Great Blitz But Will It Be The Same
Kieran Shannon(Sunday Independent)
It may be a long way from the twin towers of New York City to the River Island Hotel in Castleisland, but a line in the recently re-shown film "Wall Street" pointed to a fear I have for the best basketball blitz in Ireland.
The Daryl Hannah character in the Oliver Stone film said "It's better to never have had something than to have it taken away from you". And its to do with Castleisland Basketball.Two years ago, I hardly knew it existed; but in those two years I have been fascinated by it. I had not known what the blitz and the club were like in pre National League days. I have been charmed by the intensity and innocence of the local under-age games; and the notion of adults getting together to play their first game in twelve months. But the National League team competing in it was the most dazzling piece of the jewel. Even though the club will be putting a team into the National League tournament this year, I wonder will it be the same as the past two tournaments.
Irish basketball is worse off for losing Castleisland at National League level. St Mary's brought something special to top flight. They had the GAA mentality or playing for the pride of the little village. A refreshing intensity compared to slicker, but more mechanical outfits. The two cup games against St. Vincent's will live long in the memory. Declan Wall scoring a lay-up despite playing with an injury;Brian Cleron's outside shooting, Karl Donnelly's fade-away jumper. So will the image of Robbie Turner picking up his bag seconds after the buzzer of the second game and walking deductively to the dressing-room. Americans aren't meant to take losses that bad.
Of course, not everything about Castleisland was rosy. The Blair/Tate camp controversy did not impress Dublin. It matters little now who was right and wrong but suffice to say a proverb summed it up "when elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers". Neither did it help that last season Castleisland once more finished their campaign without their full complement of Americans. And a club that relies so heavily on one coach is always going to struggle.
And yet, I can't help feeling that if it wasn't for Paidí Ó Sé, Castleisland could still be playing National League. After St. Vincent's beat River Island by a point in the 1997/1998 Cup, Joey Boylan joked "If ye had Liam Brosnan we'd have come up with another way to beat ye". I doubt it. St. Mary's would have won. They would have beaten Tolka Rovers in the quarter final. They would have been on television. They would have got a huge lift, the heart to carry on. But Paidí Ó Sé ordered Liam not to play because Kerry had a National League game - against mighty Wexford-the following day.(As it turned out, Ó Sé didn't even play Brosnan). It was a dog-in-the-manager act. Paidí Ó Sé may not be a bully, but what he did that weekend was the act of a bully;this act of a man who felt there should be only one real act in town. You've got your wish now lads.
Castleisland had Liam back for last year's blitz, of course, in which they gave Denny Notre Dame a cracking semi-final, that copperfastened the romance of Castleisland basketball, Going to press though, it is not clear whether Notre Dame are going to participate in this year's blitz. It would be a shame if they weren't. As good as the blitz was for Notre Dame (it helped the team-bonding process which culminated in them winning the past two Sprite National Cups),Notre Dame have been good for the blitz. The kids need heroes to look up to; some of us need someone to shout against. As sad as it is to see River Island playing the country's best week-in, week-out, it would be a tragedy not to see them playing the elite at least once a year.
As brillant as the local rivalries may be, the blitz must continue to have a national elite competition, even without its own national league team. If it does, then prehaps the last two years won't be isolated memories.
Kieran Shannon wrote this article for the 1998 program