h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yesterday was the peak occasion in the calendar for most people living in Ireland's "deep south", the all-Ireland Hurling Final.

Hurling is a game similar to field hockey except for the fact that there are no rules worth talking about. You can catch the ball, hit your opposing player,  run with the ball over long lengths of the pitch, and even hitting the ball over the crossbar will give a team valuable points. It is also a very fast and skillful game, players need mental agility in as much measure as physical ability.

In other words it is possibly the least boring game on the planet - Period.

Anyway, the encounter this year was between Cork and Kilkenny. Both teams fought very hard in particularly atrocious conditions, and it ended up with Cork beating Kilkenny by 16 points to 15 points (that's quite a low scoring game).

I am disappointed about the score, being from Kilkenny myself, but it was an exceedingly enjoyable game and I'm looking forward already to the next year's championship.

I always considered hurling a very dangerous game, with that hard ball flying everywhere, however though I do not think it the most exciting game on the planet, it does hold a mild interest when watching it from the safety of being behind a television set. Not keeping up with these things, however, I was wondering when the new season starts so I can get home to catch a game or two?

Yes, I understand that it can look like a very dangerous game, but in fact the serious injury rate in the game is quite low compared to similar sports. It is a very tough, physical sport but to be any good at all you need good balance and coordination, and as a result most of the top players are very skillful individuals. (I am talking from experience as I am totally uncoordinated and have not yet got the hang of differentiating my left from my right). The hurley stick is a lot lighter than the hockey stick, and there is also a fairly good understanding by most players of the game that it is a bloody dangerous instrument if used incorrectly, so maimings and decapitations are generally avoided .

I think the championship will begin again in April or May.

Thanks for the information about the championship, I should be able to make it back over after my university year. It seems to be quite a short season, if it just runs from may to august or are there other county competitions earlier?

As for the lethality of the sport, surely it is a bloody dangerous instrument if it IS used correctly ? With that reference to hockey, does that mean you have seen my site? I do play the sport and I am currently trying to get into the university team. It was never so much the players or the sticks that I was worried about but more the speed and hardness of the ball, particularly as it flies at head height. At least with hockey the ball rarely leaves the ground, so you should be fairly safe (apart from the odd broken ankle) if you don't play in defence.

For particularly viscious sports I do suspect that Gaelic football beats hurling hands down, though Aussie Rules football seems to be carrying on in a similar tradition. Ice hockey also seems pretty hard but those wimps wear padding .

There is the hurling league and it starts during the winter months (about now actually) and goes on until early summer. There are also the club championships. These games are usually only for the real enthusiast though, and advisable only if you are used to getting frozen and soaked.

I have only played hockey once or twice, and even then it was a long time ago. I couldn't quite get over the number of rules involved! There seemed to be a rule against all the fun things you can do in hurling , like raising the ball into the air, kicking it, catching it, getting a point for scoring over the bar, making a swing on the ball over shoulder height, and delivering a body charge to the opposing player, etc.

I think the hurley ball is a lot softer than a hockey ball (I am talking relatively here - it's NOT a beach ball!!!), but I have never seen anyone been stretchered off because of a belt to the head by the ball. Again it comes down to skill, mostly. To be any good at hurling it takes a lot of practice and hand-to-eye coordination, and most players are able to stop a flying ball down with their sticks, or by catching it with their hand.

That said, I wimped out many years ago when my total lack of coordination started to make me, ahem, "vulnerable to serious physical injury".

What you say about Gaelic Football is true. Its only a game for bad hurlers.

CR

I agree with the sentiment about taking all the fun out of hockey with lots of rules, but they have relaxed some of them more recently. For example, you can now flick the ball into the air more often, just so long as it doesn't go anywhere near another person. The stick can also be raised higher and if you hit anyone as a result it appears to be their fault for getting in the way, this is a particularly viscious rule and I agree wholeheartedly with it, mainly because I am not a defender so I rarely come on the receiving end of such things . The offside rule has gone out the window and this opens up much more space on the field than you get with soccer for example, and it makes the game even quicker. I am not sure about all the rule changes as I only took up the game a couple of years ago and haven't bothered to get a rule book yet.

As for hurling, I think that I would probably come under the category of "vulnerable to serious physical injury" as my hand-eye coordination was never really the best . I think I'll leave the sport to the experts and stay behind that safe television set I mentioned earlier.

A wise decision! The sooner they come up with virtual hurling the better!

Maybe a suggestion to Microsoft or Apple might be an idea, I think they have branches in Ireland, though whether they could figure out how to program the thing is another matter.

Virtual Hurling is a good idea, one can just sit at home and, through the medium of a computer, not only have fun, but deal untold damage to all those Cork players that unjustly robbed the title from you .

Revenge is a wonderful thing.

Unless, of course, you live there.

In that case you can *attempt* to emulate your team.

I have got some friends living in Cork so I don't exactly hate the side.

In fact I went on a sailing course there a couple of years ago.

Funny the things you can find out on the web.