best standard of football ever??

[Armamike]

It's an Irish thing - we're only happy when we're complaining about something!

[JMohan]

In a nutshell Meath are f*cked

Minors going nowhere
U21's leaderless and with a clueless management
Seniors going backwards and also with a clueless management

the dakest hour is just before dawn my friend

I hope so ... but there's no 'red sky at night'


I sincerely hope so ...

[JMohan]

Isn't it just a case of the older heads like Brolly, O'Rourke and Hayes talking about the good old days?

Grass was always greener years ago etc etc .... rose tinted googles etc etc ... nonsense 

[ONeill]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

[DennistheMenace]

I too am mystified by the "Ah, the football's been poor this season", rubbish that's being bandied around this season.  Two different people have said that to me this week and when I have challenged them to consider several matches from the championship, (and we haven't even got out of the provinces yet) they have changed their opinions totally.  People in this country are very fickle.  
Undoubtedly, the usual RTE pundits/culprits are to blame.  A few years back, they had every reason to moan when we had guttery matches submerged in smatterings of ridiculous wides at this stage of the championship.  Unfortunalely, this early championship dirge analysis has become an unbreakable habit for some.
 
It remains a fact that in the North, we have grown up with a natural questioning of all things media related and this facet of our psyche does not restrict itself to politics. Because of this, you will find more individual opinions and less regurgatation of coined phrases and pundits' opinions.  I don't mean to be condescending, but merely observe this, having lived in the republic this past four years.

I think that it has been a great championship so far, in fact the best, with more teams thrown into the mix, high standards of skill and fitness and a few fairytale stories already.  What more do we want?      

Which matches would these be ?

I'm assuming Cork/Kerry for a start..

[JMohan]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

So devaluing them since they are 'getting paid' so to speak?

[Trevor Hill]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

Has anyone actually thought that the football may just be crap this year?
Has there been one really good game? Tyrone v Armagh? No. Tyrone went to sleep in the second half and even when the ref was playing for Armagh they still couldn't get back into it. Tyrone never got out of second gear.
Tyrone v Derry? All this nonsense about Derry. Derry this, Derry that. At least the ref made the Tyrone v Armagh game interesting. It is just possible that Tyrone will win the All Ireland this year without breaking a sweat.
We wont mention the Fermanagh v Down game or the Cavan v Fermangh game, they were probably the worst games of the year.
Then we have the Dubs, their games are so bad this year that even their own fans aren't showing up. Stand alone fixture? Me arse, they'd struggle to fill Parnell Park at the minute, if half of them could find it.

[Mike Sheehy]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

yeah, its far-fetched. In fact its quite a stupid theory even for a paranoid, multiple personality nordie like yourself....

[ONeill]

Did the board clown write something, in pigeon English?

[Mike Sheehy]

I could have sworn some idiot thinks some RTE cabal are plotting against the GAA. Jaysus, what a luderman....I wonder are they all this thick in Pomeroy !!

[rrhf]

Actually they are, but can you close that back door...

[hows she cutting]

Kerry v Tyrone all Ireland minor semi final in 97

great game. Very high standard and a lot from both sides graduated to senior level

[corn02]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

Has there been one really good game? Tyrone v Armagh?  when the ref was playing for Armagh they still couldn't get back into it.
At least the ref made the Tyrone v Armagh game interesting.

What shite are you talking now? Fans and pundits alike praised the ref's performance that day.

[Trevor Hill]

Fans and pundits alike praised the ref's performance that day.

You mean Armagh fans and which pundits, Big Joe maybe.
I`ll give you an example of the bias shown by McEnaney towards Armagh. Stevie O`Neill was through on goal late in the first half, he was fouled but could have continued and at least had a shot on goal, but the ref stopped play and Tyrone scored a point from the resulting free. Then in the second half Ronan Clark was fouled, but the ref allowed play to continue and Clark scored a goal, which brought Armagh back into the game at a time when they were starting to lose touch with Tyrone. The goal gave Armagh a huge lift.
I have nothing against Armagh, I was actually hoping they would snatch a draw in that game, but I have always thought Pat McEnaney has been more than kind to them over the years.

[ExiledGael]

This might be far-fetched but it has been at the back of my thoughts for a while now - I wonder has it been a ploy by pundits (ex-players) to rubbish this year's championship (and last year's for a lot of it) in order to bring the current inter-county players down a peg or two/rubbishing the product ever since the grants issue. Not a conspiracy, simply a collection of individual reactions by some of the leading lights who were anti-grants. I know Spillane is very much in that category.

Has anyone actually thought that the football may just be crap this year?
Has there been one really good game? Tyrone v Armagh? No. Tyrone went to sleep in the second half and even when the ref was playing for Armagh they still couldn't get back into it. Tyrone never got out of second gear.
Tyrone v Derry? All this nonsense about Derry. Derry this, Derry that. At least the ref made the Tyrone v Armagh game interesting. It is just possible that Tyrone will win the All Ireland this year without breaking a sweat.
We wont mention the Fermanagh v Down game or the Cavan v Fermangh game, they were probably the worst games of the year.
Then we have the Dubs, their games are so bad this year that even their own fans aren't showing up. Stand alone fixture? Me arse, they'd struggle to fill Parnell Park at the minute, if half of them could find it.

In answer to your first question, No.
The rest of that post is not worth discussing.