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Salute to a Prince

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in these days of blanket defences sweepers sledgers and turnovers how refreshing to see the man who more than most was a treasure of our game The peerless Mick O Connell's contribution to Kerry and the nations game is inestimable The skills of fielding kick passing and score taking were second nature to him His sportsmanship exemplary An Icon a treasure Would that we had some of his ilk today, nì fheicìs a leithèid arìs 37sowhat (Sligo) - Posts: 752 - 23/08/2016 12:09:02 1904818 Link
Replying To 37sowhat: "in these days of blanket defences sweepers sledgers and turnovers how refreshing to see the man who more than most was a treasure of our game The peerless Mick O Connell's contribution to Kerry and the nations game is inestimable The skills of fielding kick passing and score taking were second nature to him His sportsmanship exemplary An Icon a treasure Would that we had some of his ilk today, nì fheicìs a leithèid arìs" A man that would think nothing of doing a full day in the bog, cutting turf the day before a Munster final. A man that would get dropped to Portmagee at 4am on the morning after the All-Ireland, throw the Sam Maguire into the back of the boat and row for home with all the ceremony as if it was a bag of spuds. A man who played for the sheer joy of playing, the sheer fulfillment of giving it your best on the pitch, whether it was Croke Park or O'Connor park in Valentia. He was asked once what he most loved about the game and all he said was the way it felt when he kicked the ball. As the old song goes: 'We may have brave men, but we'll never have better'... TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 23/08/2016 12:49:21 1904831 Link
And Mick O Connell was himself a true gentleman I might add.And a great player as we all already know. seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 25/08/2016 03:57:00 1905605 Link
Micko was the greatest. I remember him in his pomp. My father took me to see him training in Tralee in the early 70s. Not only was training open to the public but you could run up to the players are they were queuing for sprints and ask them for an autograph. My distinct memory is leaning over the wall at the old tunnels in Cusack stand and patting him on the shoulder as he ran in at half time. UNTIL 1974, GAA was the poor relation in Dublin sports so I followed Kerry as the Dad was a Kerryman. He epitomised class. Oodles of skill, speed but the most self-effacing man you could meet. He was pathologically shy. Hated press attention. Extremely clever man. I think he had a first class masters in Maths from UCC (I stand corrected on that). He was idolised in Kerry and rightly so. Class act. avonali (Dublin) - Posts: 1974 - 25/08/2016 10:53:35 1905671 Link
Replying To avonali: "Micko was the greatest. I remember him in his pomp. My father took me to see him training in Tralee in the early 70s. Not only was training open to the public but you could run up to the players are they were queuing for sprints and ask them for an autograph. My distinct memory is leaning over the wall at the old tunnels in Cusack stand and patting him on the shoulder as he ran in at half time. UNTIL 1974, GAA was the poor relation in Dublin sports so I followed Kerry as the Dad was a Kerryman. He epitomised class. Oodles of skill, speed but the most self-effacing man you could meet. He was pathologically shy. Hated press attention. Extremely clever man. I think he had a first class masters in Maths from UCC (I stand corrected on that). He was idolised in Kerry and rightly so. Class act." Really enjoyed reading that post... westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 25/08/2016 11:03:28 1905680 Link
I have Kerry blood in me and by God we were all told the stories of the great man, nay, the greatest man. To do what he did, when he did it with no "Green Bus" to Dublin or Eir Coach etc etc...... The man is a collosus For some reason I always in my head associate him with another iconic Kerry legend, Tom Crean. I await Mick O'Connell lager!! Legend Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 25/08/2016 15:02:11 1905853 Link
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/kieran-shannon/kerry-legend-mick-oconnell-truly-a-footballer-for-all-time-417230.html Superglue (Kerry) - Posts: 1283 - 25/08/2016 15:23:29 1905871 Link
Yeah sure but while Micko was doing his stuff other guys were engaged in the hard stuff to pave the way - just like nowadays. Was it Keohane who said Kerry teams use to consist of 14 farmers and a student to take the frees? PolicemanFox (Monaghan) - Posts: 158 - 25/08/2016 15:59:29 1905900 Link