Town End: The sporting season is now at play all year round

Sport is “round the clock” and all year round these days and last weekend was no exception. On Sunday afternoon I took up an invite to Croke Park to see the first ever American Football “Watch Party” at the historic stadium.

It was organised by the Pittsburgh Steelers in conjunction with the GAA. Over 500 people packed out the Hogan Suite in the back of the Hogan Stand to watch a game taking place in America between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.

In Croke Park, over four hours of razzamatazz, singing, and interviews with Superbowl winners, created a buzz aimed at bolstering the audience in Ireland. The organisers were testing the waters for the possibility of hosting a game in the coming years.

College football games have taken place on our island before but an NFL game would be on a different level in terms of revenue generated and publicity.

Plenty from Tipperary made the trip including Kevin Molloy from Lorrha, a GAA club Lotto promoter, who swapped following his club hurlers to follow the Pittsburgh Steelers again: “I’ve been a Steelers fan since 1985 so I have followed them all the years.

“I went to Wembley in 2013 when they played over there and tonight is absolutely great.

“The turnout is brilliant and I think events like this work well because it is the off season for intercounty games. Croke Park might not host a game until the club finals in January so it is great see an event like this take place and maybe an NFL game in the not too distant future,” he said.

Superbowl winner Santonio Holmes, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver who was Super Bowl XLIII Most Valuable Player as the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, was there too and he said this was the stuff of dreams: “I grew up being a Pittsburgh fan and to play for them was incredible and it is magnificent to be here in Ireland this week. We hope to grow the game here and see what happens,” he said.

This week Santonio ‘checked out’ hurling, played some golf and enjoyed his visit to the full like others from across the Atlantic. The ‘Watch Party’ is common place in America for those who can’t make a big game. The Steelers hosted one ‘on the road’ in Mexico recently when over 5,000 Mexican fans packed an arena to watch the team play the Las Vegas Raiders.

Dublin was on a smaller scale than the Mexico based event but proved successful for the franchise and for the GAA with many flying in for the occasion.

As great as the day was however, the contrast was stark with the recent news that the GAA would deny five counties the right to play in the National Hurling League as they didn't have enough senior teams.

Not allowing some counties into the National Hurling League would reduce the amount of time the game is played across the season but it would save the County Board’s in the counties affected large sums of money, in some cases almost a million euros.

In some ways, it is an acknowledgement that Gaelic sport is dying in many parts of Ireland. While Leitrim, Cavan and Fermanagh aren’t challenging for All-Ireland titles, those who love the game and coach juveniles must wonder where the focus really is in the GAA.

Clubs don’t have juvenile teams in many counties and school’s don’t have teachers who know the game or have any emotional attachment to it for the most part.

The grassroots in those counties must be respected and those counties playing in the Lory Meagher Cup, by now, must realise Liam MacCarthy Cup competing counties aren’t going to transfer the knowledge they have quickly enough to keep the game alive.

The appetite isn’t there from the currently strong hurling counties to adopt a county to help grow the game. The reality is that it is up to all hurling people to acknowledge the struggle of hurling people in some counties and look for solutions to ensure the game doesn’t disappear in many areas.

The game is alive and well in Tipperary and Cork. On Saturday last, representatives of both counties battled it out by Pairc Ui Rinn as St Catherines, managed by former Cork boss Denis Walsh, beat an honest Ballinahinch team that came up short in the last fifteen minutes.

Senior representatives for the county - Dan Breen holders Kiladangan - lost too on Sunday, completing a trio of losses following Lorrha’s swift exit to Corofin in the Intermediate championship. Kiladangan came out the wrong side of a one-point game and two red cards cost them when the game was in the melting pot on Sunday afternoon.

Overall it is a worrying trend that Tipperary club sides just can’t get a grip with teams outside the county. Borris Ileigh were the last provincial winners in 2019 while the same club was the last side from the county to win the club All-Ireland final which was way back in March of 1987.

On the camogie front there was better news for the Drom-Inch camogie team on Sunday last as they pipped a brave De La Salle side in their Munster semi final in an exciting encounter at The Ragg. 

Drom are hoping to win another provincial title now after their success last year which was well celebrated and they will look to key players like Aoife McGrath to lead the charge again.

Finally, to leave the highlight of my weekend til last, Drombane was packed to capacity on Saturday night as local hero Peter Ryan - who ran from Malin Head to Mizen Head over five days in October - was honoured.

The former hurler, soccer player and Paralympic cyclist lost the majority of his eyesight as a teenager but he has dedicated so many hours to helping others since then.

At Drombane mass last Saturday evening the Parish Council presented him with a cheque for over €5,000 for his charitable causes, then it was across the road to the hall for refreshments and a chat, where Peter presented a cheque for €118,000 to Vision Ireland representatives.

The money raised will go towards helping others in need that suffered from sight loss and it will also go towards early detection of conditions which may mean the eye sight of someone somewhere is saved.

It was an absolute pleasure for me to MC the event because Peter is an inspirational figure to so many. He had many setbacks after suffering his sight loss but he shows true courage to keep going with a smile on his face and he does remarkable things for other people.

It was a wonderful evening as Drombane folk honoured one of their own. Peter is still making a huge contribution to the world of sport and the wider world. He is to be commended. A real Laochra Gael.