Pat Spillane, left half forward on the team of the last millennium, has decided to pick his team of this millennium. Thus far, at least.
Naturally, it is a political minefield.
Spillane pre-empted the charges of Kerry bias by noting it was only his opinion. He pointed out that Kerry have participated in 11 of the 16 finals in this century.
More provocative even than the large Kerry contingent is the fact that Dublin, the dominant team of the current decade, have one player - Stephen Cluxton.
Easy on the outrage, Dublin fans. Spillane did allow that a number of other Dublin players would likely make it on should he select another team in 2020.
There is a gentle bias in favour of players who have already finished their careers.
Connacht has zero representation on the team, which is dominated by Munster (well, Kerry) and Ulster players. All outfield players come from Kerry or an Ulster county.
Mayo have zero players while Galway and Cork are the only two counties who have won All-Irelands this century to not have a player on the team.
Sean Marty Lockart is the only player on the team without an All-Ireland medal. Here's the full team:
Stephen Cluxton; Marc O'Sé, Seamus Moynihan, Sean Marty Lockhart; Tomas O'Sé, Kieran McGeeney, Philip Jordan; Sean Cavanagh, Darragh O'Sé; Brian Dooher, Michael Murphy, Declan O'Sullivan; Colm Cooper, Peter Canavan, Stevie McDonnell
Thoughts?
