A lot has been said about the standard of gaelic football over the past couple of years. The blanket defence is being spoken about like the second coming of the black death in some parts and no one seems to have the wherewithal or the power to do anything about it.
Dublin's 0-8 to 0-4 win over Derry last weekend seemed to be something of a particularly low point (or high point depending on your love of tedium) for the ultra-conservative approach. And now former Cork captain and manager, Larry Tompkins, has delivered the kind of chilling quote that could make the GAA central council sit up and take notice.
If something isn't done, more Irish people will be watching cricket than football.
Football fans, we'll give you a minute to recoil in horror at the thought of that.
Speaking to Martin Breheny in the Independent, the 1990 All Ireland winning captain said that from his current vantage point behind his bar in his Cork pub, the appetite for gaelic football has decreased dramatically.
It's very noticeable that customers are losing interest in football. The locals will watch if Cork are playing, but otherwise I'd often be asked to switch over to soccer, rugby, racing or golf.
With Ireland giving another good show of themselves in the Cricket World Cup and a match against England on the horizon, there's no doubt interest in cricket is on the up, so could we soon see the day where a customer in Larry Tompkins bar asks for a Championship game to be switched over to see the third day of the Ashes series?
Croke Park is a bit narrow for a cricket oval but sure if we shave a few rows off the Cusack and Hogan stands, it should be do-able.
