So what is #CFBD2015 #Livelifegivelife

So many of my friends had moved away as our government is shit and there were no jobs. When I was living in Galway, there were 20 of us crazy young lads, who went out, had the craic, had rows, and made up again! In fact on one occasion Walters ended up naked wrestling in the garden with poor guards calling to the door. He also decided to throw my remote out the window to which I found 3 days later!! Of the 20 there are now 3 in America, 2 in Canada, England has claimed 6 and just 1 in Belfast. With that I and Explosive Griffith decided we needed a reunion, but not any reunion, a fun one that would get everyone excited. So The Big Dance was created. It entails of 15-20 men taking to a field to play American football with no guards or protection. I am the ref who has made some unbelievable calls, and received some crazy abuse. I don’t know the actual rules but call it as I see it. What makes this event so exciting is that it’s the only time of year my close friends are home and we get to catch up. This is not just 20 lads running around for the fun ….. this is also a competition. There are 2 cups, my mother’s cup for the winner, as Garrymore don’t bother with the 7 a side tournament any more. The other trophy is for Most Valued Player (MVP), which is currently sitting in Feeleys house in Claremorris as Donal (Alan’s brother) claimed this prize last year. Now there is a little story behind that trophy………. there is a club in Dublin I was in with the lads one night when this big vase, that looked like a cup was sitting there…… it is by no means small. I told the lads I was taking it, to which they replied you will never get that out! I was determined and boom …..Billy is off home with the MVP big dance cup!! After the game we have food in Martina’s house, followed by a night in the pub. We partied in Gerry Hanley’s’ last year, who ironically has a niece with CF. Gerry is a true gentleman.

Initially there was a lot of debate surrounding what the game should be called with the first year just played as the Christmas bowl, many of the lads dubbed it as the “TURKEY BOWL” or worse still the “NONSENSE BOWL”. O’Toole and Griffith locked heads over a suitable name, and after many hours tweaking, a lot of inspiration simultaneously appeared in the cerebral cortex of both our brains. We had a brain child and we both agreed the game should be known as “THE BIG DANCE”. The name was such fun that it started to generate attention from all over the country. Friends of friends were now talking about The Big Dance. It was such a perfect name as it symbolises what the game is all about. Thirty guys coming together having a blast, just cheering, messing and dancing around like kids at Christmas, having a great time and demonstrating this through the medium of athleticism, in the realm of American football.