Take your seats for amateur dramatics

That was the folly of youth. I’ve seen a lot of professional sport over the past three decades, watched games that once were amateur become professional, and though much was gained, plenty was lost. Ironically, the things that attract us to sport in the first place are what professional sport is so good at taking away.

You represented your school, your town, your county, because that was where you came from. You played to win but winning wasn’t everything. Sometimes the most enjoyable game was the one you lost and you weren’t afraid to admit that. The phrase “whatever it takes” hadn’t been invented and you looked forward to a drink or a cup of tea with the opposition after the game.

So with Gaelic football and hurling, I jumped ship and now argue they should remain amateur. Nurture and protect what they are because it is precious. You may never have seen an All Ireland hurling final in your life but get yourself in front of a television this afternoon and there will be no disappointment. It is Kilkenny against Tipperary, the two greatest hurling rivals, playing what many of us regard as the most skilful game of all. Allow me to declare an interest. It’s something I’ve been doing all of my life. People notice the accent.

“What part of Ireland are you from?”

“Kilkenny,” I reply.

“Kilkenny?”

“Yeah,” I say, “famous for hurling. We have 34 All Ireland titles, four more than Cork, eight more than Tipperary.”

I explain that the laws of Gaelic games decree that you play only for the county in which you were born and even though Kilkenny is small in terms of population, it breeds and nurtures a disproportionate number of fine hurlers. If you’re from Kilkenny you know some of the players, who they are, their parents, their cousins, their friends.

Henry Shefflin, with nine All Ireland titles and a possible 10th this afternoon, is the greatest living legend in Kilkenny hurling. We remember him as the quiet young fella collecting glasses in his father’s pub when we’d stop for a pint on the way home from an All Ireland final. Seeing that kid grow into a man and become the greatest of his generation was some journey.

With our DNA came two fundamentals. We loved our county hurling team. And Tipperary, the self-proclaimed Premier County, was the first thing we learnt to hate. It wasn’t real hate. No, it was much worse than that. We used to say our problem was that it was such a short way to Tipperary.

Only when they went through lean times in the 1970s and 1980s did they seem less hateful. I wouldn’t go as far as to say we felt sorry for them but we missed them. No matter whom we beat in an All Ireland final it wasn’t the same as beating Tipp.

We had the chance to become the only team in hurling history to win five consecutive All Ireland finals. That was in 2010. Tipperary beat us in a final we were expected to win. You wonder why we hate them? They celebrated that victory as if it was their first but their unrestrained joy stemmed in no small part from having stopped Kilkenny achieving a new landmark.

Every Kilkenny player that day saw how Tipperary reacted and made a pact with himself. A year later the same two teams were back in the final and they paid for upsetting us. That defeat knocked them down. It took them three years to recover. Now they’re back.

Perhaps to haunt us again. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Their manager, Eamon O’Shea, is an impressive man. In real life he is a professor at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at University College Galway. Last week, while in the throes of preparing his team for today’s final, he published a report into the positive effects of reminiscence therapy for dementia sufferers. And what did you achieve last week?

Still we’ll stick with our manager in Kilkenny, even though he’s just a humble school principal. Brian Cody took over the team in 1999 and has won nine All Ireland titles in the past 14 years. No hurling county has ever had it so good and when someone came up with the expression “resting on his laurels” they never had Cody in mind.

I know of a Kilkenny player who once said the longest journey he’d ever taken was one shared in a lift to the fourth floor of the team hotel with Cody. And that was on a team holiday. Another player once told Cody there was more to life than hurling. He was left to explore the rest. Michael Fennelly, who will start today’s final at right-half-forward, articulated how a lot of us Kilkenny folk are feeling right now.

“Hurling should only be a hobby. Obviously your job and livelihood come first but playing with this Kilkenny team is practically another full-time career. It is transient, very enjoyable, but that all goes out the window now. It’s all about now. The final in Croke Park against Tipperary.”

If you can, get yourself in front of a television today.

All Ireland hurling final, Kilkenny v Tipperary, Sky Sports 1, 2.30pm, throw-in 3.30pm

Westwood lucky to get the nod over Donald

Paul McGinley named his captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup last week and there wasn’t much argument with the selection of Stephen Gallacher, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

Gallacher has played outstandingly well this year, especially when under the gun at the Italian Open last weekend. That performance alone entitled him to a wild card. Poulter gets a pick because he is Poulter, the miracle maker of Medinah. Not since Diego Maradona dragged the Argentina team to victory at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico has one man done so much to achieve a brilliant team victory.

The third pick was between Westwood and Luke Donald. I don’t disagree with McGinley’s choice but Westwood is a tad fortunate.

Westwood has been a fine Ryder Cup player for Europe and an ever-present in the team since the victory at Valderrama in 1997. He is an important presence in the team room because he has seen so much and has a way of banishing complex questions with commonsense answers. But Westwood has not played that well this year and his putting has never been a strength, something that matters a lot in the Ryder Cup.

Donald hasn’t played well this year but he does putt well, he has a tremendous Ryder Cup record and his accuracy makes him a very effective foursomes player. I don’t imagine there has ever been a better European player left out of a Ryder Cup team.