In his Sunday Independent column - and not first the first time - Joe Brolly questioned the mental strength of Colm Cooper. When faced with adversity, Brolly contends, the four-time All-Ireland winner wilts.
It's a point which Brolly has made on numerous previous occasions.
What the Derryman does believe the Gooch to be is 'the most skilful player of his era'.
To illustrate this point, Brolly recounts the story of a meeting between Cooper and RTÉ presenter Michael Lyster at an All Stars awards night.
While having a chat with Lyster, the Dr. Crokes player nonchalantly juggled a bottle of beer on his foot.
At an All Stars night some years ago, in the vampire hours, Michael Lyster was in full flow at the bar, which is one of the most awe-inspiring sights in Irish society. The Northern journalist Paddy Heaney, sober as a young Mormon going door to door, later described the events.
Gooch wandered over and sat up on a bar stool next to Lyster. As the two men chatted, an astonished Heaney noticed that Gooch had dropped an empty beer bottle on his foot and was casually playing keepy-uppy with it.
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Picture credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE
