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I believe that game is now fixed for Saturday at half-three in Celtic Park. Anyone able to confirm or deny? There was some slobbering last time about when the games would be played.

Fantastic day for Sligo. And wasn't it marvellous to see how they didn't cave in after they lost Eamon O'Hara? O'Hara's been one of the best footballers in Connacht if not the country for the past five years and had to carry Sligo by himself more than once. So wasn't it just fantastic to see the team carry him to his Connacht medal when he himself couldn't go on? There's a great pic of him in the Indo today whooping it up. More power to him, and to all the Sligo heads everywhere. A credit to all involved in the GAA in Sligo. Great, great day.

Can any of you tell me why its fair that Laois get the sam allocation when they have yet to meet anything near that demand? would it be all the fair weather fans from Laois want a day out? but of course its ok as its only at Dublins expense.

I'm only guessing now Tankie but but I'd say it's because it's county, not population, that matters in the Championship. It's an inter-county competition, and for that to work all counties have to have the same standing relative to each other, regardless of population.

Otherwise, you'd have places like Leitrim and Longford knocked off the map entirely and we'd be watching nothing in Croker only the Dubs playing with themselves. Oh hold on....

any news on the line up? God help us is G. Brady lines up at center half back. Has anyone god odds on the handicap betting for this match??

Ladbrokes have priced the game at Mayo 11/10, Cavan 13/2 and the draw at 18/1. So translating that into a handicap you're looking at Mayo by five or six points at the very least. Which, with the greatest respect to our Cavan friends, is probably about right.

Thanks for the tip-off flairgun.

If that link was pointing at an older article before, that's down to their content management, not necessarily their site design.

Hard not to think of the captain of the Titanic going down with the ship roaring "nothing wrong here boys, it's that fecking iceberg!" But better late than never. Isn't Eugene gone awful grumpy when he uses "nice" as a pejorative?

One of the few consolations I have on a Monday is reading Eugene McGee on Gaelic Football in the Independent. Eugene has his little biases, of course, but he shoots straight from the hip and his heart is generally in the right place.

But now, because the Indo has spent big bobs on a redesign of their site, I can't find him in there at all! They have a big banner on the right hand side of their sports page advertising his column, but that links to last week's article, which is no good. There's a link to Eugene from the front page under the title of "columnists," but that page leads with the great man's thoughts on Wicklow v Louth, which is quite some time ago now: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/eugene-mcgee/

The fact the Indo have him listed as a columnist means they're aware he's an asset - how hard can it be to link directly to his new copy, and correctly archive the old?

The Independent has gone right down the toilet since Vinnie Doyle left as editor, and the Sunday Independent has been a pestilence for over a decade, but that's an argument for another day. Right now, all I want is to read Eugene McGee on a Monday. Is that too much to ask?

[in his first season]

Micky Moran, who I generally had little time for, is another - to guide Mayo to the AI final in his first season and then get the sack!!! Mayo folk that critisice him must have some brass necks or some massively unrealistic expectations.

Mickey and John got more from their time with Mayo than Mayo got from Mickey and John. Morrison said at the post All-Ireland final dinner in CityWest that it had always been his ambition to be involved in an All-Ireland final and now that dream had come true. Mayo had already been involved in a number of All-Ireland finals in the past ten years, and were looking for something more. And will be making no apologies for it either.

Nice one, Jinxy. 

Just saw the book in Hodges Figgis' now. It's ghosted by Tom Humphries, which people were probably able to guess from Jack's Irish Times columns - "On Sunday, a blond bombshell from Kilmacud was the chief gunslinger."

That don't sound like no Kerryman to me. 

I do agree that we deserve to be favourites but people that are thrilled at us beating Cork in a challenge ignore the fact that we lost to Cavan two weeks ago!

Good man Barney, keep focusing on the positive whatever you do. 

As I said before Castlebar could be the crucial factor here - maybe the last championship match in McHale Park for 2 years even though we are due home advantage against all Connacht teams next year.

Sorry Barney, you have me there - how could it be the last game at Castlebar for two years if Mayo have home advantage in the Championship? I hope things haven't got so bad that Mayo will be bet before they even kick a ball?

I remember that shameful story about the Bomber alright. If he had run Spillane you all probably would have cheered and stood him pints. 

I'd say it goes back to the seventies myself, when Billy saw himself on the verge of a decade's All-Irelands and then you had your Golden Era to ruin all that. I'd be bitter myself.

I'm still waiting to hear what you fellas thought of Jack's book extracts though. Don't be shy now, after all Mayo and Kerry have been through in recent years. 

What do you Kerry boys make of the extracts from Jack O'Connor's new book that were in Saturday's Irish Times? He seems a bit of a bitter lemon to me. I was surprised at the amount of score-settling he was up to.

He has the back up about poor Billy as well. I wonder why? I hope it's not just because he seems to have the knack of beating the Kingdom. You fellas would be bigger than that, I'm sure.

think that comment is highly inappropriate laoislad and should be removed.

I think Laois Lad is referring to another thread, in fairness to him: http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=3384.0

Thanks for those two articles Hardy. Marvellous stuff.

I remember the Laochra Gael episode on John Doyle alright. The show lined out Maher, Doyle and Carey in front of a goal with hurleys for old times' sake. They'd still make you think twice about taking them on, and these boys were all on the pension at this stage.

It's easy to forget just how rough the game was then. There was a picture of Christy Ring in that marvellous documentary that was made about him about eighteen months ago or so, where he's bursting through a forest of hurls. That those boys had bones of steel and felt no pain is the only way I can explain it. Len Gaynor was interviewed in Keith Duggan's book, The Lifelong Season, and he says that the first thing you learned to use your hurley for in Tipp in the sixties was as a shield, for your own protection. Frightening stuff. And yet strangely thrilling at the same time.

There was another boyo interviewed on Laochra Gael when they profiled Doyle, who was just introduced as a friend of Doyle's. He was talking about how he watches soccer on the television now and when a goal is scored "all you see is fellas hugging and kissing each other. I'll tell you wan thing," he said, "if you scored a goal off Hell's Kitchen it's not kisses you'd be getting - it's a spin in the ambulance." Makes you wonder what he makes about this song and dance about that game in Thurles on Sunday.

God have mercy on poor Kieran Carey, a servant of the game and the nation. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

It was all going so well up to that point. 

Ah don't be like that Billy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd9WBhum_oc

Woo hoo hoo... woo hoo hoo ..... wooo hooo hooo... Groovy. 

I think fellas could be getting a bit carried away here.

When Johnno was in the wilderness the story was that the Board hated the sight of him. Now people are posting that the Board are his best buddies, that they were all out on the stump for him, and the County Board is actually a de facto extra cumann of Fine Gael? Both stories can't be true, you know. And a that was then, this is now argument won't work because I believe the same bucks have been on the Board since Old God's time, if not before.

The absence of any game for so long is starting to give people cabin fever, like poor Jack Nicholson in that movie long ago. I'd advise people to simply sit back, enjoy watching Meath and Dublin larrup the living Jesus out of each other this Sunday, and get the family holiday out of the way now before hostilities begin again in July. We'll worry about how things are looking then, but not before. Take it easy. Buy an Eagles record.