Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part One
As those who know me can testify, I am normally the most pessimistic Irish fan going. Every incursion into the Irish half is a grounds for despair, every loss of possession becomes the beginning of the end, every opposition throw-in sets off doomsday scenarios in my head. Some friends who could no longer withstand my relentless pessimism have made a point of refusing to watch Ireland matches with me – others have actually started drinking games based around the number of times I swear at the television screen. For me, it’s a coping mechanism: if I fear the worst, then if/when it happens I will at least have the consolation of having been right. If I’m proven wrong, then obviously I can bask in the elation of a good Irish result. But as with many fans, I am superstitious/clairvoyant enough to sense that my mental state somehow, inexplicably and inexorably, affects proceedings on the pitch. For all the enthusiastic Olé-Olé-ers talking of booking tickets to South Africa, there has to be one miserable wretch watching the whole thing unfold through the cracks in his fingers while making deals with God. That’s me.
So I’m not one given to habitual displays of positivity and optimism when it comes to Ireland – quite the opposite, in fact. Recently, however, I’ve been noticing a trend. Continue reading
Native Mind 