Watched the county of Donegal beat the county of Mayo in a Gaelic Football match that had a three week publicity build up after the two teams had won their semi final match ups. In a country made up of 26 counties, it was billed as the All-Ireland Gaelic Football final. A sport almost exclusive to the Emerald Isle, it is played in other countries but not with the same gusto or organizational strength as what make it a true showcase to behold here. Fascinating to watch, the ball must be advanced up the field of play with underhand passes or an interesting dribbling maneuver before it is then kicked or thrown over or into the goal.
Great for the local economy, businesses flocked to the local newspapers to show their support for weeks on end with large display ads. Note, above, that even Taoiseach, Enda Kenny’s, office ran an ad.
Since Mayo’s colors are red and green, there were red and green flags everywhere. On homes and businesses. On cars. I even saw more than a handful of automobiles that had been painted green and red.
All the 50 plus pubs (bars) here in Castlebar were all packed with revelers yesterday. In a county made up of 130,000 people, Castlebar, at 10.000 people, is its largest and yet it is just one of 49 other cities or towns that are a part of Mayo . Nor would it be possible to ignore the 82,000 people at the game in Dublin, 150 miles away on Ireland’s east coast This is so because many thousands of them came from either Mayo here in the west of Ireland or from Donegal 100 hard fought country road miles to the north.
Even though Mayo lost, the people of this county still have a lot to be proud of. Despite the fact that the last time Mayo won an All Ireland was 1934 when Ireland’s Taoiseach, Enda Kenny’s dad was on the team, the Mayo squad outplayed Donegal for 60 of the 70 minutes the game is played. Unable to overcome a couple of freak scores that opened the game, Mayo only went away losers on the scoreboard. They showed more heart, character and what looked to me like a better skill set than the team they lost to.
I enjoyed this a lot more than what the present day Super Bowl in America has become because during the two 35 minute halves there were NO COMMERCIALS! N O N E!! . The game was not constantly being delayed so some advertiser could get their usually silly message in front of a TV viewing audience. The game was played. In all its passion and purity. Indeed I much enjoyed it!!
Watching the action, however, can never make up for the Saturday Football League I played in back home in Palo Alto, CA. Sigh……… 🙁
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