The END - - - - - - - - - thanks for watching

John 3¹⁷

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved

1 Timothy 2^5-6

⁵For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

⁶Who gave himself a ransom for all

1 Corinthians 15^3-4

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; he was buried, he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Magherafelt Muppets

Ode to the 2 Magherafelt Muppets, never never listen and never never wrong.

It was an experience knowing you, pity the duels had to end.

Hope both of you has your hearing fixed soon. A little sprinkling of listening mixed with understanding and you can both achieve the good you desire for the game

Your passion for the game is commendable

Almost Over

To the Offended

Unfortunately many of the articles/issues on this site were taken personally.

This blog was never set up to attack individuals, it was to cover issues in bowls no matter how controversial. (there are many, specifically within short mat, that were never addressed)

At times in matters of etiquette or character the defining line got blurred and articles which were about issues not individuals were taken personally.

To any who were offended at any stage over the past 5 years, the author unreservedly apologises.

A professor said

Two people can see the same thing but reach different conclusions.

Two little ducks went their separate ways but no amount of quack, quack apologies worked as

Forgiveness can only come from the one aggrieved (or the one unintentionally harpooned).

To those who took time to read the site it is hoped that it has been a source of information and entertainment

King Jeremy, Prince James, Duke Graham

Northern Ireland get a 1, 2, 3 finish at the world cup singles
Well done:
Jeremy Henry (possibly the best this country has produced)
James Talbot (defending champion)
Graham McKee (possibly the brightest prospect who relishes the big games)

Surely Graham and James have played their way into contention for the World championships later this year. Richie Leonard should be another 'new one' in contention. All three have shown and proved that they can perform at the top level. they need to be integrated into the team now, no point in going with the same old faces.

MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The biggest mistake in Irish selection was the non selection of Jeremy Henry for the world championships. They had it in their power to select Jeremy months ago when he was still eligible.
Jermey Henry has more experience of the playing conditions than any other player that will be selected
He has proved himself in those very conditions (he won the Australian open singles!!!)
He is in form
He plays more regularly and at a higher level of competitoon than any one over here
He is possibly the best bowler this country has produced.
5 compelling reasons why the selectors should have selected Jeremy and why they have let the country down.
The excuse that he is not playing in this country is pathetic.
It may be that some players did not want him selected, if that is the case why? The conclusion will be that they feared for their place and they were looking after their own interests and not that of Irish bowls.

Advice to short mat

Get rid of pompousity and replace it with a little humility

Stop being self-serving, make decisions that are for the good of bowls and not for the good of self

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves

Advice for Boring Boring Stadium

The results for the internationals series over the past few years should not be acceptable.
Free advice:
appoint: Neil Booth as manager
appoint Ian McClure as mentor/assisatant manage for U25s


CA stadium
you have lost thousands of pounds over the past few years due to your intransigence.
Mid Antrim qualifiers, competitions and possibly the big events in short mat. It may be too late you could have been established as a premier venue for short mat.

Belfast
You rely on short mat bowlers to bring in new members. The vast majority of stadiumers started at shortmat. You should have embraced and worked alongside short mat years ago. Getting new bowlers into any format is hard yet Belfast with it's catchment area could have nurtured bowls. More people playing shortmat will ultimately result into more stadiumers.

It is time for all formats of bowls to respect each other and work TOGETHER to promote outdoor, stadium and short mat.

Chuckers at the ready

The season of the beautiful game, the one and only short mat, has concluded; the game of skill and finesse has finished, now waiting in the wings are the chuckers of the outdoor.
Some of you will already have come to the conclusion that chuckers refers to the parkkettes, some may think it is the province-wide league + LK others may conclude due to the way they have played in the last 6 inter-association championships that it is the aloof privates.
At this time of the year when the transition is from one beautiful game to another it is unilaterally chucker season. Hopefully the period of transition or 'chucking season' will be short and the beautiful game of outdoor will be in full swing and pace by the middle of May.

Classy Cassells Crew

The classy Cassells crew have won the ladies triples four years out of the six years the competition has been running. In addition all three together won the ladies fours competition on three occasions, the fours was replaced by the triples . Not a bad effort for this St Mark's trio.
May and Pauline have won the ladies fours title a total of 5 times playing together and lifting the title on two further occasions without Rachel who had given up bowls for a while.
Classy Cassells Crew's Crowns
Pauline has 15
5 singles, 1 pairs, 4 triples and 5 fours

May has 11
5 fours, 4 triples and 2 over-the-hill pairs (or over 55's)

Rachel has 7
4 triples and 3 fours

The moral of the story for the rest of the ladies is -
enter the pairs, the Cassells are no good at the pairs

4-in-a-row

May, Pauline, Rachel

It is a rare event to have a title successfully defended three successive times and be champions for a fourth year therefore it has to be regarded as a superb achievement.

Congrats go the Cassells Crew of Rachel Cassells, May Cassells and Pauline (Cassells) Beattie who won their fourth successive ladies triples championship.

These ladies deserve more acclaim than what they have received. As a unit over a sustained period they have proved themselves to be the best. It is remarkable that they have maintained a high level of consistency to such a degree that they have not had one poor game over four years. One poor game and their reign would have ended.  No matter how tight the game or how close they have come to being knocked out they have continually coped with the pressure and delivered the telling shots.

A magnificent run.

Congrats also to Lynn Hamilton on winning her second ladies singles title and to Margaret Nelson and Esther Forster who won the ladies pairs on an extra end.

Why are the ladies results not on the IIBA site along with the national results?

It is a slight and an insult to ladies bowls that they are not given the same coverage or respect as the men. Are the IIBA inferring that ladies bowls is second rate and not worth a mention?

World Championships - selection or qualification

It is customary for the winners of the champion of champions’ competitions to play in the World Championships.

This means that every player in the IIBA can qualify to play in the world championships and it is a goal for many who enter licensed tournaments to attain that pinnacle.

This magnificent opportunity may be taken from the players. There is a distinct possibility that within the coming years players will be selected for the World Championships, therefore they will not be able to qualify on their own merits.

Ask officially and you will be told that there are no plans to change the policy, you will be told that it is not on the agenda.

However it is easy for the policy to be changed without players being consulted and without any notice. The policy can be changed at an executive meeting between now and the CoC.

If you the players still want the current qualification policy to continue it is in your hands to ensure that entry to the World Championships remains open.

Attend the AGM, make a simple proposal to maintain the current policy and wait and see if there is any counter-proposal. If there is then it will go to a vote.

At this moment in time the outcome is within your (the players) hands. Miss the AGM and you will be giving the executive the opportunity to make a change.

The straightforward answer is attend the AGM.