Tip your hat to the man from the top of the road

The much-hyped London Olympics is nearly upon us and the man on which most of the media attention will be focused is confident he can live up to his billing. 'The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt' is how Wikipedia title him. To us mere mortals he's just plain old Usain Bolt. From humble beginnings in Kingston, Bolt is, as we speak, a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medallist and without question the man to beat over the shorter distances at major championships. 

Bolt's done it all in his chosen field to date but there's more to come surely?!? 'If I'm in great shape nobody will beat me in London', the 25-year-old, in typically confident mood, proclaimed recently. Records are sure to fall, Bolt will seriously threaten a number of them, perhaps shatter them. However, there's one record Bolt is unaware of, a record that will be broken by a man, far from the glitz and glam of Stratford. That record will be broken where glitz and glam are in short supply, the Gaelic Grounds on the road out of Limerick city, heading for Ennis.

Who's the man in question? The man from the top of the road, Ard an Bhóthair as Gaeilge, Tomás Ó Sé, is the man in question. And what a man. Ó Sé will make a record-breaking 82nd championship appearance for his beloved Kerry on Saturday evening. There'll be little fanfare, Ó Sé wouldn't want it.

Following Kerry's epic win over Tyrone last weekend the talk is that the men from the Kingdom are far from a spent force. Munster rivals Clare, perhaps rivals is the wrong word, are Kerry's opponents but it matters little in the context of what Ó Sé has achieved since making what could only be called an inauspicious provincial debut against old foes Cork at the painfully picturesque Fitzgerald Stadium over 14 years ago.

On that day, Ó Sé, at just 20, was hauled off at the interval by his uncle and Kerry legend Páidí after he was taken to the cleaners by Aidan Dorgan. Corner-back was where the youngster started out but it is as a roving half-back that he made his name, and how, particularly under the stewardship of Jack O'Connor.

O Se in full-flow, as always

Since then the Gaelscoil teacher has collected five All-Ireland medals, eight Munster medals, three league medals and has been named an All Star on five occasions in a period that has produced some of the greatest players ever to don the famous green and gold of Kerry, none more so than Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, who needs just three points against Clare to become the championship's all-time top scorer.

So the Gaelic Grounds is obviously the place to be this weekend?!? One record will be broken before the throw-in and the other is likely to bite the dust, all going to plan, before the half-time whistle.

However, nothing like the crowd that made their way past Hussey's Bar and Townhouse en route to the country's most scenic venue last weekend will trouble the man at the stiles tomorrow evening. Kerry often struggle against inferior opposition but they should advance with ease to the last eight, the business end of the championship wouldn't be the same without them.

But back to the man in question, and what he stands for in Kerry, a county that has given so much to Gaelic Football over the years. I was trying to find a way to sum up Ó Sé and found a comment on the Kerry GAA Forum that I feel does it nicely.

Here goes. After a Kerry match one day a grown man said to his son, 'Go over and get Tomás Ó Sé's autograph'. The son acted up, saying he didn't want to but the father had the final say, adding: 'Well, I do, so go and get it'.