Rebels set to spring ambush after end of civil war
Saturday May 30 2009
This rivalry goes all the way back to the time when spam was something that came out of a tin on a day when things went against your mother, and Galway was still in Connacht.
Now that Galway is in Leinster will we have to call the Tribesmen 'Galsters' or maybe even 'Waysters'?
There's a protection order on the Munster rivalry between Tipp and Cork. Come to think of it there's permanent archive between all the counties in Munster, bar of course the Kerry hurlers, who are too busily engaged in club against club to worry about any conflict outside of their kingdom within a kingdom.
Tipp are the cockpit of the GAA and are surrounded on all sides by implacable enemies.
Four Munster hurling counties bound Tipp, and if that's not bad enough, Kilkenny and Offaly pincer in from the side. Galway is only just across the big river.
Tipp are hot favourites tomorrow, but beware Cork. Like Tipp they are experts at the art of ambush from way back. Now that the second civil war is over, this Cork team are under enormous pressure. The hurlers may have won, but the wounded stroke their scar tissue to remind them of perceived wrongs.
For the record, let me say that Gerald McCarthy should have gone of his own accord. And Cork is only different to other counties in that their dispute was aired in public. Managers are only ever fired by players and/or results.
My old friend Jerome Murphy used to say 'if the hens don't lay, change the cock.' When a manager loses games or the dressing-room, it's time to go.
Bang the door after you and thank the almighty you are free. The Cork players went too far, but they were backed into a corner and like all good hurlers they fought their way out.
John Gardiner said there are those in Cork who are hoping for a Tipperary win.
I would say, John, that might be a motivational tool to be used in the last few minutes before ye run out on to the pitch. I think the vast majority of Cork people will support the players. I cannot see the Rebels turning their backs on the Cork jersey, but this time out, there will be those in the counties surrounding Tipp who will cheer for their erstwhile rivals against Cork.
The problem for many genuine supporters is this. The GAA like most sporting organisations has a management committee who are the supreme authority and then you have the players on the level below.
Some fans feel players have too much power, but this really isn't the case. Their careers are relatively short. Officials are supposed to resign every five years, but all we get is a game of musical chairs where the music never stops
The board men simply swap positions.
I have heard of county boards trying to make small boys out of players. I witnessed a man who played in an All-Ireland semi-final being told that, because he was dropped, he would get only half as many tickets as the man who replaced him.
The players and county boards need to set new boundaries.
Players can abuse power too, and as often happens in revolutions there are excesses and casualties I am totally against pay-for-play, but players must be paid their expenses and treated with due respect. Players, too, must realise someone has to administer the game and that their primary duty is to play.
I also feel players should have no say in selecting the manager. This may be at variance with my support for the Cork hurlers, but that's a special case with more context than the Middle East.
Believe me when I say the troubles between players and the board didn't just start up in recent times. The wonder is it took so long for the hurlers to revolt.
The fact is the county boards cannot play. Some would, if they could.
Maybe they could do away with the expense of maintaining a team and set up virtual hurling just like the robbers of bookmakers and their cartoon dogs, yet the players' involvement in picking a manager weakens their choice from day one.
The manager needs to be completely independent and his say so has to be final. How can you drop the man who is effectively your boss? Bosses, as if you didn't know, hire and fire.
This Cork-Tipp saga goes all the way back to the days when Archbishop Croke's mother told him she'd love to have a priest in the family. In 125 years there have been many off-the-pitch conflicts.
Whole counties pulled out of competitions and All-Irelands have been forfeited off the field of play by the bang of a fist on a table. Yet the GAA goes on and those who achieve lasting glory do so because of their prowess on the pitch. Machiavelli wouldn't have lasted too long in Semple Stadium.
Now for the in-depth analysis.
I think it might be a draw, for no other reason than gut feeling.
- Billy Keane
