Cold feet in Waterford, and the ghosts of GAA past

In today's Hospital Pass we give you mouldable history, and the strange story of how two hurlers from Waterford ended up on crutches.

---

It may not be the first time that Waterford hurlers have got cold feet, but it’s very likely the sorest.

Dark-hearted neighbours from Kilkenny or Cork might let loose an evil snicker, complete with a snide comment along the lines of “Only Waterford hurlers could get their feet burnt in a cryotherapy unit...”

But we would never stoop so low, and instead we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the victims of this bizarre incident which occurred recently.

Mount Sion are one of the top clubs in Munster, with 35 county and two Munster club titles, and the players in question, Chris Ryan and John O’Leary, are two of their top performers – Ryan has been Sion player of the year for the past three years and both have also been on the Waterford senior hurling panel in the past.

So they can clearly play a bit, but they won’t be playing much in the near future, with the severity of the burns destined to leave them on the sidelines for two months.

Mount Sion chairman Sean Dwyer told the Waterford News & Star: “I can't see any of them getting into something like that if they knew that could incur serious injury. To lose these guys' leadership is very difficult and I can't say anything other than I have the highest praise for them.”

The ghost of GAA past

Away from the burning white heat of a cryotherapy unit and into Gaelic games’ dim and distant past, and this week saw the launch of a new venture from the GAA, in association with football championship sponsor eircom.

Championship Timeline is restricted to football just now, not because hurling lacks any great heritage - it's mainly due to the fact that eircom are solely football sponsors.

So what is it? Well, it’s an interactive feature which allows GAA supporters to sift through some of the most magical and memorable moments in the history of Gaelic football.

And if they find that their favourite moment is not listed – which would be a bit surprising, given the number of clickable links we found on a casual stroll between 1885 and 1920 alone – you can always add your own.

My own tuppenceworth? Well I’m a half-Donegal man, so the point that some Donegal player – was it Kieran Keeney? – scored in the opening seconds of a big game – was it an All-Ireland semi-final? Against Galway in 1983 maybe? – but which was subsequently ruled out because ... the Artane Boys Band were still on the field.

I’ve always been led to believe that happened, but I can’t seem to find any reference of it anywhere. Maybe some Championship Timeline users, please help me out...?