Football for fun

As the situation in Cork GAA goes from bad to worse and each side continues to dig a deeper hole as they supposedly try for a solution, you cannot help but wonder about the doomsday scenario that would arise if the Rebel players really went for the jugular.

Keep in mind that this dispute started with Cork footballers being unhappy that their manager would not have the power to choose his own selectors. They went 'on strike' and were quickly joined on the imaginary picket line, solicited or otherwise, by the county's hurlers.

Since then the Cork County Board and the players have dug the trenches and slung the arrows as the rest of the country looked on, predominantly in bemusement.

Inevitably, given the success of Cork in all codes, the discomfort being felt in the deep south has not meet with universal sympathy and some have relished the Rebels' troubles.

But what if the Cork players did what real strikers normally do and enlist the support of other 'workers'? For example, a train drivers' strike doesn't really impact on the general public until the postman refuses to cross the picket or 'goes out' in sympathy.

What if the Cork players this week put pressure on their Meath counterparts not to fulfil next Saturday's opening league game? All that would be needed is a few players in Meath to urge solidarity with their 'brothers' in Cork and off we go down the slippery slope. And if Meath did not fulfil the fixture then it would be virtually impossible for any other county to do so in the coming weeks.

Amidst it all, you might need reminding that the primary reason all are involved is supposedly for fun and leisure. After all, isn't that what sport is supposed to be about, the pursuit of a leisure activity for enjoyment and exercise?

Anyone who was in the Clayton Hotel on Monday evening for the launch of Liam Sammon's new coaching book would have realised that the guys from his playing days certainly enjoyed their sport and that they played football for fun.