Joe Brolly

[orangeman]

But is Bertie Aherne not overweight already ?

[rashCharacter]

Brolly must have said something against Brendan Crossan of the Irish News.

Crossan fairly slates him in todays paper, a full page doanted to bad mouthing Brolly.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Brolly must have said something against Brendan Crossan of the Irish News.

Crossan fairly slates him in todays paper, a full page doanted to bad mouthing Brolly.

Could anybody post this please?

[Drumanee 1]

crossan is some boy to slag anybody,the mans a complete tool who himself continues to get the basic facts wrong,think it must be jealously,"this reporter" would love to get as much coverage as brolly but never will cause he is totaly useless

[johnpower]

I Just realised that as much as I dislike Brolly I would miss him .I am on the road tomorrow but will be recording events in Croker ,Setanta is good but bland

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Brolly must have said something against Brendan Crossan of the Irish News.

Crossan fairly slates him in todays paper, a full page doanted to bad mouthing Brolly.

Could anybody post this please?

Spring a surprise and do it like any ordinary Joe
THE BOOT ROOM
by Brendan Crossan

FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT. JER-REE, JER-REE, JER-REE. Remember Jerry Springer? He was the American chat-show host who put the 'trash' into TV.

For a few years in the mid-90s Jerry was really hot. He was the ratings king. Loathed – but avidly watched – by conservatives,

bible-bashing red-necks and trendy liberals alike, Jerry Springer had a generous piece of just about every section of American society.

In today's global village, it was only a matter of time before Springer-mania reached Irish shores.

His slot was buried on terrestrial television after midnight. I didn't care much for Jerry Springer and his cross-dressing guests, but he still had the ability to stop you channel-hopping.

You'd watch until you saw at least one fight break out among his crazy guests before the stage bouncers weighed in.

And did you ever notice, Jerry's bouncers always arrived on the scene a fraction late? Just enough time for a few right hooks to land. Jerry would shake his head in mock disgust as all hell broke loose on stage.

Then, at the end of the show and with admirable sincerity, he would plant himself on his moral soap-box and speak to his viewers in a pathetic attempt at respectability.

When I think of Jerry Springer, I think of Joe Brolly.

A small explanation is required here. First of all, let's be clear about two things: I'm not suggesting for a second that the little Derry man was a fan of Jerry Springer, nor am I inferring he appeared as a guest on the chat-show/fight-fest. (Hope I'm not on dodgy legal ground here, Joe.)

No, the parallel I'm drawing upon here is that both Jerry and Joe have a shelf-life.

Jerry Springer is yesterday's news. His ratings have plummeted since his hey-day in the mid-90s. I'm sure he's made his millions and is still cutting it on a lesser network channel.

But, by and large, the viewers turned off a long time ago. They became tired of the stage-managed cat-fights and Jerry's end-of-show morality nonsense.

Joe Brolly has a shelf-life too. The 1993 All-Ireland winner has carved out a nice little niche for himself in the print and broadcast media.

At first, Joe was humorous and absorbing to watch on television. A bit like Jerry Springer. When it came to analysing big GAA games, he was quick-witted and erudite.

Of course, you don't lose those qualities. You just abuse them. Take them for granted. You stand still and don't evolve as a TV pundit.

It's akin to a comedian that makes you laugh a time or two and assumes he can make you laugh all the time.

However, this year Joe's one-liners are beginning to get the half-empty cabaret clap – belated and cringe-worthy.

In my humble opinion, Joe's making a fatal mistake insofar as he's beginning to misjudge his audience. Each time he appears on our television screens he feels obliged to be funny – and if he's not funny he opts for the plain ridiculous.

His script, like Jerry's, is beginning to run a bit thin. In the early years, there was a pitiful 'Morecambe and Wise' thing going on in the RTE

studio between him and side-kick Colm O'Rourke.

It was a misadventure. O'Rourke, wisely, took a step back after his hat-eating faux pas and nowadays tries to offer the viewer mature, thoughtful analysis.

That's O'Rourke's strength. It's Joe Brolly's strength too. In fact, when he's not wise-cracking, the Derry man's analysis of football games is excellent and second to none. It's when he dons that giddy face you fear the worst.

You sense that some poor amateur footballer from Cavan, Down, Carlow or Leitrim is about to incur Joe's eccentric wrath. One man's sense of fun is another man's stinging criticism.

The footballer, who has just been on the receiving end of Joe's 'wit' on national TV, is a bricklayer, student or sales rep the following day.

It's embarrassing and oft-times humiliating for the player and his family.

In a recent newspaper column, Joe described Mayo's Conor Mortimer as "not very good" and that during their game with Derry, Oak Leaf defender Michael McGoldrick "fed him with farts".

Joe's comments were uncouth and lacked subtlety. If you're uncouth and funny, well, you just might pull it off. But Joe didn't pull it off. He was just being plain rude.

Sometimes Joe Brolly reminds me of Stephen Nolan. You know who I'm talking about here. The larger-than-life radio broadcaster who is on the airwaves each morning at half-past-ten.

Nolan's biggest problem is that too often he becomes the news. Joe suffers from the same affliction.

There appears to be this misconception among broadcast personalities, and indeed producers, that the alternative to 'not being funny' or 'controversial' is to be boring.

TV punditry and newspaper columns are more multi-faceted than the misconceived 'funny-or-boring' axis.

You only have to look at the strides made by Dara O Cinneide this year. The former Kerry star has proven to be an excellent addition to RTE's expert GAA studio panel.

O Cinneide is not controversial. O Cinneide is not funny. But he is insightful. He does his homework and supplies the viewer with interesting stats.

He points out things that the untrained eye or armchair viewer doesn't see. His analysis is both informative and entertaining.

In short, O Cinneide has nailed it. His approach is the very definition of television punditry.

During the week, he's not dreaming up his next one-liner that'll have the nation in fits of laughter (if only!) on Sunday.

Having watched O Cinneide on several occasions, I'd guess he's been studying scoring averages and patterns of play. And by the sounds of it, he's talking to well-placed

people in the respective counties, trying to get the inside track, always trying to inform.

Maybe I should cut Joe some slack here. Maybe he's merely a by-product of our own popular culture where celebrity judging on shows such as X-Factor and Pop Idol are the new rage. We live in an era where humiliating appraisals and humourless comments are the name of the game.

Lamentably, it seems, the GAA has been infected too. You know something: there's definitely a bit of Simon in Joe.

[oakleafgael]

Its nice that Crossan, for a change, has decided not to write about either Cliftonville or his amatuer soccer career. Its a pity that although he is talking about a different subject he is still spouting shite. Apart from Heaney the standard of the gaa jounalism at the Irish News is very poor. I challenge anyone to read his anaylsis after a game and actually make any sense of what he writes. While we are on the subject of the Irish News, Kenny Archer is even worse. He would be better writing about soccer full time as all he ever wants to write about is Liverpool. Thats fine and welll but the average buyer of the I.N. wants to read about GAA and not about ground football.

[never kickt a ball]

Most of these journalists are obviously following the trends of discussion on this board. Silke had a go at the Sunday Game and now Crossan tackles Brolly. It's not a coincidence that these topics have all been discussed at length on this discussion board. I've often wondered why more journalists have not covered this discussion board in their articles. Maybe it's because more readers will discover where they get most of their ideas?

[Out in Front]

crossan is some boy to slag anybody,the mans a complete tool who himself continues to get the basic facts wrong...

"Sometimes Joe Brolly reminds me of Stephen Nolan. You know who I'm talking about here. The larger-than-life radio broadcaster who is on the airwaves each morning at half-past-ten."


Brendan must be getting a bit confused here, the larger-than-life bloke is on the radio at 09:04 and goes off air at 10.30 when Gerry Anderson takes to the airwaves.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Sláinte Gabriel.

[orangeman]

Love him or hate him , we 're still talking about him.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Love him or hate him , we 're still talking about him.

Hate me? 

[orangeman]

Sorry Gabriel - I meant Brolly !

[heurebag]

"mc goldrick had mortimer in his back pocket and fed him, on farts"

joe brolly is a feckin ejjit