Money, Dublin and the GAA

[thewobbler]

Some of my observations the past month.

A couple of weeks back I stood outside Tesco waiting to get in. There were about 30 ahead of me in the queue, and it took about 2-3 mins to get in. So in back of an envelope figures, they're processing 600-700 people an hour through an indoor space. But more interesting was that the queue and indeed the store was full to the brim of families, with children all unmasked, out for a leisurely stroll around their supermarket.

I called into the M1 Lisburn services for fuel. Went in to pay, and found that the entire indoor complex was open for business. Almost every seat was taken upstairs and down. And not by truckers on a necessary stopover for tiredness.

Just Sunday past my mother and ageing aunt went off to mass. To sit indoors with a bunch of other septuagenarians.

And once again, a few weeks ago, we were told to send our kids back to school. To sit indoors for 6 hours a day with dozens of people.

——

All of these things are immeasurably more dangerous than training outdoors.

But because a group of civil servants somewhere have both knowingly and unknowingly created a set of laws that are inconsistent and full of gaping holes, they also are all permitted activities.

——

Healthy adult males training outdoors in a small group is as much a Covid threat as the shape of tonight's moon.

——

The world would be a better place if people applied common sense before outrage.

We all now know the basic science of staying safe. Meeting people outdoors is safe. Sanitise before and after to be double safe. Minimise any form of contact. Do not travel together or you undo all of the above.

With regards to the Dublin footballers, this means either the science is wrong or the laws are wrong.

Engage your brain before your mouth.

[Lar Naparka]

Some of my observations the past month.

A couple of weeks back I stood outside Tesco waiting to get in. There were about 30 ahead of me in the queue, and it took about 2-3 mins to get in. So in back of an envelope figures, they're processing 600-700 people an hour through an indoor space. But more interesting was that the queue and indeed the store was full to the brim of families, with children all unmasked, out for a leisurely stroll around their supermarket.

I called into the M1 Lisburn services for fuel. Went in to pay, and found that the entire indoor complex was open for business. Almost every seat was taken upstairs and down. And not by truckers on a necessary stopover for tiredness.

Just Sunday past my mother and ageing aunt went off to mass. To sit indoors with a bunch of other septuagenarians.

And once again, a few weeks ago, we were told to send our kids back to school. To sit indoors for 6 hours a day with dozens of people.

——

All of these things are immeasurably more dangerous than training outdoors.

But because a group of civil servants somewhere have both knowingly and unknowingly created a set of laws that are inconsistent and full of gaping holes, they also are all permitted activities.

——

Healthy adult males training outdoors in a small group is as much a Covid threat as the shape of tonight's moon.

——

The world would be a better place if people applied common sense before outrage.

We all now know the basic science of staying safe. Meeting people outdoors is safe. Sanitise before and after to be double safe. Minimise any form of contact. Do not travel together or you undo all of the above.

With regards to the Dublin footballers, this means either the science is wrong or the laws are wrong.

Engage your brain before your mouth.

Quite possibly both are wrong but the point at issue is that the Dublin individuals concerned gave the stiff two finger sign to both. They are widely regarded as role models by the public in general and especially young people, in particular by Dublin kids.
The players take this responsibility quite seriously as evidenced by the visits to children's' hospitals after All Ireland finals and too many other instances to mention.
Now, on the morning following clear directived from the GAA to the contrary, Farrell and a number of his players flouted brazenly the rules.
This is what sid waddell had to say in a recent post and sid is an excellent wordsmith - at times.
"This is not about the risk of the Dublin team spreading Covid as a result of the meeting up yesterday morning, which is minute
It's about the entirety of the rules that every person on this island is asked to adhere to, the millions upon millions of individual and institutional decisions to either adhere to the rules or give two fingers to them."
I don't think I could express the crux of the matter any better so I won't even try.
No doubt about it, people are flouting the restrictions left, right and centre and will continue to do so because all of us are confused, bothered and bewildered by the complexity of guidelines being replaced or amended all the time- or so it can seem.
However, the restrictions have been devised by the best qualified medical personnel at our disposal and their liaison with the best international experts should add weight to their decisions.
The sight of their role models totally ignoring government regulations and qualified medical advice won't motivate many kids, or adults either to follow social distancing and all that goes with it. 

[dublin7]

Finally a stick to beat this great Dublin team.

Were they in the wrong? Yes

Was it the biggest crime in the world? No

Will anyone remember this in 6 months when they win another all ireland? No

Is it front page news, considering other events? Absolutely not.

That's it in a nutshell. Dubs were wrong, the county board have acted decisively and dessie will have to serve his ban.

Front page headlines yesterday in 2 of the newspapers were the dubs and Gardai haircuts in a garda station.

I'd say the Beacon hospital/CEO are delighted these have now taken over as headline news. Meanwhile a doctor taking vaccines home to give family members is only minor news. Bizarre were the priorities are

[thewobbler]

Lar I took a dander over to our club yesterday evening to do some weed killing.

There was a group of a dozen 10-11 year olds playing soccer in one of the goalmouths. Some members of the club, some not.

On the adjacent council field there was two dozen 14-15 year olds enjoying a heated game of soccer. Again a mix of club members and not.

Was either group inspired to play football because they saw photos of Dublin players doing it? No. Was either group inspired to take a liberty with the law because they saw photos of Dublin doing it? No.

Were they out playing football because it was a great evening and all the pitches were cut this week? Yes.

Exactly the same thing my fiends and I did 30 years ago.

——

People put too much stock in role models.

There's a reason why the vast majority of teenage girls aren't pregnant, married, divorced, recovered alcoholic runaways, even though almost every teenage soap character follows a journey along those lines. It's because human beings have an inbuilt risk radar which keeps them out of trouble most of the time. We are influenced by celebrity but we are smart enough to make our own decisions about what matters. Even the stupidest of us.

[Armagh18]

Lar I took a dander over to our club yesterday evening to do some weed killing.

There was a group of a dozen 10-11 year olds playing soccer in one of the goalmouths. Some members of the club, some not.

On the adjacent council field there was two dozen 14-15 year olds enjoying a heated game of soccer. Again a mix of club members and not.

Was either group inspired to play football because they saw photos of Dublin players doing it? No. Was either group inspired to take a liberty with the law because they saw photos of Dublin doing it? No.

Were they out playing football because it was a great evening and all the pitches were cut this week? Yes.

Exactly the same thing my fiends and I did 30 years ago.

——

People put too much stock in role models.

There's a reason why the vast majority of teenage girls aren't pregnant, married, divorced, recovered alcoholic runaways, even though almost every teenage soap character follows a journey along those lines. It's because human beings have an inbuilt risk radar which keeps them out of trouble most of the time. We are influenced by celebrity but we are smart enough to make our own decisions about what matters. Even the stupidest of us.

Would ye quit with the common sense!

[sid waddell]

Anybody who disagrees with the wobbler is an extremist, apparently, and brainless

That seems pretty extreme on his part

[thewobbler]

Anybody who disagrees with the wobbler is an extremist, apparently, and brainless

That seems pretty extreme on his part

You just can't help yourself. I'm not going to give you the opportunity to ruin another good thread with bizarre American political references. So just a quick reminder that I don't engage with you anymore.

[Lar Naparka]

Lar I took a dander over to our club yesterday evening to do some weed killing.

There was a group of a dozen 10-11 year olds playing soccer in one of the goalmouths. Some members of the club, some not.

On the adjacent council field there was two dozen 14-15 year olds enjoying a heated game of soccer. Again a mix of club members and not.

Was either group inspired to play football because they saw photos of Dublin players doing it? No. Was either group inspired to take a liberty with the law because they saw photos of Dublin doing it? No.

Were they out playing football because it was a great evening and all the pitches were cut this week? Yes.

Exactly the same thing my fiends and I did 30 years ago.

——

People put too much stock in role models.

There's a reason why the vast majority of teenage girls aren't pregnant, married, divorced, recovered alcoholic runaways, even though almost every teenage soap character follows a journey along those lines. It's because human beings have an inbuilt risk radar which keeps them out of trouble most of the time. We are influenced by celebrity but we are smart enough to make our own decisions about what matters. Even the stupidest of us.

Remember Dana, the Derry girl that won the Eurovision many years ago?
Sometime after she fronted a campaign to persuade young people. Such role model stuff would be pretty commonplace now but back in the 70s, Dana's message stood out because she was  famous and she was young, fresh and innocent- as every mother would wish her offspring to be.
I was teaching 11-12 year olds at the time and all of them looked up to the wee lass from Derry.
I arrived one morning  and got out of my car and straightaway I could sense that all was not well in the playground. Kids were gathered in animated knots and you could feel the buzz that only revved up children can generate.
As soon as I left the car, I had a horde of excited kids milling about. With maybe ten of the boys attempting to speak at once and as many more on the periphery trying to push their way to the front, the decibel count was way off the Richter scale!
I finally got them under some sort of semi-control and when the yelps and squeals have subsided somewhat, I was finally able to decipher what the cause of the commotion was.
Dana had been seen smoking! 
Somebody has seen her puffing a fag between takes on a TV show being filmed at Montrose and the word spread like wildfire. Dana was a fake!
To be fair to the young lady, it was never proved beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt that she had transgressed but the rumour was enough to cause a stir throughout the land. No one ever came forward to claim that he/she had actually seen her with a fag in her gob; it may have been a complete fabrication or a trick of the light - who knows?
Back then, there weren't nearly as many diversions to occupy people's' attention and this was BIG News!
Dana did the cigarette manufacturers no harm at all as far as I and my colleagues could tell,  and. like teachers and parents throughout the land, a lot of explaining had to be done.
Take my word for it, people pay more respect to role models than you seem to appreciate.

[sid waddell]

Anybody who disagrees with the wobbler is an extremist, apparently, and brainless

That seems pretty extreme on his part

You just can't help yourself. I'm not going to give you the opportunity to ruin another good thread with bizarre American political references. So just a quick reminder that I don't engage with you anymore.

Thanks for engaging with me to notify me you don't engage with me

[sid waddell]

Lar I took a dander over to our club yesterday evening to do some weed killing.

There was a group of a dozen 10-11 year olds playing soccer in one of the goalmouths. Some members of the club, some not.

On the adjacent council field there was two dozen 14-15 year olds enjoying a heated game of soccer. Again a mix of club members and not.

Was either group inspired to play football because they saw photos of Dublin players doing it? No. Was either group inspired to take a liberty with the law because they saw photos of Dublin doing it? No.

Were they out playing football because it was a great evening and all the pitches were cut this week? Yes.

Exactly the same thing my fiends and I did 30 years ago.

——

People put too much stock in role models.

There's a reason why the vast majority of teenage girls aren't pregnant, married, divorced, recovered alcoholic runaways, even though almost every teenage soap character follows a journey along those lines. It's because human beings have an inbuilt risk radar which keeps them out of trouble most of the time. We are influenced by celebrity but we are smart enough to make our own decisions about what matters. Even the stupidest of us.

Remember Dana, the Derry girl that won the Eurovision many years ago?
Sometime after she fronted a campaign to persuade young people. Such role model stuff would be pretty commonplace now but back in the 70s, Dana's message stood out because she was  famous and she was young, fresh and innocent- as every mother would wish her offspring to be.
I was teaching 11-12 year olds at the time and all of them looked up to the wee lass from Derry.
I arrived one morning  and got out of my car and straightaway I could sense that all was not well in the playground. Kids were gathered in animated knots and you could feel the buzz that only revved up children can generate.
As soon as I left the car, I had a horde of excited kids milling about. With maybe ten of the boys attempting to speak at once and as many more on the periphery trying to push their way to the front, the decibel count was way off the Richter scale!
I finally got them under some sort of semi-control and when the yelps and squeals have subsided somewhat, I was finally able to decipher what the cause of the commotion was.
Dana had been seen smoking! 
Somebody has seen her puffing a fag between takes on a TV show being filmed at Montrose and the word spread like wildfire. Dana was a fake!
To be fair to the young lady, it was never proved beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt that she had transgressed but the rumour was enough to cause a stir throughout the land. No one ever came forward to claim that he/she had actually seen her with a fag in her gob; it may have been a complete fabrication or a trick of the light - who knows?
Back then, there weren't nearly as many diversions to occupy people's' attention and this was BIG News!
Dana did the cigarette manufacturers no harm at all as far as I and my colleagues could tell,  and. like teachers and parents throughout the land, a lot of explaining had to be done.
Take my word for it, people pay more respect to role models than you seem to appreciate.

Publicly religious young women often like to put things in their mouth on the down low

To be fair Dana was the epitome of cool back then

No wonder young lads used to sneak out of seminaries to go to her concerts

[Angelo]

Finally a stick to beat this great Dublin team.

Were they in the wrong? Yes

Was it the biggest crime in the world? No

Will anyone remember this in 6 months when they win another all ireland? No

Is it front page news, considering other events? Absolutely not.

That's it in a nutshell. Dubs were wrong, the county board have acted decisively and dessie will have to serve his ban.

Front page headlines yesterday in 2 of the newspapers were the dubs and Gardai haircuts in a garda station.

I'd say the Beacon hospital/CEO are delighted these have now taken over as headline news. Meanwhile a doctor taking vaccines home to give family members is only minor news. Bizarre were the priorities are

The hypocrisy off this Screaming Mary.

If it was another county you'd be screaming blue murder.

I don't see it as too big a deal myself but you need to be called out another case of blatant double standards.

[Rossfan]

Meanwhile a proud small GAA County gets back on its feet

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2021/0402/1207631-roscommon-gaa-finances-back-on-track/

[Tubberman]

Meanwhile a proud small GAA County gets back on its feet

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2021/0402/1207631-roscommon-gaa-finances-back-on-track/

Fair play to all involved - a great turnaround and good to see a proud county back in control of their own affairs.
It's obviously a huge help to have a backer like Sean Mulryan to provide the properties to auction, but still a great story.
It does pose the question how other counties who don't have a millionaire/billionaire backer can sustain things in an era where the likes of Dublin have a list of multinational sponsors.

[Rossfan]

Fair play to Mulryan indeed for all his help....but he still had to be paid for the houses.
The whole question of funding Counties, expenditure on County teams etc , needs a serious examination to see if a solution based on fairness can be found.

[macker15]

Meanwhile a proud small GAA County gets back on its feet

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2021/0402/1207631-roscommon-gaa-finances-back-on-track/

Getting McStay and McHale off the payroll was a big plus.  AC expenses with no training.  Wasn't cheap when he involved with Galway hurlers and Garrycastle.