As the final hours of St. Patrick’s Day continue to tick away I’m sitting here, staring at the cover of the Fall 1994 World Cup Edition of Eurosport. Two things intrigue me about this cover: a) this is the World Cup Edition of the Soccer catalog…how did Ireland manage to sneak their way onto this badass? Could they have thrown Lothar Mattheaus, Grinsy Klinnsy or maybe even Maradona on here? and 2) what the hell kind of defending is going on here? I know it’s a still photo but let’s state the facts…two dudes are colliding with each other, one guy’s looking for a leprechaun in Alabama and the ball is hiding out behind them.

“You guys don’t have the skill like these boys.”

My high school, Springfield Catholic Central, were the Fighting Irish. We “borrowed” some design elements from the Football Association of Ireland. One of the t-shirts the team had printed had a design that was very similar to a mark that the FAI was using. I remember playing indoor with a goalie named Jonathan. Jonathan played for another high school, Dayton Christian. Jonathan showed up to an indoor game wearing this:

I mentioned to him that I liked his shirt and then explained how we were borrowing the FAI crest for our team t-shirts. “Yeah, but you guys don’t have the skill like these boys” was his reply. “No shit” was my initial thought…they’re a National team and we have Greenon next Saturday.

A hat big enough for Conan.

I owned these first two hats. Like I said…we wore alot of Irish apparel in high school. I got the green Ireland Cap when I was in the 8th grade. I have a huge head…it was one of the few hats that ever fit me.

…and some jerseys