Post by austinstacksabu on Jun 11, 2007 4:59:13 GMT
Last night, after a tumultuous eight years, Tony Soprano sat down to eat the finest onion rings in New Jersey for the last time.
Yet, this post was already three years in the making, having galloped into action in 1996.
Friends and ER were only in their second series – Ross and Rachel weren’t even flirting yet, and the West Wing was still three years away!! Bill Clinton was still figuring out where to keep his finest Cubans stored, Roy Keane was only three years into his term in Manchester United, the option of manager only a figment of his imagination!! Alexander Popov was about to become the greatest swimmer of this generation and was still three Olympics and a stabbing away from retirement!!
Yet, Darragh O’Se was already catching senior ball and Kerry were on their way back!!
Since June 1996, Kerry have won three National League finals, 8 Munster championships, appeared in 10 All Ireland semi finals, six All Ireland finals and won four.
And yet, the modern Kerry team and all who have played for it during that time, are not considered in any way equal to Kerry teams of the past.
They have played over twice as many All Ireland championship games as the great Kerry team of 1975 – 1986.
And yet Darragh O’Se and Michael Francis Russell, both of whom appeared in the 1997 All Ireland final, are still starting and playing strong football.
They have played teams filled with players, that will in time be rated as among the best of any generation – Kieran McGeeney, Peter Canavan, Padraic Joyce, Sean Cavanagh, Brian McGuigan, Diarmuid Marsden, Kevin Walsh, Trevor Giles. In fact, they have played great teams. The Kerry team of the 70’s faced individuals who drove middling teams on, Dublin aside (I know I will be torn apart for this). They played Early of Roscommon, Connor of Offaly, Hughes of Monaghan, McGuigan (Frank) of Tyrone (Kerry never played Eugene McKenna in the football championship), but never a team that will be considered good, or great, in it’s own right. Even the declining number of All Stars given to Kerry players is a sign of how strong the Championship has become.
Yes, the team of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s played in 10 All Ireland finals, but they never had qualifiers or stronger teams. They played three games one year to win the All Ireland!!
This Kerry team have not received the dues owed to them. Plain and simple. What we are fortunate to have representing Kerry right now is an expanding group of players deserving of being considered equal with the past.
There is no talk of a DVD, no talk of a compilation of matches being released for all to see.
It’s time to change that. Yes, we will always have our moments to moan and groan after a Kerry performance, this year or any year. But regardless of any results this year, Darragh O’Se, Michael Francis Russell and others are fully deserving of more credit than is forthcoming on a collective basis.
It is ten years since the first All Ireland after the dark ages. Now is the ideal time to revise upwards our estimation.
How? That is up to you, the dedicated and vocal fans of Kerry football.
"Your monument shall be my gentle verse, which eyes not yet created shall o'er read"
W.S.
Yet, this post was already three years in the making, having galloped into action in 1996.
Friends and ER were only in their second series – Ross and Rachel weren’t even flirting yet, and the West Wing was still three years away!! Bill Clinton was still figuring out where to keep his finest Cubans stored, Roy Keane was only three years into his term in Manchester United, the option of manager only a figment of his imagination!! Alexander Popov was about to become the greatest swimmer of this generation and was still three Olympics and a stabbing away from retirement!!
Yet, Darragh O’Se was already catching senior ball and Kerry were on their way back!!
Since June 1996, Kerry have won three National League finals, 8 Munster championships, appeared in 10 All Ireland semi finals, six All Ireland finals and won four.
And yet, the modern Kerry team and all who have played for it during that time, are not considered in any way equal to Kerry teams of the past.
They have played over twice as many All Ireland championship games as the great Kerry team of 1975 – 1986.
And yet Darragh O’Se and Michael Francis Russell, both of whom appeared in the 1997 All Ireland final, are still starting and playing strong football.
They have played teams filled with players, that will in time be rated as among the best of any generation – Kieran McGeeney, Peter Canavan, Padraic Joyce, Sean Cavanagh, Brian McGuigan, Diarmuid Marsden, Kevin Walsh, Trevor Giles. In fact, they have played great teams. The Kerry team of the 70’s faced individuals who drove middling teams on, Dublin aside (I know I will be torn apart for this). They played Early of Roscommon, Connor of Offaly, Hughes of Monaghan, McGuigan (Frank) of Tyrone (Kerry never played Eugene McKenna in the football championship), but never a team that will be considered good, or great, in it’s own right. Even the declining number of All Stars given to Kerry players is a sign of how strong the Championship has become.
Yes, the team of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s played in 10 All Ireland finals, but they never had qualifiers or stronger teams. They played three games one year to win the All Ireland!!
This Kerry team have not received the dues owed to them. Plain and simple. What we are fortunate to have representing Kerry right now is an expanding group of players deserving of being considered equal with the past.
There is no talk of a DVD, no talk of a compilation of matches being released for all to see.
It’s time to change that. Yes, we will always have our moments to moan and groan after a Kerry performance, this year or any year. But regardless of any results this year, Darragh O’Se, Michael Francis Russell and others are fully deserving of more credit than is forthcoming on a collective basis.
It is ten years since the first All Ireland after the dark ages. Now is the ideal time to revise upwards our estimation.
How? That is up to you, the dedicated and vocal fans of Kerry football.
"Your monument shall be my gentle verse, which eyes not yet created shall o'er read"
W.S.
