Week nine of the League campaign and with only six goals scored in the five matches, I was slightly worried that we wouldn't have enough talking points on this week’s programme. How wrong could I be!
I suppose it's always the way but between goals, sending offs, penalty claims, managers being sent to the stands (well one manager - Paul Cook at United Park), and the chat about the recent alleged racist comments during a Bohemians versus Sligo Rovers match, we were chock-a-block and with the ‘Mitchell brothers’, Dave and Johnny, alongside the Rodmeister on the couch, I did well to get a question in at all.
Roddy made some harsh comments about Alan Cawley and Thomas Stewart taking dives in their matches last weekend, and to be honest, I thought he was way over the top to be questioning their integrity for going down in the box at a time when some managers would, if not encourage, certainly not dissuade players from possible earning a penalty when some sort of contact is made in the box.
Of course we don't want to see diving in or outside the box for that matter, but I'm not buying that a player who does it is a person of questionable character.
I'd gladly play cards, golf or anything else with Alan and Thomas and just because they chanced their arms looking for a peno, doesn't make them bad characters or lacking in integrity in my book.
Our editor Brummie Steve was devastated when Birmingham weren't promoted last weekend.
We had lined up Keith Fahey to chat with us if the Blues had gone up, and it looked for a while that he had scored the 67 million pound goal to send Alex McLeish's side on their way to the Premier League, only to be foiled by two late sucker punches from Preston.
Needless to say Brummie Steve was like a bear with a sore head on Monday, and Keith Fahey didn't want to jump the gun by talking to us before Birmingham’s big game with Reading to decide who goes up, and who has to settle for the play offs.
The discussion about the alleged racist comments made by a 
Bohemians player to Ramould Boco recently was added to by having Stephen McGuinness of the PFAI and Curtis Fleming on the line. Obviously it's something we don't want to see in the game here, but with an FAI investigation pending, what we could say about it was rather constrained. (McGuinness punished for racial slur)
A few seasons ago I attended ‘El Gran Classico’ at the Nou Camp between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Tickets for this fixture are hard to come by, but we secured seats near one of the corner flags.
I couldn't believe my ears when every time Madrid's left back Roberto Carlos approached to take a corner kick or throw in beside us.
He was subjected to awful abuse. The monkey-like chanting of those around us was something that I didn’t expect to hear in a football ground ever again, having gone through the 1980's when players like John Barnes were booed by English fans, when playing for England, and had bananas thrown at them when playing for their clubs.
What was all the more shocking in Barcelona was that those making the racist noises were a complete cross section of support. Not just the younger loose cannons, but middle aged, middle class looking men and women - the type who'd attend the game in suits and designer clothes.
The fact that this behaviour went unchecked was a surprise and a worry. Of course, this isn't the first time that racist issues have occurred in Spain, and other incidents around Europe down through the years have been well reported, but I hoped that the days of that kind of stuff here in Ireland were a thing of the past.
The ‘Give racism the red card’ initiative is one to be applauded, and it's unfortunate that at the same time that it's being launched we have an incident under investigation by the authorities here.
In Ireland 2009, with an ever expanding cosmopolitan population, racism cannot be tolerated - from on the field or in the stands. I've noticed that many clubs have anti racist messages in their match programmes, and the threat of expulsion from the stadium and a ban are outlined.
It's not for me to prejudge any FAI hearing, but for any player making racist comments to another, it would seem that there are very flimsy grounds for the defence.
The fact that some of the great entertainers in the league in recent years have come from a wide and diverse ethnicity only reinforces how stupid making racist comments actually is.
Charles Mbabazi Livingstone is still very highly regarded by every St Pat’s supporter that ever saw him don the red of the Saints. Speaking of Pat’s, Paul McGrath is a legend who turned out for the club as he embarked on his career.
And talk to any Derry City fan of a certain age and the name Owen de Gama will put a smile on their face.
Others like Wes Charles, Eric Lavine and Mark Rutherford have all earned friends and respect from their exploits in the League of Ireland, and currently one of the most exciting players in the country is former Cameroon international Joey Ndo of Bohemians, ironically the club at the centre of the current storm.
Lets hope this is a very isolated incident and not something that will have to be discussed any further on MNS over the course of this and future seasons.
When we have the likes of Roddy, Johnny and Dave in studio there's never any shortage of craic, but I thought the timing of Dave’s comment about my ‘blue rinse’, on the same evening when we were talking about making racist comments, were a little insensitive.
No doubt he'll send me flowers and champagne to apologise. It was great to see him and Johnny with hair in the old photos, but I must admit that they probably look better with the Mitchell Brothers look nowadays.
I'm away next Monday, but leave the show in the capable hands of Tony O'Donoghue.
In the meantime I'll be cheering for Club Deportivo Tenerife as they bid to get promoted to La Liga in Spain. (They're currently in the promotion places with only eight games to go). Adios.
