Paul Rouse: How do we measure Christy Ring's greatness?

It is impossible to discuss the greatest ever hurlers without Ring being central to the conversation, writes Paul Rouse. But there is another key intangible — how a sports person makes you feel

Christy Ring in action for Glen Rovers against Sarsfields in 1949 at the Athletic Grounds. Picture: Irish Examiner Archives/ Ref 601d

Through media — first in newspapers and magazines, and then on radio — the creation of heroes has played a fundamental part of the modern sporting world.

This is something that has been amplified since the mass televising of sporting events. Television brought national and then international recognition to sportspeople whose fame would have been much more local in any previous era.