Phrase that should be outlawed: The new normal. Nothing about 2020 was normal, and hopefully even less of it is permanent.
Pass of the season: Iain Corbett for Limerick against Waterford. Look it up.
Most predictable column topic: Every single Irish sporting column for an entire month at the start of lockdown was in some way related to, or quoted from, The Last Dance. As if we all suddenly became NBA experts. It was almost like there was nothing else to watch.
Maybe county football is relatable after all: Jim McGuinness taking Galway footballers came from way out left-field, but the best bit was the players fumbling the ball three times in 30 seconds doing a handpassing drill. Club players the length of Ireland felt instantly better about themselves. The drill is set for a 2,000 per cent increase in usage next year.
Long, long overdue Allstar: John Small has been the toughest defender in Ireland to shake in recent years but is only set for his first Allstar this year.
Rule change that’s made the biggest difference without being noticed: Kickouts from the 21’ rather than the 14’. Contested kickouts a far more common occurrence.
Get rid. Now. Please: The attacking mark. Adds nothing only cheap scores from pre-rehearsed routines, and kills the art of defending.
Technological advancement: The streaming and televising of club games. Brought in as an emergency measure, it enjoyed remarkable success. RTÉ’s coverage did bring shame on the fact they hadn’t previously bothered but as long as it’s fixed now.
Which led to…: Some outstanding commentary moments. One from the Kilkenny hurling championship stood out. Commentator’s team are defending: “Walter Walsh has it. Take him down! Take him down!! He’s in… [Walsh is fouled, someone in the crowd beside him wants the defender sent off] There’s no red cards for taking him down. There’s no such thing as a professional foul. [Referee shows a red card] Ah for fu…”
And…: Westport v Ballyhaunis in the Mayo hurling championship. Schemozzle. The referee sorts it out: “Number 7 – back into your corner and shut the f*** up.”
At last: The GAA finally threatening sanctions on counties for breaching the training ban, and counties taking the threat seriously. Almost all of them, anyway…
Would love to know: What is in Mickey Graham’s notepad. Even in the euphoria of winning Ulster for the first time in 23 years, he never left it down.
Holding nerve: Ciaran Barker, right down the middle to win the most astonishing Tyrone championship for Dungannon. After 64 years, they went through four bouts of extra-time and a penalty shootout to claim the O’Neill Cup against all odds.
Ostriches: The hurling snobs who still believe they don’t need a black card. And were opposed to the yellow ball, which was exactly like the white ball only dyed yellow, to paraphrase the old joke about pink fluff.
Unlikely team-mates: David Clarke made his Mayo debut when Oisin Mullin was a one-year-old. They played together this year (via Cormac O’Malley).
Unlikely Tinder reference: Pat Spillane comparing Monaghan v Donegal to swiping left on the dating app.
The problem is not that he’s still there: Neil Lennon. The problem is he was ever given the job back in the first place.
Dublin analogy: Twitter user Aidan Doherty nailed it when he compared Dublin’s team of once-in-a-generation players to Trigger’s broom in Only Fools And Horses. In the iconic scene, Trigger gets an award from the council for having the same brush for 20 years. It only had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.
Irony: In removing themselves from a camp that was all about how they could add value, the ex-Dubs in the media are doing the exact opposite. They offer no critical thinking on the funding debate and simply refuse to countenance the idea that money is at the root of their success. It’s become an unsubtle form of propaganda and one that is not bringing any fresh endearment to the greatest succession of teams of all time.
Forgotten skill remembered and forgotten again: When’s the last time you punted your size five into the blue bin then? Or did keepie-uppies with a pair of socks? April, I’m guessing.
Most enjoyable footballer to watch: Brian Fenton. Effortless. Never seems to make a mistake, never seems to have a bad game.
Turnaround: Tough contest in which Kilkenny’s recovery against Galway in the Leinster final and Waterford’s comeback to beat the Cats feature. But the winner can only be Cavan’s Lazarus effort from 10 points down at half-time against a rampant Down side.
Toughest choice: Buy food or kick frees with Dean Rock.
Fairytales: Tipperary footballers edge out Cavan given the length of time and the historical significance of winning Munster this year, of all years.
Price of your fairytale: A combined 28-point margin of victory in the All-Ireland football semi-finals. A last four containing Kerry and Donegal or Tyrone would have provided a very different finish to the year.
Twitter account you need to follow: @TyroneTribulations if you’re not already there.
Unprecedented neutral support: The country tends not to call all that much about middle-of-the-road Division Four football games. But when Antrim beat Waterford on the resumption of games, it was celebrated joyously by many after the Déise’s refusal to come to “Northern Ireland” to play the game. Antrim played a blinder, calling their bluff, forcing their hand to come to Louth and then winning the game.
Q’wer days for th’ concrete: As viral sensation Darragh O’Neill might have said, the club championships were played out on q’wer days. There were no confirmed sightings of Ronan McAliskey in the Clonoe team but all club players found themselves relishing the games on hot summer days with a dry ball. Playing club football in 2020 was one of the most enjoyable GAA experiences in many years.
Must-have jersey: The commemorative Tipperary jersey for the Munster final.
Showing us off to the world: Be it a random Twitter celeb who catches a glimpse of the game, or most years Chris O’Dowd, there’s always something to carry the flag for the GAA outside Ireland. This year it was Paul Mescal, who might have needed three attempts before the ‘keeper gave in and let him score during the most authentic football scenes ever seen on screen, but who did as much for the sport internationally as he did for silver chains and quad-friendly O’Neills shorts.
Waste of time: Was there any point doing a good deed during lockdown if you didn’t post it on social media?
Hard-earned county medal: Marty McGrath has been through some wars on and off the pitch to get his hands on a Fermanagh championship with Ederney. Hard to imagine a county medal so well-earned.
Media witch-hunt that turned out well: The Aussie journalists hounding Conor McKenna and becoming the straw that broke the camel’s back. He returned to Ireland weeks later and made an instant impact with Tyrone. Not least on Michael Murphy’s shoulder when they created the hit of 2020 between them.
Disaster: There were high hopes for Armagh but they were annihilated in the Ulster semi-final by Donegal, beaten out the gate by half-time.
Selfless exhibition: Tom Morrissey handed over the Hurler of the Year award to Gearoid Hegarty through an incredibly selfless display in the All-Ireland final. Any other day my 18/1 on Morrissey for man of the match would have come in with his five points and countless assists, but Hegarty got seven from play, half of which were set up by his fellow wing-forward.
Leagues are for playing in: It wasn’t all good for Cavan in 2020. On the final day of Division Two, they could have been promoted with victory over Roscommon. Instead they lost and were relegated, serving as a great reminder of why the leagues have been such outstanding value in recent years.
Mesmerising lockdown moves: Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Perrie Edwards skating their way up their stairs in their socks. Not a recommended cruciate rehab exercise.
Best pundit: Oisin McConville. His dry wit is lost on TV at times.
Obscure sport we all started following: Minsk’s 3-2 win over Dinamo Minsk in the Belarusian Premier League became the most important sporting event in the world in March, because it was the only sporting event in the world in March.
A legacy defined: Mickey Harte stepped down after 18 years with Tyrone and of all his teams did and achieved, nothing defined them more than that tackle scene in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry.
Silver lining: For generations the GAA has resisted a split season. And then Covid came along and showed us how it could be done. Now it will come in temporarily for 2021 and almost certainly on a permanent basis from 2022 onwards. There seems to be practically no opposition to it. Players were delighted with how this year’s went. It’s frustrating that it’s taken this long but at least we’re nearly there now.
Silver lining II: GAA grounds have never had cleaner toilet blocks. Apart from Croke Park, which randomly went the opposite way for the All-Ireland finals.
Idiots: The small minority of mindless clowns who did their best to destabilise the new East Belfast GAA club, which proved an incredible success in its early months.
Sport that doesn’t work without a crowd: Rugby seems a thoroughly pointless venture without people there to watch it. Run into someone, fall down, get up (repeat for 80 minutes).
Individual display: Cillian O’Connor’s 4-9 against Tipperary.
How many back-up goalkeeping coaches does it take to change a lightbulb?: The growing size of inter-county management teams was back in focus around the All-Ireland finals, with Dublin stealing most of the limelight with their 29-man setup. They’re not the only ones but it’s gotten completely out of hand. To quote Gerry Donnelly, all they’re missing is a gynaecologist.
Piece of skill: Richie Hogan’s goal in Kilkenny’s Leinster final win over Galway.
Jump off the seat: Three moments in this year’s football championship propelled neutral supporters to their feet. Mark Keane dumping out Kerry, Peadar Mogan’s sensational goal against Tyrone (a lot due to Shaun Patton’s kickout) and Conor Madden ending 23 years of hurt for Cavan in the Ulster final’s stoppage time.
Things I never thought I’d say: While I remain against the principle of Sky Sports showing big GAA games, their presentation of games and analysis is so vastly superior to RTÉ’s. Canavan, McGuinness and Donaghy make a great trio.
Sideline special: Forget Joe Canning, the best effort was away back in February when Darren McCurry kicked a stunning late line ball into the goal in front of his home house in Edendork to see off Kerry. He dedicated the win, and that score, to his late mother.
When we were still nostalgic about nostalgia: Old footage gave us life in the early weeks of lockdown and the particular highlights were BBC Two showing a Tyrone-Armagh clash from the early 2000s (there were so many I can’t remember which one) and TG4 giving us Derry v Down in ’94. Then there was so much of it we started to miss the novelty of it, but it kept us afloat for a while.
Journalism: Mick Foley’s work over several years to chronicle the events of Bloody Sunday in 1920 for his book The Bloodied Field was given its true value on the 100th anniversary this year. The names and stories of those killed got the airing they deserved because of Mick’s outstanding work.
Missing element: Driving through Drumcondra on All-Ireland final day in the mouth of Christmas, hitting Quinn’s and seeing the shutters pulled down. No colours lifting the Dublin streets, nobody taking out Euros or grabbing a sandwich at the Centra, nobody jaywalking across the road, not a hat, flag or headband to be seen.
Tactic to watch out for: Teams conceding the throw-in. It’s the only time in the game you’re not allowed a sweeper. Dublin have won two All-Ireland finals by scoring goals from the throw-in. Teams in future will let them win that ball and use any means to block up the centre, especially fouling.
Prediction for 2021: Dublin, Tyrone, Kerry, Donegal and Mayo to give us a serious football championship.
