Hurling Man – a breed apart

[Bord na Mona man]

In the first half last Sunday at Walsh Park, Galway corner-forward Davy Glennon slipped past his marker, Waterford corner-back Stephen Daniels, and looked set to score a goal. Which was when Glennon hauled him down. Over in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny's Colin Fennelly suffered a similar fate as he cut inside Cork full-back Brian Murphy.

It's a reasonable bet that had Fennelly and Glennon not been fouled they'd have scored goals. Instead their teams were awarded penalties, neither of which produced a goal.

Watching the fouls on Fennelly and Glennon, it struck me how common this particular type of offence is in hurling. We've been watching forwards being wrestled to the ground just as they were about to pull the trigger for a long time now.

It's probably because penalties are more difficult to score in hurling but this blatant rugby-tackling of an opponent through on goal isn't anything like as common in football. There's nothing manly or honest about it, it's simply a cynical act of the kind which prompted the introduction of the red card for a professional foul in soccer. The very type of offence, in other words, that the new black card rule is designed to stamp out in Gaelic football.

Yet during the debate about the introduction of the black card it was stated again and again that hurling didn't need such a rule. Cynical fouling, we were told, is absent from hurling. Now, having seen many hurlers hauled down as they were about to score, I was puzzled by the difference between rhetoric and reality. But then I realised that these statements were coming from Hurling Man, a creature ordinary mortals like ourselves do not possess the power to fully understand.

Hurling Man is not to be confused with the hurling fan. He is a different bag of sliotars altogether, a self-important colossus who resembles a cross between Matt The Thrasher from Knocknagow, Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons and one of those TV wine connoisseurs who could detect fruity wood notes in a bottle of Blue Nun. Anyone who's ever followed the GAA has encountered him along the way but, just in case you haven't, here are a few pointers to help in the identification of the species . . .

1 Hurling Man doesn't know why you bother with that aul' football at all at all. You can change all the rules you like but it'll always be a terrible spectacle on account of its bastard origins.

2 Hurling Man can debate at length the competing claims of Christy Ring and Mick Mackey to be regarded as the greatest player in the history of the game even though he never saw either man play.

3 Hurling Man was talking to a man who knows a man who knows a man who's involved with the team and told him that the manager has definitely lost the dressing room.

4 Hurling Man thinks the All-Ireland hurling final should be played in Thurles because the sod is much better.

5 Hurling Man is always unhappy with whatever system the GAA have come up with for the National League because he doesn't think any of the strong hurling counties ever deserve to be relegated or forced to play against Kerry.

6 Hurling Man is convinced that there's a plot to do away with the Munster Hurling Championship, so when the first exciting incident happens in the Munster final he shakes his head and says to everyone within earshot, 'And to think they were going to get rid of this.'

7 Hurling Man believes there's little point in trying to promote hurling in the weaker counties because they just don't have the tradition.

8 Hurling Man believes that if hurling was promoted in the proper way it could spread to other countries and become a major worldwide game.

9 Hurling Man gets great enjoyment out of an internet forum discussion on the efficacy of different brands of helmet even if it's a while since he wore one.

10 Hurling Man thinks Liam Griffin's statement that hurling is the Riverdance of sport is one of the great profound statements of Western civilisation. And so is the Micheál ó Muircheartaigh thing about neither of Seán óg ó hAilpín's parents coming from a hurling stronghold.

11 Hurling Man has a lot of favourite Micheál ó Muircheartaigh quotes which he'll tell you if you come back here for a minute.

12 Hurling Man isn't sure about Galway.

13 Hurling Man believes The Sunday Game should be anchored by someone with "a feel for hurling." Someone like Hurling Man.

14 Hurling Man derived much of his knowledge about the game from those Raymond Smith books he used to get at Christmas but is embarrassed by this and pretends he derived it from the giant folkloric collective unconscious.

15 Hurling man knows the right way to spell Paddy Rutschiztko. Which is Paddy Ruschitzko.

16 Hurling Man believes that the referee should let the game flow. Unless Kilkenny are doing the fouling.

17 Hurling Man felt personally let down by Lar Corbett's behaviour in last year's All-Ireland semi-final and will never forgive him for that affront to the spirit of the game.

18 Hurling Man believes there should be more ground hurling.

19 Hurling Man gets an orgasm if someone doubles on the ball in the air.

20 Hurling Man knows they hadn't a lot of ball work done when the teams met in the league.

21 Hurling Man is not the best person to meet on a long train journey. But he's better than the man who has a theory about how an Open Draw system could be made to work.

22 Hurling Man will occasionally say things like, "I seen he done well on Sunday," because it adds a folksy down-to-earth flavour to the conversation. What are you, a snob?

23 Hurling Man thinks Henry Shefflin took the wise option by pointing that penalty in last year's All-Ireland final. He'd have thought the same if Henry had gone for goal.

24 Hurling Man knows that it's not the 4-9 from the full-forward line which won the game but a particular clearance by the right half-back in the 11th minute.

25 Hurling Man just loves the Christy Ring quote about sticking a knife into every football east of Bandon. Or is it Kinsale? Hilarious.

26 Hurling Man likes to get his All-Ireland ticket the night before in a hotel bar after falling into conversation with someone who's got one to spare.

27 Hurling Man will tell you the stories about the Tipperary hurler, the Kilkenny hurler and the Tipperary hurler and the Limerick hurler and then tell you there's no truth in any of them.

28 Hurling Man thinks that hook there should be repeated for the benefit of any kids playing the game. It's a dying art.

29 Hurling Man thinks a black card rule would kill the game though it might survive in isolated pockets like the handful of survivors in The Walking Dead.

30 Hurling Man is concerned that the game is in trouble in Cork city.

31 Hurling Man is delighted to see the hurling revival in Dublin as long as they don't win anything of real significance.

32 Hurling Man says we shouldn't forget Billy when we're talking about the Rackards.

33 Hurling Man has doubts about Eoin Kelly's temperament. The Waterford lad, not the Tipp one.

34 Hurling Man mourns the loss of the North Mon and Farranferris.

35 Hurling Man believes inter-county players who've given a lot to the game should be allowed to choose the manner of their departure from the county team.

36 Hurling Man believes players should never be paid but should be looked after in some undefined way.

37 Hurling Man thinks no one is going to complain if the ref makes a draw of this one.

38 Hurling Man saw no malice in that pull. Or any pull.

39 Hurling Man wonders if you can follow the flight of the ball there, you being from a football county.

40 Hurling Man misses Carrolls All-Star wall charts in pubs and signed that Bring Back the James Last Sunday Game Theme Tune Petition.

41 Hurling Man enjoys the aul' banter.

42 Hurling Man thinks that in fairness the moderator is being a bit paranoid about libel.

43 Hurling Man wouldn't expect anything better from you, it's yourself you're showing up you ignorant hoor.

44 Hurling Man's nightmares are dominated by a green plastic Wavin hurl.

45 Hurling Man once met an American who told him they had no game like this in the States and couldn't believe the players were amateurs.

46 Hurling Man can remember the precise contents of the first Our Games annual bought for him.

47 Hurling Man admires Antrim's long struggle to keep the game alive despite British oppression and thinks the 'B' Championship is the place for them.

48 Hurling Man uses anecdotes from ghosted autobiographies and pretends they come from his personal experience. If challenged he'll say, "That's an old story. I can't believe you didn't hear it before."

49 Hurling Man believes that in the Amazon rain forest, the Western Sahara and the depths of Siberia, native herders and tribesmen are awed by the fact that hurling is the fastest field sport in the world

50 Hurling Man knows you're all only jealous.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/eamonn-sweeney-hurling-man-a-breed-apart-29179213.html

[seafoid]

I would go further on the Antrim hurling too . It's a miracle. 

"Hurling Man once met an American who told him they had no game like this in the States and couldn't believe the players were amateurs."

Reminds me of an excruciating Brian Carty interview after the drawn AIF last year. Some Australian Rules buck was at the match and BC opened with "don't you agree that hurling is the greatest field game in the world".

Christ.

But overall the article reeks of fuball bitterness and the deep well of envy of the farmer with the bad land north of the Galway-Dublin motorway . And counties with no motorway.   

I would have added what that fella from Clare said about Ring. "Ring was hurling. Hurling is Ireland. Ring was Ireland."
Simples. Hurling fundamentalism at its purest. Stick that up your goalie gloves.   

But in fairness even if fuball is a b**tard game and demands far less skill and is in a crisis of identity agus mar sin de it is still a part of what we are. But not as important, obviously

[seafoid]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/the-night-dougal-belted-out-the-rose-in-dungannon-1.540968

[deiseach]

7 Hurling Man believes there's little point in trying to promote hurling in the weaker counties because they just don't have the tradition.

8 Hurling Man believes that if hurling was promoted in the proper way it could spread to other countries and become a major worldwide game.

[theskull1]

Fuball is much cheaper for parents and the club as well as being a lot easier to coach at the younger age groups

[Bord na Mona man]

Reminded me of this article:


THE English are sometimes mystified at the level of Irish enmity built up towards them, particularly in matters of sport. No Irish crowd ever fails to greet news of a defeat for an Anglo rugby, soccer or even cricket defeat with a hearty cheer. It's an enmity that is rarely reciprocated.

Such hostility isn't just confined to Anglo Irish affairs or even the shared use of a sports stadium within this country as anyone who wandered into the Heritage Hotel in Portlaoise on Monday night last to listen to the 'Great Hurling Debate' would have discovered.

Gaelic football and hurling are purported to be sister sports, run by the same organisation through the same structures, played by the same numbers on the same pitch dimensions with rules that differ only through the nature of the games themselves. The fundamentals are much the same.

But hurling has a problem with football that isn't reciprocated to the same degree. And when 'hurling men' get together on the one platform their distaste for the big ball game is accentuated in no veiled terms.

The 'Great Debate' attracted some great men. Ger Loughnane, Cyril Farrell and Brian Cody, all managers of All-Ireland winning teams, Michael Duignan and the celebrated Brian Whelahan from neighbouring Offaly, Laois county team manager Paudie Butler, Humphrey Kelleher from Dublin and Cork's All-Ireland winning captain in 1990, Tomás Mulcahy. Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh compered.

Over 400 attended but anyone from a football background could have been sinking in the chairs from an early stage as the bullets flew. It was the central theme of an enjoyable night.

Loughnane spoke of 'interference' from football being a drawback for hurling as he pushed the idea for a separate department for hurling in Croke Park.

In almost Paisleyesque style, he demonised football to the delight of the aficionados present. He had help from the top table. Ó Muircheartaigh recalled how former Waterford great Ned Power claimed that there were 129 skills in hurling, Kelleher chipped in that football had just two - catch and kick!

Kelleher spoke of how only 'special people' hurled because hurling was such a special game.

The blows kept coming and the big hitters were waiting. "It doesn't interfere with us in Kilkenny and that's the way it should be," said Cody.

"They are two totally different games. Hurling is strong in Kilkenny and it just can't sustain both games. We get all sorts of flak about it from Croke Park. We're told now that we have to enter teams in the Tommy Murphy Cup this year.

"I'm speaking for myself but we're not interested in playing football at any major level in Kilkenny. We compete at underage level play our schools competitions and it's grand. Fellas enjoy it. But we're a hurling county and we intend staying that way."

It got worse. Mulcahy recalled how a similar forum in the Cork football heartland of Clonakilty heard a former Rebel great proclaim that if he had his way he'd 'puncture every football'.

Mulcahy himself was more tolerant. He did after all make an appearance in a Munster football final.

But he remained true to his belief that 'football was a game for bad hurlers', a tongue-in-cheek comment that drew delirious approval from the floor and a mild rebuke later from current Wexford football manager and Laois native Pat Roe.

Michael Duignan courted football and hurling but managed to enjoy a half decent football career at inter-county level despite very little underage coaching or activity.

Hence football was an easier game to master than hurling. "You catch it and kick and that's it," he noted dismissively.

After a debate about hurling's best players and candidates for this year's All-Ireland the panel agreed that only three teams could win the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2005 and this point introduced another strand.

Are the game's rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Yes was the unanimous verdict though Loughnane qualified his comments by claiming that the standard of the top teams is better than ever though the top tier was shared by too few now.

Butler recalled a recent exercise he did when he traced the county origins of the players on the eight Fitzgibbon Cup teams that started four quarter-finals earlier this year.

Out of 105 players most were from Galway, Cork, Clare, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford. Limerick and Offaly were down to a trickle, Mayo had a sprinkling and Kerry had one.

Galway's possible presence in the Leinster championship drew a mixed response.

"If I was Galway player I would want to play there because it would mean more matches," said Cody whose own personal preference was for an open draw and the abandonment of the provincial championships.

"Galway should have been compelled to play in Leinster," argued Farrell but Loughnane explained that there was no rule to compel them to do so.

"Galway gave the HDC three reasons why they wouldn't go to Leinster when they were asked," he explained. "There was no financial incentive for them, Leinster meant nothing to them and they had a bad experience in Munster before."

On the possibility of a video referee being introduced for Gaelic games, the recent Leinster club final controversy between James Stephens and UCD was touched upon. The Kilkenny champions scored a 'point' that wasn't, UCD manager Babs Keating complained and didn't go down well with Cody, himself a James Stephens man who described Babs' complaints as 'tragic.'

On the dual player issue, Loughnane has changed his tune. The man who once stopped Ollie Baker and Frank Lohan from playing in a Munster U21 final in the same week as an All-Ireland senior semi-final, now feels that those counties outside the very top tier (i.e everyone except Cork and Kilkenny) should play their best players no matter what their interests are.

Naturally Kelleher agreed given the situation with Conal Keaney and Shane Ryan but the panel was unanimous that football had no place in hurling preparation.

Back to the theme of the night again!

[seafoid]

"It doesn't interfere with us in Kilkenny and that's the way it should be," said Cody.

I love that attitude down in cat land. They are devoted to the mission and they don't care about what anyone thinks. Ned Quinn does the job on any incoming fuball flak.

And all the kids in the national schools are reared on a diet of hurling. You could do an awful lot worse.

Re the breed apart thing there is something different about being in hurling country and talking to the locals. A weekend in Wexford would be different chat wise to a weekend in Kerry. 

[Plain of the Herbs]

The thing with Kilkenny is that there is no football territory within their county boundary.  On the other hand, any and all of counties Galway, Offaly, Laois, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare all have football territory (whether that be bog or mountain) to some degree.

Suspend reality for a moment.  Take the area starting at Ballinasloe.  Head east, cross the Shannon, into Offaly, over as far as Kilcormac, across the Kinnitty mountains into West Laois, include the North Tipperary GAA district from Roscrea down as far as Newport, across the border into the East Limerick GAA district, cross the Shannon into East Clare, over as far as Clarecastle then up the N18 through Gort, up to Athenry then back over to Ballinasloe where we started.   Suppose that's one big county.  Or two counties, or three.  That would be a county to rival Kilkenny for its attitude to, and interest in, football.

Except it's not.  Because of the way the county boundaries are drawn up.  And there's not alot we can do about it, either way.

[AZOffaly]

The thing with Kilkenny is that there is no football territory within their county boundary.  On the other hand, any and all of counties Galway, Offaly, Laois, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare all have football territory (whether that be bog or mountain) to some degree.

Suspend reality for a moment.  Take the area starting at Ballinasloe.  Head east, cross the Shannon, into Offaly, over as far as Kilcormac, across the Kinnitty mountains into West Laois, include the North Tipperary GAA district from Roscrea down as far as Newport, across the border into the East Limerick GAA district, cross the Shannon into East Clare, over as far as Clarecastle then up the N18 through Gort, up to Athenry then back over to Ballinasloe where we started.   Suppose that's one big county.  Or two counties, or three.  That would be a county to rival Kilkenny for its attitude to, and interest in, football.

Except it's not.  Because of the way the county boundaries are drawn up.  And there's not alot we can do about it, either way.

As someone working in North Tipp at football, and with the County underage development squads, I think it's wrong to say the attitude is the same as in Kilkenny. A North Tipp side won the county SFC last year, and at underage level we are starting to see green shoots of involvement in Tipp squads from the North. Newport won the county A u14 football championship last year too.

Hurling is, and will remain, the #1 game in North Tipp, however there is at least a willingness to encourage and play football and have North lads representing Tipp at county level. The challenge is to keep that going at adult level, where the attitude is a bit different alright.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Genuinely didn't know that, Arizona.  Fair play.  And keep up the good work.

As someone working in North Tipp at football, and with the County underage development squads, I think it's wrong to say the attitude is the same as in Kilkenny. A North Tipp side won the county SFC last year, and at underage level we are starting to see green shoots of involvement in Tipp squads from the North. Newport won the county A u14 football championship last year too.

Hurling is, and will remain, the #1 game in North Tipp, however there is at least a willingness to encourage and play football and have North lads representing Tipp at county level. The challenge is to keep that going at adult level, where the attitude is a bit different alright.

[neilthemac]

a lot of handball played down in Kilkenny too - clubs and schools
more handball clubs than football in the county

they long ago realised the benefit of it for hurling - using both sides of body, quick changes of feet, decision making, hand eye co-ordination.
Paudi Butler would argue it is the best sport for any child to play to develop

[Eamonnca1]

a lot of handball played down in Kilkenny too - clubs and schools
more handball clubs than football in the county

they long ago realised the benefit of it for hurling - using both sides of body, quick changes of feet, decision making, hand eye co-ordination.
Paudi Butler would argue it is the best sport for any child to play to develop

Sounds about right. Same can be said for basketball as a means of developing better footballers.

[southcat]

Saw the posts about Kilkenny Football and as someone from the county who does like football i thought i should give my 2 cents.

The main problem with football in Kilkenny  is that the young lads have no real interest in it. Having just come through the underage structure myself i have seen it. We would play all along the age groups but begrudgingly. There would always be a couple who wanted to play it but not many. Through no fault of the mentors who try their best to get people interested there is always the same bare 15 lads strung together 10 minutes before a match starts. The county board who are under pressure to promote it from Croke Park are in turn pressuring the clubs and you get a situation where they are being told they have to play the football or they will be on the bench for hurling. That is no good as it just creates more dislike for the sport.

There is not enough people who want to play to have a separate football team in a club and the lads who play hurling have enough matches playing hurling. I think that people forget that Kilkenny is a very rural county outside the city there is only a couple of places that could even be called a town so in the rest of the clubs you have many players playing on at least 2 adult teams and minor/U21 at the same time.

At inter-county level the problem is that playing both will mean one is put on the back burner[In my experience the people who are good at one code have similar results in the other]. You can see in Cork players have had to make a choice. Now for a county like Cork or Dublin with big enough populations to support that situation that is ok. But if a player in Mayo for example had a choice of being involved with the county for either hurling or football they are obviously going to pick football. The reverse is true here. Personally I enjoy a game of football but if I had to choose between that and hurling there would be no question in favour of hurling. That is the view of 90%+ of the County.

Basically there are plenty of good footballers in the county but they would rather play hurling. I don't know if anyone agrees with me but thats the way i see it.

[AZOffaly]

Good to hear your view on it, welcome aboard. I'd have one question about that. Given that there are people who like football and would play it, would the county board be better off creating Divisional type teams for football only in the championship, incorporating a number of clubs. Then the county teams could be picked from those teams only, as those guys would be the ones who want to play football, rather than the ones who are forced to play for their clubs.

[southcat]

Thanks.
Interesting Idea. It's is actually implemented slightly in the county with Hurling at underage levels. A number of clubs have trouble with numbers at underage levels and teams have been paired. This too has it's problems as the teams train by them selves and only join up for the matches. They often end up in the wrong division also.

However I can't see this working for a number of reasons.

1. The 3 [I think] pure football clubs would probably be against this. You know how the GAA is with Change...
2. If it was implemented there would be too much off the old "Im not playing with them lads" Club rivalry's are very hot headed we have a couple of split parishes and the like.
3. Again the vast Majority of lads who do want to play will play hurling first and won't be able to divide time[unless played over winter but with seasons lasting from Feb to late November now i don't know if that is even possible] So if the lads who don't play Hurling but want to play football would make up the teams meaning that the teams would have a split of maybe up to 6/7 clubs. And being honest if the county teams were picked solely from these i would imagine that the level wouldn't rise that much.

This might possibly work with underaged teams but they get Football with the schools anyway and would be a huge undertaking for Parents. 
That being said the county board could/should spend time looking into plausible solutions.