I am so desperate for sports on a Sunday I agreed to go to a pub with my Irish friend and watch Hurling.
Do any of you have any idea what Hurling is? Well let me give you a brief intro to this very odd combination of lacrosse, field hockey, and soccer.
It is an outdoor team played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national sport of Ireland.
The object of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley, to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points. The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than three steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession.
Is this crazy enough yet? No, do worry there is more...
Side-to-side shouldering is allowed but body checking or shoulder-charging is illegal. No protective padding is worn by players. A plastic protective helmet with faceguard is required. All the positions wear the same number and the jerseys do not have the players names on them.
So after being trapped in the elevator I went to the pub to watch my crazy Irish friend cheer half in English hald in Irish at Tipperay played Cork. Thank God Tipperary won because I am pretty sure my firend would have keeled over if they had lost.
Honestly I really enjoyed sitting in a bar on a Sunday watching men play a stupid game, next week she is getting stuck watching me watch the Yankees.
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