It's fair to say Stephen Hunt's much discussed article in last week's Sunday Independent came across a bit confused in its aims. For all the criticism that Hunt received from those within the GAA community, there was a sense that what he had written, while certainly divisive, had been a little bit lost in translation.
Hunt's original article began as an attack on Joe Brolly's assumption that soccer players were not role models which, as a sweeping statement, is entirely unfair. However, it then morphed into something which many picked up as an attack on the levels of fitness and commitment that GAA players put in in comparison to their soccer playing counterparts.
Unsurprisingly, Hunt's column has returned to the subject this week and, all in all, he seems to have done a better of a job at explaining what he actually meant.
Perhaps it's silly to get irritated with ridiculous comments made by Joe Brolly, it's like getting irritated with the sun for setting, but I want to respond to the reaction to last week's column.
From there Hunt goes on to respond to Brolly insinuation that soccer players are 'self-interested' because they don't remain within the local community.
I don't want to make this tit-for-tat but maybe those principles are forgotten when you see match officials fleeing a GAA ground in terror, pursued by players and spectators who I guess do all share certain values in that tight-knit community.
That does sound as if Hunt is taking some petty swipes but, to be fair to him, he raises it to show that bad behaviour can be found in all walks of life and in all sports. Using the actions of a few to paint the whole isn't particularly fair even if you don't particularly like the behaviour of some soccer players.
Having addressed the point that it astonishes him that GAA players can 'play to such a high standard' despite juggling another career, Hunt goes on to highlight the case of former Arsenal player Stephen Bradley who admitted that he found it difficult to motivate himself as a result of earning a lot of money at a young age.
This is a reality of professional sport and is why it demands its own sacrifices which is why I concentrated last week on the mundane subject of rest. Professional sport might not be pleasant but that doesn't mean that those who succeed have somehow lost touch with where they have come from.
So, did he do a better job this week of trying to explain what he meant or is he just back tracking because of the response he got? We'll leave it up to you to decide
