11 reasons to fear replays
If Saturday’s colleges game in Croke Park finishes with both sides level at the end of the fourth quarter, there’s overtime. A winner must be found.
Draws are anathema in American sport. “A tie is like kissing your sister,” was how Navy football coach Eddie Erdelatz put it over 60 years ago.
If next month’s Ryder Cup in Scotland ends in a draw, Europe retain the title only because they won it two years ago. That’s just how bad they loathe honours evened in the US.
Our cultural sensibilities, especially in the GAA, are and should be different to those of our American cousins. But there’s no getting away from the fact we don’t look upon the sequel as fondly as we do the original.
Maybe glorious wonders like the Meath-Dublin saga of 1991 and Limerick-Tipperary trilogy of 2007 that keep us believing there’s better to come. But they both were replays that became so much more.
(As an aside, isn’t it peculiar that the GAA have been hounded this week for putting commercial interests and the almighty dollar ahead of games promotion and nothing has been said about the continued facility of euro-spinning replays? Either way, they would be damned.)
Given what Kerry and Mayo served up last Sunday, there is genuine reason to be excited about what they have in store for us in two days’ time. And, as much as a lot may think otherwise, what will make Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final replay special, what will make it different, is Limerick.
But here are 11 reasons why replays, and one in such close proximity to the first game as this fixture, don’t grab us as much at the second time of asking:
No, not for the players but for supporters. One All-Ireland semi-final, as draining as it was on the senses, was enough for most, but two? And in six days? That’s asking a lot.
The GAA broke new ground in fixing last year’s All-Ireland final replay on a Saturday. It hardly marred the occasion but tradition is a key component for replays. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing (ie, Sunday, 3.30pm throw-in).
Again, because of the short turnaround between the games, there isn’t much that either Eamonn Fitzmaurice or James Horan can do that the other won’t know about. The surprise element is gone.
In the three weeks before last Sunday, there was so much to consider. The banter between the counties would have hit just the right pitch before the game. Mayo and Kerry fans spent last Saturday night in Dublin hostelries like Bowe’s and The Palace debating the game. Now it’s almost rudimentary.
“A draw would be a fair result” is a phrase often thrown out. Try telling that to James O’Donoghue, after missing his last chance, in the event Kerry lose on Saturday, or Tom Cunniffe, following his late wide, if Mayo lose.
It was mentioned yesterday that no player ever dreamed of playing an All-Ireland semi-final in Limerick. This isn’t a semi-final but a replay of one. Neither group of management or players would have foreseen their team needing a second stab at it. Mayo speak of matches in numbers and they’re stuck on game five. Cue a recalibration of minds for Saturday.
The players didn’t see it and neither did either set of fans expect to have to fork out more money to watch their county have two stabs at reaching an All-Ireland final.
Indeed, what’s there to be said that hasn’t already been said (which might explain point 10)? Start Donaghy, don’t start Donaghy. Sweep in front of O’Donoghue, don’t sweep in front of O’Donoghue. We know the answers to both of those matters. By this stage, all the components of last Sunday’s game has been sliced, diced and spliced.
No biggie, you might think, but the presence of a decent curtain-raiser, especially as it had involved the same counties, detracts a little from what we’ve come to know about an All-Ireland semi-final.
If all the small things add up to one big thing, then the match programme is relevant. Forking out another €5 for information or misinformation you already received last Sunday is a luxury if you don’t value it as a keepsake.
Managers and players tend to button it ahead of the rematch for fear their words will be seized upon with only half the battle completed. Why do you think I’m writing this?
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