Are we mad?

[Jinxy]

And by 'we', I mean the GAA.
Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable days of action I can remember in a long time.
There was a huge sense of excitement & tension across all the divisions (well 1-3 anyway) as the games progressed and teams moved up or down in the table  relative to one another.
Added to this, we had great crowds showing up at grounds all over the country for hurling and football on a gorgeous Spring day.
I'm all for tradition, but it seems abundantly clear to me that the league is our premier competition in terms of quality & competitiveness.
Could it become the premier competition in the hearts & minds of the average GAA fan?
The answer to all our fixture woes, and the lack of competitiveness in the championship is staring us in the face.

I thought this picture of the Wexford lads stretching after the game pretty much summed up the whole day.



p.s. I'm not interested in rehashing loads of different 'alternative' structures for the championship.
The alternative is the league.
It's really that simple.

[Shamrock Shore]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

[Rossfan]

And the games were competitive and generated excitement because the League is graded.
Bring on the Senior, Inter and Junior Championships on a League basis.

[laoislad]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

Ohh....Low blow...See you on May 21st...

[JoG2]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

I wish Derry was in Ulster

[mackers]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

I wish Derry was in Ulster

Same goes for Armagh.

[moysider]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

Yes, but that kind of game now gets you into division 4.

[Jinxy]

A lot of Leinster teams doing well in the league.
Suits our brand of football.

[SCFC]

Absolutely Jinxy. Certainly worth considering.

Yesterday was great enjoyment all around the country...unless you're from Laois.

That was some game with Offaly yesterday -  a hurling type score. No Ulster type boring-as-shite defences there.

Tis "only the league". We're a championship team.

[rosnarun]

The league seem to take on a new life next year crowds seemed to be well up despite certain sections of the Media telling us Football was dying on its feet.
The league is a great competition in its own right and should be recognized as such  not as a pre season competition which let to the stupid comment that playing Dublin in the Final was a booby prize.

[seafoid]

Any day that Kilkenny are beaten is a great day. Meath Schadenfreude is worth a few bonus marks especially for farmers with bad or boggy land who managed to stay up in Division 1. How Armagh managed not to go up was truly mysterious.

[Fuzzman]

Days like yesterday are exciting and we'd all like to see more of that but I suppose part of it is because of the unpredictability of it all. A lot of the league teams aren't putting out their strongest teams and there is an element of trying out new players and tactics. So for example in Div 1 most of the teams were going into the final day with something important to play for and the one team who didn't Roscommon won anyway.
I think most of us would agree that you would expect Dublin, Kerry and Mayo take it all a lot more seriously if it led to winning Sam, yet the same two teams end up in the final anyways.

What it does show that the other divisions are a lot more interesting when they don't have to play the big guns

[Zulu]

I've been saying this for years. Once we link the league to winning Sam a lot of our problems will be solved, especially if the provincial championship are dropped from the All Ireland. Play them stand alone if you want but it's the league that needs to be linked to the All Ireland.

[Jinxy]

Days like yesterday are exciting and we'd all like to see more of that but I suppose part of it is because of the unpredictability of it all. A lot of the league teams aren't putting out their strongest teams and there is an element of trying out new players and tactics. So for example in Div 1 most of the teams were going into the final day with something important to play for and the one team who didn't Roscommon won anyway.
I think most of us would agree that you would expect Dublin, Kerry and Mayo take it all a lot more seriously if it led to winning Sam, yet the same two teams end up in the final anyways.

What it does show that the other divisions are a lot more interesting when they don't have to play the big guns

This was the same in divisions 2 & 3 and it's the very definition of meaningful competition.
Win/lose your last game = promotion or not.
Win/lose your last game = relegation or not.
You have the achievement of being promoted, but you also have the achievement of not being relegated.
As such, there is a genuine incentive to win every game you play, and in addition there is an incentive to win by as much as you can because scoring difference could come into play.
Yesterday was not an anomaly.
The last day of the league has been great stuff for the last few years.
The structure is perfect bar the 'poisoned chalice' of having to play a final, often against the same team you played the week before.

[OakleafCounty]

Couldn't agree more. The League is the answer to the fixture problem and do away with the Championship. Provincial championships could be a pre-season competition.