The purest most passionate sporting event I've ever attended was an inter-county hurling match in the prelims to the All Ireland Hurling Championship. It was in Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipperary, ancient home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, which has governed all Gaelic sports, including hurling, since being founded at the Hayes Hotel in Thurles (a really cool hotel/pub). It was between Tipperary and Kilkenny, two of the most storied counties in hurling.
I had been working for months with a bunch of folks at our factory in Clonmel in County Tipperary in 1996 and one of the players on the Limerick County team worked at the factory (every player, even at the highest levels, is an amateur who holds a regular job, although they do get all kinds of support where they work), so I became interested in the sport and even learned how to play
(fun sport - there are clubs everywhere at every level). The guys I worked with had an extra ticket for this inter-county qualifying match and it was, simply, amazing.
Just imagine the din of the RAC during an incredible run against a top team (or the 89 A10 final against PSU) or the atmosphere we had for the Louisville game in 2006 and multiply by 10 - not so much 10X louder at the peaks, but far louder without much of a break the whole match, with drinking and singing and cheering being off the charts. And the play on the field was incredible - it's an incredibly fast, exciting and violent game and back then there were no helmets (there are now), despite playing with a wooden hurly that is far more dangerous than a baseball bat. Someday I'd love to get a ticket to the final match in Croke Park in Dublin, but those are nearly impossible to score.
https://tipperary.com/itinerary/the-home-of-hurling/
