We Irish, despite our transformation into a modern and enviable country, are still a little self-conscious at heart and so love it when we get noticed on the international stage.
There’s no simple reason for this national neediness, but it probably has a lot to do with what we went through in the past and, more importantly, the self-loathing that flows through our veins and the inability we have at accepting praise that lasts to this day. Basically, international success gives us the validation we can’t stand to give ourselves.
So with our Soccer team and Rugby team doing particularly badly on the world stage at the moment, we’ve got little to cling to. Or at least we didn’t until today.
I’m sure others reading this blog will be as amused as I was at the inclusion of Hurling in Cracked’s top ten list of the world’s most insane sports. Sure, it couldn’t beat the likes of chess-boxing but what’s funniest about Ireland’s offering is that it’s anything but a fringe sport, it’s one of the main offerings of the country’s biggest sporting organisation!!!
I personally would never have referred to Hurling as ‘insane’, so to speak… that may be because I grew up with it always in the general background, be it on TV, radio or in school. That said, if I was to start playing GAA at any point in my life, as I’ve toyed with doing lately, it certainly wouldn’t be as part of the game that involved big sticks and minimal protection.