Topics

Mayo to beat Cork
Donegal to beat Galway
Monaghan to beat Down
Armagh to beat Kildare
Dublin to beat monaghan
Tyrone to beat Armagh
Kerry to beat Mayo
Donegal to beat Roscommon
Kerry to beat Donegal
Tyrone to beat Dublin
Tyrone to beat Kerry

What is your County's preferred path to the final?

              For all the cribbin' about football being dead, too cynical, hard to watch, etc., blah blah blah, it has shaped up nicely this year with the re-emergence of Fermanagh, Galway and Kildare.  There have been some serious games/shocks with Antrim disposing of Laois, Westmeath binning Meath, and Sligo and Fermanagh catching out Roscommon.  Monaghan tore up the Donegal script, and we had the usual competitiveness in the Munster final and the replay. 
              If we compare that to the hurling, there have been a lot of low quality games with dozens of wides costing teams a place in the next round.  The Cork Galway game today was symptomatic of the standard this year with poor defending-many wides for both teams and one team throwing in the towel way too early.  A lot of dirty stuff happening in the hurling these days too.

Would it be criminal to say that football is better to watch than hurling this year?  I wouldn't go rule-changing just yet...
       

Funny the difference in RTE reports on Brollygate and Today FM this morning.

Today FM had The Roscommon manager, Senan Conall and somebody else on this morning talking about Brolly-all dismissed his rant as ridiculous while acknowledging the type of foul as being frustrating.

RTE had an ex-PAT calling from Sweden who linked these minor issues within the game to the big failings in the Irish Psyche (wha?), some D4 cretin who went of on a cliched rant about how the game is too physical (obvioiusly has no interest in GAA) and then Barry McGuigan on the phone from England who started his spake by saying he didn't actually watch the match but his brother filled him in on some of the bits.  He also went on to talk about how if Sean Cavanagh's tackle was too dangerous he should have been sent off.

Newstalk and TodayFM will drive RTE into the ground if they keep these standards up (or down).

Just watching Dublin Kerry 78.  Jaysus, you really realise the balls that Spillane talks when you watch this.  While I don't deny that these were great teams, all I can see are 3rd man tackles, pullin, draggin, ruthless late tackles, over-hand-passing and Kerry crowding the defence (blanket?)
A crude form of the game occasionally livened up by the likes of Spillane , Sheehy and O'Shea, thank God  it has developed into what it is now so we don't have to watch that goofy over-hand pass and people who are fit enough to move outside of their position.

From RTE:
Wednesday, 15 February 2012 09:29

Páidí Ó Sé has criticised the Kerry players for what he feels is their recent habit of questioning referees' decisions, claiming it makes the players look like 'whingers'.

Ó Sé told The Examiner at the launch of his Tayto Longford Arms Comórtas Péile: "It's a thing I have studied very closely. It's the one characteristic I've noticed that has crept into Kerry football.

"It was never part of Kerry football, not when I was growing up or when I played or when I was manager.

"We're getting into this habit of questioning decisions and getting into arguments and portraying ourselves as whingers.

"It's something I'd like to see blocked out of our game. You train and prepare to do your job as a player - let the referee do his.

"They're over-reacting at the moment, questioning a lot of what the referee is doing.

"But he's not going to change his mind. They're doing themselves more harm than good."

Ó Sé continued: "I can certainly tell you Jack O'Connor is not telling them to crib at referees. Jack wouldn't be part of that, it's not in his make-up.

"It's only the players who must take it upon themselves to behave themselves. There's a duty to play well but there's also a duty to wear the jersey with respect and honour.

"We're proud of our football in Kerry and every day we take to the field with the green and gold jersey is a proud day for us.

"It's important to Kerry that this pride is developed and expressed on the field in the best way, not by giving out to the referee all of the time."