Bakker Bugle Blog

Anita and I went shopping this afternoon, just off Grafton Street. On the way home, a local pub, Doheny and Nesbit’s enticed us. The county flags for the two teams playing in the All-Ireland Hurling championship were flying at its front entrance.

County Kilkenny was heavily favored over County Limerick. Since we didn’t follow hurling this season, we didn’t have a strong opinion in the matter. The folks in the pub, however, did: they were plainly cheering for Limerick. So we ordered a pint of Guinness, a Jamieson and ice, and sat along the rail.

It’s amazing how much easier it is to understand a sport when you’re watching with a crowd. Their cheers and sighs were better signs of what mattered than the announcers’ drone. Hurling is an impressive sport, when you actually pay attention to it. In retrospect, we had hurling on the TV in our home, but we never gave it more than half our attention.

Kilkenny dominated Limerick. We missed the two goals that gave them a solid lead, but we saw them protect that lead for the rest of the match. It reminded me of the way that a great hockey team can make a slightly less talented team look ridiculous using defensive tactics.