We're just a week away from the release of Tomas Ó Sé's autobiography and if his interview with Tony Leen in today's Irish Examiner is anything to go by then we should be in for a riotous read.
As expected Ó Sé comes across as his usual, witty, eccentric self with some great tales from his experiences with Kerry over the years. In particular, Ó Sé speaks at length about pre-match habits and the way players get in the zone.
One of the odder stories in that regard is the habit his brother Darragh had in the dressing room. Tomas explains:
Dressing rooms are good places. There’s a difference between cliques and fellas who sit down in certain places. Myself, Murph (Diarmuid Murphy) and Darragh were down in one corner, more often than not, and Darragh had an unbelievable habit of virtually blowing a hole in the wall with farts, like.
He continues:
Myself, himself and Murph would be in the corner, and a serious chat going on. The first year Darragh did it, I remember Ger O’Keeffe came over and said (imitates Ger’s brogue) ‘Jesus Christ, Darragh, are you alright, will I call a doctor?’
While it's a strange pre-match 'ritual' of sorts, it has nothing on their late uncle. Earlier in the interview Tomas remembered the story he had heard about Paidi's pre-match routine when playing in Croke Park:
Some fellas are very chilled before big games. Others are wired. Seanie Walsh was telling me one time that PO (Páidí Ó Sé, as if you didn’t know) had a special pair of black slip-ons in his gear bag. He’d come into the Croke Park dressing room, throw his gear bag in the corner, put on these slip-ons and leap around balls naked, ramming off walls, hopping off things, talking to himself.
They're a rare breed in Kerry alright. In truth I'm doing the interview a disservice by picking out one of two highlights. The whole thing is well worth a read. Sure what else have to be at of a weekend?
