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WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : BETTER JUST STICK TO THE BEER HERE

By BILL PLASCHKE
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One of the more interesting Irish banners read, “We Come For The Beer, We Come For The Craic, But Don’t Be Surprised If We Bring The Cup Back.”

“Craic,” pronounced “crack,” is Gaelic for “good times.”

“You tell everybody that the Irish are coming over here for ‘craic’ and see what they say,” said Ben O’Brien, a Dublin student. “Somebody hears that and they’re liable to arrest us.”

Unlike their English counterparts, the Irish fans have a reputation for being polite and well-behaved. This was reinforced Saturday when many mistakenly arrived at Giants Stadium an hour before the gates opened, yet did not complain.

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Dressed in everything from green wigs to tri-colored flags, they roamed the parking lot singing, posing for pictures and greeting everyone with, “God bless.”

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Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

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