Fans feuding and taking from children - basic etiquette in American sport is a thing of the pastClass and dignity are increasingly rare qualities among fans watching sport in the USThu Sept 11 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Dallas Cowboys paralysed by owner’s inability to move on from 1990s heydayTrading of star player the latest evidence of Jerry Jones’ questionable NFL judgmentThu Sept 04 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: For Rahaman Ali, brotherly love was a double-edged swordYounger sibling to the self-styled ‘Greatest’ was seen as a full-time hanger onThu Aug 28 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Why Samuel Beckett is a good fit for the New York MetsFor the Irish writer, watching the worst team in baseball was an entertaining and rewarding experienceThu Aug 21 2025 - 06:00
Major League Soccer was already struggling for attention. Then they hid it from viewMLS now only seen by the masses when a brief moment of Messi magic goes viral on social mediaThu Aug 14 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: $62m US school stadium puts south Dublin rugby in the shadeOpening of facility in Georgia drew reactions of envy and offenceThu Aug 07 2025 - 06:00
The Ozzy Osbourne song heard in US sport arenas for nearly half a centuryCrazy Train is played at every major US sports venue - at some places, it’s an even more integral part of the showThu Jul 31 2025 - 06:00
‘I was addicted. It was a rush’: Owner of sports memorabilia site worth $350m admits most was fake in suicide note Owner of Mister Mancave admitted most of the $350m in merchandise he sold to collectors was not authenticThu Jul 24 2025 - 06:00
ICE, the drug cartel and human punching bags - the extraordinary fall of a Mexican world boxing championUS Immigration claims former WBC champion Julio César Chávez Jr was a henchman for the notorious Sinaloa crime cartel Thu Jul 10 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Conor McGregor’s latest energy drink stunt shows more tone-deaf crassnessWhile shopping last week, I happened upon a new display advertising an obscure energy drink called Bucked UpThu Jul 03 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Cus D’Amato, famed coach of Mike Tyson, was portrayed as a saint. He was far from itGripping new book reveals how low trainer was willing to stoop as long as his prized asset deliveredThu Jun 26 2025 - 06:00
Tough Love: The basketball star who tried to guard Brian Wilson from harmStan Love resorted to extraordinary methods to protect his Beach Boy cousin during ‘chaotic years’ Thu Jun 19 2025 - 06:00
Former Olympic swimmer Gabrielle Rose turning back the tide of timeGabrielle Rose competed against Michelle Smith in Atlanta in 1996. Now, at 47, she’s posting times better than many swimmers half her ageThu Jun 12 2025 - 06:00
Farewell to the store that, with assists from Pelé and Messi, sustained soccer lovers in the USFor five decades Massapequa Soccer Shop in New York fanned a passion that has spread to a level that few foresaw Thu Jun 05 2025 - 06:00
More than an average billionaire, Jim Irsay presided over Indianapolis Colts’ golden era and helped fight stigmaDave Hannigan: Owner of NFL team led a complicated life at times, but was adored by players, coaches and fansThu May 29 2025 - 06:00
New York boy Timothée Chalamet joins the celebrations as Knicks fans dare to dreamThe long-mediocre Knicks secured a Game Six victory over the Celtics to take them within a series victory of the NBA finalsThu May 22 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: White Sox declared ‘God’s team’ as Pope Leo XIV becomes their most-famous fanElection of new pontiff has caused great excitement in American sports circlesThu May 15 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Why Bill Belichick’s relationship with woman 49 years younger has America raptOnce nicknamed Doom, legendary NFL coach has undergone an image transformation since finding loveThu May 08 2025 - 06:00
Sitting across from a man with power to pay him millions, American footballer Shedeur Sanders took a call from a friendIn defence of the son of American football giant Deion Sanders, arrogance is kind of a necessary attribute to play quarterbackThu May 01 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: A trip to England offered my American sons a lesson on Irish historyLessons in football heritage, Irish history and globalisation in Middle EnglandThu Apr 24 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Life in the fast lane of elite sport sport no protection against mental health issuesBaseball star Jarren Duran and the NFL’s Braden Smith have done the wider community a service by revealing their own personal struggles Thu Apr 17 2025 - 06:00
Bruce Springsteen’s Glory Days is a tribute to a late friend and unrealised teenage sporting potentialThe universal theme of unrealised teenage sporting potential was immortalised in Springsteen’s ode to his friend Joe DePughThu Apr 10 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: NFL clubs ponder a big gamble on Desmond ‘Dez’ Watson The 33-stone University of Florida lineman boasts impressive stats but can he remain healthy enough to handle the more sapping pro scheduleThu Apr 03 2025 - 06:00
John Feinstein’s dealings with Johan Cruyff revealed a young sportswriter who never pulled his punchesLate journalist’s career showcased his unique knack for lifting the veil on golf, college basketball, tennis and the NFLThu Mar 27 2025 - 06:00
When Muhammad Ali came to Ireland: how a ‘splendid spoofer’ from Kerry planned to lure the boxer to DublinKerryman Michael ‘Butty’ Sugrue was known as ‘the splendid spoofer’, so few believed he’d convince the most famous athlete in the world to fight in Croke ParkSun Mar 23 2025 - 06:00
A toxic generation of parents is spoiling sport for US children Further evidence of the slow death of civility in this ailing societyThu Mar 13 2025 - 06:00
Memorable role in Hoosiers a highlight − even for Gene HackmanGreat actor made better films but none quite as revered by Americans as his role as basketball coach Norman DaleTue Mar 04 2025 - 19:00
Dave Hannigan: Nothing sums up the pomposity of the New York Yankees better than their weird beard announcementThey never treated the issue of rampant steroid use in their locker room with this kind of gravitasThu Feb 27 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Tragic story of Paul Bamba’s death an indictment of boxing’s regulatorsFormer marine had surely no business being in a ring given his recent medical history?Thu Feb 20 2025 - 06:00
NFL’s €10m shakedown of Ireland shows they’re the best-dressed welfare spongers in the worldIrish Government to fork out €10m to help mega-wealthy Pittsburgh Steelers host a home game in Croke ParkWed Feb 12 2025 - 12:00
Dave Hannigan: Is the Super Bowl what passes for culture in modern America? The Super Bowl is one event still capable of brings divided Americans togetherWed Feb 05 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Sad spectacle as Marion Jones bids to rebuild her ruined brand Reality television the last refuge of too many scoundrels as disgraced former Olympic champion joins a long list Thu Jan 30 2025 - 06:00
NBA wants new star bigger than basketball to boost flagging TV ratings More and more American viewers are tuning out of NBA matches, but soon a teenage prodigy could ignite fresh interestThu Jan 23 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Rudy Giuliani paying the price for his inglorious role in forgotten dramaWhile other long-term denizens of Trumpworld prepare to wield power anew, the incoming president’s former lawyer is struggling to keep the court from seizing his assetsThu Jan 16 2025 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Lionel Messi an odd and inexplicable choice for Medal of Freedom Joe Biden choosing to give the Argentinian soccer genius this accolade shouldn’t be such a big deal. That doesn’t make it any less odd and inexplicableThu Jan 09 2025 - 06:00
When Rickey Henderson died, baseball mourned the passing of one of its most eccentric charactersHenderson didn’t believe in warming up before games. Famously, he never bothered to learn the names of team-mates or assistant coachesThu Jan 02 2025 - 06:00
The Legend of Sparrow Robertson: The last sportswriter in Nazi ParisDescribed as ‘illiteracy’s most famous product’, what Robertson lacked in skill he made up for in tenacity under the cloud of Nazi occupationMon Dec 30 2024 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: The highlight reels of childhood fade as cherished sporting heroes fall We have no real right to mourn the passing of people we don’t know. But we do because a part of our childhood disappears with themWed Dec 25 2024 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: For years the New York Yankees could afford to be smug. Perhaps not any moreAhead of Juan Soto decision, entitled Yankee minds thought nobody could ever possibly choose the New York MetsThu Dec 19 2024 - 06:00
Motorcycle Mary finally bows out after a long life of spills and thrills Short ESPN documentary captures the essence of genuine trailblazer Mary McGee who led a truly epic lifeThu Dec 12 2024 - 05:15
Despite his latest disgrace, Conor McGregor will be welcomed back with open arms StatesideThe United States has become a nation where allegations about attacking women are no longer regarded as career-enders, more as colourful entries on a resumeWed Dec 04 2024 - 17:17
Dave Hannigan: Behold a version of golf that’s fun and weirdly cool - but still ludicrously expensiveTopgolf gaining popularity in the US, especially among young people, and you don’t have to be any good at it to have a ballThu Nov 21 2024 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Katie Taylor’s presence lends a modicum of dignity to sporting farrago Dubious bill in Texas topped by the clash of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson akin to one of those 19th century carnival sideshowsWed Nov 13 2024 - 15:00
Messi and the soccer show ponies thrive as slick suits shore up the shillsAstronomical gap between what Designated Players (high-profile imports) and ordinary pros take home is a troubling issue since the Beckham years in Los AngelesThu Nov 07 2024 - 06:00
Inside the Rumble in the Jungle: Ali’s extramarital affair, Foreman’s ‘drugged water’ claimAs the boxers retreated to their corners to hear the first bell, a billion people around the globe were watchingWed Oct 30 2024 - 06:05
Dave Hannigan: Mark Cuban doing his best to expose Donald Trump for what he isNobody has spent more time this past few weeks pointing out that the wannabe emperor has not now or never had any clothesThu Oct 24 2024 - 06:00
Bananas baseball: a travelling circus or potential saviour of America’s national game?The crowd-pleasing stunts of the Savannah Bananas are bringing in fans and piquing the interest of the po-faced Major League gameThu Oct 17 2024 - 06:00
Dave Hannigan: Kris Kristofferson’s sporting passion and exploits just another aspect of his unique characterThe former Golden Gloves boxer was still showing off the relics of old baseball and football scars in his eightiesThu Oct 10 2024 - 06:00
Eight deaths in first month of high school football season all part of the demented gameExcessive machismo of preening adults in coaching roles often places kids in grave dangerThu Sept 26 2024 - 06:00
Mauricio Pochettino lands in the USA full of hope, but World Cup glory looks a long way offThe Argentinian’s task is to figure out a winning formula for a squad that has continually added up to less than the sum of its partsThu Sept 19 2024 - 06:00
