Being told about ET's incredible milestone reminded me of the fact that I could have been writing for the site a lot sooner had I listened to a certain Niall Farrell in 2009 or 2010. I can't recall all of the specifics - the when, the where or the how - but two settings suggest themselves to me and I can't recall exactly which one is the truth.
Myself and Niall had the conversation either whilst walking back from the DCU Sportsgrounds some time in 2009 after covering some sporting events for the College View, or when leaving Morton Stadium after covering Sporting Fingal versus UCD - he for ET and I for the Fingal Independent (work placement) - in June 2010.
Myself and Niall had the conversation either whilst walking back from the DCU Sportsgrounds some time in 2009 after covering some sporting events for the College View, or when leaving Morton Stadium after covering Sporting Fingal versus UCD - he for ET and I for the Fingal Independent (work placement) - in June 2010.
In either case, the same conversation unfolded, and whatever way it went, it eventually led to Niall suggesting I should volunteer as a contributor to Extratime - and me, exhibiting procrastination typical of a student all the way to the bitter end of my time in university, saying either "I'd think about it" or, the classic, "I'll get around to it."
Of course, I never did. If I had, maybe the site would have reached 14,000 articles a little bit sooner (or maybe it would have somehow taken longer - who knows what havoc my earlier involvement could have wrought).
[Niall, if your recollection of this story is different to mine, I stand to be corrected; if you don't even remember this taking place, that's fine too]
I knew of Extratime, of course, but, for whatever reason, I just never pursued the suggestion. Niall contributed his fair share to ET's 14,000+ articles and is someone who I have the utmost respect for (plus he's a Shels fan, which is always a good thing). He was the year below me in DCU but was the Sports Editor of the College View in second year while I was floundering around doing my own thing for the duration of my degree.
Being an editor wouldn't have suited my temperament or mentality at that stage anyway, so I have no regrets there. I do regret not getting involved with Extratime a good bit sooner, though.
I only joined the team in February 2015 but already I've had the honour of attending the Airtricity League launch for 2015 and of almost covering the Euro 2016 qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Poland (unforeseen circumstances stopped my covering of the match itself at the last minute, but the midweek training sessions were a privilege to attend).
Niall is currently the PRO for the 1895 Trust, an organisation pursuing - amongst other things - a co-op model of ownership at Shelbourne as embraced by some other League of Ireland clubs. The man has been through more in twenty-odd years (sorry pal, I don't know your exact age) than most people will go through in a lifetime, and it is worth reading about some of his experiences on his website (in particular, 'My comeback from 2-0 down' is a stark, eye-opening read).
The moral of this story is: if Niall gives you advice, take it - it's most likely sound advice.
As for Extratime, congratulations to everybody involved on reaching yet another milestone. Having enjoyed the work of so many talented contributors from afar for many years on all things League of Ireland, it is an honour to now be able to count myself among them. Hopefully what I've produced so far has been to the high standard set by every one of the 285 people (and counting) who have contributed to the site since its inception.
Here's to the next 14,000 articles (of which I plan to contribute at least 1,000)!
[Niall, if your recollection of this story is different to mine, I stand to be corrected; if you don't even remember this taking place, that's fine too]
I knew of Extratime, of course, but, for whatever reason, I just never pursued the suggestion. Niall contributed his fair share to ET's 14,000+ articles and is someone who I have the utmost respect for (plus he's a Shels fan, which is always a good thing). He was the year below me in DCU but was the Sports Editor of the College View in second year while I was floundering around doing my own thing for the duration of my degree.
Being an editor wouldn't have suited my temperament or mentality at that stage anyway, so I have no regrets there. I do regret not getting involved with Extratime a good bit sooner, though.
I only joined the team in February 2015 but already I've had the honour of attending the Airtricity League launch for 2015 and of almost covering the Euro 2016 qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Poland (unforeseen circumstances stopped my covering of the match itself at the last minute, but the midweek training sessions were a privilege to attend).
Niall is currently the PRO for the 1895 Trust, an organisation pursuing - amongst other things - a co-op model of ownership at Shelbourne as embraced by some other League of Ireland clubs. The man has been through more in twenty-odd years (sorry pal, I don't know your exact age) than most people will go through in a lifetime, and it is worth reading about some of his experiences on his website (in particular, 'My comeback from 2-0 down' is a stark, eye-opening read).
The moral of this story is: if Niall gives you advice, take it - it's most likely sound advice.
As for Extratime, congratulations to everybody involved on reaching yet another milestone. Having enjoyed the work of so many talented contributors from afar for many years on all things League of Ireland, it is an honour to now be able to count myself among them. Hopefully what I've produced so far has been to the high standard set by every one of the 285 people (and counting) who have contributed to the site since its inception.
Here's to the next 14,000 articles (of which I plan to contribute at least 1,000)!
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