8 Provinces finalists lose out?

[umpire]

If Kildare beat Meath, then we have no Provinces finalists in Semi Finals. Surely this is not good practice for Gaa

[sammymaguire]

have to agree, no provincial finalists in the AI semis is gonna look bad on the top dogs of the GAA as there is no reward for wanting to progress and do well in your own province and this may de-value those competitions and thus the current set up and could be a way for some to call for an open draw completely

says alot for building up a head of steam in the qualifiers

[ONeill]

Yep, it doesn't make sense. Tyrone beat Down, Meath beat Dublin and Kerry beat Cork. But I suppose that's the way she goes.

[thewobbler]

Why does it not look good?

Next year all the semifinalists will be provincial champions, then the likes of you will be proclaiming the qualifiers as a waste of time.

If shocks and unexpected outcomes didn't happen, we wouldn't watch sport. But for some bizarre reason people regard a lack of symmetry in GAA outcomes as an area of concern.

[IolarCoisCuain]

The Wobbler is correct. It's a statistical anomaly this year. Nothing else.

[Estimator]

Why does it not look good?

Next year all the semifinalists will be provincial champions, then the likes of you will be proclaiming the qualifiers as a waste of time.

If shocks and unexpected outcomes didn't happen, we wouldn't watch sport. But for some bizarre reason people regard a lack of symmetry in GAA outcomes as an area of concern.

The Wobbler is correct. It's a statistical anomaly this year. Nothing else.

Certainly agree with both of these statements.

[leenie]

 at the end of the day.. if they were good enough this weekend they would have won but they were not..... so as they say "thats how the cookie crumbles"..

[sammymaguire]

The Wobbler is correct. It's a statistical anomaly this year. Nothing else.

you can't state that for sure... if it happened next year too then it would/could be the beginning of a pattern

I like to see Roscommon, Kildare, Down in the latter stages, was great too when Fermanagh got there in 2004 makes for terrific viewing and optimism for EVERY county

[Aaron Boone]

It's about momentum and the qualifiers give you that.

[ONeill]

The Wobbler is correct. It's a statistical anomaly this year. Nothing else.

You sure? Are the stats not well under 50%?

[Mike Sheehy]

Lads, can ye make up ye're mind please. Its getting very hard for us to classify our AI into "soft" or otherwise if ye keep changing the rules.

[Maguire01]

Lads, can ye make up ye're mind please. Its getting very hard for us to classify our AI into "soft" or otherwise if ye keep changing the rules.

Well you don't have to worry about that for now.

[Mike Sheehy]

Lads, can ye make up ye're mind please. Its getting very hard for us to classify our AI into "soft" or otherwise if ye keep changing the rules.

Well you don't have to worry about that for now.

..and you've never had to worry about it. Probably never will either.

[ziggysego]

First of all I'll say that Dublin were the better team on the day yesterday, but for none of the Provincial winners and losers to be in the Semi-Final, it's a strange thing. Something that needs to be looked at by the GAA. Not sure what can be done though, as you don't want to disadvantage the teams that did make it through like Down & Kildare for being successful.

[leenie]

i don't get it... why does it need to be looked at. all counties when joining the championship knows the system.  i know mickey was on about having a another draw after the 1/4 finals to give provsional winners a chance if beaten, but do you think he would have wanted it 03, 05, 08?

i could be competely wrong on this... but i think what happened this weekend could be good for the g.a.a. it showed that the championship isn't dominated by certain teams giving counties more belief .. also for the supporters all over the country that get let down each year can now see it can be done!

i know i prefer a 32 county +london+new york champioship to a 5 county one!