John Fogarty: The power of being written off

Rossies boss Davy Burke says his side were motivated by a perceived lack of respect in the run up to the Mayo clash

MOTIVATED: Roscommon manager Davy Burke. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

The power of being written off

In the slick 2022 HBO documentary “Shaq” chronicling Shaquille O’Neal’s life and career, he speaks candidly of the time he felt slighted by Dikembe Mutombo.

Philadephia Sixers centre Mutombo had impressed against O’Neal in the team’s overtime 107-101 victory in the opening game of the NBA finals against the LA Lakers. But comments the Congolese man gave in an interview after the game were just what was required to fuel O’Neal.

Handed the newspaper article by his bodyguard “Uncle” Jerome Crawford over breakfast, O’Neal, who had no truck with Mutombo previously, was literally spitting out his frosted cornflakes. “That. That is a sign of disrespect. He didn’t say that?

“So now I read it. (imitates Mutombo) ‘I’m the defensive player of the year. We don’t double team, I’m going to play him one on one. He’s an okay player.’ Now I’m pissed off. I’m busting your ass tonight.” Lakers won the next four games to retain their NBA title, O’Neal scoring the most points in the final two games and claiming the Most Valuable Player award for the series.

The story is well known but the Lakers and Roscommon being similar in kit, it came to mind reading Davy Burke’s post-match comments after his side beat Mayo in Castlebar on Sunday. “The players felt a little bit disrespected during the week, the commentary was a bit one-sided,” he said.

“We finished third in Division 1 on merit, a kick of a ball away from Kerry from being in a league final ourselves. That kind of went unnoticed and I’m sure it got a few of their ganders up. It’s very lazy. They talk about Enda Smith and then ‘we better move on to the next subject because I don’t know any more about this team’.” 

Perhaps Burke was right, although in at least two newspapers including this one there were pieces outlining just how worried Mayo should be facing Roscommon who have historically been a thorn in their side in Connacht following league successes.

Our preview of last Sunday’s game, which predicted a Mayo win, did mention just how important Enda Smith is to Roscommon but also lauded the rest of their forward line and just how well goalkeeper Conor Carroll had fitted in this year. In a piece of less than 200 words, the same number of Roscommon players were mentioned as Mayo’s.

Perhaps small pieces like that were just enough to set Roscommon off. Perception’s currency is as strong as reality. As former Kilkenny defender Paul Murphy told this newspaper after the 2014 All-Ireland success, “If you’re not the favourites, you could take it that you’re nearly being written off. There are pockets where every team will be written off. I don’t think it’s wrong for a team to focus on them pockets. There might be an article here or an article there or a word in the ear walking down the high street.

“Lads do say it after matches but GAA players will look into every corner for motivation. There’s great enjoyment two minutes after winning a match and you’re on telly and you know the lads are watching and you’re saying ‘we were written off’ because you were in some pocket.” 

Certainly, a “Croker Chokers” headline following their 2011 Division 1 final defeat to Dublin infuriated Kilkenny. Brian Cody spoke of it as “insulting” and at the time there were demands to confront the journalist who wrote the accompanying piece even though they had nothing to do with the composition of the headline.

And yet taking umbrage has to be a genuine thing. In his “Irish Mirror” column last week, ex-Limerick forward Shane Dowling wrote of Eoin Larkin’s words being used to rile the team prior to their qualifier in Nowlan Park.

“It was my first time playing there and when I walked into the dressing room, Eoin Larkin was plastered all over the wall. He was just retired and had cut us asunder in a piece earlier that week, but that’s where we were as a team at the time – driven by emotion. Just by saying “f**k you, Larkin”, we were going to go on and dump Kilkenny out of the championship in their own backyard. Of course, we did no such thing.” 

What did Larkin write? After Limerick’s defeat to Clare in Munster, among his choicest remarks in his “Pundit Arena” column were: “It’s like they just got 15 players off the side of the street and brought them down to Thurles yesterday, and said, ‘Go out there and do your best and we’ll see how you get on.’” Just when you think the shelf-life of a slur is limited, along comes a Kieran Donaghy “Well Joe Brolly, what do you think of that?” or a TJ Reid “there was a lot of disrespect (shown) to the club” about Ballyhale Shamrocks earlier this year. Roscommon’s “one-man team” is another one for the pile.

Cork now rooting for Kerry

Three weeks is a long time in Gaelic football, as Cork manager John Cleary now knows only too well. On St Patrick’s Day weekend, he wasn’t overly concerned about the team’s league finish potentially costing them a Sam Maguire Cup place. 

“The worst we can finish is fifth and it would want to take a lot of strange results to put us out of the Sam Maguire,” he said. “Two other teams from Division 3 and 4 would have to make the Ulster and Leinster finals.” 

Jump to this weekend just gone and after the defeat to Clare he’s not so sure. “Results mightn't go our way and we could be playing in the Tailteann Cup,” he said, before adding: “You could see there it was do-or-die for Clare. They really wanted to play in the Sam Maguire. We may not be there now. We'll just have to wait and see.” 

Why couldn’t Cork have considered the game in Ennis as do-or-die too when their presence in the Sam Maguire Cup is perilous? It’s not that Cleary has taken a gamble – he clearly didn’t when he elected not to risk Brian Hurley in Cusack Park – but now he finds himself shouting for Derry against Fermanagh this weekend just as he will be rooting for Kerry against Tipperary the following Saturday.

The greatest dangers to Cork appear to come from Cavan and Down on the weaker side of Ulster and Offaly in the non-Dublin half in Leinster.

Cork’s other new pals are Westmeath. Should they reach a Leinster final, they will free up a league qualifying place that was lost following Cork’s defeat on Sunday.

Cork should be kicking themselves for needing to rely on the kindness of others. Not only that, in 2024 they face a second successive season without a Munster semi-final bye. Not since 2004 have they failed to reach the provincial decider in back-to-back seasons. And then there are still two Killarney visits outstanding. Sunday sure was costly.

Chin offender must pay a price

If by now you haven’t seen the footage of the racist abuse levelled at Lee Chin in Carrick-on-Suir on Saturday, you are in a minority. Not that the video bears reproduction in mainstream media but the repeated comment was vile, ignorant and sad.

That Chin has been a role model in Wexford and beyond these last 10 years shouldn’t matter and yet it seemed his prominence as one of finest hurlers of his generation was a primary reason for him being targeted as he was by this individual.

The swift response of Tipperary GAA to acknowledge and condemn the behaviour was welcome but what is more heartening is the widespread disgust that has been reported to Wexford chairman Micheál Martin.

As a spectator, the GAA’s recent upgrading of the sanction for racist remarks to an opponent or match official to a minimum of 48 weeks is not expected to apply to this person. However, there are a number of rules that could be administered if they are a member of the organisation.

Failing that, they should be prohibited from attending games if it is at all possible. It is stipulated in GAA ticket terms and regulations that “management reserves the right of admission”.

That successful motion at Congress in February came on the back of Coventry club Roger Casements’ original proposal to beef up the punishments for racist behaviour, which had been as small as two games.

An example must be made of this individual to ensure racism off as well as on the field cannot be tolerated.

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