto in the UEFA Cup final.
At the World snooker championship at The Crucible, Ken Doherty comes back from 15-9 down to beat Paul Hunter 17-16 in the semi-final. The Irishman almost does it again in the final. Trailing 2-12 to Mark Williams, Doherty draws level 12-12 before narrowly losing 18-16. No such come-back for Clontarf as they fall to Ballymena in the AIL final at Lansdowne Road while Toulouse, with Trevor Brennan on board, bury Perpignan 22-17 in the European Cup final played at the same venue. Padraig Harrington also buries the "choker" myth with a European Tour win in Hamburg, and in Scotland, Rangers clinch the title with a 6-1 win over Dunfermline, giving them the edge over rivals Celtic by a margin of one on goal difference.
June
Irish rugby embarks on a tour to Australia followed by a trek to remote islands in the Pacific. One Test match defeat against the Wallabies and two wins against non-heavyweights Samoa and Tonga and they return home. Dublin hand over their Leinster crown to Laois and the capital goes quiet. Not so for Cork in their cathartic win over holders Waterford in the Munster hurling final, which sends the Rebel County spinning towards Croke Park full of hope and glory. Who else but Antrim beat Down for the Ulster hurling title. In tennis, Belgium and Spain win out at the French Open, Justine Henin and Juan Carlos Fererra taking the titles, both for the first time.
At Olympia Fields, Jim Furyk starts a golfing mini-revolution of outsiders winning majors, this time it's the US Open that goes to a first-timer.
July
Wimbledon provides the sister act with Serena and Venus Williams in the women's final. Venus, the older, is injured. Serena, the younger, is sympathetic but in desperate need of a title. She wins.
The men's winner, Roger Federer, supplants Martina Hingis as the Swiss tennis god. Michael Campbell takes the Irish Open at Portmarnock after a three-way play-off with Peter Hedblom and Thomas Bjorn, while Philip Price sucks up the money at the European Open at The K Club. Lance Armstrong steals the show in the Tour de France, defying logic to win a fifth title. If that wasn't a shocker, Sandwich was. Ben Curtis a 26-year-old golfer in his rookie season, wins a Major before losing one. Ben who? Ben Curtis, the British Open champion, stupid. Kerry beat Limerick in the Munster football final; Laois beat Kildare in Leinster; Tyrone take a replay to beat Down in Ulster and Galway take Mayo in Connacht while Kilkenny dispose of Wexford in the Leinster hurling final.
August
Gillian O'Sullivan wins a silver medal in the 10km walk at the World Championships. In the US Darren Clarke wins another million dollars at the NEC World Championships in Firestone. Partial recompense for his poor showing at the USPGA in Rochester, where not even Tiger Woods got a look-in, the title going to the unknown Shaun Micheel. Shock, horror, Tiger also finishes the year without a Major title. The Scottish Premiership begins with Celtic failing to score for the first time in 57 matches, but they promise to improve after their 0-0 draw with Dunfermline. Celtic shareholder Dermot Desmond hits out at "cartels" preventing Celtic from moving south to compete with the big boys in the Premiership, which kicks off with a soporific Charity Shield as Man United win on penalties against Arsenal.
September
The World 100 metres champion, Kelli White, hits an amusing note claiming narcolepsy pushed her into drugs and a 67-second lap crushes Sonia O'Sullivan in the World 5,000 metres final. The same weekend Sam Lynch and Gearóid Towey snatch bronze in the world rowing championships lightweight double sculls. At Croke Park, Brian Cody delivers another trophy for the Cats with an All-Ireland final win over Cork while Joe Kernan fails to make it two football championships in a row with Armagh. Sam remains in Ulster with Micky Harte and the Tyrone team.
The Irish rugby squad is picked for Down Under with David Wallace left behind. The Irish soccer team is too, a 1-1 draw with Russia leaving an Everest for Brian Kerr to climb to gain Euro 2004 qualification.
At Flushing Meadows Justine Henin-Hardenne adds the US Open to her French Open title. Andy Roddick wins the men's trophy.
Garth McGimpsey leads Britain and Ireland to Walker Cup victory, Europe win the Solheim Cup in Sweden while Ireland win the men's and women's Home Internationals.
October
Irish fans drink Basel's lone Irish bar dry before the European Championship qualifier against Switzerland but Brian Kerr's Irish team give them little reason to continue. Outfought by the Swiss, they've next summer off. The next day, in Japan, Michael Schumacher wins a staggering sixth Formula One driver's title, eclipsing Juan Manuel Fangio's 46-year-old record.
Closer to home, Cork look to an old broom to sweep away their new football concerns with the appointment of Billy Morgan, the manager of All-Ireland club football champions Nemo Rangers in the same month as Kerry manager Páidí Ó Sé walks, or is he pushed? It's also Women's Day at Croke Park, Mayo beating Dublin for their fourth All-Ireland title in five years.
Bigger concerns for dirty athletes as the new medal-grade steroid THG is detected in the US. British Olympic sprinter Dwain Chambers is one of the first to fall. Eddie Jordan takes on more than he can chew in the British High Court and trips himself up, his case for £150 million against Vodafone foundering. Eddie is asked to pay £1 million to cover Vodafone's costs.
November
Gunpoint training in swampy waters can't help the Springboks and the rest of the world stop England from winning the rugby World Cup in Australia. A late drop goal in the final from Jonny Wilkinson against hosts Australia secures four years of bragging rights for Clive Woodward. For Ireland, Eddie O'Sullivan reaches a quarter-final first base and saves face. It's also the month of a thousand welcomes for star rugby players Felipe Contepomi and legendary All Black Christian Cullen. A king's ransom to bring them here but neither is able to play, the Argentinian benched by a Leinster administrative blunder and Cullen carrying a dud shoulder to Munster. The GAA bids farewell to Setanta Ó hAilpín. Ireland win a battle but lose the war in the International Rules series, also Down Under, while Pat Fenlon and Shelbourne clinch the National League championship.
December
Swimming steps out of its dark days in the European Short Course Championships at Abbotstown with Andrew Bree, the 22-year-old from Ulster, icing the cake with a silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke. On the same day in Edinburgh, the Ireland European Cross Country team also turn up silver to vie for front-page coverage, Sonia O'Sullivan, Catherina McKiernan, Rosemary Ryan, Maria Davenport, Jolene Byrne and Ann Keenan Buckley completing a rare European medal double. Croke Park becomes an issue again. GAA president Seán Kelly again expresses his support for opening the stadium for "foreign" codes. It sparks a war of opinion as the Irish soccer team wonders where they will play World champions France in their World Cup 2006 qualifying match.
National League teams cut players to keep away the administrators, while Manchester United lose Rio Ferdinand for eight months after a no-show for a drugs test. He's also fined £50,000. In rugby Ulster beat Edinburgh to win the inaugural Celtic Cup final.
