My favorite sport, the one I have been interested in the longest, is hockey. I love to watch people play. I love to play it myself (or at least mess around with a stick and puck).

Heck, I even draw a comic about hockey. (Shameless plug!)

So it was with great sadness that I found out that the 2012-13 season was in jeopardy as the National Hockey League’s player’s union and its team owners battled it out over how much the players were played. The talks degenerated quickly and the players have been “locked out” of their paid playing opportunities since early in the fall.  Since then more than half the season has been canceled. The truly exciting “Winter Classic” was canceled.

And fans? They’re angry and frustrated.

Even the NHL Network has pretty much given up. Now it’s broadcasting games from the Canadian Hockey League.

And despite occasional bursts of activity, things look quite dismal for the remainder of the season, the playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals.

But then yesterday a Canadian politician officially offered up a great alternative: Award the Stanley Cup to the top amateur hockey team.

Sounds a lot like the way the Gaelic Athletic Association operates.  Unlike so many other premiere sports leagues around the world, the GAA doesn’t pay its athletes. In fact, it strictly forbids it. Yet every year, it fills massive stadiums in Ireland for its games of hurling and gaelic football. And across the world, more and more teams are springing up for these games every year.

But instead of letting the best players go to the highest bidder — as they do in virtually every other team sport in the world — the players of hurling and gaelic football fight it out on the pitch for community pride. It’s true. Players aren’t allowed to join any club they want, instead they can only play for the team that’s affiliated with their birthplace.

So, if such a policy were enacted for America’s National Football League, then players born in Pennsylvania would only be allowed to play for the Steelers or the Eagles. Even then, there would probably be some sort of imaginary line splitting Pennsylvania in half to designate boundaries on who goes where.

But I digress.

The point here is the Canadian politician offers an excellent option for the Stanley Cup, and there’s even a few good reasons why it should happen:

• The Stanley Cup was originally meant to awarded to the top amateur team in hockey. Not the professionals, but the guys who had to hold down a day job.
• The Stanley Cup is not controlled by the NHL. It is governed by independent trustees who can award it at their discretion.
• Quite frankly, the NHL and the player’s union need to get the message that the sport of hockey can go on without them.

Further, the fans of the sport could be well served by a wake-up call of their own.  Just like the GAA does, the Stanley Cup organization could foster a wave of hometown pride as amateur hockey clubs from across the U.S. and Canada battle it out in a March Madness-style tournament to get their name on the cup.

And the day after these amateur players hoist up the cup? They go back to their jobs and a chorus of “atta boys!”

That’s exactly what happens in the GAA, and it is a spectacular celebration of sportsmanship.

 

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Joe.ie, a “man’s stuff” website from the Emerald Isle, posted a story this week about a County Wexford, Ireland, hurling club that went the extra mile.

Well, not the extra mile, but the “extra time” by hosting a game that lasted 24 hours. The guys should be doubly proud of themselves, since they also managed to nab a spot in the upcoming Guinness Book of World Records for their feat of sportsmanship

According to the article, the game included 46 players and ended with a score of 217-324  to 220-286. That all adds up to a match with 975 points scored by the winning team and 946 for the losers.

If you think your goalkeepers are moody, just imagine how awful those goalkeepers felt after a game like that.

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Two Japanese firms that actually share the same name have teamed up to do something unthinkable. They created a robotic goalkeeper.

Well, that isn’t terribly unthinkable, I suppose, but the fact that they made it out of a toilet is a little unfathomable.

The device is actually kind of ingenious. When a player kicks the ball, the SGTK (an acronym for Super Great Toilet Keeper) gauges the speed and distance of the incoming object and then fires its own ball out of the toilet basin. That ball follows an intercept path to deflect the soccer ball away from the goal.

In the video, it’s an impressive set up that’s sure to get a plumber’s heart racing.

Now of course, this is kind of a joke project, something done for fun to have a laugh. The company that made this also created a toilet-styled motorcycle, after all.

And although the limber loo seems unstoppable,  its not hard to spot see some of its football flaws.

• The ball-launching john has to be reloaded, so it can’t stop follow up shots that have been recovered from a rebound.
• It appears to be only able to defend when the ball is launched from the white circle on the field. That’s like saying you always have to stand directly in front of the commode when you wee. It’s no fun if you can’t test your accuracy from different angles and distances!
• The SGTK may not be able to block a shot that flies in extremely close to the device. Although perhaps it would just rotate with its lid up and use that to block.
• I also wonder how it might handle a ball that’s bouncing. Could it calculate the erratic nature of a ball that’s skipping along and losing velocity?
• It doesn’t have any ability to recover the soccer ball and pass it to one of its non-commode teammates.

Despite all those issues, I can’t help but wonder how such a device might be useable for hurling or gaelic football.

Just think, it could:

• Operate as a goalkeeper when none can be found, after all, no one really wants to be a goaltender.
• Serve during practices and drills to help players develop their goal-scoring shots. They just need to remember to put the seat down when they’re done.
• Save valuable game time by having a throne right on the field. (No more racing to the Port-A-Potty near the concession stand!)

Of course an SGTK would have to be entirely reconfigured to be used in a hurling setting. Hurling balls are much smaller, of course, but they also move a lot faster than a soccer ball. Maybe the SGTK could fire out a Frisbee-sized disc instead of a ball? Even better, have it fire a urinal cake — it would intercept the sliotar AND leave the field smelling fresh.

And converting the SGTK to gaelic football? No problem since it’s functions wouldn’t be that much different than it is in a soccer setting.

Even the cost is relatively club friendly. You can get one built for 600,000 yen, which is a little less than $8,000.

But then the question lingers — like the funk of Mexican meal on the way out — is $8,000 too much for a goal keeper or would we be flushing our money away?

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As the Minors Hurling match was closing down, the stands at Croke Park began to fill up as all of Ireland settled in to watch the 2012 All-Ireland Seniors match between Galway and Kilkenny.

In the minors match, the stadium in Dublin had only filled to about one-quarter of its capacity. But by the end of that game, which leads directly into the seniors match, the crowd had blossomed to more than 80,000.

As the seniors game broadcasters and analysts hit the field, the crowd proved too noisy for them to even hear well, as they started to clutch their headphones to hear one another.

Before the start of the game, their was a short pregame show featuring a procession of the two senior teams, flags from every county in Ireland. The most amusing sight was two balloons that carried massive flags for County Galway and County Kilkenny.

After theatrics with the flags, the hurling teams assembled on the field for a minute of silence — but I didn’t hear for what. After that rather noisy minute, the game commenced.

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I signed up for the UStream broadcast of the hurling finals out of Croke Park in Ireland. Since I’m in the U.S. and no U.S. broadcaster has offered a hurling match in years, watching the games it via pay-per-view was the only way possible.

After I entered my credit card information and activated the player, the game popped on the screen. The first game on the bill was the “Minors” match featuring teams from Dublin and County Tipperary. Minors play is for any player under the age of 21, and is sometimes called “U21.”

The game ended up freezing on my computer a lot early on as I had it in “Best” mode, but that was too much for my DSL connection to take. Eventually, I switched it down to “Low,” which is at the 240 setting. From there, I got great audio, but the images were blocky. That made it tough to follow the sliotar, which is smaller than American baseball. The game locked up completely on a regular basis in “Best” mode, which made for some frustrating viewing — especially since I missed several point scores.

Eventually, I scaled up the streaming level to 360p and then 480p. Just one level below “Best” mode, the 480p locked up a bit here and there, but ultimately served me well.

Watching the game, the skill level was impressive, and better than any play I’ve seen in the U.S. It turned out to be a great game that was only dampened by the fact that it ended in draw.

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As the various North American Gaelic Athletic Association champions celebrate their wins last weekend, the rest of the Irish-friendly world is turning its eyes to Dublin’s legendary Croke Park where the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships are set to be played on Sunday.

Where the North American games in Philly were played by enthusiasts of the game of hurling, Sunday’s match is all about the best teams in the entire world, not just the best in the U.S. and Canada.

This year’s match pits perennial favorite County Kilkenny against the County Galway team lead by Joe Canning.

Personally, I’m rooting for Galway in this match, but it seems that Kilkenny has the edge in this “Super Bowl of Hurling.” You can read some previews and news on the games here, here and here.

WHERE TO WATCH

For the Irish stuck here in America and American fans of the game, Sunday’s Galway v. Kilkenny match will be tough to find. As usual, the game broadcast is being kept under strict control.

Most American fans will zip out to a local Irish pub or sports bar that has decided to foot the bill for the broadcast. You can check out the venues available in your area by going here.

For those of us who don’t have a nearby GAA-friendly establishment. There is another option — and honestly it isn’t too expensive assuming you have a computer with a super-speedy connection. For about $30 (plus taxes and fees), you can watch the game here.

I haven’t actually tried watching any of the games this way, so buyer beware.

WHEN TO WATCH

Here’s a schedule for the upcoming games (for hurling and men’s gaelic football) and their associated talk shows. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

• 8:15am — GAA Minor Football Championship Final: Meath vs Dublin
• 10:30am –  GAA Senior Football Championship Final: Donegal vs Mayo
• 4:30pm –  The Sunday Game – GAA Match Highlights and Discussion

 

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