Take it easy — it’s only the Ides of March

WITH all the wailing about the hurling league and its crowds in recent weeks, it brought to mind a dressing room scene from the late 90s.

The Galway hurlers were having a players’ meeting sometime in March, the air filled with dutiful and passionate intentions as every player invariably spelt out that this was the year, and that only total commitment would suffice. Suddenly the mood was disturbed by the contribution of the dainty little corner forward.

“Jesus, lads,” he said, shaking his head bemusedly, “there’s no point in getting a horn about it at this time of year!” That attitude might explain why we subsequently saw so little of that corner forward and it’s good to see that his county men that now don the maroon and white take their spring hurling more seriously. Yet there was something in what he said for the rest of us. It’s only March, so what are people getting so worked up about?