More college football is headed our way and Niall Carew adds his voice to the Champions League idea bandwagon.
From Notre Dame v Navy in 1996 to an exhibition between the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers the following year, our GAA HQ is no stranger to a bit of gridiron action.
And next year, after the success of the game between Notre Dame and Navy at Aviva Stadium last year, another college game is headed this way.
Today’s Irish Times reports that next year a game between Penn State and University of Central Florida will be played at Croke Park, with full details to be announced soon. Penn State are still under a cloud after the horrendous child abuse crimes committed by a former coach there named Jerry Sandusky were revealed in recent years.
Even with that stain they remain one of the country’s most popular teams and they are sure to bring a big crowd to Croker. The Aviva game last year was a sell out and the bigger capacity stadium on the northside will be hoping for a full house too.
A tidy moneyspinner for sure.
Carew calls for Champions League
Yet another person involved in inter-county football at a top level has called for a change in the Championship format.
Waterford boss Niall Carew, whose side were just put out by Galway in Salthill on Sunday, is not happy at the balance and structure of the summer showpiece.
He told today’s Irish Examiner: “I think they should nearly be split in two — club for six months and county for six months.
“You could have a Champions League format then and if you don’t want to get rid of the provinces, then maybe you can add to some of the provinces. Perhaps put the likes of Wicklow and Wexford into Munster.
“It is crazy you have to win four games to win a Leinster championship, whereas two games might be enough to win Munster.”
The Kildare man speaks a lot of sense. We’ll see if they listen on Jones’ Road.
