The 2008 season is only just receding in the rearview mirror but before we’ve had a proper chance to ruminate on those if-only-we’d-done-this or maybe-if-we’d-done-that turning points from the year’s football that’s just completed, we’re already faced with the prospect of the first salvo about to be fired in the 2009 campaign. This is in the form of the championship draw for next year which takes place live on RTE 2 this Wednesday, with the throw-in set for 7.30pm.
Why the powers-that-be want to saddle us with this kind of knowledge over seven months before the action gets going early next summer is quite beyond me. It’s even odder that the draw for the coming year’s championship always (well in recent years anyway) seems to see the light of day before the next year’s league fixtures are published.
At least the draw itself shouldn’t be as bad as those godawful two and three hours of total and utter nonsense that precede the Champions League draws but I see that RTE have allocated a full hour to it and I also suspect that that inarticulate eejit, Des Cahill, might feature strongly in the proceedings so the faint-hearted amongst you might end up bolting for Fair City or some such other offering on an alternative channel before Des um-ah lets us ah-um know who the um-ah fuck we’re paired with ah-um in 2009.
We know who we’re opening our 2009 campaign against, of course, and Johnno is no doubt already practising his this-is-going-to-be-a-hard-one-for-us lines ahead of the trip to the Big Apple in early May. The real interest for us is who we draw in the round after that, with Galway in Salthill once again a possibility. That’s not the kind of draw that I’d like to see us having to ruminate on for several months and I don’t suspect that The Deputy would be over the moon if it happened either. Don’t forget to tune in on Wednesday evening to see which way the chips for 2009 fall for us.
Galway in Salthill is what I want. Beating Leitrim or Ross in castlebar is no good to anyone. A result either way in salthill could be beneficial to us either in the long term or short term( if ya know what I mean!!). Its the type of game we need to win as an indicator of any type of progress. I cant ever remember us winning a game there. Our boys have hidden behind excuses for too long now. Its time to stand up and be counted. The minors have shown the way…the seniors must follow 🙂 Some logic I know!!
You could have a point there, Ted. If we’re ever going to compete again at the top level, we have to start winning tough games and, as Connacht goes, Galway in Salthill is as tough as it gets. It’s one of my least favourite venues but a win there would certainly show that we’re making progress.