Bet You Never Heard of Hurling

Since the last post, I haven't had many stories. It rained the other day & even the Irish complain about how miserable the rain is, so I know I wasn't bitchin for nothing. We've been going out each night to the pub, which I'm a very big fan of, & last night I found a club to go to. The music wasn't bad but the girls just danced with each other, I couldn't tell you how many Irish dudes was getting walked away from on the dance floor (and it was extra funny cause they was dancing hard as hell!), so I was glad I went with a group of girls from the program. We ain't paying that cover charge again, but when I hit up this other free joint in Temple Bar, I'll let y'all know whats good. The spot kind looks like it could be the Euro equivalent of Iguana Cantina, so I got my fingers crossed that it ain't too trashy.

Now that I got ya updated, let me tell you about something thats pretty unique to Ireland. The 2nd most popular sport in Ireland is called Hurling. Its an outdoor sport that looks like a mix between lacrosse, field hockey, & ultimate frisbee (sounds crazy, hun?). Its described as "the world's fastest field team sport". This is the breakdown from Wikipedia:

The object of the game is for players to use a wooden axe-shaped stick called a hurley or hurl to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points.

The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the stick. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than three steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick, and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession.

The illest part about this sport is that its done just out of love & hard work. The players don't have contracts & don't get paid by sponsors, they work regular jobs & then work they butt off every night to practice & then play during the weekends. Because of this, they're revered as gods in Ireland. I'm sure they could get free drinks in any pub & girls throw themselves at the guys, but at the end of the day they do it for respect. And this sport is dangerous as hell too. They don't have to wear helmets & usually don't, they have no other pads, & they swing these big wooden sticks around while running top speed. The number of lacerations, concussions, & missing teeth is high in this sport.

Now, I was supposed to go down to the pub & watch the game with the locals, but I was out real late last night, so I prefer watching right here from my couch. I'll holla again soon.

Peace & blessings