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
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