Irish Mirror Sport's Gaelic Games Correspondent Pat Nolan reviews a year like no other and looks forward to 2021.
What was your standout moment of 2020?
Tipperary footballers winning their first Munster title since 1935.
That in itself would be something to savour, but the fact that it fell on the weekend of the centenary of the Bloody Sunday atrocities, when Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan was among 14 civilians murdered by crown forces at Croke Park, and the Tipp team wearing a commemorative jersey with Hogan’s face woven into the sleeve, added layers of poignancy to a glorious achievement.
The only pity was that there weren’t thousands there to see it.
What was the game of the year?
The Waterford-Kilkenny All-Ireland hurling semi-final. In action for the third successive weekend, which far more often than not is the backdrop to a defeat, Waterford could easily have signed off on a season which had already delivered progress when falling nine points behind.
But, in spite of their poor semi-final record and historical struggles against Kilkenny, they refused to yield and a heroic second half comeback led by Stephen Bennett delivered just a third ever Championship victory over their neighbours on a 2-27 to 2-23 scoreline.
Your sporting hero of 2020?
Limerick hurler Gearoid Hegarty. On a team as dominant as Limerick were this season, that he is the standout candidate for Hurler of the Year says much about the performance levels he consistently reached this year.
Tom Morrissey and Kyle Hayes were absolutely superb in the All-Ireland final yet their man of the match claims were silenced by Hegarty.
Special mention to people like former Waterford hurler Tom Devine, a doctor who returned home to Ireland from New Zealand specifically to help with the Covid-19 crisis earlier this year.
The ‘I can’t believe he said that’ quote of 2020?
"The players work hard but what gets a player motivated from Kildare, Meath, Offaly or Louth? Are the free-takers elsewhere working as hard as Dean Rock? Are they working as hard in the gym as the Dublin players?” - Bernard Brogan.
Some more pertinent questions: Are players from those counties playing the vast majority of their games at a de facto home venue? Is their team and county backed by full-time administrative, coaching and commercial staff? Has the GAA ploughed a wildly disproportionate amount of funding into their games development programmes?
What was the worst moment of 2020?
GAA president John Horan’s appearance on the Sunday Game on May 11 was sobering, as the prospect of Gaelic games taking place at any level in 2020 appeared to be ruled out.
“If social distancing is a priority to deal with this pandemic, I don't know how we can play a contact sport,” he said.
It’s easy to be smug about those comments now but most of us were thinking along similar lines. Thankfully, by the following month, the knowledge base around transmission had broadened and the GAA was announcing return-to-play protocols.
What is your single biggest hope for 2021?
That the GAA leadership effects meaningful - not piecemeal - change around the concept of financial equalisation.
It’s not solely a Dublin issue either as they are just one of a number of counties with monetary might that others can only dream of. Surely, in an amateur sport, a more level playing field is achievable
What is solely a Dublin issue, however, is their footballers’ access to Croke Park. That can be fixed with the stroke of a pen.
On a personal basis, that the Tullamore senior footballers regain the Dowling Cup.
And your greatest fear?
Taoiseach Micheal Martin sounded a pessimistic note recently when expressing hope that crowds could return to sporting events by next autumn. That’s the guts of a year away, when several European countries are already allowing fans to attend games in limited numbers.
Another full GAA Championship with no crowds would be disastrous. As a reporter, there are pluses to games without fans - ease of parking and no traffic jams! - but we need crowds back by next July’s All-Ireland finals at the latest.
