AT about 7am on the morning of the All-Ireland final, I lay in my hotel bed contemplating my own and my team’s fate.
I suppose the enormity of the task was quite intimidating and my morning musings were permeated with highs of optimism and excitement alongside periods of doubt and trepidation.
As big Paul Hearty snored loudly in the room oblivious to my concerns, I heard an envelope being slipped underneath our door and, without waking the slumbering giant beside me, I quickly opened it.
It turned out it was a letter from the one and only Muhammad Ali wishing us all the best in our game today and, although I am pretty sure the greatest sportsman of all time didn’t handwrite it personally, it was still something to know that maybe he was aware of the massive fight we had on our hands to make our much sought after breakthrough.
All throughout that year we had used many quotes from the iconic boxer. His confidence and belief added to his immense personality and character and has struck a chord with so many people whether you are involved in sport or not.
His passing last week has resonated with so many people in a life that was so colourful and influential. Ali consistently called himself ‘the Greatest’ to anyone and everyone who would listen and while some would maintain that he probably wasn’t the greatest boxer of all time, he believed he was and any boxer that he was facing knew Ali was already winning the mental battle before they got anywhere near the ring.
So many modern day sport stars are afraid of the media, and are probably right to be as they are scrutinised and analysed to death. Ali used the press to send out his confident predictions and entertain, but beneath the razzmatazz was a man who was not afraid to take risks and to back himself.
He had so many famous quotes, with my personal favourite being: “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”
But he had so many more serious ones because he was a man who had religious beliefs and political opinions that may not have been popular at the time, but this did not stop him from publicising them.
While reading an article this week, as so many have been, about the legend, I came across one of his many quotes that typified his mindset during a fight when he stated: “My trainer don’t tell me nothing between rounds. I don’t allow him to. I fight the fight. All I want to know is did I win the round. It’s too late for advice.”
I believe that this mindset could be very beneficial to both the Armagh and Down camps when it comes to their qualifying matches against Laois and Longford respectively.
Many may feel that Laois away from home is a bad draw for Armagh but it is the perfect match up as, with all due respect, a game with a weaker county would tell us nothing as to where we currently stand.
This is the perfect opportunity for the team who performed so disappointingly against Cavan to redress their performance and show a bit of character and fortitude which was sadly missing in Breffni Park.
The management team will leave no stone unturned in the next week in the lead up to the match against a county which hasn’t hidden its antagonism towards Armagh in recent years but, as Ali says, when the game starts nothing that Geezer or anybody says should matter because it’s then down to the most important commodity – the player – to perform to his ability.
So many of the Armagh team played beneath themselves the last day. They must concede that and bear some of the responsibility. The only right way to respond is to throw away the shackles and use this game to right the wrongs of their last performance.
Maybe a few leaders can emerge because the one good thing about the Qualifiers is that you get to right the wrong of a poor performance.
A few months ago, prior to the National League, I met an ardent Down fan, who still regularly wears his old Kersten Hunik jersey to remind him of the good old days.
He prophesied that it was possible that Down could go through the whole season without winning a game because they were in Division One and had a tough draw in the Championship. He took no joy in saying it, but even though I laughed off his pessimism, the Mournemen are one loss away from probably their worst ever season.
As a group of players, the motivation should come from within to produce a performance for 70 minutes like the 35 minutes we witnessed in the first half against Monaghan.
You could see the Down challenge and belief dissipate from them as Monaghan came more into the game, probably due to their losing run in the League.
However, as a team, they showed little battling qualities which is not normally associated with the men in red and black. There is an argument that both teams do not possess the quality of previous eras, which may very well be the case.
However, players in both squads have invested too much time and energy all season to end this campaign on a whimper.
Despite the fact that, after both games, much of the blame has been levelled at management, it is important that players don’t seek to hide under this cloak and realise that they must raise their levels if they want to avoid an early exit.
With a little more battling qualities and, dare I say Ali belief, I fully expect both teams to win their Qualifier matches and recuperate some of the negativity surrounding their first round matches.
