Customer Reviews

Ireland's Professional Amateurs: A Sports Season At Its Purest

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What John Grisham does for American football in Italy in They Play for Pizza, Andy Mendlowitz does for Ireland's national sports, except that Andy's Ireland's Professional Amateurs is non-fiction.

This book is an account of the author's eight months in Ireland following the Gaelic football and hurling seasons. He traveled to a dozen cities, lived in players' family's homes, shared successes and losses, and soaked up the nationalistic feelings the games brought to the teammates, their county and the many enjoying enduring fans.

Irelans's Professional Amateurs is more than a sports book - it is also a travel log of Ireland's rich culture, and a history book of the great country.

Andy tells a story of the pride and joy of the fans in watching the distinctively special Irish sports and how it transcends the sports playing field to the pride in their local county and their Gaelic background.

The players are all amateurs practicing hard and heavy after work so they could win the Sunday game for their county. And then they are back at work on Monday at their jobs as teachers, accountants, lawyers, civil servants and factory workers. No time to recover from their injuries which seem more plentiful than they should be for an amateur sport, to back to their planning and practices for the next weekend's game.

The book is written in a fast paced journalistic style that grabs your attention from the first page to the last. It draws out individual stories of many players and the pride and sacrifices they make to play the game.

This was a great book that is not so much about sports, but of a country's passion for their culture and the sports that are part of their culture. Made me want to take in a hurling match or a Gaelic football tilt. You will enjoy the read.

good book. the author takes in the romantic side of the GAA but also sees the faults and future hurdles that the GAA will face in coming years. worth a read.