Last week, a large group of friends and myself travelled over to France for a week’s skiing. This was my second ever ski trip, my first one being 20 years ago.
The group travelling was quite large, with 32 of us in total. Over half of the party were regular ski-goers and quite useful on the slopes, while the rest of us were relatively, or totally, new to this type of activity.
It’s not the easiest of sports to pick up but thankfully over the course of the week, and with some guidance from the ski instructors and the experienced skiers in the group, we all improved with each passing day.
You often hear that ski holidays are great fun and this was undoubtedly the case, and as I improved as the week went on, the adrenaline buzz that I was experiencing coming down the slopes was improving with it.
I was doing it at a pace that my ability allowed, but the competitive nature of playing sport all my life certainly came to the fore and I loved every second of it.
We were lucky to be in Courchevel while the World Ski Championships were taking place. I have often watched this sport on TV but to witness it first-hand and take in the speed at which all the competitors were going downhill just blew my mind. It is simply phenomenal to witness humans exceeding 100 miles per hour to try and obtain their life goals, which I can only imagine is like a Gaelic footballer trying to win the Sam Maguire Cup or even a county title with their club.
But while these are the best and fastest skiers in the world, each time they compete, their life is put at risk as they hurtle at such a rate. One error of judgement can end in catastrophe for them.
This got me thinking about sport in general, and particularly Gaelic games. When it is played at a high tempo with players going at maximum speed and really giving their all, we often witness great spectacles.
It was a scramble for us two Sundays ago to watch Armagh’s draw with Mayo because for some unknown reason, GAAGO was not working in France. But, being from South Armagh, one of the travelling party who shall remain unnamed (BT) happened to have what is known as the ‘dodgy box app’ on his phone.
Courtesy of it, we were able to screenshare onto one of the lads’ iPads and, from that, a large group of us assembled around a table to watch a very enjoyable and entertaining game of football.
Armagh really should have had a greater advantage at half-time but Mayo and Aidan O’Shea came out in the second half and took control on the edge of the square. This happened because they moved the ball faster than they did in the first half.
Armagh, though, played their part and while they didn’t win the game, not losing is also a great habit to be in and they are starting to build a reputation of keeping playing until the final whistle and that is what we like to see. When they play at pace, we see the best in them and it’s only on rare occasions that this Armagh team fail to entertain their supporters.
All the most successful teams or athletes in the world perform at a high tempo and by doing so they get the most rewards. At times, it may be high risk, but isn’t it always better to have a go than to have any regrets afterwards?
There are some fantastic games on television this weekend with Mayo v Kerry and Derry v Meath both on Saturday.
Derry and Meath have both won their first two games and I am looking forward to seeing if Meath can continue to adapt their kicking game against a Derry team that set up with great numbers at the back and break at pace.
It’s a fact that the ball can move faster than any player can run, but to get the full rewards of this gameplan, enough Meath players have to keep high up the field to compete with a swarm of bodies around them and that is a decision manager Colm O’Rourke has got to make beforehand.
Armagh travel to Roscommon knowing that a win will put them top of the table, regardless of how other results go, so that is a great incentive for the team.
Roscommon, though, have had two fantastic wins against Tyrone and Galway and will be confident playing against an Armagh side that they have become so familiar with over the last five years.
This could possibly be the game of the weekend with both teams going for each other from the outset.
