Diary of a Dub

 

I always knew the run would come to an end, I didn’t see Covid coming though, guess none of us did. 2 years in the wilderness, life turned upside down for us all, and yet here we are back again at the temple of Croke park, seeking glory again, this weekend.

So in the covid years, we won one, we lost one. Tyrone won one, Kerry failed to read the script again and the wait continues for Mayo. Honestly, none if it felt real, it was surreal, our 2020 win with no fans to deliver the 6 in a row was a muted one, all of us at home, and no matter what anyone says, you cannot replicate the Croke park experience in your own living room no matter how you may try, I am pretty sure it was surreal for the players too.

Deservedly, we brought our run to and end at 6. Talk of 10 in a row was cheap from some in the media, the usual hype and tripe from those looking to cement their own importance in the world of media circles. Paper never refuses ink and all that. This is sport and sooner or later, runs will end and champions will fall, and there are no gripes in Dublin, it is probably the best thing to happen to us, but I guess we won’t know for sure until Sunday evening. Hunger can be lost but it can also be found again. And to find hunger, there is nothing better than losing one.

Personally, losing in 2021 has brought back the hunger to the fans, well this fan anyway. That most important of ingredient. To be honest, once Dublin got to 5, history was made, everything after that was a bonus and whilst covid muted the 6^th, and it didn’t feel the same as the previous 5, it was the listening to constant griping about Dublin finances and population that wore on us eventually. Not a whisper of it last year or this year mind you, yet nothing has changed. 2021 felt like any of those 17 years between 1995 and 2011, and how soon disappointment can only but turn to hunger and hope. If this week is anything to go by, the build up to a semi final is a feeling I’ve long missed and ‘tis but a welcome development.

It’s been an interesting year of football. How fickle we fans are, turning on Dessie after a disastrous league campaign which saw us relegated, to only see that noise dampened by a sense of hope with a turnaround in championship performances. The negativity of spring replaced by a summer of hope and hunger. Truth be known, the championship format has changed, and what was always last Sunday in August is now, 2^nd Sunday in July, such is the change that has been sprung upon the football calendar. Such change has had an influence on this Dublin team and its preparations, not to mention injury and player welfare. Our young lads carried the can in the league and weren’t good enough to stay up, but baby and bath water being emptied out was probably a bit previous from us all, me included.  Redemption has not yet been reached but here we are in an All Ireland Semi final and if you were to believe the naysayers of Spring, this day would not be ours this year.

We are not the team that was the Decade of the Dubs, we are a new team. Gone are the likes of Mannion, Cluxton, McCaffrey, Connolly, Brogan, Kevin Mac, Paddy Andrews, Michael Dara, Cian O’Sullivan and Philly Mc. That bench of all Ireland winners coming on to see us down the stretch is no more. Fresh faces as well as familiar ones lead this team and carry all our hopes upon their young shoulders. Scully, Howard, Davy Byrne, the 2 Smalls, with a splattering of Kilkenny, Fenton, Mick Fitz, King Con and Cooper it is these days, and these are the Boyos we pin all of our hopes upon this weekend. Transition it was, and maybe it still is. That we shall only know come Sunday evening. What we do know is that you can take an array of talent and winners such are the likes of those that moved on from that Dublin team, a wobble or two can be expected, any team in the land no matter how great they are, would feel its bite. Still, all things considered, there is serious experience in this transitional Dublin team and its down to those lads to lead the younger ones.

And to this weekend, it could only be Kerry. The Irish El Classico. A team without an All Ireland wanting to beat us more than they crave the return of Fungi the Dolphin in Dingle. This is their game, this is what they have been wanting and working towards for the last 3 years. Redemption for 2019. Jack O’Connor back at the helm. A manager who has managed to beat Dublin, and in David Clifford, an all star and potential player of the year, all the signs point to Kerry and bookies have them favourites, rightfully so. Clifford is a generational player, one of those who come along once in a generation who is exceptional and he is just that, exceptional.  They are not a one-man band but they are a different team with and without him. I, for one, hope he plays and is fully fit on Sunday. This the game they have always wanted and no doubt their preparation in 2022 was all about this very game. Jack O‘Connor adds a new dynamic to Sunday and means previous tussles are irrelevant. He surely is the man to get them across the line is how the county board viewed his appointment and of course, at some point, a day of reckoning with The Jacks.  

In that decade of the Dubs, there were some incredible games between these two counties. As there has been in the 70s’, 80’s. less so in the 90’s and 00’s as Dublin weren’t at it much.

But look at the last decade, some of the greatest games I’ve ever seen have unfolded. Now., a sense of perspective, this is a Dublin blog, not a neutral blog so rose tinted glasses are allowed. 2011. Maccers goal and That Cluxton point. 2013, 4 points down and dragged it back. 2015 under the floodlights wasn’t a classic but 2019 and the drawn game with Dublin down to 14 and chasing the game, let alone Eoin Murchans goal to separate the teams in the  replay. Jaysus, these teams throw up the greatest games of this fine game. Many would struggle to have 3 of those 5 games out of their finest games of all time. Two fine counties of footballing pedigree, playing the game the right way, intensity, and skill, do or die football, leaving nothing behind themselves. Tanks empty, footballing purity. A feast for the eyes of the neutral, a cardio for the supporter. Oh, these days.

To diverse, as we do. We must as fans equally prepare as much as the players do. Previous Blogs have offered preparation advice, such as Radio Silence, drink in Moderation and the likes, but such is the rarity of these days, you are all forgiven if you read the papers, and hit the drink on Monday. What’s seldom is often wonderful and there is definitely a sense of that this week. The Rituals are back though, Lucky socks and jocks, jersey washed and washed again. Flags out, no matter what part of the world you find yourself in, your pre-covid routine is back and let us all be our most superstitious selves we can be. Forgiveness can be sought down the road.

And what of Sunday.

Con O’Callaghan. King Con. Must play. Has to play. By far the best Dublin player, central to everything we do. We know what team we are without him and we know how good we are with him in. Like Clifford, these are by far the 2 best footballers of this generation and both have many years in front of them. Both don the 14 jersey, but are different footballers, despite their obvious class. Con is a provider, a fulcrum for Dublin, not just a scorer, his work ethic on and off the ball is phenomenal, his fielding and positional play is off the charts. He makes Dublin a different team. He brings menace and brings the front 6 to life, I don’t think in Dublin we have ever seen a player like him, a true athlete and proper baller. Fingers crossed he starts Sunday, he is a leveler in this match up.

We go into Sunday as Underdogs, this is a first in a while but not unexpected. Our form dictates the odds and a less than inspiring last day out for Dublin with uncertainties on a starting 15 means the bookies are right to play is safe. Truth is, this is Dublin and Kerry. A team with 6 all Irelands in their experience against a team without one. A team with desire and hunger to get across the line and finally put the Dubs to bed against a team with nothing to lose. Shades of 2013 anyone?  

I look at Kilkenny, John Small, James Mc,  Con, Mick Fitz, Deano and Brian Fenton. How do you think they are approaching this game? Winning mentality. Been there, done that. Experience in the heat of battle counts and this is something that counts in semi finals.

Hunger. Kerry have it. But. So do Dublin. We can see it. You’ve given us back our belief because you want it again. Doesn’t mean you’ll win but we can see that you will give it everything and you will die in your boots on the pitch trying. We can ask for no more as fans of this team.

There is nothing between these teams and please refer to my previous episode about life being a game of inches. I believe Sunday will be a game of inches. May those inches be ours.

I wanted to save this part to the end, hopefully if you have indulged me thus far, and you give me a little more of your indulgence.

The essence of this is to describe to those initiated or uninitiated, how it feels to be Dub on game day. Simple as that. Could be any county, could be Cork like my good friend Sarah (married a Mayo man for her troubles, no words for this), but you see, you have only county. One place of birth, one place of worship.

I’ve been waiting 3 years for this day. I’ve not been able to get back to Croker this year until now.

I’ll be up at 7am on Sunday. I’ll have the butterflies on waking, I’ve had them all week if I’m honest.

10am is hit the road time, playlist one and the journey to Killiney,

12pm, catch a dart into town.

1pm. In town. Lloyds first. Catch up with Family, a pint or two, all the latest from the fam and a nerve settler or two.

2pm. Gills pub.  Obligatory pint. More family. Never pass Gills or else it won’t end well.

3pm. Run the gauntlet and try to make it into Croker in time for the National Anthem

3.30pm Cardio workout begins for 90 minutes

5.20pm – celebrate success and ring half the country or lick your wounds and plan an early night

Whatever the outcome on Sunday, it is good to be back. I’ve long missed these days and I’m looking forward to seeing the fam and friends. There is nothing that compares to a Dublin Match day and everything that it brings.

But like all the previous musings of mine, we must end with something inspirational to call our souls to action. These are different times, life is not as we knew it. We cherish life more dearly now than ever before and we look out for one another in a different way these days. So I feel for those who cant make it this Sunday, we will shout harder to make your voice heard. Unfortunately, we cant drink pints for you, so you’re on your own in that department.

So for me, and for many on Sunday, we will get together in our Blue and Navy, and we shall have our songs. One of which is this. Instant Goosebumps (see previous episode)

A Hungry feeling, came o’er me stealing.

And the mice the were squealing in my prison cell,

And the old triangle, went Jingle Jangle…

All along the banks of the Royal Canal……

COYBIB.