Maybe honesty was their new year's resolution. Or Rover-lution, as their caption bafflingly said after Blackburn's win over Portsmouth. New Year's Rover-lution? Maybe they should have waited until October. Or maybe we're getting too bolshie. Anyhoo, if the live Premiership action over New Year's was the leftover box of Roses, there to be gorged on and leaving you slightly regretful afterwards, two documentaries on Monday night provided the thick-cut leftover ham sandwiches, nothing spectacular but a little bit more satisfying.

TG4's Sam profiled the elusive Sam Maguire, the trophy and the man himself.

The man himself was a republican, anti-clerical, theological Protestant born in Dunmanway in 1877.

Captained London Hibernians, became chairman of the London GAA, became central to the IRB in Britain, swore in Michael Collins, communicated intelligence during the War of Independence, returned home after losing his anonymity, joined the Civil Service, got sacked. Died alone and unwanted. If that all seems a little rushed it's because that's how it was on the night.

The programme was three quarters of an hour long but Maguire's personal history was interspersed with random anecdotes from previous finals. These flashbacks did provide the novelty of Ian Paisley in a GAA documentary, commenting on his protest against the appearance of Sam Maguire (trophy) with the All Ireland-winning Down side of 1960 at Belfast City Hall. Paisley had no recollection of the protest amid what was then a presumably cluttered schedule. He didn't even know what colours Down wore but doubted they were red, white and blue. Wonder what he'd make of Armagh then?

After the flashbacks we followed the trophy on All Ireland day as the denizens of the Croke Park press box queued up to pay tribute to the nation's favourite hunk of metal. "It's got a personality, " said Micheal O Muircheartaigh, "more than the Jules Verne trophy or the Ryder Cup." This smart-ass was about to fondly scoff at Micheal's error, surely he meant the Jules Rimet trophy, but after a spot of research (no stop unpulled this week folks) discovered that the Jules Verne trophy is awarded to the fastest circumnavigator of the globe. What a legend.

This was all entertaining, but the story of Sam the man was surely worth a documentary in its own right and the latter stages of his life were rushed through, possibly because of a lack of information.

What we did find out was that a group of friends and acquaintances saw fit to club together £300 . . . a fair old chunk of change in those days . . . to commission a trophy bearing his name to be awarded to the All Ireland football champions, lest he be forgotten. It worked, but we'd still like to know more.

While Sam's history was being revisited on TG4, RTE One was showing the GAA . . . Out in Africa. The half-hour followed Tracy Piggott and seven greats of both codes to Malawi, as part of the Self Help organisation, to coach a group of 130 local teenagers. They did seem to pick up skills remarkably quickly, despite having to decipher accents ranging from Jack O'Shea to Robbie O'Malley via Joe Cooney.

They were furnished with all the gear as well, but must have been a little confused when Henry Shefflin told them that using a helmet would stop them getting a belt. But amid all the colloquialisms, it was a predictably heartwarming affair, with some harsh statistics thrown in to promote awareness of the area's problems. Good public service broadcasting and hard to fault. What can be faulted was the scheduling at exactly the same time as the Sam Maguire documentary, the schedulers clearly unwilling or unable to keep tabs on each other's plans.

Finally, Six-One on bank holiday Monday evening, when most of the sporting nation flicks over for news and action from the day's play. It's a shame, then, that they have to get it so wrong so often. Last Monday, the nation was told that Kicking King was ruled out of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and that Moscow Flyer was now favourite for the race.

Racing is a specialist subject but you don't have to be Brian Gleeson to know that Moscow Flyer will not be near the Gold Cup, never mind favourite for it. Surely RTE can throw someone a few sheets to come in and read the bulletins before this kind of nonsense is read out to thousands of people. Resolutions lads, 'tis the season.