September '04 There exists in the Mayo of today a vast constituency of football followers who have never journeyed west along the N4 in preparation for the home-coming of Sam Maguire. To be precise, any adult under the age of fifty three years is at a loss to know what it really must feel like. I know a little about their plight for I am numbered among them-I am one of the lost soldiers. We have spent half a century and more of deep frustration on the Plains of Sweet Mayo and as each year passes the movement grows. Down south in Kerry their followers will call for a Tribunal of Inquiry should a teenager wander around the streets of Killarney protesting about a rite of passage denied. There was a period of crisis pre 1997 when the young folk of the Kingdom had but video pictures of All Ireland final wins and home-comings to paint the scene. And when they were liberated who would suffer in their quest for freedom? Yes, you've guessed-the long suffering sons and daughter of Mayo! The car meanders slowly towards the Roscommon border as I finish a weekend trip home. And there it is. 'We'll Suffer No More' yells a defiant poster from a shop window. 'Keep The Faith' another cries. But you know, deep down, life as a Mayo follower was never meant to be so simple. Yet the defeats of the last five decades will surely add to the sweet taste of ultimate success when/if the cup heads to Connaught. A win would hardly be a surprise for while we are underdogs, nobody can argue a cogent case for our outright dismissal. As a harmless exercise I reviewed the last twenty All Ireland football finals and one fact screams from the jottings on my page-the majority of matches are won by three points or less. Chances are then it will be another tight finish and as ever, the goal must be to be there or thereabouts with fifteen minutes to go. These major finals are not won in the opening minutes as both teams go about sorting each other out and trying to establish the right to play for the second half. Expect the 2004 football final to follow that pattern. But back to the agony for a little while more. 1997 was a bus we never jumped on. As a county we travelled in great confidence, buoyed by the excellence of the semi-final victory over the men from Offaly and mindful of the hammering we had dished out to the mighty Kingdom some twelve months earlier. I cannot say why we allowed it grow to complacency but we did-players, management and supporters. In the lead up to the final I went surfing on the internet for a pair of concert tickets for Supertramp-a band from my youth had decided to play in the Point Depot on the night we would finally win Sam. I thought it prudent to attend with my sister so that we might get back to the Burlington close to midnight and enjoy the cosy feeling of victory as mayhem (mayohem?) broke out all around us. Alas and alack, I went to bed by the first hour-no desire to mix and mingle among the dead. See, winning is everything. Lombardi tells us that is why they keep scores. And deep down you know he is correct-a bottle of gin, a half dozen of tonic, two lemons and a bucket of ice will help you sleep but you still awake up to the sobering reality. This year we are saying things are different and on the surface this appears to be true. For the first time since 1951 we have three of the best dozen forwards in this country wearing Mayo shirts. And our management team is the most experienced left in the championships. For instance, John Maughan has nearly always presented a fit, sharp and focussed team for big match Sundays. It is his greatest gift-the ability to fine-tune a squad physically so that they arrive in Croke Park ready for the guaranteed heat of championship clashes. Liam McHale has seen it all before and will have an unrivalled store of data when he sits down to value each contribution. His sideline calmness is there for all to see and this is a vital ingredient when the final quarter plays out. Mr. Golden plays the role of the strict father, watching on to ensure they stick to the agreed plan, that players are functioning as they had hoped and where action is needed making sure we get it. I am very impressed with what I hear and witness and can safely say no stone will be left unturned in team preparation. You could argue that Kerry are the more naturally gifted team and you might well win that proposition. Yet one cannot avoid the facts that emerge alongside this positive opening-Kerry lack real pace in some key positions and are now employing their fourth choice full back. They have suffered the loss of a key primary ball winning midfielder and their recent experiences in Croke Park have kept the jury out. And Seamus Moynihan, the man for all seasons is in sick bay. The Kingdom remains supremely confident of victory and good luck to them. Their tradition and number of titles won allow them bragging rights but they might do well to glance at my research and the close nature of these finals. In an ironic twist, the loss of Dara O'Se will most likely see Eoin Brosnan go to midfield and he will present immediate problems to Mayo. MF Russell got his start after looking out of the picture and his form is good. Gooch is flying and Tomas O'Se, though a defender will need to be marked with all the focus a corner back might muster when facing a dangerous corner man. But I feel our players are as fundamentally sound as their counterparts and if we don't have the same number of stand out performers as Kerry, the hope is the sum of the parts will outdo the individual efforts. It often happens that one or two players, unknown for acts of scoring, class or courage, will emerge on the day. They always seem to do so in an All Ireland final because they are aroused to perform on this greatest day of their sporting lives and may never again repeat the excellence of that effort. We live in hope then. Despite the evidence accruing to date about the might of this Kerry team nobody has successfully argued their ability to win a really big test so far. Okay, they beat Limerick, Dublin and Derry to get here but I don't see any Tyrone type fence on that list. On the evidence of the Fermanagh game it is true we surpassed ourselves against Tyrone. But we did surpass ourselves. It will take another suchlike performance to bring Sam home. And who is to say it is not in us? While thirty one counties might wish to see Mayo finally win an All Ireland, sporting life does not obey such corny sentiment. We will have to earn it as Kerrymen never seem to tire of winning Celtic Crosses. It seems to me the life of a man from Kerry is somewhat incomplete, as if he cannot be fully accepted into the pantheon, should final success elude him. Mayo has endured a football famine and are bound to be ravenous. Damn it if the southerners won't be a little peckish themselves. But I am a great believer in every dog having his day but there is a proviso. He must enter the Dog Show. To the eternal credit of my home county we have never given up, despite the heartache, and each year we start all over again. Always dreaming. The players of 2004 have a great responsibility to live up to the tradition of Mayo football simply because it is a worthy tradition. I believe the class of 2004 will free us all on the 26th and Mayo people all over the world will awake the following day to realise, finally, that we are living our dream. Tweet

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