Snippets from the Local and National Scene By Pat Harrington
Douglas & Continuity: There are some very interesting connections between the Douglas junior hurling team (Divisional winners 1983) and the 2009 intermediate hurling champions. Ollie Tobin at right corner back captained the team of ’83 – his son Frank led the 2009 side playing at left corner back. Finbarr Bermingham, manager of the 2009 team played at left corner back in ’83, whilst Pat Walsh, selector on the current side was at right corner forward on the 1983 team. I played at centre back in 1983 and my son Mark played at full forward on the 2009 team. It will be remembered that Sam Collins was a selector in 1983 and whose nephew, Brian Boyle played on goal on the 2009 side.
Tradition – The Tobin Family: The Tobin family has strong, historical connections with Ballymartle. Both of Frank’s grandparents hailed from that parish – in fact his paternal grandfather Paddy, R.I.P. played with Ballymartle. Moll Tobin, R.I.P. Frank’s grandmother who passed away 18 months ago was a good friend to Douglas G.A.A. club and a great supporter of her grandson. She surely was storming Heaven with prayers for Douglas during the County final.
Open Draw: The open draw for the hurling all-Ireland is once again under discussion. The G.A.A. is a very conservative organization and as such displays considerable reluctance to change. But while conservative it is extremely successful and has survived the sands of time to grow ever more popular. The provincial chiefs want to hold on to the format as it is, money being a huge factor. Without the money from the provincial championships these councils may become defunct. Yes, there have been some marvelous games in Munster but Leinster as a province has struggled to match the level of competition. Dublin are an improving team and with Galway included in the Leinster championship that competition promises to be more interesting.
Personally I would favour change. Our national games and particularly the championships need freshening up. The games have become too familiar and are lacking imagination. To my mind the provincial championship is meaningless – one needs to view the bigger picture, i.e. promotion of the games. Secondly and more importantly teams would prefer to progress through the back door and win an all-Ireland rather than gain a provincial title while losing out on all-Ireland honors. Make your own minds up on that.
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The Mayo Man: Paudie Palmer described Douglas ‘Man of the Match’ Odhrán Mulroney as “The Mayo Man”. For the record Odhrán’s Dad is from Mayo and his mother from Galway where in fact Odhrán was born.
Quotes – Cody’s Book: The following are some quotes from Brian Cody’s book, one of a rake of books launched by sports people this year: (1) “I would abolish the provincial championships and replace them with a carefully calibrated mechanism designed to get most from having the top counties pursuing the all-Ireland title. The hurling development committee has always come up with recommendations they felt had a chance of being accepted rather that what was right for the game”. (2) “Anybody who attempts to manage the dressing room through fear is on a loser. Besides, if you want to be a dictator team management is not for you because you’re ignoring the word ‘team’ which should be the basis of everything you do”. – should be an interesting read.
Breaking Ground: Next Sunday is ground breaking time for Douglas G.A.A. club as they perform in the Munster club intermediate hurling championship for the first time in the club’s history. Our best wishes go with them.
More next week,
Pat.
