Alternative GAA Season Structure: The McNamee System

[Rossfan]

Because each Province can do what they like.
Connacht fixtures drawn up by first class in Ballyhaunis school.

[Keyser soze]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

So, putting your bizarrely aggressive post to one side - seriously, what do you suggest?

You and satire obviously do not have any more than a passing acquaintance.   

And anyway what's the point of me posting a reply. Sure you will probably just put it one side if you don't like it.

And I did make a suggestion, give everybody a championship of their own. Seems like a logical conclusion to the rationale that we can't have teams taking a bit of a beating from better teams.

[Zulu]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

Are you the Pat Spillane of the board? That pre-planned rant that has no connection to what has been discussed would suggest you are.

Nobody is suggesting we change things to prevent stronger counties winning, it's the opposite in fact, people want the same path to a final for everybody. Rather than the daft situation where Sligo could win an All Ireland playing 5 games while Donegal would need a minimum of 7 or counties getting knocked out of the All Ireland the same weekend one team starts.

Nobody is saying a different competition format will mean teams won't get tanked, the All Ireland hurling semi finalists of last year got tanked yesterday but a different format could provide teams with more meaningful games against teams of similar ability.

I can accept people having different views on what is the best format but how anyone could suggest the current one is is beyond me. The current one is an utter disaster. It's nearly July and we've had 6 months of action in the GAA season and how many notable, memorable, games have we had in either code yet?

[joemamas]

Laois had played 4 Championship games and were knocked out before Sligo had kicked a ball in anger. 

I think that's the real issue. Scheduling is crazy. The Connacht Championship features 7 teams and runs from May 3rd to July 19th. Given that there isn't even a Connacht Hurling Championship, how is that allowed?

We used to say it was comical, however it is disgraceful.
No doubt, the Connacht council will come up with some BS excuse.

As I pointed out on another blog.

It may take one of the last round of the qualifiers on August 1st ending in a draw, and then causing the Q/finals the week after on August 8th to be postponed, to really show how ludicrious the schedule is.

It is like the provincial secretaries are thumbing their noses at just about everyone in the GAA. In addition, nobody in Croke Park seems to have the liathroidi to confront them.

[BennyHarp]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

So, putting your bizarrely aggressive post to one side - seriously, what do you suggest?

You and satire obviously do not have any more than a passing acquaintance.   

And anyway what's the point of me posting a reply. Sure you will probably just put it one side if you don't like it.

And I did make a suggestion, give everybody a championship of their own. Seems like a logical conclusion to the rationale that we can't have teams taking a bit of a beating from better teams.

Satire? I was fully aware of the point you are making and the manner in which you were making it (Bizarrely using swear words to make the point) . If you consider it satire then, yes, I don't have the same acquaintance to satire as you do.

In a grown up debate though, I'd be interested to hear other peoples suggestions. It's interesting that you won't post your own preferred choice of system as it will get put to one side, even though you are more than happy to ridicule any other suggestions made. (I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your 32 tier championship is indeed satire). If you don't have a preferred system then fair enough.

[Keyser soze]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

Are you the Pat Spillane of the board? That pre-planned rant that has no connection to what has been discussed would suggest you are.

Nobody is suggesting we change things to prevent stronger counties winning, it's the opposite in fact, people want the same path to a final for everybody. Rather than the daft situation where Sligo could win an All Ireland playing 5 games while Donegal would need a minimum of 7 or counties getting knocked out of the All Ireland the same weekend one team starts.

Nobody is saying a different competition format will mean teams won't get tanked, the All Ireland hurling semi finalists of last year got tanked yesterday but a different format could provide teams with more meaningful games against teams of similar ability.

I can accept people having different views on what is the best format but how anyone could suggest the current one is is beyond me. The current one is an utter disaster. It's nearly July and we've had 6 months of action in the GAA season and how many notable, memorable, games have we had in either code yet?

No. I'm afraid I don't have as many AI medals as Pat. Or even Indiana for that matter lol.

The Gaa is unique and special because of it's structure of club based on parishes, counties and provinces. You, and others on here, seem to think that it is a complete waste of time and that the entire programme is a 'disaster'.

Well I think it works pretty well, albeit with plenty of problems, but I don't want changes that won't guarantee that the entire ethos of our games won't be lost.

An unintended consequence of the back door has been to dilute the blood and thunder nature of championship matches [in my view] and it has created elites within the game already, to the extent that only one of the three provincial championships is in any way competitive. The premise of creating the back door was to give weaker teams more games in the hope that they would have the chance to improve. I think it has failed abysmally in this respect in that as the years have progressed fewer and fewer teams are making that progress, and in fact the opposite has happened as they are less competitive than ever, and I fail to see how any further moves down that road will resolve that issue.

Whilst I was being [obviously] tongue in cheek earlier, will we see a move to a top 8 in another ten years time if we continue down this road, why stop at a top 16??

It is very easy to set out issues that are prevalent in the current system. but can you, or any of the other proposers of new systems, guarantee that there won't be unforseen negative outcomes of any new structures?

[Keyser soze]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

So, putting your bizarrely aggressive post to one side - seriously, what do you suggest?

You and satire obviously do not have any more than a passing acquaintance.   

And anyway what's the point of me posting a reply. Sure you will probably just put it one side if you don't like it.

And I did make a suggestion, give everybody a championship of their own. Seems like a logical conclusion to the rationale that we can't have teams taking a bit of a beating from better teams.

Satire? I was fully aware of the point you are making and the manner in which you were making it (Bizarrely using swear words to make the point) . If you consider it satire then, yes, I don't have the same acquaintance to satire as you do.

In a grown up debate though, I'd be interested to hear other peoples suggestions. It's interesting that you won't post your own preferred choice of system as it will get put to one side, even though you are more than happy to ridicule any other suggestions made. (I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your 32 tier championship is indeed satire). If you don't have a preferred system then fair enough.

Well i don't know what your definition of satire is but sure we could just look itup in the dictionary.

Satire definition: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

[BennyHarp]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

So, putting your bizarrely aggressive post to one side - seriously, what do you suggest?

You and satire obviously do not have any more than a passing acquaintance.   

And anyway what's the point of me posting a reply. Sure you will probably just put it one side if you don't like it.

And I did make a suggestion, give everybody a championship of their own. Seems like a logical conclusion to the rationale that we can't have teams taking a bit of a beating from better teams.

Satire? I was fully aware of the point you are making and the manner in which you were making it (Bizarrely using swear words to make the point) . If you consider it satire then, yes, I don't have the same acquaintance to satire as you do.

In a grown up debate though, I'd be interested to hear other peoples suggestions. It's interesting that you won't post your own preferred choice of system as it will get put to one side, even though you are more than happy to ridicule any other suggestions made. (I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your 32 tier championship is indeed satire). If you don't have a preferred system then fair enough.

Well i don't know what your definition of satire is but sure we could just look itup in the dictionary.

Satire definition: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

I like my satire to be a bit more subtle. But each to their own!

[deiseach]

I'm quite happy to defend the current system, but I don't think we'd get very far.

[Keyser soze]

Here why don't we have a 32 tier championship so that all the lads that have been bustin their hole all winter get a medal.

Somebody needs to stand up for these weaker counties. Why should the good teams win all the f****** games, the whole system is so completely biased against the bad teams. Every f***** year.....same oul s**** ....the best team wins the all-ireland and all the good treams are getting to semi-finals and shite like that. It's just not fair!!!

So, putting your bizarrely aggressive post to one side - seriously, what do you suggest?

You and satire obviously do not have any more than a passing acquaintance.   

And anyway what's the point of me posting a reply. Sure you will probably just put it one side if you don't like it.

And I did make a suggestion, give everybody a championship of their own. Seems like a logical conclusion to the rationale that we can't have teams taking a bit of a beating from better teams.

Satire? I was fully aware of the point you are making and the manner in which you were making it (Bizarrely using swear words to make the point) . If you consider it satire then, yes, I don't have the same acquaintance to satire as you do.

In a grown up debate though, I'd be interested to hear other peoples suggestions. It's interesting that you won't post your own preferred choice of system as it will get put to one side, even though you are more than happy to ridicule any other suggestions made. (I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your 32 tier championship is indeed satire). If you don't have a preferred system then fair enough.

Well i don't know what your definition of satire is but sure we could just look itup in the dictionary.

Satire definition: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

I like my satire to be a bit more subtle. But each to their own!

Mine was so subtle you didnt even recognise it as satire!

[Zulu]

I'm quite happy to defend the current system, but I don't think we'd get very far.

So would you argue it's the best system we can have?

The Gaa is unique and special because of it's structure of club based on parishes, counties and provinces. You, and others on here, seem to think that it is a complete waste of time and that the entire programme is a 'disaster'.

But under this system clubs are getting screwed, most counties have little worthwhile to compete for and we're at the provincial final stage in most provinces with hardly a game of note or surprise result in any of them (including the hurling). Monaghan and Donegal (most likely) again in Ulster, Mayo in a final going for 5 in a row facing a division 3 team in the final, Dublin well set for, is it 5 in a row too? Cork and Kerry again in Munster while Tipp and Kilkenny look head and shoulders above everyone else in hurling....again. Is that a system that's working?

Well I think it works pretty well, albeit with plenty of problems, but I don't want changes that won't guarantee that the entire ethos of our games won't be lost.

I actually can guarantee that, because a better system will help club and county play more games in a properly structured manner. The only thing I'd rid of is the provincials and even then if a system is proposed that can retain them and achieve more meaningful games between teams of similar ability in a structured manner then fine.

An unintended consequence of the back door has been to dilute the blood and thunder nature of championship matches [in my view] and it has created elites within the game already, to the extent that only one of the three provincial championships is in any way competitive.

I don't think that was an unintended consequence and once you removed the do or die element there was always going to be a dilution of intensity. There were always elites in the game, how many provincial titles have Kerry, Cork, Mayo, Galway, Dublin, Meath, Cavan and Tyrone compared to Clare, Waterford, Leitrim, Sligo, Carlow, Wicklow, Fermanagh and Antrim? None of the provincial championships are competitive.

[deiseach]

I'm quite happy to defend the current system, but I don't think we'd get very far.

So would you argue it's the best system we can have?

There are changes I'd make, such as compressing the timescale of the championship. But given that the counties are inherently lopsided any change to the system is just shuffling those lopsided pieces around. We're never going to get perfect symmetry so, as per the John O'Brien article I posted earlier, let's revel in what we have rather than chasing an improvement that will just be swapping one set of problems for another.

[islandchampions08]

I think this can be sorted very easily. Three meaningful completions each year.
1) the leagues run as normal
2) the provincial championships run as normal though over a shorter time span and have no bearing on the All Ireland championship 
3) The A all Ireland and the B all Ireland
  Division one and Division two teams entered into A championship (16 teams)
  Division three and Division four teams entered into B championship (16 teams) 
All Ireland Championships to all be played using seeded policy (div1 teams only play div2 teams in the first game only then open draw) and on a knock out system
B championship games to be curtain raisers for A championship games including final.

this two me gives all teams a full league and at a minimum 2 championship games 

[Keyser soze]

I'm quite happy to defend the current system, but I don't think we'd get very far.

So would you argue it's the best system we can have?

The Gaa is unique and special because of it's structure of club based on parishes, counties and provinces. You, and others on here, seem to think that it is a complete waste of time and that the entire programme is a 'disaster'.

But under this system clubs are getting screwed, most counties have little worthwhile to compete for and we're at the provincial final stage in most provinces with hardly a game of note or surprise result in any of them (including the hurling). Monaghan and Donegal (most likely) again in Ulster, Mayo in a final going for 5 in a row facing a division 3 team in the final, Dublin well set for, is it 5 in a row too? Cork and Kerry again in Munster while Tipp and Kilkenny look head and shoulders above everyone else in hurling....again. Is that a system that's working?

Well you are making my point here, the introduction of a backdoor has already made the elites untouchable. And you want to go further down this road??

Well I think it works pretty well, albeit with plenty of problems, but I don't want changes that won't guarantee that the entire ethos of our games won't be lost.

I actually can guarantee that, because a better system will help club and county play more games in a properly structured manner. The only thing I'd rid of is the provincials and even then if a system is proposed that can retain them and achieve more meaningful games between teams of similar ability in a structured manner then fine.

So you want to introduce a system that will allow both club and county more meaningful games. How? Are you gonna extend a year by a few more weeks??

An unintended consequence of the back door has been to dilute the blood and thunder nature of championship matches [in my view] and it has created elites within the game already, to the extent that only one of the three provincial championships is in any way competitive.

I don't think that was an unintended consequence and once you removed the do or die element there was always going to be a dilution of intensity. There were always elites in the game, how many provincial titles have Kerry, Cork, Mayo, Galway, Dublin, Meath, Cavan and Tyrone compared to Clare, Waterford, Leitrim, Sligo, Carlow, Wicklow, Fermanagh and Antrim? None of the provincial championships are competitive.

Intended?? Piffle, you are talking nonsense.

Some of these counties might not have many titles but I guarantee that any they do have are well remembered. And many of these counties would have genuinely believed up until lately that with a big push they could still achieve one. But you would happily take that away from them?

[SHEEDY]

what if every championship match before the semi finals was a 2 legged game, therefor guaranteeing every county at least 1 home match every year, after that continue on as it is now. every year there is plenty of counties who never have a home championship game, surely this needs to be rectified in someway. didnt get to read all the thread so maybe this has been mentioned before, apologies if it has.