What does hurling mean to you?

totippandback · August 21, 2012, 04:43:10 PM

Great blog here...for some people it's the simple things in life that matter, and as a Tipperary man seeing what it meant to two strangers to lose against Kilkenny!

http://anspotadubh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/shit-love-ma-x.html

seafoid · August 21, 2012, 04:57:25 PM

Quote from: totippandback on August 21, 2012, 04:43:10 PM
Great blog here...for some people it's the simple things in life that matter, and as a Tipperary man seeing what it meant to two strangers to lose against Kilkenny!

http://anspotadubh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/shit-love-ma-x.html

Fabulous writing in that link.

Hurling is about place. It is also a tribe. It is like being Shia in a world of Sunni fuballers.
Say you find yourself in Wexford and know they are interested and can talk about any random hurler.
It's a different feeling to being in Longford or Cavan.

totippandback · August 21, 2012, 05:43:41 PM

That's true and when people with same passion come together whether same tribe or not, it's something special!

homeofhurling8 · August 21, 2012, 07:15:14 PM

I was one of the boys crying into my beer in the palace on Sunday night and again last night for good measure and i would say i will migrate in that direction again before the night is over

, I was in good company though, lots of Tipp boys use the Palace for the post mortem, we gave the result a good coat of looking at in the company of plenty of Tipperary legends, if i were "Billy" i wouldn't worry too much, hurling will never die in Tipperary as long as Tipp men have breath in their body, Sunday was a low that wont be forgotten for a long time but i know the panel are hurting, i just hope whoever takes over will channel that hurt next year.

seafoid · August 21, 2012, 07:20:52 PM

Quote from: homeofhurling8 on August 21, 2012, 07:15:14 PM
I was one of the boys crying into my beer in the palace on Sunday night and again last night for good measure and i would say i will migrate in that direction again before the night is over , I was in good company though, lots of Tipp boys use the Palace for the post mortem, we gave the result a good coat of looking at in the company of plenty of Tipperary legends, if i were "Billy" i wouldn't worry too much, hurling will never die in Tipperary as long as Tipp men have breath in their body, Sunday was a low that wont be forgotten for a long time but i know the panel are hurting, i just hope whoever takes over will channel that hurt next year.

hurling means unimaginable levels of exhilaration
when the county puts the cats to the sword . Beidh tipp aris Ann but hopefully not before galway win a few medals .

deiseach · August 22, 2012, 11:30:10 AM

My wife summed up hurling - and by 'hurling' I mean the sport and the teams who play it - in the aftermath of our defeat to Cork in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final. She looked at me through rivers of tears and said "how do you cope, this sport is so unfair!" I didn't argue. But it's nice to be a part of it.

Asal Mor · August 22, 2012, 03:20:16 PM

Great story.

seafoid · August 22, 2012, 03:28:24 PM

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0718/1224320305440.html

Now, I know plenty of the country wouldn't feel the same way. In fact, it's probably only recently that I really learned how people see us.

Funny enough, it was while watching a hurling game – the Leinster final between Kilkenny and Galway. We'd been to the Munster football final between Cork and Clare and we headed down the town to grab a couple of pints and watch the hurling.

There were men in the pub from every county. Clare, Limerick, Cork, Tipperary and all around. All the nationalities. What I couldn't believe was every last one of them was shouting for Galway. And not just shouting for them but taking complete and utter joy in seeing Kilkenny getting a hammering. They were roaring and shouting and yahooing every time Galway scored.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, the realisation dawned. Jesus, this is probably how people in other counties see Kerry in football.

Jonah · August 22, 2012, 04:19:44 PM

When played at its best there isn't another sport in the world as good to watch as hurling imo.

homeofhurling8 · August 22, 2012, 04:37:04 PM

Quote from: seafoid on August 22, 2012, 03:28:24 PM
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0718/1224320305440.html

Now, I know plenty of the country wouldn't feel the same way. In fact, it's probably only recently that I really learned how people see us.

Funny enough, it was while watching a hurling game – the Leinster final between Kilkenny and Galway. We'd been to the Munster football final between Cork and Clare and we headed down the town to grab a couple of pints and watch the hurling.

There were men in the pub from every county. Clare, Limerick, Cork, Tipperary and all around. All the nationalities. What I couldn't believe was every last one of them was shouting for Galway. And not just shouting for them but taking complete and utter joy in seeing Kilkenny getting a hammering. They were roaring and shouting and yahooing every time Galway scored.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, the realisation dawned. Jesus, this is probably how people in other counties see Kerry in football.

I know where you are coming from Seafoid, as a Tipp man i expect everyone to hate us so the reaction after the All-Ireland in 2010 shocked me, everyone we met that night from all over the country were honorary Tipp men/women for the day.

We met a group of lads from Antrim and Down in the Palace who were literally kissing and hugging every Tipp person they met, we were heading over to the Burlington for the banquet so the boys decided to tag along, we must have had 4 tickets between around 14 of us but we got them in anyway, they hung around for the night and even headed for Thurles with us for the homecoming on the Monday evening, by this time their Antrim/Down/club Jerseys had been replaced by Tipp ones,Christ alone knows when or how !, a couple of them got interviewed on Tipp fm to some puzzled looks from the interviewer when she heard the accents, when she asked them where they were from in Tipp they couldn't remember the name of our village so they said "where Donie is from" pointing to Donie O'Connell who had been in our company from the previous evening

deiseach · August 22, 2012, 04:55:53 PM

This Tipp love-fest will be a transitory phenomenon, I can assure you.

seafoid · August 22, 2012, 05:17:44 PM

I was reading "the history of hurling" last night by Seamus King and there is a line in it about Michael Cusack wanting "to bring back the hurling" because it was in danger of dying out by the 1870s.

And looking at that joke picture of Lar corbett behind Tommy Walsh outside that church under the hurls wasn't it great that he saw the value in bringing it back ?

seafoid · August 22, 2012, 05:20:03 PM

Quote from: deiseach on August 22, 2012, 04:55:53 PM
This Tipp love-fest will be a transitory phenomenon, I can assure you.

It will be back to timber presently. But Tipp aren't used to those kinds of beatings.
And they are awful when they happen.

Milltown Row2 · August 22, 2012, 10:00:36 PM

Hurling is a passion that once you have it in your blood can never leave. Playing it, coaching it and managing it can bring serious highs and unbelievable lows.

Having played it for sooooooo long it breaks my heart knowing that I will very rarely get a game at the club anymore, coaching is great and can replace some of the adrenalin lost from playing, managing is a fooking rollercoaster. Puts you in bad form even when you win FFS, but when you win a match against your rivals it leaves you howling at the sky and (I have done this a few times) shouting like a mad man on the way home after the game.

I wish I could get back 20 years of my life, the best days of my life were on the hurling field. (oh don't tell the wife!!)

seafoid · August 23, 2012, 09:23:58 AM

Quote from: Milltown Row2 on August 22, 2012, 10:00:36 PM
Hurling is a passion that once you have it in your blood can never leave. Playing it, coaching it and managing it can bring serious highs and unbelievable lows.

Having played it for sooooooo long it breaks my heart knowing that I will very rarely get a game at the club anymore, coaching is great and can replace some of the adrenalin lost from playing, managing is a fooking rollercoaster. Puts you in bad form even when you win FFS, but when you win a match against your rivals it leaves you howling at the sky and (I have done this a few times) shouting like a mad man on the way home after the game.

I wish I could get back 20 years of my life, the best days of my life were on the hurling field. (oh don't tell the wife!!)

Does it have an additional significance up in Antrim ? Hurling is a minority thing anyway but in the North it has another layer of relevance, maybe. And it is one of the things that defines Irishness I think. Antrim hurling is an outpost . This year's club final was fantastic - sharing the quality with the whole country.