Post by austinstacksabu on May 26, 2006 14:37:01 GMT
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
Mahatma Gandhi
Well, 2000 posts since August 2004, and I've had a blast. In that time, I've spouted an enormous amount of what can best be described as fertiliser, but hopefully I have at least produced the odd thought starter or useless piece of chat to help back up your argument in the Gresham before the All Ireland semi final. In kerry.gaa.ie I've found a great place to indulge my heartfelt passion for Kerry football, and the GAA in general. It's a freedom I greatly appreciate.
Two years. One All Ireland, two National Leagues, two Munster Championships, some incredible highs, some enormous lows.
Are things different to when I joined. Well, that was in August 2004 the week of the Dublin quarter final. We had struggled past Limerick in the Munster final in Killarney, were nervously optimistic against Jayo and the boys and well, Jacko was struggling to get more than ten to fifteen minutes either side of half time out of the lads. Since then, nothing much has changed apart from the magnificant 50 minutes we put together in the All Ireland final of 2004 and the 25 minutes we strung together in the 2005 All Ireland final. The 2005 semi was no more than a joke in case you're asking.
But we annexed All Ireland 33. That's a good return.
Despite all the abuse I have given Jack here about picking Declan O'Sullivan from time to time, and other areas for concern too, I genuinely believe Jack O'Connor is getting the best that any manager in Ireland can get from these players. I also believe that there isn't much else available talent wise to him bar one or two impact subs maybe. He is doing a good job, with good results by and large. We can always demand more, but can Jack genuinely deliver any more that he already has? Maybe, and if he does, he will have completed a great job.
There is a strong panel in Kerry but not the strongest in the world. We are woefully short on confident, natural forwards, a scary thought for a county with some of the most famous forwards the game has ever know. But that's the hand Jack has been dealt. He's doing well, and with a bit of tweaking, can achieve the maximum this squad is capable of.
Outside of our senior footballers, we haven't changed one iota. Our hurlers are still promising false dawns. We still play half our club games in the depths of winter. The North Kerry championship still garners the kind of unflinching support that you would normally only expect from the followers of a new cult in Wako, Texas or somewhere. Our U21 footballers have delivered absolutely nothing of note. Our minors have tipped around the edges but hopefully John Kennedy can bring them that extra mile this year, and our junior footballers continue to show that the club scene in Kerry is the strongest in Ireland.
Then again, I live outside of Kerry so am always prone to seeing more of what's on outside the county bounds than inside. The bearded one from Errigal Ciaran still determines the face of football these days. As I posted in the days after the All Ireland football final last September, Tyrone are far ahead of how we prepare our young and older footballers. They've caught up with us, and will be there for a long time to come. They may not win every All Ireland, but they're not relying on just one bunch of players either. The next few years will prove that. I'd love to see Armagh do well this year just to maintain the notion that there are three teams capable of winning the All Ireland. But let them be beaten by Kerry at some stage!!
Hurling, the greatest game. Cork haven't lost a championship game since I joined. Says it all really. But this year is Kilkennys year. They're playing a new brand of hurling, and have taken the type of hurling that Cyril Farrell was derided for introducing with the Galway hurlers years ago to a new height. I expect back to backs from them in the not too distant future. Where the challange comes from. Well, Galway have alot to prove, but if they can get through this year by being competitive and not losing face, then I think with the young hurlers on their team, they have a great chance of breaking the Cork/ Kilkenny stranglehold.
Oh, and Ducksie Walsh is still winning handball titles as witnessed by his annexing of a national seniors title last Tuesday!!
My highlight to date: I've a few actually. Cork v Clare last year in the hurling. The Dublin v Tyrone double header last summer. Mayo v Kerry All Ireland final 2004. The relief was something I didn't even experience last weekend in Cardiff among the leeks.
Lowlights: Kerry v Tyrone 2005. I wasn't right for a week after. The GPA strike in March.
My hope for the next two years. One senior and one underage football title for Kerry. Another national final appearance for the Kerry hurlers. The GAA and GPA to start negotiating on fair terms. No antics, just results for the players, club and county.
Anyway, it's been great fun so far. Thanks to the other regular posters from home, abroad, north and south.
I'll leave the post with this great quote: it sums up my love of GAA actually!! Oh, and I hope ye don't mind me indulging with a seperate thread. You can delete it if you want admin, no worries.
Anybody who watches three games of football in a row should be declared brain dead.
Erma Bombeck
Erma Bombeck