Sheedy demands change
He will be free, he says, to talk about today’s game in around 40 minutes. Privately, one suspects his child will be asleep in 40 minutes and, confirming that notion, Sheedy is surrounded by calm when he next answers his phone.
The ticking clock remains his master and having already intruded, we are quickly down to the business of travelling to Celtic Park to play Derry, national league finalists.
This discussion lasts 10 minutes. He is cautiously optimistic, though the cautious devil upon his shoulder is winning an arm wrestle with the optimistic one.
The next discussion begins with a reference to GAA President Liam O’Neill’s comments of Wednesday that he is unconvinced by the All-Ireland qualifiers. In a nutshell, O’Neill feels weaker counties would be better off in a B championship, among their peers.
Half an hour later, Sheedy is still outlining his response. He is busy, yes, but this is something he has wanted to get off his chest for some time.
“I would be very strong in my assessment and opinion of inter-county football and how it is being presented and scheduled at the moment — I think we’re living in the dark ages with how we’re doing it,” said Sheedy.
“You’re asking me about tinkering with something when the whole thing needs a complete overhaul, start to finish. The provincial championships are completely and utterly outdated, they don’t serve any purpose.
“If Dublin go through as Leinster champions, as everyone expects, it does nothing for Leinster. The hiding that Carlow got last weekend, that does nothing for anyone. Waiting 10 weeks between the league and Championship, that does nothing for anyone. And this is how we’re presenting our game.
“The league at the moment is a waste of time. We need to get down to a format, and the sooner the better, after this year’s Championship if possible, where we have four groups of eight. They start in February, play games on a regular basis and then go in to a league-based Championship.
“The clubs have their allotted time, there is a definitive pre-season. We’re over 125 years doing this thing. It’s wrong and it’s archaic. The methods are so outdated, that it beggars belief.
“I’m looking at guys just jacking it in and heading off to America. They’re throwing their hat at it. Make no mistake about it, with Sky Sports coming in, they will get strong enough that they will probably have an influence on how things are structured and presented in GAA.
“At the moment, it’s so far outdated that it doesn’t serve any purpose. It’s there to see. It’s just not a good way to present such a good product and I know an awful lot of managers and players feel the same way.”
Sheedy apologises for ranting. He isn’t. It’s an honest appraisal of where he feels Gaelic football is at in 2014. What he is talking about means abolishing provincial championships. Surely the provincial councils wouldn’t stand for that?
“Get rid of them,” responded Sheedy. “We don’t need provincial councils anymore. Take your representatives from the counties and the provinces, put them in one governing body and allow them to run the whole thing.
“If they did that, they could run Gaelic football in a proper manner, set it out for fans, players, managers, for everybody. They have a good product and they could present it so well but they’re not doing that now.
“They’re slaughtering the old adage about the definition of being stupid — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. I just think it’s an awful shames.”
Now, Sheedy really must go. He has taken a five-minute slot and stretched it to 40. His personal schedule is at breaking point, perhaps like the All-Ireland series his team are about to enter.
