Something Is Rotten In The State Of Hurling
07/09/08 21:29 Filed in: Sport
Environmentalists all over the world have a neat turn
of phrase to encapsulate their campaign - “Ten years
to save the world.” After today’s farce of an
All-Ireland final, the GAA have a task of their own -
ten years to save hurling.
Today, Kilkenny annihilated Waterford by 3-30 to 1-13, a winning margin of 23 points. I had a quick look at the list of All-Ireland Final results on Wikipedia, and you have to go back to 1941 to find a bigger margin (Cork put Dublin to the sword that day, 5-11 to 0-6.) Today was Kilkenny’s third All-Ireland in a row, and their sixth in the last ten years. Overall, this is their 31st All-Ireland title, the most won by any county.
Hurling is often described as Ireland’s national game, and the GAA themselves claim that hurling in some form or other has been played in Ireland for 2,000 years. But what we are seeing now is a decline in the game as a national sport, as it becomes more entrenched within its heartland of the south/south-east of the country. Unlike gaelic football, there are only a handful of counties that are competitive in the championship (i.e. have a chance to get to the All-Ireland final to be cannon fodder to Kilkenny.) All of them, with the exception of Galway are in Munster or south Leinster. The Ulster championship is Antrim v. Down (although a couple of years ago, New York made it to the Ulster final, but they couldn’t play the final in Ireland, because they were afraid that several of the New York team wouldn’t be able to get back into the US.) There is no Connacht championship anymore. It could be argued that neither is there a meaningful Leinster championship - Kilkenny have won it every year since 1998, with the exception of 2004 (though they did make it to the All-Ireland that year, losing to Cork.)
Waterford were the lambs to the slaughter today, but in truth fans of Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Clare and Galway needn’t feel too smug. Such is the power of the hurling machine that is Kilkenny, any of those other teams would have been on the end of a comparable hiding. I feel really sorry for the Waterford fans, as they have been there or thereabouts for the last few years, and this was their first shot at the All-Ireland in 45 years. They haven’t won it since 1959. They have nothing to take from today’s match. A bad refereeing decision or an unlucky bounce of the ball would at least have provided some succour if the game had been tight, hope that next year they could come back and finish the job. But the brutality of their defeat today will have the hearts of the Déise’s followers in their boots. I should know something about this. After all I am a Mayoman, and we have been to the All-Ireland football final five times in the last twenty years, with nothing to show for it. Three of those defeats were to the football equivalent of Kilkenny (Kerry) and two of those encounters with the Kingdom were hidings (2004 and 2006.) And I’m not even a serious follower of the game. This lad will tell you a thing or two about what it’s like to lose five All-Irelands in twenty years.
At the moment Kilkenny are unassailable. But for a neutral’s point of view the future is not rosy. Not only did the senior team win the All-Ireland today, but the minors also beat Galway. There will be wild celebrations all over the county of Kilkenny tonight. The festivities will go on to the wee small hours in such places as Grangemockler, Callan and Mullinavat. But deep down, even the most ardent of Kilkenny fans must realise that each passing year and each facile All-Ireland won, the victory is going to get hollower and hollower. Unless the GAA do something to stem the decline of hurling as a national game, it will be practically gone within a generation.
Today, Kilkenny annihilated Waterford by 3-30 to 1-13, a winning margin of 23 points. I had a quick look at the list of All-Ireland Final results on Wikipedia, and you have to go back to 1941 to find a bigger margin (Cork put Dublin to the sword that day, 5-11 to 0-6.) Today was Kilkenny’s third All-Ireland in a row, and their sixth in the last ten years. Overall, this is their 31st All-Ireland title, the most won by any county.
Hurling is often described as Ireland’s national game, and the GAA themselves claim that hurling in some form or other has been played in Ireland for 2,000 years. But what we are seeing now is a decline in the game as a national sport, as it becomes more entrenched within its heartland of the south/south-east of the country. Unlike gaelic football, there are only a handful of counties that are competitive in the championship (i.e. have a chance to get to the All-Ireland final to be cannon fodder to Kilkenny.) All of them, with the exception of Galway are in Munster or south Leinster. The Ulster championship is Antrim v. Down (although a couple of years ago, New York made it to the Ulster final, but they couldn’t play the final in Ireland, because they were afraid that several of the New York team wouldn’t be able to get back into the US.) There is no Connacht championship anymore. It could be argued that neither is there a meaningful Leinster championship - Kilkenny have won it every year since 1998, with the exception of 2004 (though they did make it to the All-Ireland that year, losing to Cork.)
Waterford were the lambs to the slaughter today, but in truth fans of Tipperary, Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Clare and Galway needn’t feel too smug. Such is the power of the hurling machine that is Kilkenny, any of those other teams would have been on the end of a comparable hiding. I feel really sorry for the Waterford fans, as they have been there or thereabouts for the last few years, and this was their first shot at the All-Ireland in 45 years. They haven’t won it since 1959. They have nothing to take from today’s match. A bad refereeing decision or an unlucky bounce of the ball would at least have provided some succour if the game had been tight, hope that next year they could come back and finish the job. But the brutality of their defeat today will have the hearts of the Déise’s followers in their boots. I should know something about this. After all I am a Mayoman, and we have been to the All-Ireland football final five times in the last twenty years, with nothing to show for it. Three of those defeats were to the football equivalent of Kilkenny (Kerry) and two of those encounters with the Kingdom were hidings (2004 and 2006.) And I’m not even a serious follower of the game. This lad will tell you a thing or two about what it’s like to lose five All-Irelands in twenty years.
At the moment Kilkenny are unassailable. But for a neutral’s point of view the future is not rosy. Not only did the senior team win the All-Ireland today, but the minors also beat Galway. There will be wild celebrations all over the county of Kilkenny tonight. The festivities will go on to the wee small hours in such places as Grangemockler, Callan and Mullinavat. But deep down, even the most ardent of Kilkenny fans must realise that each passing year and each facile All-Ireland won, the victory is going to get hollower and hollower. Unless the GAA do something to stem the decline of hurling as a national game, it will be practically gone within a generation.