Silverware at last!!
September 2013 is going to be a strange month! Why you ask? Well since 2009 Tipperary have had a team playing on either hurling or football All Ireland Sunday at senior or minor level, and as a fan and a sports photographer I was present for all but one outing! Thankfully what looked like a barren year has delivered an All Ireland Intermediate title for the Premier county. To some the Intermediate All Ireland may not hold the same attraction as a big day in Croker however for the true hurling fans of Tipperary and Kilkenny it manifested into another chapter of the ferocious hurling rivalry between the two counties. At 6 pm on Saturday night in Nolan Park it became a winner takes all battle between both teams. At the end of 60 minutes Tipperary emerged victorious after a strong second half from Kilkenny which saw them go down by just 3 points.
As I sit and write this blog I’m watching Sky News and some of the coverage of Gareth Bale’s 100 million euro move to Real Madrid. I can’t help but think how lucky we are to have games like Hurling and Gaelic Football to enjoy here. Since we were young children we were driven by a near fanatical belief in our own local club, which then carried forward to our county. To see your team be it club or county being victorious at any level brought joy and a feeling of happiness to many towns and villages across Ireland. The joy displayed on the faces of old men in Kilkenny on Saturday makes me question the ideals behind the beautiful game of football. While money has always been part of the game as it is a professional sport have we reached a time where no longer do players have any loyalty to their team, fellow professionals that they play alongside or the fans who support them week in and week out, is it the contract and its stipulations. I wonder what went through Gareth Bale’s mind as he signed on the dotted line, maybe he thought how much the next team will pay for him. 100 million for one man to kick a football is ridiculous money, if Gareth Bale is worth that then can you imagine what Henry Shefflin or Joe Canning are worth….Priceless.
Oh by the way I added some pictures from the match on Saturday night to flickr be sure to check them out.
