Docking of the Hindenburg
by Conor Galvin
Serenity …. Seven points up and cruising. The 804 foot Hindenburg casts a giant shadow over the landscape below. The largest airship ever built. Almost the same size as the Titanic. Full to the gills with hydrogen. Yes hydrogen! The Yanks wouldn’t sell helium to the poor auld Krauts. They gathered for miles and miles and marvelled at this majestic feat of engineering. Never before had the world seen the likes…. and after that fateful day in New jersey May 6th 1937 the world would never see the likes again. The Tyrannosaurus rex of the skies exploded in a massive fireball. The common hypothesis on the cause of the explosion was a static spark coming into contact with a hydrogen leak. The smallest of sparks and Booooooooooooom, this giant was no more. Seven points up and cruising ….
Unlike 1937 there were no fatalities on Saturday night, although Eoghan McLoughlin came close. As aficionados of Dublin club football scene will bear witness, when Johnny Small hits ye, ye stay hit! Conal Keaney will second that. Keaney is probably one of the most robust athletes this county has ever produced, an enforcer type powerhouse, yet a shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Small in last years county final required him to be scraped off the field like the ‘Road Runner’. People don’t realise that being hit by Johnny Small is akin to being hit by a JCB with a V8 engine. Slow down the clip from Saturday night and see the first point of contact is shoulder to shoulder (legal), the ensuing horsepower and torque generates a G-force impact which rips through McLoughlin. The injury is quite shocking but Gaelic football is not ballet dancing. It’s a full contact sport played by elite athletes with racing tuned engines. The hit was perfectly fair and within the rules, the outcome devastating.
(Easy know Rte didn’t have one Dub on the panel all weekend to give an alternative view. With Ciaran Whelan conveniently exiled to Beaverstown Golf Club for the weekend the culchies had free reign. The pitch forks were out and the character assassination flowed)
The capitulation of Conor Lane ultimately decided the match. His composure gone. The fragility of the human mind laid bare. He became a liability as he frantically sought ways to redress the balance in favour of Mayo. The harsh reality is that Lane made calls that he knew were wrong. A blight on the brilliance of Mayo but the truth nonetheless. He blew up Evan Comerford for overcarrying in front of the posts. He knew full well what he was doing. Comerford was an easy target. Lane preyed on the weak. The hilarity continued, Comerford was assaulted to the ground. Surely a throw ball!? Not in Conor Lane’s universe, move it in closer Lads…. sure we have all night, back to a one point game!
At this stage something was rotten in the state of Denmark. Lane was on fire but he was running out of time to even it up. Bingo! Dublin implode and concede a 45. But what if Hennelly missed? Sure jaysus give him another go at it, the rest is history…. The transcript of Lanes ref mic would make for box office viewing.
Air crash investigators would have a field day with the Dublin malfunction in extra time. But what triggered the spark that came into contact with the hydrogen leak? The black box may never be recovered. This team have always managed to cloak itself in a vow of omerta. Their integrity impenetrable to the outside world. The inches of top level sport are the most intriguing. That’s what differs champions from also rans. Now is no time for recrimination but more celebration of the genius of an era. This team will rebuild and regenerate. Many of the current team will backbone the next assault on the summit..
Before Michael “Buster” Douglas’ epic fight with Mike Tyson, Larry Merchant described him as “just another frozen tuna from the Tokyo fish market.” Douglas went on to blast the champion into oblivion forcing a stoppage in round ten. Oft times Dublins opponents have been disrespected and written off. A cheap shot belittling their achievements as driven by money and resources. A false rhetoric from ill-informed ‘Slurryheads’.
The nation celebrated on Saturday night as they witnessed the combustion of the Hindenburg of the GAA. In the aftermath it’s clear that several crew members may never be seen again. Many of whom will disappear quietly into the night, the humility which drove their greatness still impenetrable. Winners write the history. That last failed docking brought the curtain down on the largest airship to ever grace the skies. Almost ninety years on and we still marvel at its magnificence. This Dubs team will be immortalised forever.
