Save our sporting souls
``Today it fell for me and I got on the end of a few scores''. This
is how Kilkenny hurling ace D J Carey described his breathtaking
contribution of two goals and eight points to his county's two
point win over Connacht champions Galway in last weekend's All
Ireland hurling.quarter final.
The struggle between the two teams encompassed much of what is
positive about modern Irish sport. It was a hugely different
display from that which graced GAA head quarters the same day.
The American football match between the Chicago Bears and the
Pittsburgh Steelers was very poor fare.
Still in Dublin you had another public `sporting' exercise on
show last weekend. The self styled social elite gathered for the
All Ireland Polo Digifone Derby.
Not that I'm objecting to Croke Park being used as a vehicle for
the promotion of US sporting imperialism, The GAA have to find
their money where they can and it would be churlish to pretend
that somehow indigenous Irish games are above the monetary
pressures of other sports. Money and sport are synonymous in the
20th century.
Nor I am objecting to the public Phoenix Park playing host to the
private pastimes of the horsey set. Even the rich have to be
allowed show off their expensive pastimes. Otherwise what's the
point in being rich if you cannot stick it to those who aren't.
The point about last Sunday's encounter between Galway and
Kilkenny is that none of this mattered for those 70 minutes. It
didn't matter that the county jerseys carry sponsorship. It
didn't matter that the players receive no money but tens of
thousands of pounds are being created from their efforts on the
field. It didn't matter because in the end of the day sport
triumphed.
It triumphed from the see-saw lead changes, the high skill
levels, the excitement of a competitive clash that went down to
the wire.
Sadly though this is just what is for sale in modern sport and
where the GAA finds itself teetering. It has conceded to all of
the tenets of being involved in sport as an industry. They have
sponsorship deals both on jerseys and on the championship
competitions. They have the corporate boxes with exclusive
hospitality suites. They have the TV deals even with Murdoch's
British Sky Broadcasting corporation.
However if you look at last weekend's sporting action you get a
picture of the hidden sides of sport - that of being an industry
and that of being a vehicle for elitism and political
manipulation.
Sport is an industry, a market, a source of employment and last
weekend's NFL match in Croke Park was a perfect example. There
was substantial pre-match publicity and hype with free tickets
given away on radio shows and acres of newsprint coverage of the
event. The weekend's GAA action got minor pre-match coverage in
comparison, not that this was a bad thing, but why was so much
emphasis put on the NFL Bears-Steelers clash?
Maybe the truth is that American Football is the cricket of the
20th century. Last weekend's display was just another instalment
in the encroachment of US culture into not only Ireland but more
importantly Europe. It is an encroachment that turns people into
spectators not participants. They can buy the shirt, the book,
the video and perhaps the ideology of its proponents.
This is where the GAA stands today. It is a cultural movement and
definitely not an exclusive pastime. However it should be wary
that it does not end up as a bandwagon for an exploitative
capitalist ideology. Selling space on our jerseys should not mean
selling our souls as well.
BY NEIL FORDE
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