Championship Sundays Like This
I do love GAA Championship Sundays like yesterday.
When I left Ireland and moved to Kansas City, Waterford hadn’t been Munster Hurling champions since 1963, and in a province with Cork, Tipperary, and Limerick, they weren’t about to any time soon.
In fact even Clare were way ahead of them, having just won three Munster titles, including their first since 1932.
Everything might not change in sport but many things do. When I moved over to America, Clare had finished their run of success, although nobody at the time - not even Ger Loughnane - knew it.
And Waterford then started winning Munster titles. Yesterday they won their 3rd since I’ve been away. What price now on Waterford winning the All-Ireland and lifting the Liam McCarthy cup for the first time in almost 50 years?
And about ten years ago I remember handing a large laquered wooden chalice-style bowl to a friend’s father and telling him, Here, that’s the nearest you’ll ever get to the Sam Maguire cup. Because he was a Sligo man, and decades of hard luck and almost stories ended yesterday when Sligo won their first Connact Football title in 32 years.
Okay, it’s still not the Sam Maguire but winning the Nestor Cup in their province puts them a lot closer to Football’s national prize.
If you’re an ex-pat Setanta’s Broadband service is an option for following the Hurling and Football Championships. I’m not sure but I think the pricing changes after the All-Ireland quarter-final stage. But that means next weekend’s Leinster and Ulster Football finals are still available on the relatively cheap.
Championship Sundays are reasons to like Setanta. Or, as we’ll get to another day, to dislike them.
See Also:
• So How Was it For You - The Greening of America?
• All Ireland Sunday 2006
• Setanta #14 in Top 20 Ways To Stay Irish Away From Ireland
• Is Kansas City more Irish than the Cayman Islands?
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