Farewell BOD

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTf-XMvVFWU

An emotional farewell was paid to Irish legend Brian O'Driscoll at the weekend. St. Patrick's weekend festivities kicked off to a fantastic start after Ireland’s victory over France to claim the Six Nations title. What a high to end a 15 year career on!

To be honest, I wasn't much of a rugby fanatic before the big game.I never realised fully how much rugby meant to the Irish people until that faithful day. The support from the Irish people was absolutely phenomenal, scrolling down through my twitter feed after the game against France nearly every tweet was paying tribute to the great #BOD. For that moment, I was truly proud to be Irish on such a memorable day in Irish sport. 

880,000 tuned into RTE to see Brian's final home game in the Aviva Stadium. But I'm sure defeating France in his last ever game will be a massive highlight in his career.

There's no doubt that O'Driscoll is a legend in Irish rugby, he'll be hard replaced but there's talk of him coming back as a coach. I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

I was flicking through the Irish Independent last Sunday when I came across a short piece written by a reader. He was making the argument that while Brian is a legend in Irish sport he is making big bucks. Players for amateur sports such as the GAA play for the love of the game in their spare time, and do not get half the credit Brian has received in the last few weeks.

It was a really thought-provoking piece, and very well written. I mean, the amount of training and hard work GAA players put in for the sheer passion of the game, its greatly admirable. And to not look for a penny, shows true dedication.

 Founder of the Gaelic Players Association, Donal O'Neill, reckoned back in 2008 that it was only a matter of time before GAA players started to get paid. Six years on and this still isn't the case.

A player grant system was on the cards for a while but I think this fell through. I mean, soccer players get paid a ludicrous amount of money. I can't really see GAA players being paid anytime in the foreseeable future.

I'm  not saying that GAA players should get paid, I'm highlighting the fact that they play without pay. To be honest, I think it sets the GAA apart from professional sports. It's unique. Players take pride in representing their local parish, town or county. That's payment enough!

Sources:

http://www.irishmirror.ie/whats-on/film-and-tv/brian-odriscoll-880000-tune-see-3232153

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2008/0311/229133-gpa/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbKyzAruRMA

Introduction

My sports blog focuses on sporting issues in the Irish and international media. I plan to take a stance on sports injuries, controversial sports news and just general sports headlines instead of your typical match report. I will zone in on GAA, hurling and some international sports that do not make headlines.

Davy Fitz - we love to hate him

 

Legendary Clare man Davy Fitzgerald is a man dominating news at the moment. The three time All-Star winner, who has made 60 championship appearances for his county is popping up in the media for many reasons.

After his victorious win over UL managing Limerick IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup quarter final, Davy seems to be on top form in his career. Mr Fitz brought the Clare team to All-Ireland victory after a sixteen year gap last year and hasn't looked back since.


He was recently involved in the RTE show 'Ireland's Fittest Families' where he trained families to the highest level of fitness. He was accompanied by Irish sports stars such as Olympic boxing champion Kenneth Egan and international rugby coach Eddie O'Sullivan. He was a very likeable character on the show, his aggressive nature giving the audience a bit of entertainment. He was recently interviewed by Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late show and he seems to be such a genuine guy with a great passion for hurling.


However, reports have come out in the last few days about Clare's antics off the pitch under the management of Davy. Fitzgerald gave an inspirational speech at a mental and physical health seminar to a group of students at LIT yesterday, the 4th of March, and made a claim that the team members were 'taking harder stuff than drink'. Davy came under management in 2011 and said that he put the team under the straight and narrow by bringing in a code of discipline.


He gave a personal account of how sport saved his life as a child as he was severely bullied in school. I think Davy is a real tough cookie, and deserves a lot of credit for eliminating the drink and drug culture in Clare hurling. He's highlighting the importance of sport in young peoples lives and how drink and drugs can prevent people from fullfilling their dreams.


I love watching Davy in action on the sideline and I'm sure there are great things in store for Clare this year under his managment.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2014/0305/600234-fitzgerald-clare-players/
http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/davy-fitzgerald-clare-players-were-on-harder-stuff-than-drink-30062189.html
http://thescore.thejournal.ie/lit-ul-fitzgibbon-cup-2014-1323680-Feb2014/
http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/davy-fitz-reveals-i-rooted-out-drug-problem-in-clare-hurling-30063649.html