A Catholic can now marry British monarch but may never become king or queen

The decision by the British government to allow their monarch to marry a Catholic is only 400 years or so long in coming.

Up until last week's decision the monarch would absolutely lose the throne if a papist was his/her consort.

Just a papist mind you, a marriage with a Hindu, Muslim or Jewish person was not considered disqualifying

It was a remarkable piece of discrimination that lasted centuries and was originally brought in after Henry V111 dumped the church to create his own.

But the monarch himself/herself can never become a Catholic as that conflicts with their role as head of the Church of England.

Which really makes England a theocracy more than a monarchy in some ways.

It clearly means that the king or queen has to be an Anglican and will lose his/her crown if they decide to suddenly become a Buddhist.

Which is outright religious discrimination.

And even though they can now marry a Catholic what happens when they have children?

The Vatican always seeks for a child of a mixed marriage couple to be brought up a Catholic.

Which would of course disqualify that child from ever becoming the king or queen.

It could lead too an extraordinary stand off between church and state at some point in the future.

Which seems ridiculous in this day and age.

Notre Dame fire on all cylinders against Navy -- finally! Now bring on Stanford

Notre Dame finally put offense and defense together and hammered Navy 56-14 in their South Bend encounter yesterday.

Micheal Floyd was the go-to destroyer, as this column predicted in the pre-match round up, throwing to Floyd early and often was the key to a Notre Dame victory.

It helped they played a Navy team that bore no resemblance to last year's squad who hammered the Irish with a massive ground game.

But it was also all about Floyd who was determined to have a big day.

“He had talked about it all week, coming out this week and having a great game,” Kelly said, “and you know, he was not going to be denied today.”

They also put to bed the rumors that the team had begun to fall apart after the USC game.

A Friday evening bare all when coach and players got it all of their chest seemed to have sorted that out.

USC look better in the rear mirror too, They almost defeated Stanford and Andrew Luck -- the Cards needed a triple overtime to win.

The next three games should be easy Notre Dame victories, but then comes the big test against Luck, this Stanford generation's John Elway and Notre Dame in the final game of the season.

If the Irish team that showed up yesterday shows up they have a shot.

Notre Dame must avoid Halloween nightmare against Navy

Amazing to think that Notre Dame might lose three in a row to Navy if they lose today at South Bend.

This is the game that will be played in Dublin next year and ND will not want to go there losing three in a row.

No service team has ever won three in a row against the Irish, but with this year's mistake prone team all bets are off.

Six turnover in the red zone shows why Notre Dame are in such trouble this year with an unimpressive 4-3 record.

Sloppy execution has become a trademark of Brian Kelly's teams unfortunately.

Last week's defeat against USC was the worst, with Dayne Crist's fumble on the one yard line leading to a fourteen point turnaround.

One wonders what Halloween horrors await the Irish this year.

Last year Navy defeated Notre Dame in one of the most boring football games ever played at the Meadowlands.

The Navy game of ground grinding only makes for poor viewing.

But against a Notre Dame side that is still having problems against the run it could pay off again.

Brian Kelly will surely have the troops motivated after the USC slur that the team gave up inthe closing minutes last week.

Notre Dame need to come out throwing, find Michael Floyd and then impose the ground game.

If they do they can win 28-14.

And head to Dublin next year for the Emerald Isle Classic with their head held high.

Joe Montana slams Notre Dame over their treatment of his son Nate

Joe Montana has come out swinging against Notre Dame because of their treatment of his son Nate who left the college last year.

Nate transferred from Notre Dame to Montana after being made a back up quarterback last year amid rumors of a falling out with coach Brian Kelly.

Nate briefly saw first team action against Michigan but never featured again.

Montana, the legendary Fighting Irish and San Francisco 49ers quarterback, is clearly still feeling the pain of his son's premature departure.

At a luncheon in Rochester New York he was asked whether he would ever become Athletic Director at Notre Dame

“You’re asking me at absolutely the wrong time.” he told the questioner

“What happened with my son and the reasons for leaving Notre Dame shouldn’t happen to any kid,’’ he said. “At this point in time, it’s hard to be in their corner.’’

The Rochester Press and Democrat reported the Montana retort, which will surely set alarms buzzing around the Golden Dome where Montana is a legend.

Why do Brian Kelly's Notre Dame quarterbacks screw up so much? ---Latest loss against USC down to quarterback errors

Notre Dame quarterbacks simply make too many mistakes under Brian Kelly.

The same old failing came back to haunt them against USC with three critical turnovers at vital times.

Kelly came to Notre Dame with a much vaunted reputation o f making good quarterbacks great. So far he is doing the opposite it seems.

The three turnovers speak to a lack of discipline, not just by the players but by the coaches too.

Dayne Crist fumbled on the one yard line with Notre Dame preparing to draw level and USC ran it all the way back. .

It was inexcusable, sloppy and we can blame the coach too.

Tommy Rees gave away two critical turnovers, the first a strange lateral to Ciera Wood that USC pounced on, the second a throw to Floyd in a crowd of players that was picked off.

These were the turning points in the game, a heavy loss to USC.

There was also the strange decision to insert Andrew Hendrix at a key moment after the irish had returned a kick off for a touchdown and looked like they were on the way back.

Instead Kelly mysteriously inserted Hendrix who failed to move the team and almost threw an interception.

What is with Kelly and his mistake prone quarterbacks?

It seems to me that the sloppiness in their play is down to coaching too.Kelly must take the blame for missing out on the fundamentals
.
Fact is unless his quarterbacks improve the Irish will never be a BCS threat.

That is obvious after the USC blow out.

Rory McIlroy dumps Chubby Chandler as agent -- girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki seen as behind move

In a sensational move Rory McIlroy has dropped his long time agent Chubby Chandler, (pictured together), and joined with fellow golf major winner Graeme McDowell, in a new Dublin-based agency.

Chandler who handles many of the world's top golfers finds himself on the outs because apparently young Rory felt he was not getting enough personal attention.

The influence of Rory's new girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, is plain to be seen according to Rory watchers in the new move.

Chandler was told after Rory finished a golf tournament in Bermuda this week then flew to Indonesia with Wozniacki for a vacation.

"Chubby and his team have played a very important role in my success to date," Rory said. "I am now keen to move on to the next stage of my career and I feel this will be facilitated by a fresh view and a new structure around me."


He has joined the Dublin-based Horizon, run by Conor Ridge who also manages McDowell and other top Irish golfers.

"We wish Rory every success," Chandler said in a terse statement.

'I was shocked,' Chandler told The Daily Mail.

‘I don’t know whether it was his girlfriend (world No 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki) getting in his ear or someone else but I thought we were doing a pretty good job, to be honest, and I think that’s how the outside world saw it,’ said Chandler.

‘We sat down and he said he was not happy with his brand, sponsors, website or his public relations image,’ said Chandler.

‘I thought we were sorting things out to his liking. We’d just spent 10 days travelling around the world and had a fantastic time.’

Irish referee with French connections sends off Wales captain in Rugby Word Cup

Irish referee Alain Rolland is at the heart of a major controversy after sending off Welsh captain Sam Warburton the first half of the Rugby World Cup semi final between France and Wales.

France went on to win the game by 9 -8 but the absence of Warburton was the critical turning point.

Wales and most pundits were furious afterwards at the sending off which was considered very harsh.

Rolland is of French ancestry as his father hails from there and he speaks fluent French.

He was capped three times for Ireland and is a mortgage broker and banker.

Ireland will meet Estonia in play offs for European finals

Ireland got lucky when the draw for the playoffs in the European championship were made.

They will play Estonia, the weakest team left in the playoffs.

The first game will be on either Friday November 11 or the following day with the second leg in Ireland on 15th of November


The other games see Turkey take on Croatia; the Czech Republic to play Montenegro, while Portugal will face Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Ireland defeat Armenia 2-1 and qualify for a play-off spot in European championship

Ireland have qualified for a play-off in the European championships after defeating Armenia 2-1 in the final game of the qualifying rounds.

Russia claimed the automatic place after easily defeating Andorra.

Ireland's task was made much easier by the sending off of the Armenian goalkeeper in the first half and shortly afterwards an own goal.

Richard Dunne, pictured, put Ireland further ahead but Armenia replied instantly with a goal.

Ireland lost Kevn Doyle to a red card in the 80th minute.

Armenia, despite having only ten men, outplayed Ireland for long periods but Ireland will not care having got the vital scores that put them into a playoff.

Did Notre Dame run up the score against Air Force after first half rout?

Did Notre Dame run up the score on Air Force at Notre Dame stadium today?

Leading 42-16 the Irish played much of the second half in all out offensive drives.

It is easy to see why.

Coach Brian Kelly wants to instill a fear factor into this team so that future opponents will come to town knowing they are against a top college team.

So no, Kelly did not run up the score. But Notre Dame showed once again, but for two Twilight Zone losses they should be 6-0.

Also the days of Dayne Crist as back up quarterback are over and Tommy Hendrix may well be challenging strongly for Tommy Rees's job next season.

Hendrick was a revelation in the running role and strikes me as much more a Kelly-type quarterback than Rees will ever be.

For now Kelly has the best of both worlds, using Rees and having Hendrix come in as a running and passing threat.

Kelly has turned this team around and the two early season losses are now firmly in the rear view mirror.

But they must go through the rest of the season unbeaten to earn a good bowl berth.

This week they should surely crack the Top 25. After all, Air Force had run Oklahoma close.

Brian Kelly must be looking forward to the future.

Wales defeat Ireland 22-10 in Rugby World Cup quarter final

Wales easily triumphed over a disappointing Irish side by 22-10 in the rugby world cup quarter final in Auckland, New Zealand.

The result was a shattering disappointment for an Irish team that had been fancied to go all the way to the final but who were outclassed and outplayed on the day.

Line out problems as well as a poor performance by key player, outhalf Ronan O'Gara meant the Irish team was always coming from behind as Wales seemed more committed and ready for the challenge.

Indeed, Wales should have won by more they spent most of the second half camped inside the Irish half and Priestland missed several easy shots at goal.

This was a shattering blow for Ireland who had defeated mighty Australia in their group and were widely expected to advance.

The defeat may end the careers of Irish legends such as Ronan O'Gara and possibly Brian O'Driscoll (pictured)

Ireland lead Andorra 2-0 at half time, Russia defeat Slovakia 1-0

Ireland raced into a 2-0 lead against Andorra after just twenty minutes with goals from Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady. Teh score stayed the same until half time.

It means that Ireland will easily pickup the vital three point in Andorra and will almost certainly enter the game in Dublin on Tuesday against Armenia needing a draw to qualify for a play off for a European final place

That is because Russia won 1-0 with an own goal by a Slovakia defender in Slovakia. This put them in the driving seat to get automatic qualification with only lowly Andorra at home to beat on Tuesday night.

Rugby World Cup a total non event in 90 per cent of the world

The rugby world cup is electrifying Ireland and Britain and Australia, New Zealand France and South Africa.

Everywhere else, in about 90 per cent of the world's land mass, it is a non event.

Compared to that other British game, soccer and its' world cup it is about 5 per cent the size and scope.

If should really be called the former British colonies, plus France and Argentina and Italy world cup -- though most people in those latter two countries have no idea it is on.

We Americans are often criticized for calling our baseball game the World Series, but at least we have Canada and about 500 million people watching.

The rugby world cup has Ireland exploding in excitement. The top three stories on the Irish Times web site are all World Cup related because Ireland have made the quarter finals and have a shot at the final itself.

Yawn.

Rugby is an impenetrable game for most outsiders, memorably described as a 'thugs game played by gentlemen.'

Sure it can be exciting and good luck to Ireland, but it it is a measure of how insular the country is that they really seem to think the rest of the world is watching.

They're not and we won't.

I bet the final will merit no more than a few paragraphs in The New York Times, and not even get mentioned on major sports programs here.

So go Ireland, beat that other world power Wales next Saturday.

We won't begrudge you but hold the champagne please.

Ireland meet Wales in Rugby World Cup quarter final after defeating Italy 36-6

An inspired second half performance by Ireland saw them pull away from Italy and win by 36-6 and qualify to meet Wales in the quarter final of the World Cup next weekend.

Up 9-6 at half time Ireland finally broke open the game with a Brian O'Driscoll try early in the second half.

From then on they ran rampant and were completely dominant over an Italian side that had looked dangerous in that first half.

The other quarter final match ups are England v France, South Africa versus Australia and New Zealand and Argentina.

Notre Dame should be 5-0 after slamming Purdue and showing their full potential

Notre Dame will have learned little from the 38-10 blow out against Purdue except a case of what might have been.

This team should really be 5-0 with a national top ten ranking in their sights going into the Air Force game. The snake bitten losses against South Florida and Michigan will continue to haunt this talented side

This Purdue match-up will be their easiest game of the season. Their mistaken and penalty ridden opponents had basically beaten themselves by the end of the first quarter and were never in the hunt after that.

The tenor was set with the interception of their first pass and Notre Dame never letup after that.

It will be seen as an important game in the development of Tommy Rees. He was almost intercepted early on but his lack of turnovers and fumbles will give confidence to the young quarterback who is still very much in learning mode.

He is blessed of course to have Michael Floyd and Cierre Wood.

Without Floyd next year the offense will lack the explosiveness that so marks this team making one think that this truly was Notre Dame's year except for those awful turnovers in their first two games.

For the battles ahead Notre Dame will know they have a solid defense, a great running back and wide receiver, a young and vastly improved quarterback, a suddenly vulnerable kicker and lots of questions about who will step up long term when Floyd is no longer around.

3-2 is just not good enough and Brian Kelly knows that. The cruel bounce of the ball has prevented this very fine team team from being 5-0.