John Fogarty
HURLING really is getting in the neck at the moment. Less than great attendances at Division 1, the foreboding belief the All-Ireland final pairing is already written in the stars, the dramatic demise in fortunes of counties who claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup less than 15 years ago... the ancient game is reeling or so we’re being told.
The latest attacker came from an unlikely source last Friday when former Donegal footballer Brendan Devenney gave his two cents.
“We are in deep trouble with hurling,” wrote Devenney in his column in the Ulster GAA magazine Gaelic Life. “Oh yes. There has been a horrible start to the leagues, and already the pundits can see absolutely no possibility of an All-Ireland title (not) going to either Kilkenny or Tipperary.
“It’s ridiculous the direction the sport is going, in danger of becoming ever-more elitist and the preserve of very few.”
The fact is hurling is elitist. There should be no shame in that. It’s an art-form, something that can only be performed by a minority because it takes years upon years of mastering. That’s why it’s such a treasure.
It’s a fanciful thought to believe every boy and girl in the country is going to puck a ball. It should be that way but hurling can’t and will never be that game simply because it’s so difficult to play. Not enough people have the patience to pass on or absorb the skills.
What some may see as hurling moving backwards is the game actually stalling. Right now it’s a sitting duck for commentators like Devenney to take pot-shots at.
Forgetting the great strides Dublin and Carlow have been making, it’s a case of same old, same old. The power bases remains the same but is that their fault?
Talk of hurling Armageddon is preposterous. Taking into account the downward adjustment thanks to the weakened economy, attendances are not down dramatically on recent years (hurling is a true summer sport, besides). While teams are all taking points off each other in Division 1.
To say the hurling landscape is more unequal than ever before would be wrong. It’s just nobody has attempted to leap the bar set by Kilkenny and Tipperary combined with the pair not letting anyone get near taking that jump.
This writer has long maintained hurling is the modern equivalent of the Roman Games: adored by the masses but performed by few. Almost one million people watched last year’s final, the second final in as many years that can be rightfully crowned a game for the ages.
Yes, both games compensated for pretty average championships but it has yet to dawn on counties outside the big three of Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary that only something phenomenal will win the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
To win an All-Ireland hurling title these days is a seriously extraordinary feat. Cork in 2004 and ’05 manufactured a bond of resistance that will never be equalled. Kilkenny’s excellence will never be rivalled. The depth of preparation put in by Liam Sheedy and his players combined with the most ferocious never-say-die attitude last September is likely never to be matched.
But the less attractive advantages which precipitated those victories can’t be overlooked either. Cork’s All-Irelands were won almost out of vengeful spite against their county board. Football has been marginalised in Kilkenny to such an extent that it is inconsequential. Tipperary spent over €1 million in preparing their teams, the lion’s share being given to their senior hurlers.
If we are to see the so-called revolution years return something unseen will have to happen. For all the talk of Dublin’s fine start to Division 1, they have done nothing in the championship to indicate they are ready to break the mould.
Galway appear to lack enough smarts on the sideline to deliver. Waterford can finally say they are a team rather than a group of individuals and look the best positioned to upset the order. But can any of them really say they could have matched the performances put in by Tipperary and Kilkenny in last year’s final?
Next month, GAA President Christy Cooney will launch a new hurling plan. “After Congress we will be coming forward with a fairly significant hurling plan and the development of hurling,” said Cooney last week.
“We have to finalise it yet, it has to go back to Coiste Bainistí again for approval at Central Council. Pat Daly, Liam O’Neill and the committee are doing some more work on it for us and will come back to us probably at April Congress meeting.”
Daly and O’Neill have shown themselves to be progressive thinkers on the evolution of games. But they face a big task here, not to ensure the survival of the game - that isn't in question - but realising the best ways to maintain it.
That will mean enriching the traditional hurling counties, encouraging them to keep the flame lit. Throwing money at the “less advantaged counties”, as O’Neill puts it, won’t work. Build them up over time yes but more importantly acknowledge the artists of the game. And patronise them.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/CcqpYQnhFlE/post.aspx
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