As I like to remind you dear readers every so often, football is an evolving thing. The football games people played 50 to 100 years ago bear little resemblance to the games people play today. Small rule changes can have a big impact on our favorite sports.

If the GAA decides to adopt some rules currently being testing in Ireland, however, Gaelic football might soon look very different than the game being played last year.

The first rule change would allow players to take a mark after a clean catch. Clearly, the influence of the infamous International Rules series is at work here, as marking the ball and taking a free kick after the mark were key components of International Rules taken from the Australian game. The experimental mark rule — specified here — is being tested in Gaelic football now, and it has the potential be as game-changing as the forward pass was to American football in 1906, or as the revised offside rule was to soccer in 1990.

The rule tweaking, however, isn’t stopping there. In another nod to International Rules, the open-hand pass was replaced with the fist pass, and one former All-Ireland ref says that change wasn’t enough, and that use of hands in general should be curbed. Said the ref:

“It’s no longer football as we used to know it. We live in an age when value for money has never been as important and when people come to see a football game, they shouldn’t have to watch basketball.”

Why he picked now to hate on basketball seems like a case of bad timing. Maybe he’s just upset that the Celtics are falling apart. Either way, if marks become legal and hand-passing is reduced, Gaelic football will start looking less like Gaelic football and more like… soccer, but with Aussie-style marks and rugby-style goalposts. Kind of like Harrow football, actually, but with less mud. It might also create a dynamic where coaches could emphasize “ground game” and “aerial game” strategies that would make for huge contrasts in styles.

Does Ireland want that? We’ll find out soon enough, I guess. If nothing else, perhaps it’s a sign that I wasn’t the only guy who enjoyed the International Rules series.

(Thanks to Coachie Ballgames for the heads up.)

We’ve already seen Usain Bolt have a mini-kickabout at the Bernabeu, but how is he when he has the option to use his hands? The boys from Kerry County found out recently, as they taught the world’s fastest man a few of the finer points of Gaelic Football. Given Bolt’s height and speed, I’m surprised they didn’t offer him citizenship on the spot.

Then again, Bolt probably would have heard how much GAA players actually make and politely declined.

If you’re new to this blog and unfamiliar with Gaelic Football, click here for some basic info. We don’t discuss Gaelic Football that often here, but it’s even more of a national obsession in Ireland than the NFL is here in America.

(Thanks, Coachie Ballgames.)

Every change creates ripple effects, which makes it all the more difficult to see the big picture until enough time has passed and we can look at the bigger picture. If John Bassett hadn’t contracted lung cancer, would he have been able to prevent Donald Trump from leading the USFL over a cliff? Maybe, but we couldn’t see that while it was happening.

That’s why some soccer fans in America are having such a negative reaction to the news that Fox Sports International is about to buy out Setanta Sports USA. They only see the immediate change in the world in front of them. If Setanta goes away, it would mean on the surface that there would be less Premier League matches to watch each weekend.

Nothing, however, operates in a vacuum, and most of these fans are ignoring the $4.3 billion elephant in the room.

The problem with Setanta Sports has always been cost as a barrier to entry. You have to be a truly dedicated football fan — or a paid blogger who’s creative with tax write-offs — to shell out an extra $15 a month to watch that much more football. This is why Setanta has only been able to attract about 65,000 subscribers in the USA, giving it a monthly income of $975,000.

By comparison, Fox Soccer Channel is in 32 million homes and pulls about $0.06 per subscriber from cable and satellite providers. That’s $1.92 million a month, almost double what Setanta takes in monthly, and because it’s part of a massive media conglomerate, FSC is always going to have the upper hand.

They don’t get any more massive, however, than ESPN, which pulls a whopping $3.65 per subscriber from cable and satellite providers. Multiply that by 98 million homes, and you’re talking $357.7 million a month.

So it stands to reason that if company A 1.) brings in 366 times more cash than company B, and 2.) wants something you have, it might be willing and able to pay just a little bit more cash for it.

That something, of course, is the TV rights to the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League in the USA. Fox has these things for the next three years. ESPN, meanwhile, has the FIFA World Cup, and it doesn’t want all those world-class players to fade from memory after the World Cup is over.

Those world-class players don’t play here. The world’s best baseball, basketball and hockey players play in the USA, sure, but the world’s best footballers don’t play in MLS. Hell, most U.S. national team members play in Europe these days. Even Landon Donovan is in Merseyside right now, and Stuart Holden seems headed for the UK himself. Given the current state of MLS labor negotiations, we don’t even know for sure if our domestic league season will start on time.

Plus, the Premier League fits ESPN’s programming schedule better than anything American club soccer has to offer, and the quality of play is generally higher. The WWL can pull much better ratings with baseball and basketball in prime time while filling its weekend morning and weekday afternoon schedules with soccer. EURO 2008 was cheap mid-day programming for ESPN, but the Nielsen ratings proved there was an appetite for top-shelf soccer in this country.

So why didn’t ESPN just acquire the TV rights to the Premier League and Champions League itself, rather than ceding them to Fox? For the same reason ESPN let Setanta UK fail before swooping in themselves — to save money. Let Fox shell out the big bucks to get those TV rights, or to try and mesh what’s left of  Setanta’s corporate culture with its own. Sub-licensing Premier League matches is much cheaper for ESPN, who only has to pay for a studio team in Bristol and make way for the league’s own satellite feed.

As for the Champions League, Fox’s buyout of Setanta allows them to keep this year’s knockout stage exclusively on its own networks. UEFA set up the schedule for the knockout stage so that only two matches would be happening simultaneously on any given day. That means one match on FSC and one on Fox Sports Net. What happens next season remains uncertain, but I think Fox wants to keep this competition to itself.

And what about the FA Cup or the other leagues in Scotland, France and Russia? Fox could easily sub-license those to ESPN as well, and the WWL could shuttle them over to ESPN360, which already has La Liga, Serie A and the Football League, among other things.

So do not fret over the Setanta buyout, fellow soccer fans. You won’t be getting fewer games as a result of this deal. You’ll just watch them on different channels.

Now, if you’re a rugby union fan, you’ll probably have to shift your cash to Rugby Zone or some other online feed — unless those matches wind up on ESPN360, too, which is entirely possible. That’s where the Australian Football League ended up last year. If you’re Irish and want to watch the GAA… well, honestly, I don’t know what to tell you at this point. This deal was always about those filthy garrison games. You might be out of luck.

The rest of us, though, will be saving $180 a year for the same amount of football, which is awesome. I’d use my savings to get season tickets for my local club, if only Sunil Gulati would stop trying to stamp it out of existence. He’s looking more like Agent Smith to me every day.

Some folks will disagree with me on this — particuarly this guy and this guy — but that’s because they only see this game through the filter of their own football code. If they stopped and looked at this from a neutral viewpoint, though, they might see a football code that has much more potential than is on display in this Australia v. Ireland test matches. International Rules requires a rare combination of speed, strength, agility and creativity that you don’t usually see in other codes. Yes, the play looked sloppy at times on Friday, but that’s because we’re dealing with two teams playing this particular brand of football for the first time in two years — and the rules have changed yet again, so even now it’s not the same.

If these two nations played this particular football code year-round, however, International Rules might develop into a uniquely entertaining game. We could see coaches come up with game plans and see players execute clever moves that would excite the fans to no end. We could see a form of football that would blossom into something new and exciting.

Imagine for a moment if this were the dominant football code on the planet. Imagine someone like Wayne Rooney was running around up front, taking marks and nailing overs like he used to nail middle-aged hookers. Imagine if Troy Polamalu were darting around the midfield, tackling any ball carrier coming his way. Imagine what Bryan Habana could do with a round ball and a little bit of space on the sideline.

We’ll never get to see that. Australia has its code, Ireland has its code, everyone else has their codes, and that’s that. We already have two truly international football games — soccer and rugby — and nobody really wants to explore the possibilities of any new codes. Why inject a bunch of new rules into football when the old rules seem to work just fine for everyone?

That’s a shame. Given a little bit of room to breathe, I think International Rules could be a great football game. I guess I’m alone alone in that regard.

Apparently, when International Rules Football was played in Croke Park in 2004, it wasn’t just a competition between two nations, but two species. Football is more fun when there’s a dog in the game, isn’t it? We should have canine pitch invaders in the Premier League every week.

I’ll have more to say about last Friday’s International Rules test match a bit later, but suffice to say, I feel a bit differently about it than this guy.

Yes, the hybrid of Australian Football and Gaelic Football — which could have been something interesting if it hadn’t degenerated into an on-the-pitch brawl every year — will be played in Perth tomorrow and in Melbourne next week, and the Irish team is already vowing to get physical with the Aussies. The Australian side, meanwhile, is saying it plans to tackle within the rules, but it’s damn near impossible to know what those rules are by now. This could just be Gaelic Football with marking and behind posts. It makes you wonder how many times the AFL and GAA can restart this party before people just get annoyed by it.

If you want to watch this spectacle in the US, it’ll be on Setanta Sports live early Friday morning, with a replay at 6:00 PM ET. Same goes for next weekend. Given the Premier League slate this weekend — most of the interesting games are on Sunday, thanks to the Champions League and European N.I.T. schedule — it might be worth saving for Saturday morning. Nothing like waking up to a little cartoon violence on Saturday, no?

From the Who-thought-THIS-was-a-good-idea dept.:

RICHMOND is poised to share the same jumper sponsor as the world’s biggest sporting club, Manchester United.

The Tigers are set to announce a lucrative deal with global insurance and financial services giant AIG (American International Group). Richmond has signed a heads of agreement with the Australian arm of the American-based company. …

The arrangement was struck despite AIG being hit by the credit squeeze, requiring an $85 billion bailout by the US Government.

There it is, America. Your tax dollars are now paying for the logo of a failed investments company to be sewn into the jumper of an Aussie Rules team that hasn’t had a whiff of the AFL Finals Series since 2001. Hey, that’s a perfect match!

Here in the states, people who have never heard of Manchester United are yelling insults at guys Wayne Rooney jerseys solely because of that AIG logo. If you’re a Richmond supporter, I highly recommend you contact the club and tell them you won’t be buying any Tigers gear with AIG’s logo on it. That’s the last logo anyone anywhere wants to see right now.

UPDATE: AIG has pulled out of the deal.

“Kerry County relinquishes All-Ireland Football title?” Well, now you’re just talking crazy. Can’t happen, right?

Wrong. Tyrone upset Kerry, 1-15 to 0-14, in the All-Ireland Final on Sunday. Down 0-8 to 0-7 at half, Tyrone got a big boost from Tommy McGuigan, who scored a goal — that’s worth 3 points, in case you forgot — just 22 seconds into the second half, and Tyrone held off a late charge by Kerry to walk away with the Sam McGuire Cup.

In other news, someone got pissed and opened his big mouth. In Ireland, though, that probably qualifies as “Dog bites man,” so, y’know, nothing to see there.

And that’s about all I can tell you about that. Really, keeping up with all these football codes is damn near impossible.

The AFL is considering a radical proposal to launch an Irish-dominated team in Sydney’s western suburbs which would perform before an international audience under the Celtic brand name.

Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick confirmed on Friday night the Irish option was being explored as a possible basis for the competition’s 18th team, to debut as early as 2012.

Hey, Glasgow Celtic and the Boston Celtics are all league champions this year. Why not slap the Celtic name on everything in sight? Hey, lets put a team in Tasmania and call them the Lakers… no, wait, they’re after the audience in Ireland and Great Britain. We’d have to call them the Rangers.

If nothing else, at least the GAA counties would be able to focus their disdain on one club for stealing all their young Gaelic footballers away from them. That should make everyone else in the AFL look better by comparison, right?

(Thanks, Simon!)

I had intended to get up a little early this morning to catch the second half of the Geelong Cats v. Port Adelaide Power rematch. (Geelong won, by the way.) However, last night I got wrapped up in getting my NCAA Tournament brackets filled out and setting up that bracket pool for my college buddies, getting my shiny new Slingbox set up for remote viewing — sadly, a day too late to watch that corker between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur on my Treo while at work — and putting up FanHouse posts on the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Cristiano Ronaldo’s deadly aim.

Oh, and the girlfriend stopped by last night. Always a pleasant distraction, to be sure.

Suffice to say, I missed the AFL opener. It’s not all I miss around here. On Monday, I was going to write something about Gaelic Football for St. Patrick’s Day, which turned into St. Vincent’s Day in Dublin. That passed me by, too.

Three years ago around this time, I sat in front of my PC and thought, “What the hell am I going to write about on this blog for the next five months?” Then I shut it down, went to a sports bar and watched basketball all afternoon.

So when I wrote back in January that I wanted to shift things around a bit, this was why. Writing about the football in all its forms is fun, but I’m starting to think the origins and evolution of football is a subject better suited to a book than a blog. Maybe that’s what I should be writing. Hell, maybe half of it is already written here…

Or something.

Yes, just six months after I declared the International Rules Football series dead, the Gaelic Athletic Association has announced that it will resume talks with the AFL about reviving the series in 2008. This comes on the heels of the GAA preparing to legalize a sort of payment system for Gaelic Footballers that involves government grants — kind of like scholarships for college football players in America, but with actual cash instead of tuition and meal reimbursement.

The AFL would have to agree to a couple of things first, though. For starters, the GAA wants AFL players who get involved in fights to be suspended for AFL matches the following season. (That’s mostly Irish coach Sean Boylan talking here.) Second, the GAA wants a deal in place that would curtail the AFL’s raid on young Gaelic footballers. Given that the AFL commish Andrew Demetriou loves the cash International Rules brings in, I suspect he will agree to both these things.

Of course, fans still have issues with International Rules. Some Irish will continue to say it’s too violent, while some Aussies will say it’s just Gaelic Football with behind posts and tackling. Still, I think it’s fun to see two codes merge into something different, even if we only see it for two games a year. Besides, if you search for “International Rules Football” on Google, two things I wrote are in the top four. Why wouldn’t I be in favor of a resumption of this series?

And yes, I’m aware that picture of Jesus has nothing to with Aussie Rules or Gaelic Football. Google searches for Jesus playing either of these codes turned up squat. I considered putting a picture of Chris Judd there, but hey, he’s no messiah.

It’s an awkward time to leave, of course, given that the NFL free agency period begins today, and chances are the weekend will be filled with blockbuster signings and perhaps a big trade or two — to say nothing of a full slate of league ties throughout Europe, plus the NAB Cup semifinals and Super 14 throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Oh, and how could I have forgotten? It’s Week 1 of the Arena Football season. Ron Jaworski must be all a-tingle, and the boys at It’s Still Football will do their best to make you care, even if they don’t, either.

For now, though, here’s some light reading for you:

• Myron Cope lives on through WAV files. [Myronisms!]
• And YouTube tributes. [The Angry T]
• Anonymous player: The NFL is on drugs. [NFL FanHouse]
• Middlesbrough: The FA is on crack. [Reuters Soccer Blog]
• Should the AFL go 16-on-16? [World Footy News]
• Here’s a good site for gridiron strategy. [Smart Football]
• So that’s why Jon Stewart does bumpers for FSC. [Hugging Harold Reynolds]
• Winning road games in Copa Libertadores is damn hard. [BBC Football]
• Becoming an announcer in Kazakhstan is easy. [The Meaningful Collateral]
• Is someone eager for Brett Favre to go? [Deadspin]
• John Elway could use the Juande Ramos diet. [BeRecruited]
• Barry Hall, however, is doing just fine, thanks. [Fox Sports Australia]
• Is the GAA coming around on International Rules? [World Footy News]
• The KSK Gay Mafia has a new target. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• As does the ghost in Manuel Almunia’s house. [The Run of Play]
• Steve Nash still loves him some Spurs, ha ha. [Guardian Football]
• Jozy Altidore predicts a trip to Beijing for his team. [Goal]
• The Sons of Ben are having themselves a party. [Sons of Ben]
• Will MLS expansion mean higher player salaries? [Pitch Invasion]
• Tony Dungy gets a dig on Bill Belichick. [Shutdown Corner]
• I wouldn’t say this about Shawne Merriman to his face. [Mr. Irrelevant]
• Football enslaves us all. [Soccerlens]
• Football can also be very… artistic. [With Leather (NSFW)]
• Hey, these guys seem to like my blog. [Cold, Hard Football Facts]

That ought to hold you for now. I’ll be back on Monday. If you need some NFL free agency news, the gang at NFL FanHouse has it all covered. Enjoy your football, everyone!

It has been a crazy week for football around the world, though, what with the Champions League knockout stage and the Super 14 starting, the NAB Cup well under way, and in America… the scouting combine. Oh, yes, the NFL scouting combine. There’s nothing creepy at all about young men in T-shirts and shorts being ogled by geezers with clipboards. Nothing at all.

It’s a sign that we take the NFL a little too seriously — some guys more than others — but really, where don’t they take football seriously on this planet?

Here’s a look around at some football stories around our planet this week:

• Michael David Smith has the combine covered. [NFL FanHouse]
• The Gladiator helmet has your brain covered. [Mighty MJD @ Yahoo]
• The Dolphins want to bring the Premier League to Miami. [Pitch Invasion]
• Just who is this Richard Scudamore character? [BBC Football]
• The troubled life of Gazza. [Goal]
• Trouble ahead for MLS? [ESPN Soccernet]
• Red cards ahead for swearing footballers? [The Offside]
• Is FIFA looking to rugby to help beleaguered refs? [Reuters Soccer Blog]
• Not everyone digs those ELVs. [The Rugby Blog]
• A lesson in drop punting. [Kick2Kick]
• AFL rejects plan to plunder Ireland. [Fox Sports Australia]
• Fantasy football is everywhere. [AFL Football Blog]
• Matt Walsh is watching you. [Deadspin]
• Troy Vincent may be full of shit. [Mighty MJD @ Yahoo]
• Everton waits for Michael Bradley. [Liverpool Echo]
• A primer on football in Argentina. [Pitch Invasion]
• Those UEFA Cup knockout ties look pretty good. [Reuters Soccer Blog]
• Some useful soccer news web sites. [The Offside]

That ought to hold you for a little while. In the meantime, I’ll be straightening up the house this weekend, as some fellow Carolina Railhawks supporters are coming over to watch the Carling Cup Final. Meanwhile, the Premier League, Super 14 and 6 Nations are on, while Australia will witness the A-League Grand Final and more NAB Cup preseason footy. Set your DVRs accordingly. I did.

Enjoy your football, everyone!

Meanwhile, our man Carlito stands there and wishes he could give the rain falling on him to North Carolina — or anyone else, for that matter. It’s all just a matter of perspective, really, and hopefully some of these stories from the last week or so will provide some extra perspective into your own football experience.

On with the show!

• Why Arlen Specter may not be wasting his time (or ours) with this whole Spygate investigation. (Mighty MJD)
• Canadian soccer needs an enema. (Pitch Invasion)
• So do the West Coast Eagles. (AFL Footy Blog)
• Your Super 14 preview. (SA Rugby)
• Botswana football’s “Golden Lady.” (The Offside)
• New York Giants fans better hope their team doesn’t get dynastic. (Deadspin)
• Is this the end for Ronaldo at AC Milan? (Soccer by Ives)
• Is it the start for Mourinho at Barcelona? (Reuters Soccer Blog)
• Kevin Sheedy wants to give exchange students free footy. (Fox Sports Australia)
• Is International Rules worth it for the GAA? (Setanta Sports)
• Congress to NFL: Stay out of the churches! (Techdirt)
• Philip Rivers hates Horny Werewolf Day, too. (Kissing Suzy Kolber)
• Being in a strong NFL division is important. I wonder if this applies to Champions League groups, too… (NFL FanHouse)
• Real Madrid is richer than you. (Yahoo Eurosport)
• This TJ Simers column about David Beckham got people talking this week. (LA Times)
• Becks, however, has other impacts on American soccer that we don’t see. (The Offside)
• Mike Carey talks about “The Giant Snatch.” (NFL FanHouse)
• FA to female footballers: Sorry about the ban! (Guardian Unlimited)
• Those wacky Chris Berman videos aren’t on YouTube anymore, but they’re still online. (Deadspin)

It’s an FA Cup weekend in England. Show of hands: who’s paying $16 to watch Man U v. Arsenal? Not me. I’m going to take a good look at Super 14′s opening weekend and see if these new rules really do make rugby union more fun to watch. I’ll report my discoveries on Monday. Oh, and the Champions League knockout stage begins next Tuesday. Expect a lot of coverage of that on FanHouse.

Enjoy your football, everyone!

“At the start it was tough just learning how to use the ball, bouncing it and kicking it and I was struggling with that but I’ve got the hang of that now. Now we’re going into match practice and it’s just learning new rules and where to go and where not to be…

“Apart from the ball and tackling it’s not that different at all. Tactically and the way you play the game, it is nearly the same.”

Now you know why the AFL is busy making so many inroads in Ireland. The talent is there, and it already knows how to play the game. For similar reasons, USA Rugby chases after college football players who have used up their eligibility, but because the codes aren’t quite as similar, they don’t have the nearly the same impact on rugby in the U.S. as Gaelic Football players do in Australia.

It also explains why International Rules hasn’t quite kicked the bucket just yet. The Collingwood Magpies are attempting to schedule a goodwill trip to Croke Park for an International Rules match against County Dublin. It’s not quite the brutal Australia v. Ireland test matches of recent years, but it might actually do something to keep that code alive and interesting.

Then again, maybe that “goodwill” element is only a cover for Mick Malthouse as he scouts for new talent. That seems to be the only reason any AFL coach looks at Ireland these days — and boy, are they looking.

(Spotted on World Footy News)

Carlito wants you to make a habit of stretching every morning when you get up — especially on game days. You’ll feel better every day for it.

* – Does not apply to Manchester United fans at Old Trafford.

And now, on with the links!

• The Eli Manning-to-David Tyree pass has a name. (Kissing Suzy Kolber)
• One lucky Giants fan sneaks in. (Deadspin)
• Tom Hicks is an idiot in two countries now. (Dallas Observer)
• Football in Colonial Africa. (Pitch Invasion)
• Footballer trafficking in modern Africa. (Guardian Unlimited)
• Is FIFA boss Sepp Blatter a racist? (The Offside)
• One last look back by a Havant & Waterlooville fan. (Hobo Tread)
• The Rochester Raging Rhinos are in real trouble. (Triangle Soccer Fanatics)
• Revenue sharing works in America, but what about England? (Pitch Invasion)
• Mankinis work for Borat, but what about New Zealand rugby fans? (We Are the Postmen)
• AFL attempts to put lipstick on pig. (Fox Sports Australia)
• Hey, did someone say pig? (Friday Metro)
• What we would have seen if the Patriots had won. (FanHouse)
• The Pats’ season ended perfectly — for the rest of America. (The Onion)
• And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of fans. (With Leather)
• Of course, there’s just as much class in Manchester. (Guardian Unlimited)
• Remembering the Munich Air Disaster. (200%)
• An awesome Fulhamerica photoshop. (Oz City)
• The sad tale of Kevin Hart. (Deadspin)
• Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was just joking. Really. (The Sporting Blog)
• But drugs are no joke for retired NFL players. (Tampa Bay Online)
• Say, is Tiki Barber on drugs? (NFL Experts Blog)
• HBO pulls the plug on Inside the NFL. (Sports by Brooks)
• What is zone blocking? (FanHouse)
• International Rules is the new General Franco. (Setanta Sports)
• A closer look at World Footy News. (AFL Footy Blog)
• Are the Buffalo Bills cheating on their hometown? (NFL Experts Blog)
• Fabio Capello will make you an offer you can’t refuse. (Pitch Invasion)
• Those damn Sepak Takraw prima donnas. (With Leather)
• It’s just easier to be a football fan. (Deadspin)

That ought to hold you for now. It’s a quiet weekend for football in America, with only the sad little exhibition that is the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. There’s a full card in Europe, though, including a Chelsea v. Liverpool match on Sunday and some Six Nations rugby action around the continent. Oh, and there’s also some Aussie Rules in Dubai, though we’re still more than a month away from the start of the AFL season. (I need to find some way to get the rest of the blogosphere talking about Aussie Rules again. The West Coast Eagles’ drug problems won’t be enough this year.)

One more thing: the Carolina Railhawks are holding tryouts this weekend. So if you’ve got some serious soccer skills and are looking for work, get yourself to the Triangle by tomorrow morning. Here’s a little something to inspire you to play…

Enjoy your football, folks.

As you might recall, the Gaelic Athletic Association scrapped the International Rules series with the Australian Football League after on-field violence marred the 2006 series. The AFL responded by raiding the GAA for football talent — and there was quite a bit of talent willing to travel to Australia to be the next Tadhg Kennelly, in no small part because AFL players actually get paid to play. Gaelic Football is strictly an amateur code, and some footballers would rather not have to give up their day jobs to play.

The sheer number of young players leaving for Australia, however, seems to have forced the GAA’s hand.

Stars of Ireland’s two homegrown sports for men, Gaelic football and hurling, called off strike plans Thursday after reaching a deal to receive payment for the first time in the 123-year history of their amateur leagues.

Sports Minister Seamus Brennan said that, starting in January, the government would begin paying out a total of €3.5 million (US$5.2 million) annually to the top 1,900 players in the Gaelic Athletic Association.

Their level of pay will depend on how far their county-based teams advance toward the all-Ireland championships staged each September, when crowds exceeding 80,000 pack Croke Park stadium in Dublin.

Keep in mind that Gaelic Football has been an amateur endeavor for the last 123 years. It’s a staple of sport and culture and history in Ireland, but it’s being overrun by the twin forces of globalization and professionalism, and this appears to be the only way for the GAA to keep their best and brightest from giving up dreams of Croke Park for cash in hand at Madejski Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground. Lots of traditionalists, like Tyrone volunteer Mark Conway, fear this is the end of their game, too.

Governments, our own included, stumble around trying to energise those two concepts. As Ireland increasingly comes apart at the social seams, we crave neighbourhood renewal … community development … community cohesion … social capital … and regeneration. Government invests hugely in trying, and largely failing, to create these things and scratches around for disappearing strengths such as citizenship.

All the while, for 123 years now, we’ve had something that’s delivered these in spades, quietly; unassumingly; but unbelievably effectively. That thing is the GAA. Yet, crazily, people now want to deconstruct it. Many of us will oppose the deconstruction of this prize-of-prizes that’s made an immeasurable contribution to Irish life. Because, anachronistic as it might be at the end of 2007, we actually believe in those things. …

It’s the one key difference between them and us: they pay and we don’t. Money corrupts, distracts, shifts the focus, demolishes “place”, attacks the value system, fosters greed, replaces “we” with “me.” Once you pay people to play sport, then whatever else you’ve got, it isn’t sport.

On the one hand, he makes a very valid point about how money corrupts a sport. One need not look past the bung culture in soccer, the endless recruiting violations in NCAA football, or the ongoing steroid scandals in any sport to see how much money changes things. Hell, rugby split in two a century ago over issues like this. It’s not really a new phenomenon.

On the other hand, people need to come to terms with the fact that their football game is not a beautiful snowflake. If you’re losing your best and brightest to a pro league that’s literally on the other side of world, you have to make tough decisions about the future of your game. It’s entirely possible that the GAA would fall apart within a couple of decades if it didn’t decide to do this, and I don’t think anyone in Ireland would want that.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to combine local traditions and professional sport. One need not look past Athletic Bilbao in Spain to see that. If they can do it, so could the GAA. The next few years should be very interesting for Gaelic Football.

(Thanks, Sean!)

Speaking of Saturday, we have a Rugby World Cup final, a full day of soccer, plenty of college football and probably a few CFL games, too. Football is all over the place, and so is this collection of links for your perusal:

• Soccer is getting bigger in Harlem. (This Is American Football)
• The MyFootballClub project is spawning copycats. (The Offside)
• The Buffalo Bills are talking about games in Toronto. Uh-oh. (Sports Illustrated)
• Why England wins Rugby World Cups more than FIFA World Cups. (Who Ate All the Pies)
• Minnesota? Pfah! The Melbourne Demons are recruiting in China. (Herald Sun)
• The New England Patriots now want to spy on ticket resellers. (Techdirt)
• Is a Super Bowl in London any weirder than an All-Ireland Final in New York City? (GAA, via David Deane)
• That AFL preseason match in Dubai? It’s a NAB Cup match. (World Footy News)
• Football going global has its disadvantages. (Pitch Invasion)
• Can you beat Gianluigi Buffon? (Puma Football)
• The best American soccer player? A goalkeeper. Typical. (That’s on Point)
• The NFL Draft will be shorter next year. Good. (NFL FanHouse)
• Sven Goran Eriksson shagged your secretary until she saw God. (The Sun)
• Want to see the Rugby World Cup Final live in America? It’ll cost ya. (Das FanHaus)
• David Carr has a new nickname. (Mister Mittens)
• The NFL doesn’t like your newfangled wireless technology… (Ars Technica)
• …but it takes a lot of tech to put that yellow line on the field. (We Are the Postmen)
• Handbags in the Prawn Sandwich Brigade. (Who Ate All the Pies)
• A brief history of the soccer ball. (Soccer Ball World)
• And here’s another lamb for Roger Goodell to slaughter. (All-American Football League)

On a completely unrelated note, don’t be a cheap bastard and get Radiohead’s new album off BitTorrent. Throw ‘em a couple of quid. Trust me, it’s worth at least that much.

And whatever football you choose, enjoy the games this weekend. See you at FanHouse.

After seeing Ufford’s post yesterday about rugby fights, I thought, “Eh, it’s nothing worse than what you’d see at an International Rules test match.” So of course, a little lunchtime aggro from last year’s series seemed appropriate today.

If you’re wondering why there’s no International Rules series this year… well, there’s your answer.

Oh, and remember that AFL State of Origin match that was supposed to return in 2008 for the 150th anniversary of the Australian football code? That’s dead, too. Why does it suddenly seem like the 150th anniversary will be more boring than advertised?

The Gaelic Athletic Association has made it clear that last year’s on-field violence remains unacceptable, and the AFL’s reaction to the GAA canceling the series this year — widespread talent-poaching — may be even worse. The AFL and GAA are going to hold talks about it, but that’s all they are, and these talks mainly consist of talking about when to talk.

All the talk in the world won’t revive this series if the GAA doesn’t really want it. What are they going to do, tell their boys that snipers will be in place to shoot anyone coming to blows? This series has been marred by fights for years, and after what happened in Croke Park last year, what makes anyone think the next game will be any different?

It was fun while it lasted, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this football code is anything other than another relic of football history. We’re more likely to see a test match of Austus or Punch Football before we see another International Rules test match. It’s done, folks. Let’s move on.

Never mind. Here are some goodies from around the web that you might have missed in the last week or so:

• NFL players really don’t move around very much. (Pens Blog)
• Why is Rafa Benitez trying to fix what ain’t broke? (Have You Ever Been to Liverpool?)
• How is Association football better than Rugby football? (Who Ate All the Pies)
• Rugby star thinks union is going soft, encourages son to play league. (Scrumbag)
• Oh, and the AFL is getting soft, too. (Fox Sports Australia)
• The WAC hates the haka. (With Malice)
• “Thierry and Ruud smoke about twenty a day.” (QuirkyNews)
• An explanation for Kerry’s All-Ireland dominance. (Green and Red)
• Sydney is tapping Ireland for talent once again. (Fox Sports Australia)
• Brazil is finally embracing women’s football. (Goal)
• Chaos in Canada? Say it ain’t so! (The Offside)
• Polish soccer fans are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. (Pitch Invasion)
• It’s the New Nou! (Who Ate All the Pies)
• There’s a 78% chance this site will be abused by NFL bloggers. (Sports Club Stats)
• These footballs are awfully quiet. (24dash)
• These soccer podcasts are not. (The Offside)
• And you have to find the podcasts, because the newspapers just don’t care… (USA Soccer Spot)
• …and the TV pundits don’t know squat. (Fair Challenge)
• Look, Carolina Panthers fans — it’s Reggie Howard! (Charlotte Observer)
• These two guys probably shouldn’t sit together. (850 the Buzz)
• Football is better for you than jogging. So is dancing, which I do because I suck at football. (Science Blog)

Finally, my favorite quote of the week comes from The SSW, Robert Weintraub’s new weekly feature for Deadspin, which attempts to glean what the army of ex-jocks that make up the NFL punditry is thinking every week.

Who is laughing harder, Marty Schottenheimer or Jose Mourinho?

I’m expecting the LaDainian Tomlinson-Didier Drogba pity party to commence any day now.

Can someone explain to me how Kerry County got to be the New York Yankees of Gaelic Football? Every year, they seem to end up in the All-Ireland Final, and three of the last four years, they walked out of Croke Park with the trophy. In fact, Kerry has reached the All-Ireland Final 53 times since 1903 and won it 35 times.

Seriously, how did it get to be this way? What is it about Kerry that produces so much talent at this game? Is it just tradition? Is it that their players are good, but not quite good enough to be raided by the Australian Football League?

Of all the major codes, I probably know the least about Gaelic Football — following the NFL, the AFL and European soccer is hard enough — so if any Irish readers want to help me out here, feel free to post a comment.

Richmond will investigate an ambitious proposal to launch a footballer exchange program with Ireland. The Tigers could provide players, who don’t reach the top AFL level, to Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association. …

Tigers football director Greg Miller said yesterday the provision of Australian players to Ireland could ease some of the tension. “At the moment it’s one-way traffic, but it could change if Australian players were going to Ireland,” Miller said.

So basically, Richmond wants to offer GAA teams a few hired guns in exchange for some of their brightest talent, and while the Irish players will likely be the best of the best, the Aussies will likely be guys who have been playing on junior squads who can’t quite crack an AFL roster, and they’ll be asked to give Gaelic football a try, even though they won’t get paid for it. I see a few parties here that might consider themselves aggrieved by such a system, but hey, at least they’re trying something.

It’s interesting that Richmond is offering the hired guns, given that they’ve been shooting blanks most of this season. They could stand a talent infusion, Irish or otherwise.

(Thanks, Simon!)

First, your winners. Dublin won its third Leinster championship in a row by beating Laois, 3-14 to 1-14. Tyrone won its first Ulster title since 2003 with a 1-15 to 1-13 win over Monaghan. Powerhouse Kerry won Munster again by beating Cork, 1-15 to 1-13. Finally, big congratulations go out to Nancy’s old friend Sligo, who won their first Connacht title in 32 years (w00t!) by beating Galway, 1-10 to 0-12.

Those winners advance automatically to the quarterfinals, while the runners-up play in one last qualifying round against the teams that got knocked out of the provincials early and made their way through the back-door qualifiers.

The All-Ireland Football Final is Sunday, September 16. Sadly, I’ll be dancing till 3:00 AM in Virginia Beach that weekend, or else I’d be looking for an Irish pub that will be open in the morning so that I could watch the craziness in Croke Park with fans of this form of football. (There must be some Gaelic Football fans around here.) I’m also going to miss the deciding Tri Nations rugby match between Australia and New Zealand this Saturday, because I’m going to go to Busch Gardens to ride some roller coasters. Having multiple hobbies requires sacrifices.

• Did the L.A. Galaxy throw a game for Becks? (FanHouse)
• The Sydney Swans wish Brendan Fevola was their headache. (Das FanHaus)
• Chelsea’s Didier Drogba ended a civil war in his native Ivory Coast. Good on ya, Drogs. (Vanity Fair)
• Uruguayan footballers are really sore losers. (FanHouse)
• Gee, that Rugby World Cup is awfully distracting. (New Zealand Herald)
• Your definitive David Beckham write-up. (That’s On Point)
• How they write about football in Mexico. (USA Soccer Spot)
• There are no tickets left for Dublin v. Laois at Croke Park. (RTE)
• Didn’t I tell you it would be USA v. Japan? (FanHouse)
• Carlito wants revenge in the Copa America final. (Sporting Life)
• And Carlito’s agent might get the last laugh. (Ireland On-Line)

Oh, and for those of you in the Raleigh-Durham area, there are two Carolina Railhawks games this weekend — Friday night against Montreal, and Sunday night against the Chicago Fire. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30. We may no longer have a shot at bringing Beckham to North Carolina for the U.S. Open Cup, but knocking off an MLS club — not to mention the defending champs — would be reward enough for an expansion team.

Also, did any one see how quickly the U.S. defense broke down as soon as Eddie Gaven replaced Ben Olsen? Was Bob Bradley just trying to prove a point there or something?

Okay, that’s off my chest. Now he’s some fun stuff that you should read today…

• Your AFL Round 13 preview. (Das FanHaus)
• And a Gaelic football weekend preview. (RTE Sport)
• Are association football viewers bypassing TV for the Internet? (Pitch Invasion)
• “Accusations of betrayal and cowardice being flung across the Indian Ocean with abandon.” In South African rugby, that’s called “Thursday.” (AllAfrica.com)
• Mbale Heroes got some bad eggs. (Das FanHaus)
• Lincoln Kennedy tries the Arena Football diet. (NFL FanHouse)
• Mrs. Beckham has something to do now. (What Would Tyler Durden Do?)
• Comparing Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris. (Steelers FanHouse)
• Speaking of the Steelers, why don’t they offer draftees four-year contracts? (Steelers FanHouse)
• Mexican football cheerleaders are smokin’ hot. (Who Ate All the Pies)
• Breaking: NFL Europa is done. (NFL FanHouse)

Oh, and if any readers in the Raleigh-Durham area want to watch that West Coast-Adelaide game with me on Saturday night, post a comment here. Games are always more fun to watch with a crowd.

‘Saga’ will probably be the word most associated with this series of games as Louth and Wicklow will have to replay again next Sunday in GAA headquarters, following a second draw, this one after extra-time…

Louth missed several opportunities to score as Wicklow’s defending became a bit sloppy and they were giving away needless frees. But the Wee men failed to capitialise.

Wee men. *chuckle*

Wicklow pointed again in the second half of extra time to take them to 0-11 to 0-9., but a Nicky McDonnell goal put them into an undeserved lead, leaving Wicklow to finish on the offensive.

And (Tommy) Walsh was the hero as he scored the late equaliser with only seconds left on the clock to force another replay and give Wexford another week of rest.

That’s the second draw in two weeks for these two sides. If the 2nd replay on Sunday in Croke Park is also a draw, the match will be decided by a drinking contest, and the winner has to play County Wexford the next day, hangovers be damned.

Meanwhile, back in the Munster Senior Football Championship, one county side has attracted the attention of Joanne Cantwell and her haunting, haunting blue eyes…

People on the outside may not realise it, but this Waterford side is finally starting to make some progress.

Most of the country was shocked when John Kiely’s side dismissed Clare in the opening round of Munster; the manager felt they should have won by more. He expected to win; the whole team did.

That’s the difference between Waterford now and Waterford in the past – they now believe they can win.

Know who else believes they can win? The Arizona Cardinals. Really, they’re just one or two pieces away from the playoffs. Waterford plays defending champion Kerry on Sunday, and really, County Kerry is who we think they are, so if you want to crown ‘em…

Other big matches this week include Dublin v. Meath, Longford v. Laois, Cork v. Tipperary, and Derry v. Antrim. I’ve got Cork and the points. How about you?

Anyway, most people seemed to push the idea that rugby league might be more fun to watch, but rugby union is more fun to play, because rucking and mauling is just fun to do. I think Andrew, though, had the most interesting comment:

The creators of Rugby League are people just like you who 100 years ago realised that to obtain payments for players they needed people through the gates, thus they needed a more attractive game. Rugby League is Rugby Union, just 100 years advanced.

Unfortunately the trials going on in South African schools is the IRB attempting to breathe life into a poorly performing sport. The one thing the ‘brains trust’ failed to do was provide adequate real game review of the sport as it traveled into professionalism.

Professionalism in football is a fun topic, isn’t it? Sure, we’ve had pro football in America for almost a century and pro soccer and rugby league in Europe for just as long, but several codes have just recently become fully professional. The International Rugby Board didn’t remove all restrictions on player payments in rugby union until 1995, and Aussie Rules was mostly a semi-pro sport until the Australian Football League formed in 1990. Gaelic football is still entirely amateur.

And as the song goes: mo’ money, mo’ problems. Remember when NFL players fought for free agency in the 80s? That was partly because the league was getting a lot more cash from TV contracts. TV money is creating huge gulfs in the Premier League right now. Some blame the AFL’s current drug problem on players (unfairly targeted or otherwise) with too much money and too much free time.

On the flip side, the AFL’s presumed drug problem isn’t keeping Irish footballers away. Ireland’s finest would probably love to play pro Gaelic Football, but they can’t, as it remains strictly an amateur code. This may explain why Tadhg Kennelly is in Sydney and Kevin Doyle is in Reading.

An aside: Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals almost chose Association football himself. He decided to pursue American football after high school, though, because in the late 90s, there were far fewer opportunities to become a soccer star in America. MLS was fledgling, and the only way to become a real star was to play in Europe, which he didn’t want to do at that time. So he chose to pursue an NFL career instead. I’d say that worked out pretty well.

Can you imagine Ocho Cinqo as the face of American soccer? My god, the goal celebrations would have been epic…

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how rugby union handles professionalism in the future. League is “watered-down rugby” in large part because it needed to put a product on the field that would bring more fans through the gates. Union has never really had to worry about that. Now it does. Will that change the way the game is played in the future?

I’ve been able to figure out most of the foreign football leagues I started following in the last two years. Euro soccer leagues are fairly easy to figure out, and the rugby leagues aren’t too much different. The AFL and its odd Finals Series bracket seems foreign at first but is far from impossible to grasp.

I’m sure the Gaelic Football season isn’t that impossible, either. Football ain’t rocket science, after all. Still, even after looking over the format description and the latest schedule on Wikipedia, I don’t quite have this figured out yet. From the looks of it, there are four provinces, and the county teams in each province will play against each other to determine the winners. But then there’s another qualifying round where teams that don’t win their provincial finals can still make it through to the Final 8, and where they play in the qualifying rounds depends on how they did in the provincial rounds…

Clearly, this will require more research. What I do know, though, is that Ireland, like every other nation on the planet, is gripped with football fever. I know this because Joanne Cantwell and her piercing blue eyes told me so, and really, that’s enough for me.