Friday,
June 21, 2002 marked the annual game between the New York City’s
Bravest and Finest Gaelic Football teams. As the NYPD defeated
the FDNY in hockey and football this year, the pressure was on
for the Bravest’s Fighting Irish to bring home a victory. Like
their previous match-ups, the games took on a special significance
post 9-11. As the bagpipes escorted the players on to the field,
New York’s hometown heroes received a standing ovation from the
crowd. Immediately the Bravest were fired up wracking up point
after point. Try as the NYPD might, they were left blue at the
end of the evening, as the Bravest won the game with a score of
2 goals - 13 points to 6 points for the Finest. While this win
was the first victory for New York's Bravest versus New York's
Finest in the past three years for the past 13 years of this rivalry,
the FDNY Gaelic Football team has tied or won the majority of
the games. The victory was capped by a trophy celebration. Trophies
were awarded to the Fire departments co-MVPS Tommy McHugh, Kevin
Meehan and Eugene Meehan and the police MVP Mike Meehan in honor
of their brothers Dennis McHugh and Damian Meehan respectively,
who died on 9-11. Also, the winning trophy was presented to Bravest
team and a presentation was made to the McHugh Family in honor
of Dennis McHugh (L-13), a fallen hero and member of the FDNY
Gaelic Football team. The FDNY Gaelic Football team’s previous
match-up was against the Dublin Fire Brigade on Sunday, May 26th,
when Dublin beat New York’s Bravest with a score of 2 goals-10
points to 2 goals - 1 point. After the game, a Sterling Silver
Axe was presented to the FDNY players by the Dublin County Board
and the Gaelic Athletic Association gave awards to each team.
All proceeds from Friday’s game went to the widow and children’s
funds of both teams. Anyone wishing to make a donation can send
a check to: The Thomas Elsasser Fund c/o The Uniformed Firefighters
Association 204 E. 23rd St. New York, NY 1001 Baseball fans check
out the FDNY v. NYPD match-up on September 20th at 7pm in Keystone
Park home of the Coney Island Cyclones in Brooklyn. For details
e-mail: nyfiredup@nyc.rr.com.
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