Neknomination
by Ailbhe Nally
Over the past week or so many of you have more than likely heard or seen the word 'neknominations' plastered all over Facebook.
If you aren't sure what a neknomination is, let me explain...
The phenomenon consists of somebody downing their pint on video and afterwards nominating two of their friends while coming up with a smart or humorous nickname for them to put in between their first and sir name. They then upload the video to Facebook and wait for the 'likes' to pile in while also waiting for the reactions of the people they nominated.
It might sound easy but it's no walk in the park, trust me, I would know, seeing as I was nominated last Saturday to do a dreaded 'neknom'.
For all of Saturday I tried to think of a brilliant idea and a great way to down my pint on video for all of my Facebook friends to see and then as I was heading to bed it hit me... to do it on the hockey pitch... in my goalie gear, sure why not, isn't it only a bit of craic anyway???!
I texted the idea to my loyal hockey buddies and they loved it.
On sunday morning we all congregated at the Westwood Hotel where I bought my pint and then the 9 of us embarked on our journey to the hockey pitch, all squished in the back of a red van with my smelly goalie gear... and my pint of Bulmers.
The nerves started to kick in when I reached the pitch as I started to think, “what if I can't drink it fast enough?” “what if people don't think it's funny?” The hockey gals gave me a lot of encouragement and as soon as I got hyped up I started to put on my goalie gear.
The girls started to get a little impatient with me as it was BALTIC outside and I was taking my time to put on my gear but as soon as I got it on I was ready to down my pint.
We went through a quick trial run where I explained what I would do and what would happen and then we got on with it.
I went over to the goals and got myself prepared while one of the girls had the job of being the camerawoman and another girl had the very important job of holding my pint while the rest of the girls got to watch and laugh at my lack of downing skills.
When the camera started rolling, one of the girls dribbled in towards me with the hockey ball, I legged it out and stopped the shot and then knocked her over. I threw both my hand pads and my hockey stick half way across the pitch and then took off my helmet and threw it another couple of metres (This wasn't one of my best ideas as my helmet is already in bad enough shape as it is, oops.)
I eagerly ran over towards the camera where my wonderful assistant handed me my beloved pint of Bulmers. Before I started to down the drink I shouted a few little words into the camera and then did my thing. As I started to drink the pint, I realised how much of a 'wake gatter' I am and I was unsure if I'd be able to finish it, but then as I heard my teammates chanting I persevered through whilst having to stop 3 or 4 times as they got a little too over excited and started to throw the slush from the hailstones at me, which was a bit off putting.
Nevertheless I finished the pint and nominated two of my best buddies who got a little scared as soon as they saw the video on my Facebook.
This 'neknomination' craic is only a phase and if there's one bit of advice I'd like to give it would be, DON'T DO IT. You'll only regret it the following morning.
Over the past week or so many of you have more than likely heard or seen the word 'neknominations' plastered all over Facebook.
If you aren't sure what a neknomination is, let me explain...
The phenomenon consists of somebody downing their pint on video and afterwards nominating two of their friends while coming up with a smart or humorous nickname for them to put in between their first and sir name. They then upload the video to Facebook and wait for the 'likes' to pile in while also waiting for the reactions of the people they nominated.
It might sound easy but it's no walk in the park, trust me, I would know, seeing as I was nominated last Saturday to do a dreaded 'neknom'.
For all of Saturday I tried to think of a brilliant idea and a great way to down my pint on video for all of my Facebook friends to see and then as I was heading to bed it hit me... to do it on the hockey pitch... in my goalie gear, sure why not, isn't it only a bit of craic anyway???!
I texted the idea to my loyal hockey buddies and they loved it.
On sunday morning we all congregated at the Westwood Hotel where I bought my pint and then the 9 of us embarked on our journey to the hockey pitch, all squished in the back of a red van with my smelly goalie gear... and my pint of Bulmers.
The nerves started to kick in when I reached the pitch as I started to think, “what if I can't drink it fast enough?” “what if people don't think it's funny?” The hockey gals gave me a lot of encouragement and as soon as I got hyped up I started to put on my goalie gear.
The girls started to get a little impatient with me as it was BALTIC outside and I was taking my time to put on my gear but as soon as I got it on I was ready to down my pint.
We went through a quick trial run where I explained what I would do and what would happen and then we got on with it.
I went over to the goals and got myself prepared while one of the girls had the job of being the camerawoman and another girl had the very important job of holding my pint while the rest of the girls got to watch and laugh at my lack of downing skills.
When the camera started rolling, one of the girls dribbled in towards me with the hockey ball, I legged it out and stopped the shot and then knocked her over. I threw both my hand pads and my hockey stick half way across the pitch and then took off my helmet and threw it another couple of metres (This wasn't one of my best ideas as my helmet is already in bad enough shape as it is, oops.)
I eagerly ran over towards the camera where my wonderful assistant handed me my beloved pint of Bulmers. Before I started to down the drink I shouted a few little words into the camera and then did my thing. As I started to drink the pint, I realised how much of a 'wake gatter' I am and I was unsure if I'd be able to finish it, but then as I heard my teammates chanting I persevered through whilst having to stop 3 or 4 times as they got a little too over excited and started to throw the slush from the hailstones at me, which was a bit off putting.
Nevertheless I finished the pint and nominated two of my best buddies who got a little scared as soon as they saw the video on my Facebook.
This 'neknomination' craic is only a phase and if there's one bit of advice I'd like to give it would be, DON'T DO IT. You'll only regret it the following morning.