the weirdest sport in the world

If you took rules and ideas from every sport in the world and made a new sport, what do you think the outcome would be? I now know the answer. Hurling. This Irish sport is ridiculous, but also great fun. Dublin was playing Tipperary in the championship semi-final so it was off to the pub we went.

I’m not quite sure how to describe this sport, but I’ll do my best. The players have sticks that are shaped similar to a hockey stick but a shorter and are used in the air like a baseball or cricket bat. The players can catch the ball with their hand and run with it but have to hit it with the stick every three steps or so. They can’t pick up the ball off the ground with their hand though, they have to flick it up with their stick. The goals are a mix of soccer goals down the bottom and rugby posts up top. It’s a point if it goes over the net and between the posts, or a goal if it goes into the net (past the goalie). It’s an incredibly rough sport and it was only in the last few years that the players were made to wear helmets. The halves go for 35 minutes, except at the end the referee adds extra time to make up for stoppages. The length of the extra time is up to the refs discretion. In the match we watched he gave two minutes but let the game go for an extra minute and a half past that. The game was a better match than anyone expected. Tip was the clear favourite but Dublin put in a good fight.

Each county has its own team that plays in the championship, but then there are heaps of teams and leagues in each county. Young kids also play, which surprised me because it really is quite rough. Also surprisingly, the players don’t get paid. They might do your taxes or fix your car during the week, and then play in front of 40,000 people come Sunday. There is some money in endorsements but apparently people believe that paying the players would take away from the spirit of the game.

After the game we went to a café for dinner. It was a pretty nice day, which most of the girls celebrated by wearing skirts and dresses. It still wasn’t remarkably warm, but I guess they take what sunshine they get. To make the most of the good weather, Donagh and I walked around Cork, first away from the city along the river, and then back into the city and out to the wharf. It was a beautiful night, even though we did see a rat at the wharf. What is it about rodents that is so damn creepy? It was past 11pm when we got back to the flat.