You have two options when it comes to getting back to Cork from Limerick after a Heineken Cup tie. You can make a mad dash for the car and hope to beat the traffic, or you can take your time, have a sandwich and drink, let the traffic clear and then mosey on home. Option two costs about ninety minutes in time but it is far less stressful.
Last Saturday, while we were waiting for the traffic to clear, I became aware of a huge presence walking along side me. I did not look at this tall, broad figure at first, but when I did, I immediately recognised him as the former Munster Rugby star Anthony Foley. The entire encounter lasted about five seconds.
The only reason I would recognise somebody like Anthony Foley is that I have seen him play both live and on television and I have seen his picture in the newspapers.
Speaking of newspapers, I had read earlier in the day that Kilkenny forward Eddie Brennan had retired from inter-county hurling.
It was a co-incidence that I should spot Anthony Foley not long after reading about Eddie Brennan. They would are major Irish sporting figures of the first decade of the 21st century. Both are now retired; both had long and very successful careers, and their names are well known to the average sports fan. But there is one obvious difference between the two as ambassadors of their sport.
Just like Anthony Foley, I have also seen Eddie Brennan play both live and on television, I have seen his picture on the papers lots of times too. Yet, if he walked up to me and shook my hand, (I doubt if he would want to do that anyway) I would not have the slightest clue as to who he was. Why? Because I have rarely seen Eddie Brennan when he is not wearing a hurling helmet and a faceguard.
Sure, when Eddie Brennan is out on the field, I would recognise his green helmet and his gait. He was always, busy and quick and had slightly rounded shoulders. But if he was walking down the street I, like most of the rest of the GAA world, would be unlikely to recognise him.
There are many threats to the game of hurling at present. Modern lifestyle, the amount of equipment required and the dominance of a small number of counties, which makes it hard for other counties to be successful, are all major challenges to hurling. The biggest problem however is that since the introduction of the faceguard on the hurling helmet, virtually all the stars of the game are anonymous outside their own counties.
Last season another Kilkenny player Michael Kavanagh also retired from inter-county hurling. Eddie Brennan and Michael Kavanagh have 15 senior All-Ireland winners’ medals between them. In terms of honours won (we won’t get into ranking them according to hurling ability), they are more or less the modern equivalent of Christy Ring and John Doyle who finished with 16 medals between them. Even though both Ring and Doyle were in their heyday as hurlers when radio was the prime medium of sports broadcasting, they were instantly recognisable figures, whereas the faces of Michael Kavanagh and Eddie Brennan remain relatively unknown in this modern era of television and Internet.
Can you imagine any other sport or business marketing its greatest assets like hurlers are marketed in 2012? Supposing chocolate bars were wrapped only in foil wrappers. Do you think that would improve the image of chocolate? Yet it is hard to recognise most of the countries best hurlers because when we see them on television, because they are generally ‘wrapped’ in their anonymous faceguard and helmet. It is only common sense that players should protect their heads when they are playing, so other ways to get over this “lack of identity” problem will have to be found.
American Football and ice hockey are other sports where players are expected to wear helmets. What generally happens in these sports is that every opportunity is taken to ensure that the crowd sees each player’s face. When the teams are introduced each player is portrayed on the big screen. In the programmes each player has a head and shoulders photo along side his pen picture. There are also special features or interviews with players in each match programme.
Most ice hockey helmets now have is a visor instead of the criss-cross wire faceguard. This allows the players face to be clearly seen in photographs. This might be a way forward for hurling. It certainly would make for easier recognition of players over time.
Not all ice hockey players like to have their faces on show. Ice hockey goalkeepers may take a lot of beatings during games, but you will never know if they are nervous because they wear the most ridiculous facemasks. These masks feature every thing from an open mouth of a shark to the face of Freddy Krueger, the villain of the film “Nightmare on Elm Street”.
(Imagine Joe Canning of Galway lining up to take a 20-metre free next summer against Offaly or Wexford in the Leinster Hurling Championship, and the three players on the goal line are wearing Freddy Krueger masks. Somehow I doubt if that would make any difference to the speed of the sliotar as it whistles past the defender’s ears and rattle the net.)
But I’m drifting from the point; that it is good for the game of hurling to have its best players instantly recognised by the majority of the public.
Since the introduction of the faceguard to the hurling helmet however, you could be standing, waiting to meet someone in Kilkenny City and you will never know whether the chap who walks by is the eight-time All-Ireland medal winner Eddie Brennan or a sub from the Graigue –Ballycallan junior hurling team. Every time this happens, be it Kilkenny, Cork, Dublin, Galway or anywhere else, an important opportunity to keep hurling at forefront of sporting public’s minds is lost.