THIRTY YEARS on and it\u2019s still the soundtrack of the GAA championship. Other television stations have secured broadcasting rights and encroached on viewership figures, but we always seem to gravitate back to The Sunday Game.<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s the warmth that radiates from presenter Michael Lyster or the energy surrounding the panelists that keeps us coming back. Or perhaps it\u2019s the eternal link to our childhood etched in the intro music. In any case, there will always be something about The Sunday Game that would make us grieve a bit if it ever left us.<\/p>\n
2016 was another dour championship overall but the flagship GAA\u00a0programme still managed to eke out some significant moments throughout their transmissions.\n<\/p>\n
Colm O\u2019Rourke and Joe Brolly deriding Tipperary Football<\/p>\n
At the outset of the football championship, it was reported that Tipperary had lost some 11 players from the previous year\u2019s panel. Work commitments, personal reasons and a preference for hurling were among the causes for the drop-off.<\/p>\n
But Liam Kearns managed to orchestrate a Tipperary charge that would not only exceed expectations, but obliterate them. It started with an upset against Cork and ended with a respectable defeat to Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final. You can throw in an emphatic All-Ireland quarter-final win over Galway in there as well, just to illustrate the strength of their achievement.<\/p>\n
Source: MuscularChristianity\/YouTube<\/p>\n
But at half-time in the Munster final against Kerry, Joe Brolly and Colm O\u2019Rourke were already planning Tipperary\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n
Amidst the sniggering, Colm O\u2019Rourke managed to blurt out:<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s not a proper championship match in the context of say a Donegal v Monaghan game where every ball was fought for.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nOmissions on the Team of the Year<\/p>\n
Two notable exclusions from The Sunday Game Team of the Year sparked division online.<\/p>\n
Of course social media should never be perceived as the most accurate way of gauging the general consensus, but conducting surveys everyday is a strain on resources so it will have to do.<\/p>\n
After the team was announced, the irksome reaction on Twitter focused on the absence of Tyrone\u2019s Peter Harte and Ryan McHugh of Donegal from the final cut.<\/p>\n
Joe Brolly\u2019s strange obsession with Mayo<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t necessarily a moment, rather a sequence of incidents which revolve around Joe Brolly\u2019s peculiar interest in Mayo. His\u00a0Sunday Independent\u00a0<\/em>columns tend to contain offensive references to Mayo football but his actions as a Sunday Game pundit sometimes expose a side of him that is longing for Mayo to win the All-Ireland.<\/p>\n
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On the day of the drawn All-Ireland final, Brolly produced a Mayo jersey and vowed to wear it if Mayo won the game. In explaining his inspiration for the gesture, Brolly told this heartwarming story.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ll tell you a story. A beautiful young girl \u2013 Laura Donnellan \u2013 before she died of cystic fibrosis, she asked me \u2018I want you to do something for me\u2019. She had very little time to live.\u00a0She said \u2018Look, if Mayo win the All-Ireland, I want you to wear the Mayo jersey in the Sunday Game studio after the final whistle\u2019.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\u201cHer mother reminded me during the week. She said \u2018I hope you\u2019ll be faithful to your promise to my daughter. She\u2019ll be watching down\u2019.\u00a0The Mayo board actually sent me the jersey \u2013 the number 13 which I will wear. It gives you an idea of how important it is and how special it is to everyone in Mayo. The team are bound to understand that this is the time and it\u2019s more than just a medal and more than just a cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
When picking his GAA moment of the year after Dublin finally settled the tie, Brolly paid tribute to another Mayo person \u2013 this time Shane Halligan, the Mayo kitman. Halligan was close to death last year, before being rescued by a lung transplant. Brolly\u2019s own personal history with organ donation is well documented and he told the studio that he visits Halligan every time Mayo are in Croke Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat transformation from death to life I think it\u2019s something very special. Gaelic football in the end is something that\u2019s just fun for us but that\u2019s serious business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marty Morrisey\u2019s stirring speech ahead of the All-Ireland Hurling Final<\/p>\n
All-Ireland final day is perhaps one of the few occasions when the Irish diaspora feel closest to home. And when commentators read out the names of those watching\/listening from all pockets of the world, the distance shortens a little bit more because no matter where you are in the world, we\u2019re all following the same game together.<\/p>\n
Marty Morrissey\u2019s speech ahead of this year\u2019s hurling All-Ireland final had a unifying effect on us all.<\/p>\n
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\n Source: \/Streamable<\/p>\n<\/p>\nPat Spillane advertising his coaching services\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a bizarre moment during a Sunday Game highlights show in June when Pat Spillane put his name forward for inter-county management.<\/p>\n
He begins by verbally laying out his credentials for management before declaring that Cork\u2019s current slump could be revitalised by the assistance of an outside manager.<\/p>\n
But he doesn\u2019t quite take the significant step to directly advertise himself for the job.<\/p>\n
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