On the strip in Las Vegas they have, for public entertainment, a pirate ship which regularly gets swarmed by swarthy buccaneers, gets holed and gets sunk. All the while the populace gather and cheer. Those pirates were too cocky. Working on the pirate ship must be like playing for the Dublin footballers.
Glamour, good crowds and people cheering as you sink.
Yesterday it was Laois who did the damage. Laois and that hoary old sea dog Mick O'Dwyer. They came to Croke Park and threw everything at Dublin. By teatime, Croke Park was theirs. In the end, they beat Dublin by just two points, 0-16 to 0-14, but their dominance left a more emphatic impression.
Laois moved with the certainty borrowed from their mentor. They have reached a Leinster final to be played against Kildare. For data on the opposition, O'Dwyer need only peruse his old diaries.
Dublin, meanwhile, like Lear deranged on the heath, are reduced to wandering through the qualifiers. They have little time to prepare for the adventure. Their opening game against Derry takes place next Saturday.
The one small fly in the ointment of general excitement may be the GAA's attitude to some trouble which took place in the tunnel beneath the Hogan Stand at half-time. After a close run and physical first half, officials conceded that there was argy and there was also bargy as the teams left the field.
In the aftermath both sides were inclined to dismiss the business. "Bit of pushing and shoving," said the Dubs who lack the consummate cuteness of their tormentor. "I didn't see anything," said O'Dwyer. "I walked straight into the dressing-room. A little scuffle like that sure there's no harm in it."
The Leinster final takes place in five weeks, on July 20th. It would be an extraordinary suspension that would keep a player out of that.