Could it happen?

[muppet]

An amazing thing just happened. I got a phone call from myself. Except that the me on the other end was me in 2015.

First thing I said to him was: "If you tell me who will win next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup you will be a very rich man."

He said "Do you not want to hear about the young fella?"

I said "Of course, how is the little lad getting on?"

He said "grand, except that he supports the Dubs."

I said "Sure when he is older we will get him supporting Mayo."

He said: "You mean Mars Mistrals."

I said: "Come again?"

He said: "The Mayo and Roscommon Sligo Mistrals".

I said: "Don't tell me we destroy the Gaa in the future, do we?"

He said "Yes we did.

It all started with the usual player power v management v CB rows. They had always happened occasionally but they started becoming more frequent, more protracted and increasingly bitter. The CBs would back the managers, as would a majority of the clubs and officials, but a large amount of ordinary supporters backed the players. This started a division whereby, in the typically Irish way of things, you had to be on one side or the other. This eventually split the Gaa down the middle with the clubs and CBs on one side and the county players and lots of supporters on the other. But the Gaa still stumbled on, almost despite itself.

With hindsight it is easy to see that a situation like that can attract predators, particularly ones with Euros on their minds but no one saw it coming. At first everything seemed great. Skytanta came to both sides and offered a €100 million per annum to screen both the football and hurling Championships exclusively. Everyone was in a tizzy over the money. The media reported on the story daily and the Gaa made grand promises about funding grass roots and stadia development.

Then war broke out.

Firstly the Gaa and CBs insisted on all the money as the games, the rules, the venues, the trademarks and ultimate control all belonged exclusively to them. Also they insisted that the games would be entirely amateur as they had always been. The players were apoplectic and said there would be no games without players and that they should have a significant cut of the money. They then withdrew their services indefinitely.

At the start we had a completely disjointed season which ultimately wasn't completed. Some counties completely withdrew from the Championship having lost their entire senior squads, while the CBs in other counties pressed ahead with whatever players they could find. Munster managed to complete 2 full rounds of the hurling Championship but attendances were only in the 100s as even Cork and Tipperary fielded teams of 'unheard of' players. Tyrone managed to field a football team for a few games, despite a particularly bitter management v player dispute, but eventually withdrew due to public apathy to the endless rows.

The war continued into the next winter. The Gaa officials were convinced that, while it was true that the players could bring out the crowds and had some support, they were only ever passing through and that new players would always take their places. In addition it was felt that the players, by not playing, were shooting themselves in the foot and removing the only currency they held, i.e. the fame gained as a player.

The players meanwhile were absolute in their belief that it was they the supporters came to watch and any drop in standards, which they believed inevitable if they didn't play, would lead to lower attendances and sponsorship and would force the Gaa into a rethink.

The solution when it came was the worst of all worlds.

A company named the DUBS (Dublin urban Bookies Syndicate) contracted a number of former Dublin footballers to play under the DUBS name. They booked the RDS as a venue and Skytanta, who had withdrawn their offer from the Gaa, offered to pay them for 5 televised matches initially. They also offered a season long renewable contract if they could form a National Championship. At first nothing happened and both sides of the Gaa dispute publically scorned the idea and the players that had signed up.

Then, in Thomond Park, a group of Limerick and Clare businessmen launched both a hurling and football team and called on others to follow suit. A National Association was quickly formed and rules for the game drafted but there was little difference from the original. A match was played in the RDS. Despite protests and a bitter boycott campaign by the Gaa, 45,000 people showed up to see a piece of history created, although many said it was to see a piece of history ended.

Very quickly 13 teams had formed around the country and Skytanta launched their new €50 million Championships amid a blaze of publicity. They had secured a large number of the top players and agreed to pay them as professionals. They promised regular games over a 16 week season and centrally contracted the players.

The row between the remaining players and the Gaa officials quickly died out and they desperately attempted to re-start the Championships. Initially some loyal supporters came back to the Gaa and for a while neither association thrived but eventually the better financed, marketed, more transparent and sadly professional structure won out. Ironically Cork, as it once was known, drew the biggest crowds for a while but an article by a high profile former manager entitled 'We want Joe Deane, not Mr. Bean' summed up the problem.

Many Gaa members and supporters look back longingly at the old days and everyone asks the same question 'What could we have done to stop this?'."

I said: "That's incredible. Is there any bright side? Does a Mayo Captain or Mars whatever Captain finally lift the Sam Maguire in the near future?"

He said: "Firstly, Captains don't lift the cup, team owners do and secondly it is called the Skytanta Cup although everyone calls it the Skam Maguire."

I said "Do you know what? Forget next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup."

[magpie seanie]

I don't think it will happen quite like that. The GAA will keep it in house but you will end up with professionalism and 10-12 pro teams in football and 6-8 in hurling. I would never favour it but the barstool sports experts call the shots these days, not the idiots going to meetings or coaching teams or lining pitches in muck and scutter.

[BennyHarp]

You should have got the winner of next years cheltenham gold cup anyway! Rookie error!! 

[Denn Forever]

Frightening scenario. 

You have too much time on your hands if you wrote that piece.  And if you did write it, fair play.  Very funny.

Hopefully it will never happen unless local parish teams become professional.  I'd say most people would get a bigger kick from seeing their club winning a senior championship than their county team (although it would be nice).

Any word on what will happen to the grants?

How long did the recession last?

[Pangurban]

Ballocks

[muppet]

I don't think it will happen quite like that. The GAA will keep it in house but you will end up with professionalism and 10-12 pro teams in football and 6-8 in hurling. I would never favour it but the barstool sports experts call the shots these days, not the idiots going to meetings or coaching teams or lining pitches in muck and scutter.

I hope nothing like that happens. I just wrote it to point out a possible turn of events, especially if some one with money shows up.

I think that is the worst case scenario for all involved (if the players think it is good for them consider that instead of 50+ inter county squads there would only be just over 20+) and today's rows might be better viewed in that context.

Sensible heads today might prevent meltdown up the road.  

[Zapatista]

Your just dead against progress Muppet.

[muppet]

Your just dead against progress Muppet.

[Zapatista]

Your just dead against progress Muppet.

Isn't anyone who doesn't want things to change dead against progress?



I'm not being serious.

[muppet]

Your just dead against progress Muppet.

Isn't anyone who doesn't want things to change dead against progress?



I'm not being serious.

Sorry, I'm a bit slow today.