BOYLAN TALKS SPORT At what point do reasons become excuses?

BRENDAN BOYLAN

You can dress it up any way like, it will still never sit right with me. Here we are, 21st July, not an ear of winter barley cut. The hay has been saved and Cork have indeed been beaten, yet it’s most likely the Croke Park sod will only see three more weekends of action between now and the end of January next year.

Naturally, the same applies to all the other county grounds around the country. Yes, they will all play host to a plethora of club games, but, with the greatest respect in the world, these are months during which our great stadia should be bursting at the seams.

Aside from that though, there are other knock-on effects of the split season which probably weren’t even considered when the ‘new normal’ was being foisted on people.

The Liam MacCarthy, Sam Maguire, Brendan Martin and O’Duffy Cups doing the tour of local schools in the immediate aftermath of All Ireland success has always been a huge part of the tradition surrounding the whole occasion.

With the new system, nearly six weeks will have passed since, for example, Tony Kelly took possession of hurling’s Holy Grail for the Banner County. Will the enthusiasm for the schools circuit still be there among players and school staff alike?

Then there’s the not insignificant matter of the GAA’s own Cul Camps, of which visits by county players have always been such an integral part. There’ll be no problem on that score with the teams that have silverware to show off, but what of the rest?

If players from counties whose summers ended before the finish line haven’t bandwagoned onto the annual summer exodus to the US, it may still take a degree of work to round up players to cover the camps.

However, there are more fundamental, yet crucial issues which, I earnestly believe, are not being helped by the split season.

For example, at a recent Co Board meeting, Noel Dempsey, who is heading up the group working on the redevelopment of Pairc Tailteann, told delegates the commencement of work has been further delayed. With financial shortfalls offered as the reasoning.

But there’s a thin line between reasons and excuses. If there was apprehension about pushing ahead, for example, because there won’t be inter county action at the Brews Hill venue until 2025 that would be understandable because paying off massive investment is obviously something which will occupy minds immediately.

But the other side of that coin is, does the fact that county teams are finished competing for the season not present an opportunity to make some bit of a start with whatever funds are available? Or even to be seen to be doing something of the sort.

A digger could do a serious amount of work over the course of a week, for example, in stripping back and levelling the grassy banks behind both goals. Optics are important, and any sign of meaningful progress would surely be a welcome sight.

Speaking of optics, I held out massive hope for Jarlath Burns as Uachtaran CLG and am straining to retain that optimism but one would hope the Silverbridge man can differentiate between optics and reality.

A forest worth of paper could be devoted to the positives associated with GAA life and deservedly so, but things can always be better. As a selling point, peddling the “our players are amateurs and they’ll all be back with their clubs next week” is like the soundtrack to Titanic - instantly recognisable and pulls at the heartstrings. But does it stack up with reality?

Even if it does - you can make up your own mind - if those who are obsessed with the amateur ethos really believe it to be true, has the split season and its trappings not done it a great disservice?

Deciding an All Ireland final with extra time is as insulting to the occasion and what it stands for as it is to those playing therein.

Club and inter-county matters have rode shotgun to each other since the Association’s inception in 1884, encompassing draws, replays, often multiple replays, world events, weather events and everything in between and no eyelids were batted until a few years ago when some genius declared replays to be the devil’s dessert.

Talk about eaten bread being soon forgotten, not to mention biting the hand that feeds you.

Don’t forget, the four matches between Meath and Dublin in 1991 was deemed to have saved the GAA amid fears soccer mania would take over the country in the wake of Italia ‘90.

It would be readily ventured even the most ardent Clare supporter wouldn’t have begrudged Cork a chance to go at it again on another day.

Now, as it appears to be the case with everything in RTE these days, the bland, scripted line was that (referee) Johnny Murphy had a splendid outing and contributed magnificently to an utterly epic encounter.

However, that rose tinted view ignores the fact the Limerick official got at least two gargantuan calls catastrophically wrong in my opinion, to Cork’s detriment.

One when a Rebel County forward bursting through on goal was summarily dislodged with the aptitude somebody like Peter O’Mahony or Tom Aherne might display and secondly when Robbie O’Flynn had the textile quality of his jersey well and truly tested in the final play of the game.

Unusually, Donal Og Cusack graciously (in a way) said the Cork sub should’ve scored regardless of what happened.

That doesn’t mask the fact that it absolutely was a foul and thus a free should’ve been awarded.

For clarity, pointing out the officiating howlers is not a dig at Murphy, rather at the goal umpires at the Railway End and both line umpires. Surely between the four of them, some of them must have seen they were two blatant fouls? And I’m not even going to go down the HawkEye road.

We can but hope Seamie Harnedy and Pat Horgan both get back on the horse in 2025. Neither deserve to bow out like that.