Letting the game flow

For many of us old sporting ‘dinosaurs’, it is a struggle to get used to the fact that the GAA inter-county year is over and only half the year gone. Actually, the whole thing now gets rushed off in three months, thus clearing the deck for soccer, boxing and concerts. Be that as it may, we’ll all now ‘get back to the clubs’ and attendances at domestic soccer games will continue to rise – as they have done by 30% over the last three years.

But what another incredible year it has been for Gaelic Football, culminating with Westmeath, Mayo, Roscommon and Wicklow reaching their respective promised lands. Hurling may not have reached the dizzy heights of the last few years, but overall, for entertainment value, both codes get 10 out of 10.

There is always a flurry of opinions at this time of years as to how our national games can be improved, and everyone is entitled to have a say.

‘Great Hurling Man’ featured heavily all during the current championship, in the pubs, on the stands and on the Sunday Game. ‘Great Hurling Man’ is ‘above’ a lot of small talk from less qualified fans. He doesn’t necessarily have to have played with the county, as long as he drank the same water from the Nore, the Suir or the Lee. Hurling fans from mid or lower tier hurling counties have no business telling ‘Great Hurling Man’ that you don’t have to be a great singer to know when someone is singing the song well – he knows the map of Ireland and where the real lines are drawn.

‘Great Hurling Man’ exercised his greatness on one aspect of the game in particular this year. He is death on referees who ‘don’t let the game flow’. Now, in fairness to our hero, he doesn’t come right out and propose we should go back to the ‘blood and bandages’ matches of pre-television, but by and large, the referee should keep his whistle where it belongs – in his pocket.

‘Let the game flow’, with the odd exception, of course. ‘Great Hurling Man’s’ team is a point behind in the last minute. His county star-forward has the ball out near the sideline. He is harried, harassed and shepherded over the line. Quite possibly an innocuous little foul by one of the defenders; but the ref doesn’t blow and ‘lets the game flow’. ‘Great Hurling Man’ now goes berserk and will never forgive the referee for ‘not blowing for a blatant foul.’

Not-so-great ‘Hurling Man’ will try to explain to ‘Great Hurling Man’ that you either enforce all the rules or do it his way and allow the referee to blow his whistle just whenever it takes his fancy.

Nobody likes an overly-fussy referee, but it is his job to consistently apply the rules of the game just as it states in the rule-book. A good referee has a natural authority, earns respect and conducts the match under the rules laid down for the job. All of us spectators need to realise that most often it isn’t the referee that is the problem. The referee doesn’t commit the foul – so the foul is the problem and every foul should be a free – no matter what the ‘great men’ think.

‘Great Football Man’ can come from just about any county, but those from a ‘weaker county’ should always have the manners to give way to ‘Great Football Man’ from ‘serious contenders’. Here again, the biggest gripe will be about referees preventing the game from ‘flowing’ – same as with ‘Great Hurling Man’.

Not-so-great-football-man will argue the toss that letting the game flow at the expense of implementing the rules of the game will lead to inconsistencies, frustration for players and spectators alike, higher level of fouling – and quite possibly even a referee losing control of the game. Players quickly read a referee, and if he is a man who likes to ‘let the game flow’, the match will descend into a tug-o-war of pulling and dragging.

‘Taking the physicality out of the game’ is a combined gripe from the great men of both codes. He won’t come right out and say it, but dig a little and you will find that ‘Great Hurling Man’ and ‘Great Football Man’ will agree that ‘cutting a few welts’ out of an opponent adds a bit of spice to the game.

In business some years back, I was sometimes ridiculed by staff for being ‘sticky’ on the little things. (Turning the toilet-roll the correct way.) My argument always was that as soon as you allow the bottom layer of rules to go by default, soon the next layer won’t matter either. That is how it works with refereeing a match as well.

Don’t Forget

Not only in Donegal, but right across the world of Gaeldom, a pallor of gloom and sorrow hangs in the air since news of the tragic deaths of James McHugh and his wife, Noreen broke. We in Westmeath are especially conscious of our connection to the family – after what James’s nephew, Mark, has done for us this year. We also remember Offaly’s Padraig Horan, while recalling great days in Croke Park.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.