Dublin game draws mixed views from Irish

DUBLIN, Ireland - The first thing cabdrivers ask when they pick you up and realize you're an American: So, you here for the game Saturday?

It's not necessarily a good thing. One cabdriver brought this up Monday, noting that the Penn State-Central Florida game (Saturday, 8:30 a.m. Philadelphia time) had forced a semifinal Gaelic football match between Kerry and Mayo to Limerick rather than Dublin's Croke Park.

Or it can be positive. Robert Kelly, who has friends and family in America, has watched American football for years. His favorite has always been Pittsburgh native Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins.

"I'm probably the only Miami Dolphins fan in Ireland," he said.

While American football has not reached the popularity of soccer, Gaelic football, hurling, or rugby, it's a niche sport that continues to grow. Croke Park officials are reportedly expecting 35,000 of an anticipated crowd of 55,000 to be Irish. NFL games are regularly televised. Young athletes play, and Gavin Quirke, an American football player from University College Dublin, points out that Steelers owner Dan Rooney's efforts as a former Ireland ambassador helped ingratiate the game in Ireland.

The game Saturday, just like past Notre Dame-Navy games, are part of the sport's growth. But the game comes at a controversial time.

Last Sunday, Kerry and Mayo tied in their semifinal match, forcing a rematch. It would usually be played at Croke Park, but Penn State and Central Florida were already booked. American football was taking precedence over the Irish game, to the chagrin of many. Former Gaelic football player Tomás O Sé penned a particularly hot take against the Penn State game Friday in the Irish Independent.

"I just get the impression that, more and more, there's an attitude [around that building] of, 'Get off the pitch, we're making money here!' " he wrote.

"So there's a principle involved that bothers me this week. Why on earth agree to putting this American football game into Croke Park at our busiest time of year?"

Quirke and his teammates Colin Harper, Oisin Stack, and Chris Scollard are four people excited for the Penn State game. They play American football for University College Dublin, the campus on which Penn State practiced this week.

"Games like this are great," Scollard said, "because they bring up the recognition."

NCAA rebuts report. An NCAA official said no decision has been made concerning a reduction of sanctions against Penn State, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Chief legal officer Donald Remy said the NCAA was unsure what former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, Penn State's athletics integrity monitor, will conclude in his annual report.

The Sporting News on Wednesday cited two unnamed sources within the NCAA indicating the Lions would be in position to regain postseason eligibility for the 2015 season.