The fact the All Blacks are rotten has convinced me. Watched a match of theirs in the summer where their forwards refused to carry the ball up against the Boks. Flinging the ball around to avoid contact. Hard to eradicate that and the WC is always attritional.
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They were absolutely robbed by that preening cunt of an Irish ref who handed the WC to the all blacks in front of the home crowd.
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The weird thing about the bar at the Hill is that itâs nearly always handy to get a quick pint 20 minutes before the start of a game.
Queueing for anything at half time is a mugâs game though.
I think I ended up on the wrong side of the fence on the Hill that day, ie. the Cusack side.
I could write a book on the four matches in 1991. I actually ended up reciting the whole story of it to my Mam (who has no interest in sport apart from a fair weather liking for Wimbledon tennis) on Saturday night last after she for once successfully told me to get off the internet.
Fact: I started coming down with chicken pox sitting in the old Cusack Stand upper during the second half of Game 2.
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Where is your spot on Hill 16?
In my opinion there is only one place to watch a match in Croke Park and thatâs in the centre of the Hogan Stand Lower Tier but if i was on The Hill i probably would prefer that corner over by the Cusack.
On the new Hill 16 usually on the goal side of the fence, up towards the back. Occasionally you have to wait until half time to pick your spot though. For both the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final and the 2019 All-Ireland replay I was down the front behind the screens as I insisted on a quick pre-match pint down below, before finding my favourite vantage point for the second half.
I was much more central for Sean OâSheaâs point this year but picked my favourite spot for the hurling final. These are my only two visits to Hill 16 since 2019. Who knows if Iâll ever be there again. For non-Dublin matches Hill 16 is no longer a place for anybody above 23 years of age.
I was a regular on a particular spot on the South Terrace at Lansdowne Road back in the day, as long as the bucket seats werenât there. Always the far top corner.
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Dont worry, you will be back.
This too shall pass 
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Please God. I had a genuine feeling of excitement returning to Croke Park on those two Sundays. It felt wonderful. It felt valuable. It felt like a privilege at the time. It felt like something being restored, even if it didnât have the September air. It felt like freedom, something filled with heaving humanity and human potential. When I got off the bus at Heuston Station around 11:45am the day of Kerry v Dublin, I went in to pay a penny and arrived into the station at the exact same time as a train load of Kerry people were slowly filing their way down Platform 2 and through the station, waiting to descend on the big smoke. You could feel the air of expectancy amongst them. A meaningless coincidence but yet filled with a deeper meaning personal to me. I was arriving arriving from Galway to support Dublin, they were arriving from Kerry at the same time. These little pieces of circumstance are what make life meaningful. Good sight is a gift from the Gods. It lets you experience human existence, human being, to absorb it in its mundane yet beautiful glory, to feel part of something. When itâs under serious threat, the ability to experience the glorious mundanities of life is under threat too, and thus your entire life feels under threat.
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In recent years i generally go to Dublin the night before but you are right, there is a real earthiness to arriving up from the country the morning of the game. The train, the morning of a big builds a togetherness and siege mentality amongst supporters.
You are only a relatively short time into your eyesight difficulties. I can imagine every day feels like a week, but trust me there is a way out. Remember there are loads of people in Ireland with eyesight issues who are still leading full lives. I would advise you to try make contact with some of them. I may be able to point you in the direction of one of them if youâd like.
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As an experienced steward around croke park on half of fame games, get into the Hill early doors if you want to pick your spot. You are not jumping that middle barrier regardless of what excuse you have.
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A level of insight only an experienced steward would have
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Glad to see youâre well-ish and not splattrered brother, youâre a big talent with a big range. Lads donât pay for papers cos of you.
Watch Corrales/Castillo if ya want to see things change quick. Or Michael Gomez v Alex Arthur for an underdog story. Or Mitchell v John Murray for an all on the line deliverance, Mitchell/ Linares for heartbreak, Mitchell/Katsidas for embarrassment and disgrace, Katsidas v Graham Earl for shit matchmaking.
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Classic TFK
Who were you supporting you Dublin bollox?
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Haha, they turned on Beautiful day there about a minute after your man went down. They forgot to turn it on definitely.
This team has failed to pass the halfway line with a quarter of the game played.
The only times was the kick offs.
When the ball was in the air. That last phase has been the first time weâve possessed the ball in the NZ half.
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And thatâs where that got themâŚ
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Hard to pick anyone thatâs improved their case here, a few players after playing their way out of contention.