THE ROAD TO CROKER Thursday, RTE Two

BOB DYLAN said he loved nothing better in the late '50s than wandering down to the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village and listening to Tommy Makem from Armagh and the Clancys from Tipperary singing rebel songs. He loved the passion and the drama of their performance and admired the men for not just carrying on a rich tradition, but raising it to new heights.

Makem passed away last week and it was one of his closest colleagues who paid perhaps the greatest tribute.

"He just had the knack of making an audience laugh or cry. . .holding them in his hands, " said Liam Clancy. Maybe it's fitting that those very qualities of passion, drama and tradition should be mirrored lately by another performance art: the All Ireland hurling championship.

The closing act of last Sunday's instalment between Waterford and Cork made for perfect television. Just when it looked as if Waterford were dead and buried, Stephen Molumphy batted home a lifesaving goal and the Deise once again found their voice. There was the passion. Then Eoin McGrath took it upon himself to forego the opportunity to score an easy equalising point and he knifed through the Cork defence in search of a winning goal. Donal Og Cusack was equal to the task.

There was the drama.

But referee Brian Gavin had other ideas and awarded a free against the Cork keeper for lying on the ball. Point taken and final whistle blown, there was a race to berate the man in black for his decisionmaking. As much a tradition as anything else, I suppose.

When the camera returned to the RTE boys, they looked like were enjoying themselves with Tomas Mulcahy doing a fair-to-middling job of keeping a lid on his county allegiances.

Never mind the debate over the late free, the best line came as Mulcahy and Cyril Farrell paid tribute to the improvisation shown by Cork's Kieran Murphy in scoring his goal.

"He used the hurley just like a tennis racket, " said Farrell.

"Like a tennis racket, " he said again, flicking his hand to show Michael Lyster his questionable technique. In fairness to Farrell, he was probably out training the local under14s when the Wimbledon highlights were on. Roll on today's second act.

Des Cahill's The Road to Croker is settling into its stride and their decision to assign a cameraman to follow referee Gavin for last Sunday's game looked inspired as events turned out.

There was Gavin on the morning of the match saying he'll be happy if he manages to "stay out of the limelight" and doesn't do anything that might put him "in the media tomorrow". For 69 minutes it looked as if his wish was coming through until he was forced to make a matchdefining decision that brought the wrath of Cork down upon him.

The only pity was Gavin's aftermatch comment was confined to him saying he was happy he had made the right decision but that "you never know till you read the papers tomorrow". It would have been interesting to see his reaction to some of last Monday's headlines.

The Road to Croker certainly fits a lot into its hour but you get the feeling some segments would benefit from having a bit more room to breath. That was certainly the case with the Babs Keating interview.

It was amazing to see just how disillusioned he has become with managing the Tipperary hurlers. He had words for the media, especially the local press, who he claimed had made an art form of questioning his every decision.

"We're breeding more reporters down here than millionaires, " he said, "and not one of them would know how to make a hurley."

Strangest of all, Babs said his job was getting harder because his players were getting smarter. "Less educated guys had a greater ability to retain [instructions], " he said.

Don't expect to see him at a Fitzgibbon Cup match any time soon so. But through it all you got the feeling he wasn't so much trying to put the blame on others as much as he was simply trying to make sense of another season tainted by defeat. The open wounds were there for all to see.

"There is no place like Croke Park on All Ireland day and I have been to a lot of sporting events all over the world. I have to realise that it's not going to happen to me from now on f but so be it, " he said.

When Tommy Makem was asked if he ever thought about throwing in the towel, he said, "Yes, of course. I retire every night and in the morning when I awake I realise just how lucky and privileged I am to be able to continue doing the things I love to do."

Maybe Babs will eventually come to the same conclusion.

Mind you, the Tipp county board may not afford him the luxury of making that decision for himself.