OVER THE years I have become increasingly irritated by the fact that the G.A.A. has been for some reason designated as the moral standard-bearers for sport within society and are judged and criticised in some areas more than other sports within the country.

When Darren Clarke gave us all such enjoyment in clinching the British Open title last year, the first image we saw post-event was the champion appearing for interview with a pint of Guinness sitting up nicely beside him. Now, anybody that knows me realises that I would have no issue whatsoever with the pint of black stuff, but my point is that if Henry Shefflin or Alan Brogan had given us the same image in the immediate post-match interviews after the All-ireland finals, there would have been hell to pay from both within and outside the organisation as to the disgraceful example which was being shown by G.A.A. players.

In my book, the Guinness sponsorship of the hurling championships, particularly during the mid-'90s, was very positive, yet there was a lot of criticism and dissatisfaction of the alliance from the media and public whereas there is very little comment on Heineken's backing of the European Rugby Cup.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe that all sports have a duty to warn its members and particularly young people of the dangers of alcohol, and in the main everyone is working hard in this area, but I feel there are double standards being applied and if there is a general feeling that alcohol and sport aren't a good fit, it should be applied across the board.

When thinking of other sports I feel the G.A.A. could do worse than have a chat with our rugby friends with regard to public relations and promotion of the game as I believe we have a lot to learn.

Since Christmas all that has come from G.A.A. headquarters is payment for managers, revenue audits and so on.

If there are issues here, get on with them and try to sort them out but don't be grinding our heads day in, day out with the same drivel.

There are a lot more issues to solve at present, such as why Cavan can't field an inter-county hurling team or how through our sports we can play a further role in helping our young people through this era of unemployment and emigration.

When I think of Presidents of the G.A.A. I think of Pat Fanning as the man who lifted the ban in 1971, and Seán Kelly as the man who opened Croke Park, but sadly more recently we have been very focused on issues that in my opinion are important but should not be given the same air time as some of the wonderful work being done by volunteers on the ground, and the need to make sure that players are being properly taken care of and given plenty of action time during the summer months. I know there is a big focus on these issues but we are not giving that impression to the public.

GOOD EYE NEEDED

The hurling season kicked off last Saturday with an experimental team losing narrowly to N.U.I.G. The selectors will be sitting down to pick a panel shortly and I suppose this is where a good eye comes in because it is very hard to judge a young hurler at this time of the year when the ground is soft and they have been inactive for a long period.

My only advice here is to leave the squad to an extent open-ended as some players are more suited to hard ground than soft (I personally liked it in between, and that's why it was so hard to judge me!). The great thing about Saturday was that it signalled the start of a new season with new hope and I look forward to focusing on our local talent over the next nine or ten months.

FAREWELL MRS. TURNER

Finally, the real heroes of the G.A.A. are not necessarily the people who take the field, and it is with this in mind that I end on a very sad note.

My greatest memories of sport go back to the period of 1977 to 1983 when I was a student in St. Peter's College (I did the Leaving Cert. twice just to make sure the outstanding results achieved weren't a fluke).

My greatest memory of playing college games was the undying loyalty of Mary Turner from Belvedere Road who, along with her husband, Billy, never missed a game whether it be in Athy, Thurles or the Moon.

She had a vested interest of course with Liam, her son, being our outstanding player, but effectively Mary adopted every one of us as her own.

Win, lose or draw, it didn't matter, she always made us feel special and when we met Mary after a game, no matter what happened before, everyone went home happy.

She also became official chef for the team and it would not be unusual for 20-plus hungry hurlers to appear in her kitchen expecting to be fed and, with a smile, Mary never let us down.

Mary Turner was one of the unsung G.A.A. heroes who gave a lot and asked for nothing in return, and any St. Peter's player of that era will never forget her, and will be forever grateful for the way she touched our lives.

Mary passed away last week and my deepest sympathies and thoughts are with Billy, Liam, Seamus, Siobhán and all the family.

Thanks for everything Mrs. Turner.

- TOM'S HURLING ANALYSIS