Starting to get the hang of this blogging lark now! BIG weekend of gaa this weekend with the first of the provincial finals taking place. Great to see the Dublin hurlers getting the reward for the serious work that has been put in over the past number of years. Those guys are testament to the fact that if you want something bad enough and you work at it you can achieve. The same as most gaa people in Ireland i'll be hoping for an upset and I reckon that Kilkenny could be overturned.
The other big one being dubbed the 'el classico' of the gaa calender is going to be much tighter. Knowing players from both camps its the game they both look forward to in the fixture list the most and for bragging rights alone why wouldn't they! Having played both teams at different stages of the year makes it harder to call. Cork are supremely fit and a very physical team who in some respects haven't been given the credit they deserve in the last two years. Kerry are a team that you write off at your peril and you can be sure that Cork will not be taking them for granted. Just on form alone you'd have to go for Cork and they will probably shade it by 2-3 points.
The Tipp game was a strange one. We seemed to play a bit more open and free which is a serious positive but Tipp stuck with us right through to the last 15 minutes of the second half. That's the kind of evening you live for playing football in. The pitch was in serious nick, the balls bounced high and the weather was perfect. The win was what topped it off.
Its worrying when you see the economic downturn starting to creep into the inter-county scene. Tipp in fairness were on the back foot coming into the game with a few players choosing to emigrate to the US to play ball for the summer. You cant really blame a player for doing that given the options he/she is presented with. The American clubs offer work, a place to live and essentially a free three month holiday to players who could be facing into a summer of scraping around looking for work. I gave it a go for a summer and to be honest i regretted not getting back out for another one.
On a separate note its great to see Zach settling into the AFL so smoothly. He's after turning into a seriously big boy and one we could do with badly back home but by the looks of things he's a natural at the game and good lord did he announce himself with his first goal!
I'm giving credit to Holly-Rose for assistance in writing this blog, she wont stop hitting the keys beside me!
MJ
