RONAN O’Gara reflected on how real tragedies like Michael O’Sullivan’s death put typical sporting difficulties into perspective.
The Munster great opened his Irish Examiner column with ‘I’ve lost four games in a row, but who really gives a f**k?’
His La Rochelle side are languishing in seventh in the French Top 14 – with eights wins and losses apiece[/caption]
The 24-year-old was buried at a massive funeral on Wednesday[/caption]
That about sums up his whole line of thinking throughout the piece as he notes how his mind keeps going back to the Cork jockey’s life being so cruelly cut short.
O’Gara continues: “That’s crude, but it’s probably where most of us went to this week.
“A lot of us might have set out on Sunday bugged by smaller questions. About fixing a lineout or whatever it is.
“Then news dropped about Mikey O’Sullivan and instead we ask ourselves why do we do this?
“Why does it mean so much? Why is sport so powerful when it can end this brutally?
“A fella gets up on a horse and never comes home. No warning. No fairness.
“It’s under the same definition as what we do. Sport. I keep thinking about Mikey.
“I know he enjoyed his rugby. Loved Munster. And poor John Cooney, chasing his dreams in the ring.
“I keep thinking about Jack de Bromhead in that beach race.”
He later touches on horse racing being what made O’Sullivan’s life what it was – despite it ultimately being what caused his premature death.
From there he weaves between the sporting challenges he faces over the rest of the season as well as the greater significance sport can play in the lives of so many people.
O’Gara eventually touches on his match prediction for Ireland’s visit to Cardiff in the Six Nations.
But it’s apt that that is left til the very last few sentences since it pales into insignificance compared to what he opens with.
The horse racing world is still coming to terms with the shock of losing one of its brightest young jockeys.
FURTHER TRIBUTES
That was evident in O’Sullivan’s longtime trainer Barry Connell’s interview after securing a winner at Punchestown on Thursday – the day after the funeral.
Additionally, Irish legend Davy Russell stated that a shadow will now hang over the weigh room ‘for months if not years’ while speaking to Off the Ball.
Furthering that point, Patrick Mullins reflected on the widespread devastation felt across everyone connected with the racing industry nationwide.
Aside from his obvious racing credentials, Mullins is a brilliant writer and dedicated his weekly Racing Post column to honouring the memory of one of Ireland’s rising stars.
He noted: “We weren’t best friends or family.
“But we were friends and I’m proud to say that, and he made an impression on me that made me feel I had to write this, to pay some kind of tribute, for whatever it’s worth.
“He had a real genuine smile, a smile I won’t forget. He was one of us.
“He is one of us. And he always will be.”
