It's not often that GAA gets a look-in here in the boggersphere. Admittedly, this may not be of much interest to many bloggers but here goes ...

They may not know it, but what has transpired in the past week or so has just been what the GAA needed. At last the opportunity to make a film about the game of hurling has arrived – I'd call it "The Wrath of Loughnane". It has ultimately become a criminal matter with Ger Loughnane being reported for imagining that he shot a priest. It's grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecendented. It's Clare hurling.

If I was casting director for "The Wrath of Loughnane", I'd have Loughnane played by a snarling Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe as Anthony Daly and Fr Dick Doyle play Fr Harry Bohan.

Although he says he isn't, it's clear that Loughnane is extremely annoyed at losing out on an award that went to Fr. Harry Bohan, his arch-nemesis. Loughnane implied that Bohan was "hurling-wise, ... the greatest failure ever in the history of Clare". He goes on to also imply that Fr. Bohan was "insanely jealous of Clare's success." Bohan was manager of the Clare team in the late 70s when it was widely perceived that that Clare team, which included Ger Loughnane, left at least one All-Ireland after them.

To let off some steam, Loughnane telephoned the County Board Chairman Michael McDonagh to make known his displeasure about the awards. He said he used colourful terms to describe his annoyance (this can be most definitely read as fucking him out of it from a height). Loughnane made the call on speakerphone and forgot to hang up properly. He then called his friend Colum Flynn on his mobile, the team doctor who was being accused of all sorts by the team management at the time, to console him. He did so by detailing how he'd imagined shooting a certain person's head (Fr. Bohan his arch enemy) that was on top of an oil can while out hunting.

Heavy breathing emanating from the speakerphone alerted Loughnane to the fact that he failed to terminate the call to McDonagh who happens to be a Garda. Unbelievably, McDonagh reported the matter to the Gardai.

Loughnane believes he has been shafted by the Clare Champion who were also involved with the awards. Five years previously, Loughnane refused permission for them to serialise his book. Interestingly, Loughnane's book sold over 43,000 copies while Davy Fitzgerald and Mike Mc's books didn't sell 13,000 between them. The Champion gave lots of coverage to their books but barely mentioned Loughnane's.

It is widely considered to be true that Clare would not have won anything but for Loughnane. His contribution to hurling dwarfs anything done by any other person in the county. His legendary status is beyond rebuke. He was the first Clare player to have won an All-Star in the 70s and were he to have been born 20 miles to the east, he would have certainly won medals with Limerick.

Further proof of the idiocy of these awards is that they decided to also snub the second greatest man in Clare's recent GAA past, John Maughan.

There were so many other elements to this: the Ger Hartman (who works with world class athletes) take on Clare's poor physical condition; Anthony Daly's taking a wide berth; Loughnane not talking to Mike Mc; not seeing eye to eye with Davy Fitzgerald; Loughnane's own son getting an award from the County Board; the snubbing of Tony Considine; the traitor in the Jimmy Cooney affair (match where Cooney blew up 3 minutes too soon and the following sit down protest by Offaly fans); and the explosive interview with Clare FM last Friday.

Published by Colm.