No Conspiracy!

It's funny, well not funny maybe more peculiar than funny, but every year we go through the pretence of having a draw for each Irish cup round and every year as if by miracle we end up with Linfield and Glentoran escaping each other. I'm not saying it's a fix, but the odds against this happening every season are akin to the chances of a man from Londonderry winning the Euro Lotto and you know that's never going to happen. There are loads of theories as to how this outcome is guaranteed, but I can't agree with any of them, until it has been proven. One theory is that the draw has already been done with retakes of every shot until the proper draw is arrived at. I can't subscribe to this theory myself as it seems too long and too drawn out and would require a tidy number of people to be in on the deed. Another theory is that one of the balls (draw balls I hasten to add) is quite hot and the other (favoured ball), extremely cold, but this would require the cooperation of both parties making the draw and would also require some sort of signal, either audible (a discreet cough) or a hand gesture, like tie straightening to alert the other party to the fact that he had just drawn one of the favoured teams. Yet a third theory is that only one person knows whom each number relates to and he just calls out what team he feels like, but probably knows what the draw is long before it's ever made. As I said I can't subscribe to any of them and I'm left with the conclusion that it's just by pure chance that Linfield and Glentoran escape each other and end up as opponents in the final, provided they both win their games. It has been well documented in Irish football, that Linfield are the 'luckiest' team in our wee province, after all they've always been know as Lucky Linfield and the cup draws just prove that point!