AS Manchester United lost to Wimbledon and so went out of the English FA Cup last week, there was widespread gloom in Ireland.
It's indicative of how pervasive the influence of sport is in our lives that the result of a soccer match in another country should cause so much consternation here. Major sporting events now attract global attention and the most popular heroes of the moment are invariably footballers, boxers, runners or - as in the case of Michelle Smith - swimmers. The effects of sport today are felt far beyond the perimeters of the arena.
Inevitably, fashion has not been immune to this trend. Because sport has such a large following, the way players dress is noted - and followed - by many fans. Football shirts, for example, are as likely to be seen on the street as on the pitch. To demonstrate their loyalty, supporters of soccer clubs will buy new lines of clothing whenever a change of strip is ordained; in fact, at the moment, Manchester United looks more successful as a retailer than as a football club.
But this is only the most obvious way in which sport now exercises a degree of authority over fashion. Just as important is a decisive shift in the way we dress, with the kind of casual styles favoured by sports stars steadily gaining dominance.
That means roomy hooded sweatshirts and loose pants are preferred to tailored clothes, and running shoes sell in ever greater quantities. Indeed, the inexorable rise of casual footwear perfectly demonstrates how sporting styles have conquered the clothes market. Walk through any town centre in the country and you'll find several sports shops, stocking more clothes than equipment.
Many of today's most popular garments derive from a sports origin. The quilted puffajacket originated on the ski slopes - but thanks to being taken up by fashion designers such as the Italian Massimo Osti, it is now a weekend essential in most men's wardrobes.
Similarly, the body - a basic undergarment with which Donna Karan made her name - can be traced, both in its form and its fibre mix, to swimming costumes.
Comfort and ease are two powerful reasons for the emergence of sports related styles. Formal dress increasingly looks archaic outside the office workplace and the suit, for men and women alike, can seem restrictive when compared with casual separates.
Sports clothing, because of its function, is designed to be hard wearing and undemanding. It tends to be highly colourful and not too difficult to mix with other pieces; for anyone who is uncertain about how to dress, the latter is a major bonus.
So, too, are the fabric blends which are most often found first in sportswear. Here is probably the most insidious, if least overt, explanation for the influence of sport on fashion. Sports manufacturers are in the forefront of new fabric technology, developing fibres which will allow the skin both to breathe and keep warm.
Typically, Lycra - originally employed almost exclusively for sports related goods - now crops up in a wide variety of clothing. A small amount, no more than perhaps two per cent, can make an enormous difference in how a fabric moves on the body.
SUCCESSFUL designers, especially in the US, have long recognised and exploited the connection between fashion and sport. Street style in the US - which is a major source of inspiration for clothes manufacturers - owes an enormous debt to the baggy garments favoured by basketball players.
Tommy Hilfiger, the most popular American label on this side of the Atlantic at the moment (not least because his clothes are not yet available here), produces clothes capable of being worn with equal success on and off the field.
Ralph Lauren's Polo range, by its very name reveals its dependency on sporting motifs. CK by Calvin Klein and Donna Karan's DKNY line offer relaxed, sporty styles highly reminiscent of the clothing favoured by games playing American undergraduates. Sporting fashion has achieved universal impact. Even if you're a couch potato, you'll probably be dressed like a good sport.