Overheard in the Snug: April 10th

Missed you last week

I was busy moving last Sunday so I didn't have time to eavesdrop in the snug. Instead I was moving heavy boxes and complaining to anyone who'd listen. Now that the complaints are out of my system I'm able to focus on an important final week of the League. I'm starting to think the League is more important than most will admit. Most shrug off the League as the time to get your house in order for the summer by trying new people in new positions. The increasingly professional approach to the game by players and management means the League is starting to be more important. Dublin have laid down a marker this spring with 6am training sessions and an undefeated campaign to show for their efforts. With the importance of the League in mind here are my points for the week.

GAA Choice of Speaker Endorses Fictional Version of History

Tim Pat Coogan: Not welcome in my GAA

As Over the Bar is a Gaelic Football Blog, this is the most serious the coverage will ever be: The GAA has announced author Tim Pat Coogan will speak at the Croke Park Museum on the 90th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. For those few readers who are not aware, on 21 November 1920, 14 civilians, including Tipperary player Michael Hogan, were killed when Royal Irish Constabulary, the dreaded Black & Tans as well as Auxiliary forces fired indiscriminately into the crowd of spectators at Croke Park. Bullets took the lives of 12 civilians while two more were trampled to death by the terrified crowd.

The explanations for this tragedy vary widely. The most popular theory is that the attack in Croke Park was purposeful revenge for IRA murders carried out earlier in the day. An Inquiry Commission established at the time to examine events surrounding Bloody Sunday and subsequently released archival documents demonstrate that the official RIC orders were to detain and search the crowd as they filed out of the stadium after the match. According to these reports an accidental tragedy occurred when gunshots from the crowd led to a panicked response by the soldiers. No doubt a questionably neutral 'inquiry' but an account of the events nonetheless. Unfortunately, because of the chosen speaker at Sunday's Commemoration, only one version of the story will be told.

GAA on Steroids: Welcome to College Football in the States

Damien Cullen has written an interesting article today in the Irish Times. He observes the fanaticism surrounding NCAA college football and remarks that as an amateur game it is akin to the GAA. Of course, this is tremendously over-simplified but he does dance around and basically avoid a significant point. College football in the States began at about the same time as the GAA. The structure of college football is complicated but you need only to know one thing to understand the importance of each week: if your team loses a single game, they cannot be champions. In this format, the entire season is a single elimination tournament. Sure, your team might have another 10 games to play but if they lose their first game, the season is lost. It is this format that supports six stadiums which hold over 100,000 people, 112 teams (in the top division), 3-day tailgate parties, and most importantly a loyal fan-base.

The GAA could learn a lot from the NCAA, particularly as we take a few months off before the launch of a league campaign which is basically a terribly boring tune-up for the summer. Excitement for every fan is created by design in the NCAA. Can the GAA make the same claim?

Club Championship Matches: When and Where?

I searched all over GAA.ie for the dates and times of this week's club matches. Despite the new website and the partnership with Google, the GAA still has much to learn about how to effectively operate on the web. I'm not looking to buy tickets. For now, I just want to know where to be and when so I can enjoy some Club Championship football.

I eventually found the appropriate section and had to laugh at the contents of the page. Look for yourself. I can't tell you how helpful it is to know that 'semi-final #1 winner' will play 'semi-final #2 winner' on St. Patrick's Day. That is the only thing I know for sure! I had to check Paddy Power to get the information I wanted. Headquarters has chosen not to bother updating their site with the minutia of the All-Ireland Club Championship. For shame. This time the GAA sure doesn't look like the grass-roots organisation it so often claims to be.

Lazy Sunday Thoughts

I have a few thoughts I thought I'd mash into a single post this afternoon before the start of the County Championship Final in Kerry at 3pm. (Big 'Thank You' to TG4 for carrying the Austin Stacks v Dr. Crokes match)