Opinion: New tricks for old dogs

A Tyrone flag is on display. Nancy Jo Chabot photo
Published: 01-04-2025 7:00 AM |
Parker Potter is a former archaeologist and historian, and a retired lawyer. He is currently a semi-professional dogwalker who lives and works in Contoocook.
For most of my life, I have been a sports fan. My rooting interests have changed over the years, as have the mechanics of my fandom, but I’ve always been a fan of some team or another, or an admirer of some player or another.
Growing up in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, my gateway team was the Ohio State football Buckeyes. My parents took me to my first Ohio State game in 1966, and by the time I graduated from high school in 1975, I had gone to more than twenty Buckeye games. My mother lived in Baltimore when she met my father, and as a result, the Colts were the first NFL team I rooted for. I am still haunted by their 1969 Super Bowl loss to Joe Namath and the New York Jets.
A junior high school friend introduced me to baseball and the Cincinnati Reds. I made several trips to Riverfront Stadium to watch the Reds, and even went to the seventh game of the 1972 World Series. I’ll never forget seeing Charlie Finley, owner of the victorious Oakland As, dancing on top of the As dugout after the game. I was such a dedicated Reds fan that I listened to most of their games on the radio, often falling asleep to the dulcet tones of Joe Nuxhall and Al Michaels when the Reds were on the West Coast playing the Dodgers, Giants, or Padres.
Growing up in central Ohio, I was a big Jack Nicklaus fan, and I got to see him play his third round in the 1973 PGA Championship at Canterbury Country Club near Cleveland, which he won.
When I lived in Providence in the early 1980s, the Boston Celtics were at the top of the NBA, and I followed them closely. I also rooted for the Red Sox and even attended a couple of opening days at Fenway Park.
When I lived in Annapolis, Maryland, in the mid-1980s, I rooted for the Washington football team and made regular trips to Memorial Stadium to watch the Baltimore Orioles play. Today, I take more than a passing interest in the New England Patriots and the Celtics.
So, for as long as I can remember, I’ve had a couple of sports to follow and a couple of teams to root for.
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But suddenly two summers ago, a whole new world of sports opened up for me. When I was in Ireland with my family, I was lucky enough to be in Killarney, a town in County Kerry, when Kerry took on Dublin in the final match of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) men’s senior football championship. We watched the match (or “fixture” as the GAA would call it) in a pub full of Kerry supporters. The atmosphere was electric. The match was exciting. I was hooked.
The game itself, Gaelic football, is a fascinating amalgam of rugby and soccer in which players move down the field dribbling a round ball (or kicking it to themselves) and score by punting the ball through the top of a H-shaped goal post for one point or kicking the ball past the goalkeeper into a net in the bottom part of the H for three points. The game was like nothing I had ever seen before.
When I got home, I started learning about the GAA. It was founded in the 1880s to promote the native Irish language and culture, including Ireland’s ancient games, Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie (the women’s version of hurling). The GAA also sponsors a wide range of social service programs.
I also learned that several generations of Potter ancestors had lived in Fermanagh and Tyrone, two counties in today’s Northern Ireland. When I learned that, I decided to become a supporter of the football, hurling, and camogie teams from those two counties.
GAA sports are contested on multiple levels, from local club teams to county teams that compete in a series of different tournaments throughout the year. GAA sports are also played at several different age levels, from seniors down through juniors, intermediates, and minors, but all GAA athletes, even those at the top level, are amateurs.
Given all the levels at which GAA sports are contested, there are matches going on all the time, and it is pretty easy to keep up with them on the internet. Once, in response to a comment I made on a Facebook post, someone in Ireland sent me a link I could use to watch an important match. How cool is that?
So now, I am a dedicated supporter of Fermanagh and Tyrone. Any time a team from one of those two counties is in action, you’ll see my team flag flying in front of my house. I don’t know whether anyone else in my family is as excited about GAA sports as I am, but I’ve really loved finding a new sport to follow and new teams to root for.
With New Year resolution time upon us, this might be an auspicious moment for other old dogs like me to think about learning a new trick or two.