Memes, seeds, commitment and hashtag hijacking

Who wants another Hospital Pass? Today, more Galway-Kilkenny, a dash of Cork-Kerry, some serious commitment and a sprinkle of hashtag hijacking for good measure.

At least the Galway players aren't getting carried away...

It is almost certainly folly but some people are really enjoying the defeat Kilkenny suffered on Sunday at the hands of Galway.

We already brought you the sign that has appeared in a Supermac’s in Galway that might be tempting fate. Thankfully the team are being much more measured, with captain Fergal Moore keeping his eyes on the big prize.

“There is only one cup that everyone wants to win at the start of the year when they go back training and that’s the Liam MacCarthy,” says Moore in today’s Irish Daily Star. “The next step for us is the All-Ireland semi-final.”

All good to hear and only what we expect from a team in the middle of the Championship. Still, we are enjoying this Brian Cody meme. The backlash, oh the backlash, whenever it arrives...

Munster’s short-term thinking

Only yesterday we had a few well-deserved words of praise for the efforts of Tipperary’s Minor footballers, who won their second consecutive Munster title on Sunday. It bodes well for the future of football in the province, as does the strides made in recent years in Limerick, Clare and Waterford.

But the powers that be are still thinking with their pockets. The small crowd that attended Sunday’s senior final – just over 9,000 turned out to watch Cork and Clare in Limerick – is being used as an excuse to try and re-introduce seeding to the Munster Championship.

The Clare hurlers playing the night before was one factor in the low crowd, ticket prices of €30 was another, probably much larger, factor, but the poor turnout cannot be used to force the straight jacket of seeding back on the province.

With Cork v Kerry the big money spinner, the Munster Council want to fix it so that the big two have the best chance possible to meet in the final. It would be a disservice to the efforts of Clare, Waterford, Limerick and especially Tipperary if they bring it in. We hope common sense rules the mighty euro in this case.

We won’t hold our breath.

You call that commitment? This. Is. Commitment

Antrim’s Tomas McCann got married just before his team played, and beat, London in Round One of the Qualifiers, on June 30. But that success teed up a tie with Galway on Saturday so McCann cut his honeymoon short and was back in training on Monday in preparation for the Belfast clash.

Now lads, that’s what’s required. We wonder if the new Mrs McCann will be hoping they lose so that the newlyweds can get back to the beach?

The GAA hashtag has been hijacked

If, like us, you like to scour #GAA on Twitter you may have noticed a few people with more interest in Tom and Katie than Liam and Sam. ABC Television stateside have launched Good Afternoon America, a new show along the lines of the famous Good Morning America, only it’s a bit later in the day. Inspired.

Anyway, their hashtag is #GAA and their Twitter name is @GAA. We dearly hope they read out some Qualifier team news to the general bafflement of their US audience at some stage this week.