I told the TiVo to pick up some Hurling matches, the GAA 2007 All-Ireland quarterfinals, and man are they crazy to watch.
I already knew that American football was definitely a sissy sport—too many pads and too little action. I thought hockey and rugby were more manly, but Hurling is the manliest sport in the freaking world. Come on, helmets are optional. They’re swinging sticks at each other like there’s no tomorrow. They have a blood substitution rule where a player is changed out because he’s bleeding too much. They have injury time at the end of the game added on, though I haven’t figured out how it’s calculated. Many players are missing teeth and have gnarly scars. The clock never stops for injuries or fouls, and there are two 35 minute halves. You can watch a game in just over 70 minutes. It’s a beautiful thing. If you get a chance, and have the Setanta Sports channel (I get it on Dish Network), you can catch a game from time to time and I highly recommend it.
Go read Ben’s post about Utilikilts—I’ve never heard of them before, but wow, what a cool idea!
The long week is over—just in time for a three day weekend! By noon Friday I had worked 64 hours this week alone, and was quite ready for some relaxation time. I’ve had just enough time in my days this past week to drive home, take a shower, and go to bed. Most days I didn’t even realize I never ate dinner. But it’s all over, and the events went pretty well. I’m going to be taking a little comp time off this coming week to make up for the long hours I’ve put in. In fact, we’ll be driving down to Portland this coming weekend for Tera’s wedding reception in Hood River one week from today. We’ll also be making our habitual pilgrimage to Powell’s bookstore.