Subscriber OnlySports Briefing

Mary Hannigan: The books being banned and the games we can’t quit

Dave Hannigan on the latest culture wars in the USA; Ciaran Murphy on all that you can’t leave behind; Gordon Manning on Ballymac’s All-Ireland dream

Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, Roberto Clemente, Jim Thorpe and Hank Aaron have all had books telling their stories removed from public or school libraries, mainly in Florida and Texas. Photograph: Hulton|Archive/Getty Images

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Thu Dec 14 2023 - 11:45

Apart from being among “the most influential American sportspersons of the last century”, what else have Billie Jean King, Roberto Clemente, Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron got in common? They have all had books telling their stories removed from public or school libraries, mainly in Florida and Texas, in the latest phase of the United States’ “increasingly bonkers culture wars”, writes Dave Hannigan in his America at Large column.

The offending part of the book on King was its reference to her realising at a certain point that she was a lesbian, while the others were deemed to have indulged in “white shaming” because they mentioned the racism the subjects had endured through their lives. “Myopic conservatives would prefer children never accessed these tales of remarkable men and women overcoming prejudice to achieve greatness just in case they learned along the way the nation’s past was, like that of most every other country, invariably chequered.”

Somehow, Ciarán Murphy’s book “This Is The Life” has escaped the censors’ wrath here, although it might be in trouble if it makes its way to Florida or Texas. In it, he writes about his “complete inability to walk away” from playing Gaelic football, despite being in his rusty 40s, a subject he returns to in his column today.

Gordon Manning, meanwhile, talks to Aileen Wall who has amassed a remarkable 17 county senior football medals with Ballymacarbry and two Munster club titles – but she’d happily give up every one of them for an All-Ireland with the Waterford club who play Kilkerrin-Clonberne in Saturday’s final.

READ MORE

And Gordon also hears from Caoimhe Dowling who will be lining out for Dicksboro in Sunday’s camogie decider against reigning champions Sarsfields, this the Kilkenny club’s first ever All-Ireland final.

In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey reports on FAI CEO Jonathan Hill’s appearance before the Oireachtas sports committee on Wednesday, among the revelations that his salary increased by 22 per cent to €258,000 in three years.

The FAI would have to pay Anthony Barry significantly more than that if they are to lure him away from his roles with Bayern Munich and Portugal, the coach rumoured to be a leading candidate to succeed Stephen Kenny as Republic of Ireland manager.

In rugby, John O’Sullivan talks to Robbie Henshaw ahead of Leinster’s Champions Cup meeting with the Sale Sharks on Saturday, the Ireland centre hoping to put his recent injury woes behind him, and Gerry Thornley brings news from the Munster camp in the build-up to their game against Exeter, Peter O’Mahony’s fitness still being assessed before their team is named tomorrow.

TV Watch: DAZN have coverage of today’s women’s Champions League games, including Chelsea v Häcken (8.0), while three more English clubs are in Europa League action – Union Saint-Gilloise v Liverpool (5.45pm), Brighton v Marseille (8pm), both those games on Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 2, and West Ham v Freiburg (TNT Sports 1, 8pm).