Joe Brolly really does enjoy a nice preamble before he gets into what he's actually trying to say. Case in point being his column in today's Gaelic Life. While often his segues can be a bit tedious, we must admit, this one was quite entertaining and actually did quite a good job of serving to highlight his point.
According to Brolly, back when Willie Joe Padden was the go to man for inspirational GAA speeches in the mid 80's he was invited to Slaughtneil in Co. Derry to give a talk. According to Brolly he turned up and proceeded to drink 'pint after pint of stout' before giving 'an admirably short address'.
After that Padden was faced with a number of questions from the floor, the first which came from a young juvenile within the club.
What advice would you give to young players Willie Joe?
To that, 'the legendary Mayo half man/half bull' drained the remnants of his pint and eventually thought it fit to answer.
Always finish the creamy part at the bottom of the pint.
(We'll sidestep the fact that the basis for Brolly's recent spat with Stephen Hunt may be at odds with the image of the pint swilling GAA hero)
After a quick, and some might say irrelevant, dig at FIFA's handling of the ongoing World Cup corruption investigation, Brolly eventually goes on to reveal why he brought up that story.
The High Court in Belfast came in for some criticism from both GAA and rugby fans after their decision to overrule planning permission for the redevelopment of Casement Park. Brolly, unsurprisingly, is no fan of a watered down Casement, however, that is not something he is worried about.
According to him 'the handful of residents' who are opposed to the redevelopment 'have won a temporary victory'.
'Planning will be granted' says Brolly. It's just a manner of those involved in the project going back to the drawing board and finishing 'off the creamy part of the bottom of the pint'.
[Gaelic Life]
