Diary of a Dub
Play it
again Sam...
In all
the gin joints, in all towns, in all the world…she walks into mine...
You might wonder what Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
and all things Casablanca might have to do with Dublin and Kerry? Well,
wonder no more.
We are in Play
it again Sam territory, and for us its another replay, 3 years on
from that unforgettable battle with Mayo in 2016 that took us to a replay,
and over 150 minutes of football that was won by a single solitary point in
the end. And not just that, but Rick and Ilsa are our very own Dublin and
Kerry. Old Flames of sorts, a GAA love
affair in its own right, the 2 most successful football teams of all time,
crossing paths (if not swords) once again. Kerry and Dublin has been on and
off for more 40 years now(yes, longer than Ross and Rachel), and as time goes
by, these decades of rivalry and unspoken admiration for one another
prolong. Bringing it all back again come Saturday, only this time, the gin
joint is the Stadium of dreams, aka Croke Park.
So
here we are, once more. As we say in Dublin…how are your Pot Herbs??’
Have
you taken to the Sup? Have you been able to fade out the noise and go about
your boring ordinary chore-filled life without a care of what is almost upon us.
Fair play if you made it this far. No matter how you’ve done it, you’re here,
that’s all that matters. Embrace the madness from here on in.
First
things, first. We need to talk about Superstition.
Superstition. Those of you who know me, know just
how Superstitious a Dub I am, and I am not alone. We have a code in our Dub family.
A way things get done. Tried and tested. Rituals not to be messed with. But they
were. Complacency may have set in, I fear. Superstition, however, is not to
be messed with. No tempting of Fate either. You run the risk of
bringing Karma and Luck into the carnage that may ensue. Yet,
that is exactly what happened 2 weeks ago, and everyone must hold their hands
up and come clean, including myself. The investigation is complete, the disciplinary
process was thorough, and warnings have been issued to those found guilty of
such wanton abandonment of their duties.
All-Ireland
finals are not the time for one-degree course corrections. There are rules. They
involve a multitude of rituals and routines that must be followed. They involve
(this is not an exhaustive list) Travel routes, Jersey selection, haircuts, first
pint, coffees, few bob for the buskers, car parking, breakfast, playlists,
and of course Jonahs (and more). Most of these were broken or changed
to some degree the last day out, and it’s not good enough. We can be
normal human beings any other time of the year, but we know the drill for a
final, we embrace our best OCD selves and we stick to the plan. Lessons learned
I hope. Chances taken there surely shall not be this time around.
Luck. There’s many an opinion on
this, but I write the blog, so you’re only getting mine. Dublin were Lucky,
and yes, I subscribe to the part that says, you make your Luck, and yes, we
did that too. Great teams never say die, never give up, and are never beaten,
and on the last day, other teams might have, but Dublin did not. This is a
game of fine margins, and matches like those can be won and lost on the finest
of said margins. Looking back, Dublin,
conceded a penalty, and Clucko saved it. Had a man sent off, played over 40
minutes with 14 players, and still didn’t lose. Kerry hit the crossbar and Deano
had the last kick of the game to win it…that game had everything, yet still
we didn’t lose. Fortune
favours the Brave….and the sporting gods doth favour Dublin, well at least
they did 2 weeks ago, and great teams know never to give up, chances will
always come. We saw it through and we lived to fight for this day. Luck was
ours for sure.
Coming
down the Stretch. These games are always won coming down the stretch. A saying oft
reserved for a golf major, but post 60 minutes in an All-Ireland final is our
stretch, and 5 of our 6 titles this decade have been won coming down the stretch.
You could argue, we also didn’t lose the first game in 2016, just like 2
weeks ago, coming down the stretch. Great teams plan and train for those
final 10 minutes plus injury time, they meticulously tease out every possible
scenario, including playing with a man down. How composed were Dublin in those
last 7 minutes, chasing the game, a player short? And yes it helps, having
been dragged to the wire by Mayo in ’16 & 17. Everything changed at 55
minutes in the first game. Until then Dublin had the edge. Level at 61 minutes,
and Kerry took the lead at 65 minutes. Some Dublin fans started to disbelieve,
but not all, and not this team. They didn’t look like they had given up, and
never at any stage did we see any panic. Experience, you see, stands the test
of time, it builds composure, temperament, determination, resolve and the
will to not be beaten. That we saw last day out. Now, what will we see, come
Saturday?
Replays. So what is it about replays
and this team? This is our third replay in a big game on this run, a 2015 Semi-Final replay with Mayo, a 2016
final replay with Mayo, and now a 2019 final replay with Kerry. Nothing ever
gets done the easy way.
Numbers. Dublin don’t usually blow teams away in a final,
look at their Winning margins. In the 6 titles Dublin have won this decade, 4
of them have been won by a single point, only Kerry in 2015 (a margin of 3)
and Tyrone in 2018 (a margin of 6) were higher. And now our 2nd All-Ireland
final replay in 4 years. Yet, we have
come out the right side of these tight games, I can only imagine the work
that is done behind the scenes on player mid-set, and mental toughness to get
these players ready for such outcomes, and at such frequency.
Yerrah
and G’Wayouttadat. None of that please. No phoney wars, no conspiracy theories, and above
all, definitely no listening to ex-players with their tuppence-ha’penny worth
view on what Saturday will hold. This is not for the faint-hearted. This is
the two best teams in the country coming together again, with everything at
stake on both sides. Real fans respect each other’s teams. We as Dublin fans
know that most of the country wants Kerry to win, and that’s ok. The shoe was
on the other foot in 2011. There was a swathe of neutral support for Dublin
as we hadn’t won one since 1995, and t’was to be expected. We didn’t complain
then, and we certainly won’t complain now. It is what it is. Success
breeds contempt in any sport and our success is no different. For us, we have
a front-row seat to history in the making. It does not come any better than
this, and it has been a Decade of the Dubs. These have been our days,
we hope for one more, and to do that of which has n’er been done before.
The inches we need are
everywhere around us. I’ve
said it before and just like Sam, I’m gonna say it again. This is now our Any
Given Saturday, and of what lies ahead, it is surely this..
You
know when you get old in life, things get taken from you. That's part of
life.
But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half step too late or too early, you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast, and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know, when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING.
And so. There it is. Inches. Fine margins upon which we
live and die by, in life and in football. In search of the holy grail of happiness,
be it your own or that of others, in search we all are. In Jim, we trust. In
this Dublin team, we trust. In each other, we trust. Come Saturday, may those
inches be ours. Until then, as Rick would say…..
Play it again
Sam….
|
COYBIB.
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