Sitting in a Dublin pub last weekend, watching the Copa del Rey final as we awaited the Sunday Game, a friend and I got to discussing the skills of basketball and what they contribute to GAA.
Mainly, the conversation was about Kieran Donaghy and Liam McHale.
It sparked a long-forgotten memory of a Kerry footballer from the mid-90s who, along with kicking around the size five, also pounded the hardwood.
His career spanned the latter years of the Ogie Moran era and the first two of Paudie Ó Sé's time in charge.
The main memory of what his basketball skills contributed was negative. During a game at Croke Park, at the Hill end, he attempted to bounce the ball between his legs. The ball did not return to his hand and neither did he to the Kerry team.
In his Irish Times column today, Darragh Ó Sé addresses the requirement for intelligence on the field.
In the past, Ó Sé has been in dressing rooms where he felt there wasn't much in terms of activity between the ears with some team mates.
I’ve been in dressing rooms with players who are getting instructions and it was obvious that if you could see into their heads like you could with Homer Simpson, there’d be a monkey riding a bicycle across a tightrope. Maybe the monkey would be whistling to himself.
The six-time All-Ireland winner does not name names. These team mates could have been with An Gaeltacht, Kerry or the Ireland International Rules team.
He does offer one large morsel of information which suggests one of the players he is referring to was from the Kingdom.
Ahead of a game with Dublin in Croke Park, Kerry management decided the strategy would be to quieten the Hill in the opening 20 minutes of the game. His midfield partner completely abandoned the game plan when - on a solo run - he offered himself up as a prime target for two Dubs.
The Hill went nuts and Ó Sé nearly did too.
After he peeled himself off the advertising hoardings, he jogged back over towards me with a big confused look on his face. “Jeez, I wasn’t expecting that!” he said. I nearly hit him myself.
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
