Championship 2009 in dire straits

[Barney]

I hate to take a leaf out of the RTE panelists books but this years championship must be the worst by far in living memory.

one thing appears clear - the gap between the top teams and the middle ranking teams is getting ever-wider.

Few chances of shocks, never mind suprise results and many thrashings.

Kerry/Cork were good matches, Tyrone/Armagh was ok but being honest much of the rest has been mid-ranking muck.

There will of course be cries of the death of the provincial championships - and yes the do or die intesity does appear to be gone. Other sports have lost the prestiege attached to some of their major competitions - UEFA Cup, FA Cup in football, anything bar the majors in golf, even the Lions and this is for money reasons. In the GAA there is the bizarre situation where teams are not gunning for the silverware in their province, then suprised at being beaten find themselves in the qualifiers where the motivition is sometimes lacking or questionable. There are very few classics in the Qualifiers.

So what are we left with. The Connacht and Leinster Finals should produce close contests. Hopefully the football will be good.

Ulster and MUnster are possible turkey shoots.

Cork and Tyrone look like All Ireland semi-finalists.

Only Kerry realistically look like doing damage from the Qualifiers.
Intrigue looks like being lacking and the alarm bells should be ringing. Wait until there are poor crowds in the closing stages.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I hate to take a leaf out of the RTE panelists books but this years championship must be the worst by far in living memory.

one thing appears clear - the gap between the top teams and the middle ranking teams is getting ever-wider.

Few chances of shocks, never mind suprise results and many thrashings.

Kerry/Cork were good matches, Tyrone/Armagh was ok but being honest much of the rest has been mid-ranking muck.

There will of course be cries of the death of the provincial championships - and yes the do or die intesity does appear to be gone. Other sports have lost the prestiege attached to some of their major competitions - UEFA Cup, FA Cup in football, anything bar the majors in golf, even the Lions and this is for money reasons. In the GAA there is the bizarre situation where teams are not gunning for the silverware in their province, then suprised at being beaten find themselves in the qualifiers where the motivition is sometimes lacking or questionable. There are very few classics in the Qualifiers.

So what are we left with. The Connacht and Leinster Finals should produce close contests. Hopefully the football will be good.

Ulster and MUnster are possible turkey shoots.

Cork and Tyrone look like All Ireland semi-finalists.

Only Kerry realistically look like doing damage from the Qualifiers.
Intrigue looks like being lacking and the alarm bells should be ringing. Wait until there are poor crowds in the closing stages.

Would hope that the gloom will have lited by the closing stages. In ways the "real" championship only starts when you get to the quarter finals. Not great fare so far fair enough but not one team is out of the championship yet and there's still a lot of potential for good games in the qualifiers.

[Gnevin]

Antrim V Donegal and Antrim V Cavan ring any bells?


Are you saying  Monaghan and Armagh are wasting their time?

[ONeill]

 The championship really starts next weekend. Last chance saloon and all that. I think the Monaghan/Armagh game could be a clinker.

[thewobbler]

Load of nonsense Barney. Apart from Westmeath and Laois returning to their pre-2000 status of rubbish football counties, it has been a better than average Championship.

Cork beating Kerry was a shock.
Every result on Antrim's side of the draw in Ulster has been a shock.
The impressiveness of Kildare has been a shock.


Football didn't have a golden era where everone was competitve and committed. Just your memory playing tricks on you.

[Zulu]

I'd disagree with a lot of that Barney, ok most of the games have been poor but we have 2 novel finals with 2 of the finalists rarely getting that far and the other 2 finals are very attractive pairings. The fact that we've had a few hammerings bodes well for the rest of the championship IMO because it seems a few counties may have stepped up a bit. For the first time in a few years it looks like we have one or two new AI contenders and teams like Kildare, Mayo, Dublin and a full Derry squad look like they could cause any team trouble later on. I'm really looking forward to the qualifiers and provincal finals and I think we will get some cracking games as the summer unfolds.

[ExiledGael]

I'd disagree with a lot of that Barney, ok most of the games have been poor but we have 2 novel finals with 2 of the finalists rarely getting that far and the other 2 finals are very attractive pairings. The fact that we've had a few hammerings bodes well for the rest of the championship IMO because it seems a few counties may have stepped up a bit. For the first time in a few years it looks like we have one or two new AI contenders and teams like Kildare, Mayo, Dublin and a full Derry squad look like they could cause any team trouble later on. I'm really looking forward to the qualifiers and provincal finals and I think we will get some cracking games as the summer unfolds.

Fully agree, this negativity is infectous.

[magickingdom]

what amazes me is that the dubs could get such a crowd in to see a game against westmeath, i had no expectations of that game

[Hound]

I hate to take a leaf out of the RTE panelists books but this years championship must be the worst by far in living memory.

one thing appears clear - the gap between the top teams and the middle ranking teams is getting ever-wider.

Few chances of shocks, never mind suprise results and many thrashings.

I think we sometimes have short memories. For practically the whole of the 70s and 80s, there was little or no hope of a Connact or Ulster champion beating a Leinster or Munster champion.

Its not even July and at the start of the championship most thought that nobody would get near Tyrone or Kerry. And maybe that's the way it'll finish, but Cork are definitely genuine contenders and Mayo, Galway, Kildare and Dublin have big games in them. And there's no doubt at least one of Armagh, Monaghan, Derry will get a new lease of life in the qualifiers.

[INDIANA]

I suppose its more to do with the fact the top counties are even further ahead now then a few years ago when the standards had definitely levelled off a bit.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Look the reality is that there are at most 10 good teams in the country at the moment. Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Dublin, Kildare, Tyrone, Armagh, Monaghan and Derry. No offence to other teams but thats it. So there are 22 teams that aren't up to standard. But 10 decent teams is more than there's been in a lot of years in the past. In the 80's you had Dublin and Meath, Cork and Kerry far ahead of everyone else for years, and the only hope the Ulster and Connacht teams had was once every 3 years they'd play each other in a semi, one would get to the final (Ros in 80, Galway 83, Tyrone 86 and Mayo 89) and they'd be beaten.

Yes there was a bit of a leveling out in the last few years with Laois Westmeath Wexford Limerick etc. improving, but it can't always be like that. But the other teams deserve a go and you won't get matches like Antrim beating Donegal or Sligo putting it up to Galway without having a few Westmeath/Roscommon style turkey shoots on the way.

Anyway, point is, you just can't judge a championship in June, it hasn't got going yet. I actually think this could be a cracking year and if we get a last 8 along the lines of Tyrone, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Mayo, Armagh, Kildare and Kerry, we'll be in for a hell of an All-Ireland Series.

[Caid]

But 10 decent teams is more than there's been in a lot of years in the past. In the 80's you had Dublin and Meath, Cork and Kerry far ahead of everyone else for years, and the only hope the Ulster and Connacht teams had was once every 3 years they'd play each other in a semi, one would get to the final (Ros in 80, Galway 83, Tyrone 86 and Mayo 89) and they'd be beaten.

8 different winners in 10 years in the nineties would suggest that your statistical analysis is holier than



or



Pre 1990-ish you had Kerry ahead of the rest (with a few others being there or thereabouts).

Since 1990 there has been a fine spread of wins amongst teams (with Kerry always there or there abouts).

Would Sligo / Antirm ( a division 4 team) lose to Westmeath (a division 1 team)? Would Sligo be hammered by Galway? Will Wicklow be hammered by Fermanagh?

Your argument is pitiful,  the championship is more open than ever in terms of individual matches (although the bigger teams are more likely to be there in the end due to the back door).  The closeness of the teams is not in question - it is the quality of the football that is the topic....

[Jinxy]

We're doomed.
DOOMED!

[INDIANA]

also the blanket coverage doesn't help. The bad games are all televised now- they never used to be. So no neutrals saw how bad thye really were.

[Cosmo Kramer]

But 10 decent teams is more than there's been in a lot of years in the past. In the 80's you had Dublin and Meath, Cork and Kerry far ahead of everyone else for years, and the only hope the Ulster and Connacht teams had was once every 3 years they'd play each other in a semi, one would get to the final (Ros in 80, Galway 83, Tyrone 86 and Mayo 89) and they'd be beaten.

8 different winners in 10 years in the nineties would suggest that your statistical analysis is holier than (some cheese apparently)

Sorry, but where once did I mention the 90s - my stats were all about the 80s. We all know there was a big spread of winners in the 90s because of the improvement of the Ulster teams and in the later 90s the Connacht teams. I said 10 decent teams is more than there has been at times in the past and I backed it up with statistics. I didn't say 'theres never been 10 good teams before'.

Would Sligo / Antirm ( a division 4 team) lose to Westmeath (a division 1 team)? Would Sligo be hammered by Galway? Will Wicklow be hammered by Fermanagh?

Sligo/Antrim v Westmeath - dunno, would probably be close. Doesn't mean any of them will be challenging for Sam or are of the same standard at the moment as the teams I listed. Westmeath being in division one means little as they lost every game they played.

Sligo gave Galway a good game - I pointed that out. Doesn't mean Sligo can challenge for the AI - they can't because they're not good enough. Galway might though. In the greater scheme of things it matters little who wins between Wicklow or Fermanagh, because neither of them are up to much this year anyway.

Your argument is pitiful,  the championship is more open than ever in terms of individual matches. The closeness of the teams is not in question - it is the quality of the football that is the topic....

No it isn't pitiful, it's the reality. All I said is that for every Sligo v Galway you'll have a Dublin v Westmeath. That's true. Some days the weaker teams will give a good account of themselves against the stronger teams, some days they'll look like they've never seen a football before. When two crap teams play each other it'll probably be crap and close. Doesn't mean either of them can challenge Tyrone, Kerry Cork etc for Sam.

although the bigger teams are more likely to be there in the end due to the back door.

Exactly my point. As you said, in the longer term, the best teams will be there at the end because they're the best teams. Of course in a one off game you can have a surprise result, but the top teams will end up at the top of the pile.

I'm not sure what your point is to be honest, it seems to be that lots of the poorer standard teams can have close matches against each other, and sometimes some of them will give the top teams a game. How exactly that makes my point that there are 10 teams with any hope at all of winning the All-Ireland 'pitiful' is beyond me.

Here, you can have your cheese back.