I had an American friend in town last weekend. Brian Murphy, of KNBR radio in San Francisco, has been talking to me and my colleagues in our various iterations for over 12 years, and his contributions on the Irish Times Second Captains podcast have made him a bit of a cult hero among our listenership.

On Sunday afternoon, he texted me to tell me he was sitting in his hotel room in Dublin, enthralled by the All-Ireland senior ladies’ club final between Donaghmoyne and Foxrock-Cabinteely on TG4. The language barrier didn’t seem to be much of a problem for him, because he later told me he stuck around to watch the highlights of the 2013 All-Ireland hurling final replay which apparently followed the ladies’ final. He couldn’t understand a word, but nevertheless loved the enthusiasm of the “play-by-play guys” – that’s the men in the bosca tráchtaire to me and you.

The 20th birthday of TG4, last Hallowe’en, drew quite a bit of attention, and its sports coverage got its fair share of praise then, as it has done pretty much since it began. TG4’s head of sport Rónán Ó Coisdealbha spoke around the time of the anniversary about how many of the station’s acquisitions were based on what it could get, as much as what it wanted to show.

What it could get was as much of the GAA as it wanted, apart from the senior intercounty championships. So that’s what it started to show. And it turns out that the GAA fan isn’t all that discerning. What we wanted was games – in all colours, shapes and sizes. TG4 was able to provide that.

Second Captains

Key effects

When TG4 covers live ladies’ football games, it’s the same broadcast teams, the same commentators – that stuff makes a difference. It covers it in exactly the same way as the other strand of its GAA coverage, and has fast-tracked the normalisation of female participation in our games.

It has, of course, raised the profile of the club game. And it has made the Under-21 hurling championship one of the most reliably brilliant televisual spectacles of the summer. You might need to be reminded every so often on a beautiful summer’s evening to stay indoors and watch, but they seldom disappoint. I’ve lost count of the number of stone-cold classics I’ve turned on with 15 minutes already gone in the first half on a Wednesday evening in July.

F-Bomb

There is a timeless quality to TG4’s coverage. It shows games deferred, for instance, which is pretty astonishing in the social media age. And the lurking man in the background on his mobile phone, waving to his friends while games are being analysed, is a winter Sunday afternoon staple, matched only in frequency at Cheltenham or the Galway Races.

Central tenet

There is also something about the actual production values of the coverage itself. No matter the occasion, and no matter the weather, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill will be pitch-side, with a small plinth in front of him the only nod to TV production norms. We are left in no doubt that we are watching the hardy perennials of the GAA world. Often, with five minutes to go to throw-in, he will say goodbye to one of his analysts, and a minute after throw-in that man will reappear as our co-commentator.

They’re there because they love it, and the same probably goes for those of us watching too. That enthusiasm is so clear, even the man from California could feel it.