GAA tweeting might be about to get a lot more competitive, while Galway will be hoping that some well-earned praise gets in the heads of the Kilkenny players on Sunday.
Galvin leads Brogan by a neck in the race to 50,000
It says a lot about the current GAA climate when Paddy Power are offering odds on who will be the first GAA personality to reach 50,000 followers on Twitter when you can barely get that number of people into Croke Park these days.
Still, never ones to ignore the possibilities of a novel bet or two, the Irish bookmaking giant have thrown open the floor to bets on the first personality to breach what is for GAA personalities the mythical 50,000 barrier, a figure that Rihanna, for example, could acquire in a heartbeat by tweeting a picture showing even the slightest glimpse of her flesh. Whether we’d like Paul Galvin or Colm Parkinson tweeting us pictures of some bare skin is another matter entirely.
Unsurprisingly, Galvin is the favourite at 4/5, just ahead of Dublin’s Bernard Brogan at 10/11 (both have 30,000 + followers), while other contenders include Darran O’Sullivan at 16/1, Conor Mortimer at 33/1, Parkinson, JOE’s favourite member of the GAA tweeting fraternity, at 50/1 and Meath’s Ciaran Lenehan the distant outsider at 1,000/1.
Since news of the GAA Twitter market was revealed today, another contender, former Armagh footballer Stevie McDonnell has been trying to take the direct route to glory by making a straight-up appeal for new followers to bring him closer to the mark, evidence that he for one, is taking this race quite seriously.
The other contenders have been less forthcoming so far, but given the competitive nature of all involved, expect similar attempts for glory from McDonnell’s opponents in the coming weeks and months.
For what it’s worth our money’s on Galvin. Here’s the full Race to 50,000 Twitter followers market.
This might be clutching at straws for Galway but…
Yesterday’s Hospital Pass outlined the difficulties facing Galway in Sunday’s Leinster Final against an all-conquering Kilkenny side.
When one of your own papers is asking if anyone is genuinely looking forward to the game and the media in Kilkenny are focusing on the mental effects that Kilkenny beatings must have on their opponents, it’s clear that it’s not going to be easy for the Tribesmen to pull off an upset.
Although not as drastic, similar sentiments were being expressed about the Meath footballers going into last weekend’s Leinster semi-final against Kildare.
Ahead of the game, Offaly manager Tom Coffey likened the Kildare team to the All-Blacks and although you feel that the Kilkenny lads will be able to handle such a comparison a lot better, injury stricken Cork ‘keeper Donal Og Cusack once again referenced the rugby World Champions when talking about Kilkenny earlier this week.
Cusack is quoted in the Irish Independent as saying: “They (Kilkenny) are almost turning into the All Blacks of hurling.”
That sort of talk backfired against a Kildare side that looked a tad cocky going into last Sunday, so who knows, maybe something similar will happen to Brian Cody’s men seven days on.
We highly doubt it, but Anthony Cunningham and Galway will take all the good luck charms they can get.
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