FOR BETTER or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish . . .
The marriage vows apply to the GAA as much as any couple when it comes to our games but it felt as though they were broken last weekend.
There was much playing away from home when it came to the NHL Division 2, 3 and 4 finals.
Last Monday, Down’s Division 2 clash with Kildare was fixed for Inniskeen, Co Monaghan.
At that stage the Division 3 and 4 showpieces still had no venue for their respective big days.
Mayo would eventually play London in Hawkfield — Kildare’s training pitch — while Louth and Fermanagh would clash in Truagh, again in Co Monaghan.
This is not a pop at any of the venues that hosted the various parties as they all did so at short notice — so much so that the Inniskeen pitch had no 65-metre lines marked out and the sideline official had to literally point out to the teams’ marksmen where to fire their 65 efforts from.
Talk about a shotgun wedding . . .
Switch to Truagh, and referee Michael Connolly had no fourth official.
Louth beat the Ernesiders 0-16 to 1-8, but it felt like no one caught the bouquet.
Fermanagh manager Joe Baldwin and his Wee County opposite number Trevor Hilliard chose to do a joint speech afterwards. They aired their grievance at the disrespect shown to both squads — players who commit as much as their celebrated counterparts in Clare, Limerick, Cork and Kilkenny.
The disrespect was appalling.
One member of the GAA’s Central Competitions Controls Committee did confirm to SunSport that more than a dozen venues could not accommodate the fixtures, but that is beside the point.
These are national finals that were reduced to a sideshow.
The Division 2 and 4 football finals were played at Croke Park on Saturday, with the Division 1 and 3 clashes on Sunday. Surely a hurling decider could have been a curtain-raiser on both days?
The Division 1A and 1B hurling deciders are headed for a sold-out Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Sunday.
Another warm-up slot here would have been ideal.
There’s no point in pontificating about growing hurling in the so-called weaker counties when the GAA then goes and damages the relationship.
Who would blame any of those players for packing their bags and divorcing from the game they so clearly love?
QUICK TURNAROUND
The richer-or-poorer vow seems apt in football country this week too, depending on your fixture list. Mayo, Roscommon, Wexford and Limerick were all in NFL final action last weekend but embark on their provincial Championship campaigns this weekend.
Kerry are off on a post-league final honeymoon in Portugal, while Dublin are already there on a warm-weather camp.
That is neither side’s fault but they can go through the motions in their provinces and get also some intense training done abroad.
The Sky Blues were absent from Monday’s Leinster SFC launch as a result, as players from the other participating counties posed with the Delaney Cup that the Dubs have been wedded to for the last 14 years.
A longer gap between league and Championship is essential and the ties the provincial tournaments have to the overall campaign must be cut too.
The Ulster Championship is full of matches made in heaven — and Connacht can be too — but Leinster and Munster need to break up.
The Dubs and the Kingdom get a free pass to the All-Ireland series, having hardly broken sweat.
Take the provincial semi-finals out of Croke Park all you want — Dublin will still be marking their 15th anniversary next month.
Give Limerick and Clare credit for keeping the football show on the road in hurling-dominated counties, but Kerry are the only diners at the south’s top table.
The only way they’ll get burnt is if they forget to pack the suncream.
