Gaelic Football

Played on a rugby field (H shaped goals) with a round ball -the size of a common soccer ball. You can either kick the ball or play with your hands.

The ball can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or solo-ed, an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. You can also play with your feet (soccer like). To pass the ball, you must kick it or knock it with your fist (you can't pass it directly as in the basketball).

What's the point? Scoring points. If you make the ball pass between the two bars of the opposite goal above the horizontal bar, it's one point. If it passes under the horizontal bar, it's three points -but it's more difficult because there's a goalkeeper.

Each team has 15 players. The game lasts 70 minutes.

I like to believe that TV commentators use very traditionnal expressions -like for the rugby in France. But I really don't know as many games are commentated in irish.

Hurling

This is Europe's oldest field game, it was first introduced in Ireland by the Celts and it is chronicled as a distinct Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years.

The ball is a small leather ball (baseball like) called sliothar and each player has a hurley (called camán in Irish). It's a sort of wooden stick curved outwards at the end, to provide the striking surface (it's a mix between a baseball bat and a hockey stick).

With the hurley, you may strike the ball on the ground, or in the air. You can grab the ball but you can't take more than four steps with it. After those steps you may bounce the ball on the hurley and back to the hand, but you are forbidden to catch the ball more than twice. If you want to move with the ball you can make it rebound on your hurley or even keep it balanced -while running- on your hurley. Very difficult indeed.

Players often wear helmets. This sport is very fast and quite rough. You score one point above the bar, three under (1-16 means one goal and 16 points). 15 players on each team play during two 35-minute halves.

If anybody wants to try it, I have to hurleys and a ball back home (meaning France). They were played with sometimes in the corridor in front of my room on the campus of the Ecole Polytechnique.