A Swann song on the sunny side of the street
Not for those of you contemplating Canada of course. As Weird Al Yankovic sang in his parody of Green Day’s American Idiot: “don’t want to be some beer swillin’ hockey nut . . . they treat curling as though it’s a real sport.” Still, there’s always the sled dog racing, or the mush rush as they call it. And good luck with that.
If you’re looking for a spiritual brother to hurling then you will do no better than head off to the Basque country where pelota, with its strong community identity, quasi-religious overtones, and speed (claimed to be the fastest game in the world with the rubber ball, or paleta goma propelled against the fronto at velocities up to 300km an hour) will create some real resonance with GAA followers. They will even recognise it as a distant cousin to gaelic handball.
