Just when we thought the dust had well and truly settled on the Championship season, Joe Brolly has somehow managed to give us perhaps the greatest piece of GAA analysis we've seen all year. Brolly was writing in Gaelic Life about what he sees as Brian Cody's hypocritical reaction to referee Brian Kelly's performance during the drawn game of the All Ireland final.
Brolly's overall thesis is that Cody displayed a lack of class in criticising Kelly after Kilkenny had won the replay against Tipperary. As such, Cody emulates the likes of José Mourinho as opposed to Mick O'Dwyer, who he sets out as an example of how to take a defeat well.
Kilkenny fans might not agree with that but we would urge them to continue because the journey which Brolly takes to arrive at his conclusion is so bizarre it's brilliant.
A FRIEND of mine told me a story once about a drunken night in Dublin when she was a university student. She fell in with a student from Cavan and they ended up back in her place. After a bit of passionate kissing on the sofa, she suggested they move to the bedroom.
Just as they were climbing into the bed, he suddenly stopped and said to her “There’s something I want to do.” “What is it?” she said. He hesitated for a second, then blurted out “ Ah f*** it I’m just going to do it.”
As she looked on in bemusement, he stood bolt upright and sang the whole of Amhrán na bhFiann at the top of his voice. At the height of his passion, that was what came into his mind.
A Frenchman would have difficulty understanding his motivation, but when she told me the story I didn’t really think it that strange at all.
The only relevance we can see is that Joe Brolly likes passion and this story made him think of Mick O'Dwyer which, in turn, made him think of a contrast with Brian Cody via José Mourinho. However, we have a feeling he just really wanted to tell that story for some ulterior motive.
[Gaelic Life]
Picture credit: Oliver McVeigh / SPORTSFILE
