Monday, RTE One CHASING THE BLUES
Thursday, RTE One ASa conversation starter 20 Moments That Shook Irish Sport was hard to top. Not only did it feature 20 moments that had track records in getting tongues wagging, but how those 20 even came to be chosen was well worth debating.

Any quibbling though would have to come with the rejoinder that the show was expertly put together. Each segment made its point economically with well-chosen footage and eloquent talking heads, while Mario Rosenstock was a fresh choice as host and the use of music was often inspired (particularly good was Adam Ant soundtracking Alex Higgins' fiscally-motivated death threat to Dennis Taylor: "Stand and deliver, your money or your life.").

It's worth pointing out that the moments were chosen in advance and the voting public simply got to decide the order they appeared in, which explains why Paidi O'Se calling Kerry people "animals" limped in at number 20. Who chose that and how did it shake Irish sport? Did anybody outside of Kerry care? Even staying within the sphere of Gaelic games, there have been many incidents that carried greater resonance, such as the Clare hurlers/Ulster footballers ushering in the 'professional' age, or the Cork hurlers changing the GAA's landscape by going on strike.

An even more startling omission though was that of the day that shook, shaped and styled Irish sport more than any other . . . Bloody Sunday. Hard to believe that a sporting occasion that saw the birth of the GAA's bunker mentality and the death of sportsmen and civilians was excluded, while Martin Johnson refusing to move off a piece of carpet cracked the top 10. And while we're on the subject, could that whole piece of lunacy not have been avoided if the President had done her meeting and greeting in an anti-clockwise direction? Or is Mrs McAleese, like Derek Zoolander, not an ambi-turner? Can she take a left bend at all? The people have a right to know.

The programme's even-handed approach meant that we were regularly treated to the sight of people that doth protest too much. Stephen Roche's claim that he didn't know how the Conconi affair concluded felt particularly disingenuous coming from a man who has previously been so concerned with his reputation. "And don't forget, " he went on to add, determined to put the super into superfluous, "if I may say so myself, I was an extremely classy cyclist."

The only less relevant statement made all night was by Jimmy Magee, who basically claimed that because none of Michelle Smith's gold-medal wins in Atlanta were world-record botherers, it was clear she never took performanceenhancing drugs. The mind boggles.

There was something deeply depressing about Chasing the Blues. It was meant to be a light-hearted look back at the Rugby World Cup with Hector O'hEochagain and Risteard Cooper, but no matter which way the lads spun it the whole affair felt a bit like being present at the autopsy of a loved one.

It all began quite upbeat with Hector running about doing his usual shtick with the fans . . . wahay lads, ladies and leprechauns, isn't it great craic being Irish, here's some green face paint, let yourself goooo at the World Cup and so forth. But then we had to play some rugby and the mood took a downward turn.

As Hector is powered by Duracell his joie de vivre lasted longer than most people's, but watching his enthusiasm wane and die as the tournament progressed only served to remind us how we all experienced a similar thudding return to earth. And so with the need for flagwaving diminishing and the need for satire growing, the focus gradually shifted more towards Cooper and his various impressions, but even here there wasn't much joy to be had.

Many of his inserts were funny, particularly the stodgy IRFU creation A.

Blazer, but you quickly realised that Cooper was as frustrated with Ireland's performances as the rest of us, so much of the comedy came with jagged edges that sat uneasily within a light-entertainment sports documentary. At the end of the broadcast we were reminded that the DVD will be available in shops.

Yes, just the thing to give the rugby fan in your life that you don't particularly like . . . a documentary that doesn't actually feature any game action, but does serve as a reminder of a particularly deflating and disappointing experience.