Messages

Grainne's near constant laughing was very annoying.

It's as if she laughs every time someone says something, to cover up the fact she doesn't have a clue what they are on about & the girlish giggle is a good substitute for an intelligent comment.

You could certainly come up with a team, on paper anyway, where every player would be in the view of the majority better or at least as good as his Dublin counterpart.
The odds would still be on the Dubs to win and win well because of their greater teamwork and their unrivalled preparation, physical and psychological, over any knocked together side you'd care to mention.
I mean Michael Murphy and Paul Geaney would make any team in the land but getting them, Ciaran McManus, Lee Keegan and everyone you'd probably consider together for training sessions would be a logistical nightmare.
Y'see, to properly appreciate the effect the present Dublin team has on the GAA as a whole, you'd need to consider what it would take to build another county side that would equal or at least approximate the Dubs in every facet of the game – clone of Dublin.
You would need to begin by merging some counties for starters.
If you started with the least heavily populated Leitrim (31,972 ) and worked your way up to Wicklow, (142,425) merging the populations as you go, you'd get a total almost identical to that of County Dublin. (All courtesy of CSO, 2016 via Wikipedia.)
That's a total of 16 present counties, all rolled into one!
So the equivalent of 15 county boards and 15 senior intercounty panels go by the board, to begin with.
How many players get to play for their counties at senior level in the course of a year? If all types of games are included, I'd say a (very) conservative estimate would be 40 per county.
So if all 16 merged, 40x15 or 600 players would be denied the chance to play intercounty football every year. That would only be the beginning. Where you now have 16 senior clubs championships, you'd only have one. Assloads of senior clubs would have to amalgamate, go out of existence or downgrade.
Imagine the domino effect on clubs of lesser status!
You'd have far bigger, richer and better organised clubs but only a fraction of the number we have at present and given that they'd have to draw their memberships from a wide area so intimate contact with small local communities would be severed.
If if you somehow managed to effect this super merger and all the consequent changes, you'd still face one huge disadvantage- those counties are spread throughout the country while all of Dublin's population and resources, (40% of the republic's total according to Simon Coveney earlier this year) are concentrated in the third smallest county in the country.
So, all in all, any side capable of going toe to toe with Dublin doesn't exist right now

So how come Dublin only won 1 All Ireland in the nearly 30 years between the last one of the Heffo era in '83 & Gilroys in 2011? That is 1 paltry All Ireland in nearly three decades. All your CSO stats about population were as true then, as they are now. Explain that one then..

Yes and no. A few of the former Ulster Bank employees who took a redundancy offer, got a daycint lump sum payment. They lived off that during their year(s) off focusing on their GAA "career". Darren O'Sullivan & Karl Lacey did similar. Am going purely on interviews the players themselves gave & not any insider knowledge.

I mean I don't think he will end up working for the Bank or doing a 9-5 job. He will effectively be a full time Gaelic footballer. I think Jason Sherlock was the closest I can remember to being a GAA star in Ireland. There have been others who have taken the odd year out to concentrate on GAA but I think Clifford could end up being the first proper GAA star in Ireland.

The first proper GAA star?

What about Joe Canning, Bernard Brogan, Aidan O'Shea etc etc.

What are they, milkmen? 

While you may have that opinion of Conan i don't agree that pundits should just be ex players or managers, some of the best soccer podcasts regularly get journalists in as they have more to say and say it better than ex players. Eg Dan McDonnell and Tim Vickery on Off the Ball.

There is a Mayo lad on the GAA hour regularly, can't remember his name. Agree they could probably get a Munster representative on.

I didn't say the pundits should only be former players. (Although I can see why that might have been inferred from my post.) I said his analysis wasn't good enough to make up for the fact that he himself isn't a former intercounty player and, the others all are. Malachy Clerkin and Vincent Hogan are not intercounty players either, but they are well able to provide excellent analysis and, participate very well in podcasts in ways that Conan doesn't. He just seems out of his depth imo.

Yes, I have heard the Mayo chap a couple of times too. Unfortunately, he is on so rarely, neither one of us can remember his name.

The Gaa hour is the best podcast in my opinion, Ward is the best and makes some great points which I wouldn't think of. Conan can also make some good points but he's not essential to the podcast, i'm probably biased on him though as he is from Derry so I can relate to his stories more. Wooly is entertaining but I don't take him very seriously, sometimes i think he sees things the way he wants too, for example will never once criticises how Dublin play and always blames the other team for setting up a certain way but if it was another team he'd be all over them. Stevie is ok, he's not the most articulate for radio but still likeable and it's good to have a top player on there.

Conan just doesn't fit in. All of the pundits are former players or managers and they all have a unique perspective that only intercounty players will have. He's just some random lad from the Sports Joe office who sits in on the podcast, for no apparent reason that I can tell. His insight isn't exactly so brilliant that he merits inclusion, purely because he is such a good talker. I'd dump him and get someone else in from a Munster or Connaught county. When the podcast is Wooly and Cian Ward, or Wooly with Conan and Stevie, there is too much of a weighting towards Ulster and Leinster football and, not enough from the other 2 provinces.

People seriously.....it's Wooly....as in wooly jumper. It is NOT Wolly that rhymes with sweet fcuk all ! 

[Yes, the silence on his recovery and his date of return, tell it's own story.]

Was in gym today in Westpark Tallaght and Tom Parsons was doing a bit of gym work. Hopefully we will see him back in action next year.

If he even plays for his club in 2019 it will be a miracle.

Yes, the silence on his recovery and his date of return, tell it's own story. A public forum is not the place to discuss this matter.

No, it doesn't. There IS no story yet regarding his recovery or his return date, because neither he nor his surgeon have a bulls notion as to when its going to be. His was a horrific injury & he is only now starting out on what will be a long & hard road to full day to day recovery, never mind match fitness. It'll be a long while yet before the medical professionals will be able to safely put dates on predictions. If they don't know, how are randomers are the internet supposed to even hazard a guess?

While those who chose B are living in a fantasy land. Sport always has been and always will be political to some degree, but when it becomes as much or more about humanitarianism as bout politics, then people have a right, or a responsibility to speak up at every available opportunity. It was sporting boycotts (amongst other boycotts) which contributed hugely to the ending of apartheid in South Africa. Here is an opportunity to once again be on the right side of history, instead of hiding behind 'keep the politics out of it' bull.

No one is stopping you speaking out. No one is stopping you organizing a boycott of Israeli products or sporting events. Knock yourself out.

[Just hazarding a guess here but it might have been the six Roscommon forwards in the second half]

18,864 in the Hyde last Sunday.
I wonder who were the 6 who didn't turn up?

Just hazarding a guess here but it might have been the six Roscommon forwards in the second half...

Back of the net ! 

[it will always be reflective of the views held by the majority of its members.]

If you flew a Palestine flag inside a premier league ground would you be asked to leave?
(Honest question, I dont know the answer).


While officially the GAA can take a non political stance , as a community and voluntary organisation, it will always be reflective of the views held by the majority of its members.

That very well may be. It doesn't mean we need to see the flags and banners related those political views at matches.

Abhor israel's murder of Palestinians. But don't need to see a Palestine flag at a GAA match. I also abhor Palestine's treatment of Gay community, their zealous honor killings of women. Unfortunately theses are all religious fanatics and their flag represents  all that. I would not want to see a papal flag either. We've had our own religious fanatics and there's enough poor children buried in unmarked graves that I don't want to see a papal flag at a Roscommon match (which I haven't) even though it's close to our county colours.  Bring your own county colours - there's plenty of other outlets to protest for political and religious causes. And I also hate to see politicians canvassing outside the gates. Keep the frig away.

Very, very well said.

will parking be much of an issue 10 K would be a good crowd at a match like this . thurles would be used to dealing with much more surely?

There was barely 8000 at the Limerick game and that is a handy spin down the motorway for a lot of Mayo folk. The longer trip time to Thurles, will affect the Mayo attendance imo. The Tipp footballers are very badly supported within Tipp, so I'd be very, very surprised if there are 10,000 at the game, never mind more than that.

[I hear what you're saying but Harte was trying to use the GAA to influence a vote. This is a humanitarian issue and the GAA is being used all the time to highlight humanitarian issues. It's genocide it's not a war.]

Good luck with the petition and highlighting such an injustice and sending that visible support. If it's through the GAA so be it. There is so much support has gone out from Ireland to the oppressed people of Palestine both moral support and in the way of aid. Pay no heed to the tory "Im alright fuc you Jack" crowd.

Whatever your political view, and there can't be many in the GAA who disagree with the sentiments that John and the others are trying to promote, the real question is whether the GAA should be used as a vehicle to promote this. If my memory serves me correctly, you yourself were very critical of Mickey Harte's use of the GAA to promote his views on the abortion debate (I agreed with you I'm most definitely not trying to reignite that debate here - but it is a case in point) and if we allow expressions of any political / divisive view points become the norm in the GAA then we are heading into very muddy waters. People can protest all they want, about whatever issue they want to protest about outside the ground, canvas opinions of GAA folk as they sup their pints in the pubs, encourage them to sign the petitions and get involved with the campaign. But I'm afraid I would come down on the side of the argument that once inside the ground we should be concentrating on the hurling and the football.

I hear what you're saying but Harte was trying to use the GAA to influence a vote. This is a humanitarian issue and the GAA is being used all the time to highlight humanitarian issues. It's genocide it's not a war.

But that is what the No campaigners were saying too. They felt just as strongly about the human rights of the unborn, as you do about the Palestinians. If they had their way, there would be placards and billboards of aborted foetuses all over Croke Park. Who gets to decide who is right or wrong, or what displays are or are not acceptable? You?

Harte was trying to influence a vote. This is highlighting the plight of people being slaughtered.

Which is what a lot of No campaigners were saying too.

That is what the vote they were trying to influence was all about.

Are you genuinely incapable of connecting the dots here?

[I hear what you're saying but Harte was trying to use the GAA to influence a vote. This is a humanitarian issue and the GAA is being used all the time to highlight humanitarian issues. It's genocide it's not a war.]

Good luck with the petition and highlighting such an injustice and sending that visible support. If it's through the GAA so be it. There is so much support has gone out from Ireland to the oppressed people of Palestine both moral support and in the way of aid. Pay no heed to the tory "Im alright fuc you Jack" crowd.

Whatever your political view, and there can't be many in the GAA who disagree with the sentiments that John and the others are trying to promote, the real question is whether the GAA should be used as a vehicle to promote this. If my memory serves me correctly, you yourself were very critical of Mickey Harte's use of the GAA to promote his views on the abortion debate (I agreed with you I'm most definitely not trying to reignite that debate here - but it is a case in point) and if we allow expressions of any political / divisive view points become the norm in the GAA then we are heading into very muddy waters. People can protest all they want, about whatever issue they want to protest about outside the ground, canvas opinions of GAA folk as they sup their pints in the pubs, encourage them to sign the petitions and get involved with the campaign. But I'm afraid I would come down on the side of the argument that once inside the ground we should be concentrating on the hurling and the football.

I hear what you're saying but Harte was trying to use the GAA to influence a vote. This is a humanitarian issue and the GAA is being used all the time to highlight humanitarian issues. It's genocide it's not a war.

But that is what the No campaigners were saying too. They felt just as strongly about the human rights of the unborn, as you do about the Palestinians. If they had their way, there would be placards and billboards of aborted foetuses all over Croke Park. Who gets to decide who is right or wrong, or what displays are or are not acceptable? You?