The bored thread

[Cheasty]

Genres of wides.

1. The “I’m finished” wide.

2. The “yis can throw yer feckin’ hats at it” wide.

3. The “tantalising” wide, the wide you rue forever. The wide that could and probably would have changed everything had it gone over. Happens late in games, the biggest games. Bonus points if these wides happen in never to be repeated historical situations or if the person and/or team that hits the wide never gets to redeem themselves.

Examples:
Shane O’Brien of Limerick v Cork in 2024.
Aidan O’Connor of Limerick v Cork in 2024.
Conor Gleeson of Tipperary v Clare in 1997.
John Bubbles O’Dwyer of Tipperary v Kilkenny in 2014 (significant negative points for 2016 and 2019)
John Bubbles O’Dwyer of Tipperary v Galway in 2017 (negative points for 2019)

Ray Cosgrove is ineligible but is also the winner of this category of wide. Cillian O’Connor runs him close.

@Dziekanowski

Old All-Ireland finals had a lovely little tradition where a player well past his best would come on as a substitute for the team who were losing, and then hit an “I’m finished” wide, just to prove the point. Eamon Grimes’s late wide in 1980 was a classic of the genre.

@Dziekanowski

Galway’s John Tobin was another classic of the genre in 1983, I think he had two in the space of a couple of minutes. Anton O’Toole kicked a classic “yis can throw yer fuckin’ hat at it” wide at the end of the '84 final where he ballooned the ball way left into the Nally Stand - he started the game though.

The “yis can throw yer fuckin’ hat at it” wide is a another nice little All-Ireland final tradition which often overlaps with the “I’m finished” wide. Jack Sheedy had one at the end of the '92 final against Donegal. Ciaran McDonald off the ground in 1997 and Trevor Giles from a penalty in 2001 are others I can think of. Joe Canning had one from a free in the hurling final 2015 I think.

@Dziekanowski

A classic “I’m finished” wide by Michael “Hopper” McGrath there.