If one was attempting to give GAA President Jarlath Burns the benefit of the doubt – for the 1500th time during his tenure – it could be said in his own misguided mind he may have considered he was responding to Mary McAleese’s strongly worded condemnation of the GAA’s Management Committee in equally coarse terms.
Nothing about what the former holder of the office he hadn’t the balls to go for said was ‘Offensive”. She called it as it was – the powerful and addicted to power within the GAA are absolutely terrified of change.
Sadly I fear nothing will change until Private Ryan is no longer being saved and Mr Burns no longer thinks his idiocy is excellent. The sooner votes of No Confidence are enacted against Burns and his leading lacky Tom Ryan the better.
The former is becoming a bigger disappointment and source of embarrassment by the day. Consider even some of the following:
(a) Interfered in the Naas club’s appointment of someone who had or in the intervening period has never been charged with or found guilty of a any offence.
(b) Went on the biggest talk show in the country to double down on the matter.
(c) Had no problem letting soccer, boxing, American Football, rock concerts ad nauseum, the Pope and other religious ceremonies into Croke Park but takes umbrage at talk of equality across different sections of the Association he has the privilege of leading.
(d) Plucks a figure of €45m from the sky purporting to be the cost of running men’s county teams. If you include London and New York, with every county outlaying a million – which they quite obviously are not – the most that figure could be would be 34m. Which Mr Burns then claimed would have to be doubled to cover the cost of integration.
Such bullshit. One individual who is a member of a backroom team with a county team up the country and also with a club team here in Meath said the latter is by far the better resourced and catered for.
(e) Along with his chief ‘yes man’ lands down to a Mayo Co Board meeting and puts mitts all over their affairs which, naturally then, has ended up with them plastered all over the national media. Which, aside from being unnecessary, was in itself a terrible disservice to 99.9% of those who give of their time for nothing other than the betterment of Mayo GAA.
At this point I don’t even feel like giving An tUachtarain’s uber negative ramblings any more oxygen, only to hope that the tried and tested methodology of resistance eventually crumbling and the desired developments coming to pass.
Sadly, in the case of the man who took over from the great Paraic Duffy it has proven to be a case of gut feeling being correct even though it is earnestly wished it wasn’t.
Put simply that Tom Ryan is of a 1950s mindset and absolutely (a) terrified of change and (b) in love with his bit of power and petrified of losing it. Very obviously the GPA and their minions have them where they want them as well. For it’s a case of Tom Parsons et al saying ‘Jump’ and Croke Park replying with ‘How high?’
Now, it is known that Eamonn Sweeney’s Hurling Man’ piece of yesteryear was written (partly) in jest, but there is a lot to be said for the fact that it as a sport nearly self governs. If anything, individual units thereof do.
For example, not for a second do I believe the initiatives revealed yesterday (Wednesday) that the latest hurling review group have come up with have sidled in so quietly under the radar if they were pertaining to football.
As is often the case and as was hinted at at above, some of the new stipulations have been longed to be introduced for some time now.
Namely, sideline cuts which are scored directly being worth two points. A proper definitive description of the hand pass and, in fairness, one dictum which I never would have thought of but am intrigued to see how it will play out – if I have it right – is that a team taking a 65 must do so from the nearest point to their own 65 metre line.
That said, there will always be items that doubters will take a bit more convincing about than others. With this latest round of proposals I would openly admit as such with regard to the ones relating to puc outs having to go beyond a team’s own 45m line and the need to keep a specified amount of players back at any one time as in football. I think both ideas will only lead to slow play and to do that is to rob the greatest game in the world of its oxygen.
If they wanted to trick around with the puc out, rather than imposing a minimum distance thereon, an even more fascinating notion would be to demand all restarts are taken from the ground and from the 13M line.
And, most especially in light of the idea on trial regarding ’65s’ – that scores from said line and beyond should like line balls be worth a two pointer.
Still, at least to have got this far is progress. The other matter will be dealt with too, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but it will be. It’s just a shame that it’s the GAA’s own arrogant ignorance that’s holding it up.
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