Early Sunday dinners…
As men, women and children prepare to disappear from the house on Sundays…early Sunday dinners are suddenly in vogue again as the great exodus begins. In some households, the return of the league means dad and a kid or two are out for the afternoon; in other houses, the whole family might be off to the match. Back in demand are coats, hats, caps, umbrellas and maybe even a flask and sandwiches…
‘Pep returns to the step of the diehards’
They’ve been waiting for several weeks for the return of the G-aah, for Christmas to pass and for the New Year to usher in a new season…they’ve dipped their toes back into it all during the ‘FBD,’ but this is closer to the real deal: the return of the National League. For the diehards, the New Year has just begun!
Texts & tweets …and media focus
At this time of year, the ‘twitter machine’ goes into overdrive. Team news, news about the referee, weather updates/venue switches…and reaction to results/controversies. The ‘GAA family’ comes together in this way, some still relying on text or whatsapp through which to air their views. The national media moves into gear with coverage and analysis of the league games and speculation about what it all might mean when the championship starts.
Pub postmortems
It’s a desperately welcome Monday night/midweek boost in the local pub, where the GAA diehards come out to play…
Monday night: They’ll gather in small numbers for the unofficial postmortem…where it all went right/wrong…why such and such a substitution was made…then by Wednesday/Thursday, any prevailing pessimism turns to optimism…
‘Any team yet? You know, I give us every chance on Sunday. Sure if results go our way, we could be in a great position!’
The Get the Dubs out of Croker ‘debate’ starts
You know the league is underway when the all-conquering Dubs actually look ‘human’ as some suitably fired-up opposition runs them relatively close in one (or more) of the early fixtures. Within no time, the age-old ‘debate’ will be underway as punters, probably more in hope than confidence, make the argument that, come championship time, Dublin might be vulnerable if they had to play a game or games away from Croke Park. ‘Get them down the country, it’s unfair that that they play all their championship games in Croke Park’ is the argument which is usually kick-started during the Dubs’ league travels. And maybe it’s a good argument!
THAT WAS THE DAY…
In 1990, Roscommon hosted Meath in the NFL Division One. The match was played in Kiltoom. Meath were high-flying; All-Ireland champions 17 months earlier (in 1988), they would go on to win the Leinster titles of 1990 and ’91. They were a team of accomplished stars, and not a few ‘hard men.’ Roscommon (All-Ireland semi-finalists later that year) were strong at the time too, but Meath were probably favourites to take the points. The weather was appalling; torrential rainfall, as I recall. The ‘spectators close to the pitch’ feeling in Kiltoom added to the atmosphere. What transpired that day was remarkable: Roscommon produced one of their greatest ever league performances, routing Sean Boylan’s men to the delight of the suitably partisan crowd. Final score: Roscommon 1-19 Meath 0-6. We went home (eventually) drenched but delirious! – PH
