Journalist Sinead O’Carroll and former Olympic swimmer Gary O’Toole were reviewing the Sunday papers a couple of weeks back on Newstalk. And they made a very fair point. It is hard to pick up a newspaper now and read anything positive about the GAA. They cited several articles from the Sunday papers totally critical and negative about the GAA – gaelic football in particular.

It’s difficult to find a positive commentary on GAA matters any more – seemed to be their point.

It is not the journalist’s job to be popular or “a fan with a typewriter”, as Eamon Dunphy would say. Nevertheless, it is quite remarkable how negative columnists have become in relation to the GAA.

A couple of months ago I was chatting with a work colleague who has two young daughters old enough to appreciate being brought to a game. And this woman (who herself would admit not having a huge interest in sport) said to me that while she still wanted to give her children a taste of sport by taking them to an event, she would be very reluctant to take them to watch a football, hurling or camogie match because of the constant negative reportage aligned with the GAA – based on what she was listening to on radio, on television and reading in the newspapers. To me, that’s sad.

She said that any time there is a GAA story in the sports news it’s a controversy about a suspension, a sending off, a media ban, fights, fines, fixtures and so on. They become the bigger story in place of the actual action. And she is right. We love a good old row in the GAA.

Referees in car boots and puke football are as legendary references to our national sport as anything positive that has ever happened on the pitch. Mikey Sheehy’s goal against an out of position Paddy Cullen and Seamus Darby’s last gasp winner for Offaly are two iconic GAA memories. Even both those pieces of genius are not without controversy.

I was in Ballybofey to cheer on Cavan against Donegal a few weeks ago. The better team won by far. Dad and I took the long journey home very disappointed. But whether or not it was a class game of end-to-end action wasn’t what I cared about. I wanted Cavan to win and if they had managed it by 0.4-0.3, I’d have been absolutely delighted. But that’s not football they say. No.

Instead, people are being coaxed and embarrassed into not going to matches anymore because the media commentary and analysis is so negative. Can we not just follow our team and roll with the highs and lows? There are few neutrals in the GAA. We all have a team to follow and if they win ugly, isn’t it better than losing playing sexy stuff?

The Sunday Game music is the theme tune to the summer for many of us. The GAA has its faults and I have been as guilty as any in highlighting them on and off. But we should probably ease off the cribbing and moaning. We don’t get it in other sports at the height of their seasons.

Can we not just be allowed follow our county team and enjoy the thrills and spills of the championship without being made feel like fools for doing so? CL

Feck the traffic, I’m crossing the road

I was in the USA two weeks ago. If you want to cross the road there, you wait for the green light. Otherwise you are jay walking. If you want to cross the road in Ireland, no problem. - just cross and feck the traffic. That is the next campaign for the Road Safety Authority to tackle.