One of the joys of live sport is your proximity to the action.
Whether it is a club GAA match, a Premier League football match or a horse race, getting up close to the participants is a raw thrill that cannot be replicated on television.
You can cheer your support, wave a flag, shake a betting slip, throw an apple…
Yep, that is an option open to you. Why not throw a piece of fruit at the corner-kick taker of the opposing team. That’ll learn him for having the audacity to come over to your corner of the ground.
On Wednesday’s night’s SportsJOE Live, retired Republic of Ireland winger Andy Reid recalled just such a moment from his own club career.
Watch from 18 minutes or continue reading below.
“I used to take corners, didn’t I?’ said Reid. “I remember I had an apple thrown at my head once, hit me right in the head. So I picked it up and took a bite out of it and that was one of my five-a-day.”
What can make this whole ordeal worse is when you fail to deliver with the set-piece, of course.
“There is no hiding place. The worst thing is when you put in a shite corner. It is not nice, but you can’t take it too seriously. You have to take it with a pinch of salt,” said Reid.
“It’s supporters. They want you to do something wrong because you are playing against their team. They are going to do anything they can do… sometimes they overstep the mark.
“You have to see the funny side of it.”
It is vaguely reminiscent of that time Diego Maradona controlled objects thrown at him from the crowd, 10 seconds into the video below.
Retired Kerry footballer Marc Ó Sé was never beaned in the bonce by a piece of fruit, but he has heard his fair share of abuse from supporters – from Kerry club games to the biggest stage of all.
“Some fellas respond and some other fellas take it on the chin and pretend they don’t hear it at all. The club games are the worst because there are so few people at the games and you can actually hear everything they say,” said Ó Sé on SportsJOE Live, who says the individual remarks can even be heard from the loudest GAA terrace of all. Hill 16.
“Oh, you would. You’d hear it now and again, certain stuff. It’s in one ear and out the other. Any angle you can use to your advantage.
“That was something I used to always use to my advantage, if someone was shouting… If you respond and turn around to the crowd you show they are getting to you.”
Easier said than done when you get hit by an apple.
