31 July 1997 Edition
Sportsview: Save our sporting souls
``Today it fell for me and I got on the end of a few scores''. This is how Kilkenny hurling ace D J Carey described his breathtaking contribution of two goals and eight points to his county's two point win over Connacht champions Galway in last weekend's All Ireland hurling.quarter final.
The struggle between the two teams encompassed much of what is positive about modern Irish sport. It was a hugely different display from that which graced GAA head quarters the same day. The American football match between the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers was very poor fare.
Still in Dublin you had another public `sporting' exercise on show last weekend. The self styled social elite gathered for the All Ireland Polo Digifone Derby.
Not that I'm objecting to Croke Park being used as a vehicle for the promotion of US sporting imperialism, The GAA have to find their money where they can and it would be churlish to pretend that somehow indigenous Irish games are above the monetary pressures of other sports. Money and sport are synonymous in the 20th century.
Nor I am objecting to the public Phoenix Park playing host to the private pastimes of the horsey set. Even the rich have to be allowed show off their expensive pastimes. Otherwise what's the point in being rich if you cannot stick it to those who aren't.
The point about last Sunday's encounter between Galway and Kilkenny is that none of this mattered for those 70 minutes. It didn't matter that the county jerseys carry sponsorship. It didn't matter that the players receive no money but tens of thousands of pounds are being created from their efforts on the field. It didn't matter because in the end of the day sport triumphed.
It triumphed from the see-saw lead changes, the high skill levels, the excitement of a competitive clash that went down to the wire.
Sadly though this is just what is for sale in modern sport and where the GAA finds itself teetering. It has conceded to all of the tenets of being involved in sport as an industry. They have sponsorship deals both on jerseys and on the championship competitions. They have the corporate boxes with exclusive hospitality suites. They have the TV deals even with Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting corporation.
However if you look at last weekend's sporting action you get a picture of the hidden sides of sport - that of being an industry and that of being a vehicle for elitism and political manipulation.
Sport is an industry, a market, a source of employment and last weekend's NFL match in Croke Park was a perfect example. There was substantial pre-match publicity and hype with free tickets given away on radio shows and acres of newsprint coverage of the event. The weekend's GAA action got minor pre-match coverage in comparison, not that this was a bad thing, but why was so much emphasis put on the NFL Bears-Steelers clash?
Maybe the truth is that American Football is the cricket of the 20th century. Last weekend's display was just another instalment in the encroachment of US culture into not only Ireland but more importantly Europe. It is an encroachment that turns people into spectators not participants. They can buy the shirt, the book, the video and perhaps the ideology of its proponents.
This is where the GAA stands today. It is a cultural movement and definitely not an exclusive pastime. However it should be wary that it does not end up as a bandwagon for an exploitative capitalist ideology. Selling space on our jerseys should not mean selling our souls as well.
BY NEIL FORDE
The struggle between the two teams encompassed much of what is positive about modern Irish sport. It was a hugely different display from that which graced GAA head quarters the same day. The American football match between the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers was very poor fare.
Still in Dublin you had another public `sporting' exercise on show last weekend. The self styled social elite gathered for the All Ireland Polo Digifone Derby.
Not that I'm objecting to Croke Park being used as a vehicle for the promotion of US sporting imperialism, The GAA have to find their money where they can and it would be churlish to pretend that somehow indigenous Irish games are above the monetary pressures of other sports. Money and sport are synonymous in the 20th century.
Nor I am objecting to the public Phoenix Park playing host to the private pastimes of the horsey set. Even the rich have to be allowed show off their expensive pastimes. Otherwise what's the point in being rich if you cannot stick it to those who aren't.
The point about last Sunday's encounter between Galway and Kilkenny is that none of this mattered for those 70 minutes. It didn't matter that the county jerseys carry sponsorship. It didn't matter that the players receive no money but tens of thousands of pounds are being created from their efforts on the field. It didn't matter because in the end of the day sport triumphed.
It triumphed from the see-saw lead changes, the high skill levels, the excitement of a competitive clash that went down to the wire.
Sadly though this is just what is for sale in modern sport and where the GAA finds itself teetering. It has conceded to all of the tenets of being involved in sport as an industry. They have sponsorship deals both on jerseys and on the championship competitions. They have the corporate boxes with exclusive hospitality suites. They have the TV deals even with Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting corporation.
However if you look at last weekend's sporting action you get a picture of the hidden sides of sport - that of being an industry and that of being a vehicle for elitism and political manipulation.
Sport is an industry, a market, a source of employment and last weekend's NFL match in Croke Park was a perfect example. There was substantial pre-match publicity and hype with free tickets given away on radio shows and acres of newsprint coverage of the event. The weekend's GAA action got minor pre-match coverage in comparison, not that this was a bad thing, but why was so much emphasis put on the NFL Bears-Steelers clash?
Maybe the truth is that American Football is the cricket of the 20th century. Last weekend's display was just another instalment in the encroachment of US culture into not only Ireland but more importantly Europe. It is an encroachment that turns people into spectators not participants. They can buy the shirt, the book, the video and perhaps the ideology of its proponents.
This is where the GAA stands today. It is a cultural movement and definitely not an exclusive pastime. However it should be wary that it does not end up as a bandwagon for an exploitative capitalist ideology. Selling space on our jerseys should not mean selling our souls as well.
BY NEIL FORDE