Tommy Martin: Gaelic football's blurred lines between decency and disgrace

BLURRED LINES: Players and officials from both sides become embroiled as they make their way to the dressing rooms after full time. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

For some of the GAA’s detractors, complaining about violence in Gaelic football is like a diner suggesting to a waiter that his soup is a bit wet.

Is the whole sport, they reason, not just a turbulent continuum, that starts with off-colour remarks about your opponent’s mother, moves on to pushing and shoving, escalates to sly digs and occasional headlocks and runs all the way to full-scale donnybrooks in full view of a scandalised nation?