I remember when I watched hurling properly for the first time on television as a kid of five or six that my biggest issue was getting my uncle to explain how Clare were winning – I was unaware of the ‘goal equals three’ part! Several of the extended family watched on a very small TV in the corner of the kitchen as the action unfolded, dissecting tactics, and explaining what each team was doing wrong. Safe to say that everyone was an ‘expert.’
In the days that followed, it was inevitable many would end up somewhere kicking a ball or badly striking a sliotar trying to emulate those amateur icons from the screen. A few years after, the first ever Pay-Per-View on Sky television was aired as boxers Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson met in Las Vegas. And thus, the era of a different form of viewing emerged.
