Avid fan Greg Allen has a keen eye on the movement of major golf events such as the Augusta Masters, which has been postponed until November. In the meantime, the RTÉ Sports presenter and reporter is engaged in the business of keeping the family dog Buddy content.
"While the humans in the house are doing fine during the Restrictions, the dog isn't happy. At first he revelled in us being around during the day but then he got bored and tried to re-establish his customary 23-hour-a-day sleeping habit, only for the banging and clattering of our movements to make him restless.
"This turned a normally cute if somewhat elderly Shih-Tzu into an impatient old grump, faster than he moves when he sees a wasp in the room. 'Buddy’ though, for the most part, acts exactly as his name implies. He’s an affectionate, quirky companion, but a bit of a ‘wuss’ and he is no help to me in taking on the authority of the two adult women in the house - one of whom turned 21 during Phase One of the Restrictions.
"While there was obviously no big party, there were enough surprises for it to have been an occasion she won’t easily forget. The TV has been used no more than usual, although there’s been the semi-permanent din in the background at weekends of all 236 episodes of Friends playing on an apparently endless loop.
Two of us have also dipped our toes into watching all three seasons of The Crown and also the first season of Ozark on Netflix. The latter’s disturbing finale didn’t help sleeping patterns but has gripped us enough to start watching Season Two.
"Randomly, I also came across Fleabag on BBC and I was so taken by it that I acquired all twelve brilliantly-crafted episodes and have watched the whole thing twice just in case I missed something the first time. "
"Passing the time without my usual recreation hasn’t stopped me working on my putting stroke, aided by an infuriatingly difficult indoor game that lies somewhere between 'helpfully challenging' and 'completely head-wrecking.'
"So it perfectly replicates the infuriating emotions that fester within during an average round of golf.
And in the same way that Fleabag got my attention more than once, I also decided to re-read Richard Ford’s The Sportswriter and The Dirtiest Race of All Time, which turned out to be good decisions, along with finishing the Tiger Woods biography by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (more like work, but recommended.) I also read Eamonn Coghlan’s forthright and highly-entertaining autobiography.
"Which brings me onto matters fitness. Just before the Restrictions were imposed, I had been in quite a decent routine so I purchased some ‘free weights’ online early in April and have, quite remarkably, actually used them. Nothing too challenging, but at least I’m keeping in a sort of ‘holding pattern’ exercise-wise.
"The recent weeks working in News and Current Affairs with the brilliant Drivetime team (RTÉ Radio 1, Monday to Friday) has got me out of the house and into the Radio Centre on a daily basis. It’s been, at times, an eye-opening, daunting experience absorbing the news cycle rather than the sports cycle.
"But the latter will hopefully have a major role to play in re-establishing whatever the ‘new normal’ turns out to be in the months ahead and I can’t wait to be a part of it all again."
