Paul Kimmage has lost hope with cycling more times than enough.
In his latest column in the Sunday Independent, the former professional recounted a tale from a couple of weeks ago about having to edit a piece he had just written about the Tour de France as the lawyers once again intervened.
It’s a messy business, the cycling. Untrusting, cynical, defensive – Jesus, it’s a wonder he has turned to Gaelic Football to find hope. But he has.
Kimmage took a trip to Killarney for that Kerry and Cork Munster final and the purity of his surroundings made him think.
He never grew up in a GAA family and, in a way, it’s almost like he has missed out.
“We cross the roundabout to St Margaret’s Road and he (his brother Chris) stops twice to chat to friends as we follow the hordes into town and a place where he takes pints,” Kimmage recounted in the Independent. “There’s standing room only, so we take our drinks outside, laughing at the pre-match banter between the fans.
“‘Gooch.’
“‘Yerra.’
“‘Boyo.’
“‘Cadogan.’
What does it all mean? This is the beating heart of Irish sport, but it feels completely alien to me.”
So Kimmage just took it all in – almost enviously as the supporters, the journalists, the players and managers submitted themselves so wholly to something so pure.
Who wouldn’t feel like they were missing out?
“This is different: I don’t speak Gaelic football and spend the rest of the evening marvelling at their passion for the game – no angry calls to lawyers; no shadows from doping or drugs; the joy on Kieran Donaghy’s face as he races down the tunnel towards the dressing room; the pain on Brian Cuthbert’s as he sits in the interview room and contemplates defeat,” Kimmage puts a refreshing outsider’s look on the game.
“This is sport as it was meant to be.”
The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10
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