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Déiseach

The other day I came across the famous photo of Eoin Kelly being congratulated by his girlfriend in a non traditional fashion after the 2008 semifinal while their son wandered off with a hurl in his hands and was wondering what happened to Waherford in 2009. How come it was Tipp that made the next step  upwards ?

I think so much of  GAA success is psychological and it's a real pity to see Tipp there instead of your crowd.

The default position would be Tipp are where they are because of talent and tradition. Waterford are where they are because of "hype". The hype that has seen them take their eye off the prize every time they are within touching distance. Fitzgerald won't throw a blanket on this anytime soon with his media princess antics. Hype is where Galway hurling are 3rd price favourites every year for the All-Ireland despite not showing anything for 5/6 years. You speak of "hype" elsewhere and 4 all Ireland in 40 years. It's 5 in 40 years and 4 in twenty....one years.

But we'll take '87 as a corner turned of sorts for Tipperary hurling. Since then: Senior All-Irelands (4), Munster (9), NHL (5). u21 All-Irelands (3), Munster (9), Minor All-Irelands (3) Munster (9) and 60 odd All-Stars.

We know where the Evil Empire are since '87 (that's Kilkenny btw not Tipp). 9 Senior, 7 u21, 8 minor.

Since '87 Cork have 4 All-Irelands, 3 u21, 3 minor, 2 NHL's, less Munster SHC, less Munster u21's, 1/3 less Allstars than Tipp. And they say there is no Big 3 only a Big 2. Well if there is to be a dick size contest (and if there is I want Tipp's porn star name to be"Gigantica", but then Tipp are the biggest pr!cks in hurling eh seafoid?) there is only a Big 2, it's Kilkeny and Tipp, with Cork nearly there! Anyway it's all a matter.

This is the silly season waiting for all-ireland semi's, the longest wait of the year.

Big game on Sunday for all concerned.

A Waterford win, will buy Davy another year. And they may ghost into an All-Ireland if they keep their next two games in the trenches.

An open game should see Tipp have enough potential match winners up front to get over the line.

What is most interesting on Sunday is to see where Tipp's point on the form graph is relative to the past 2 years, where they climbed steadily towards hurling poetry (ahem) in early September. This is more interesting still when filtered through Kilkenny's performance v Dublin at the weekend. Cody was definitely up for it as were his men between the lines.

Still alot of questions to be answered re Tipp:

Who is to man right full and right wing back? Will Brendan Maher plug a hole there (and diminish midfield). Will Gearoid Ryan step up in midfield to allow the former re-shuffle? Will John O'Brien do his thing and shoot 1-3, as he can out of no where. Will Paddy Stapleton find form?

Twill be a right one.

It doesn't take much manliness to jump into a lad who is completely open after clearing a ball and prone. Great example of Sylvie and Phelim's manliness when Big Bonnar approaches them after English was hit. It would be up there with Waterford's manliness of the same year.

It was the same kind of Glaway manliness that finished Eanna Ryan's career.

I've always thought it's great to see emotion on the sporting field. I'm surprised at the complaining about it on here. Sport is all about emotion. The extremes of joy and pain, the winner takes all scenario. Surely this is what seperates gripping, edge of the seat sport(All - Ireland finals, The Ryder Cup, State of Origin, Heineken Cup Finals etc.) from the mundane, mediocre stuff (snooker in the last 15 years,O byrne Cup matches, international soccer friendlies etc). As long as the emotion is genuine as it was in the All-Ireland final I think it's brilliant to see. If it's contrived ( WWF, a greedy soccer player kissing a crest, Sky Sports coverage of a mid-table clash between Birmingham and Stoke) then it's annoying bullsh!t.

Apologies for my excessive us of parentheses (brackets) in this post.

No problem with the brackets/parentheses/whatever they are. You are however showing scant regard for the "O byrne Cup".

No jokes please.

Looked at the All-Ireland on DVD properly at the weekend. Absolutely shocked and stunned at the the carry on of some of the Kilkenny players in the first 10 minutes or so. Several times upon driving out with the ball or where work-rate resulted in a free, they gave a little fist pump and clenched their teeth. There is no place for such emotion and focus in the game.

I believe some of our crowd showed similar emotion as the game developed. I know practically all of the team were on the cusp of their first All-Ireland win and redressing last years thievery..I mean disappointment, but come on.

As the fella said, the best time to kick a cat in the arse is when his tail is in the air. And who better than Tipp to kick.

Not surprised by Offaly's show, liked the cut of them against us in the League. Especially Hayden. How did he go at midfield? I saw 2 points against his name, how was his general play?

"The Tipp ref" is an interesting one alright. I wonder was he some sort of covert equalizer for Kirwan's erraticicism last September? Hardly?

You've obviously never seen Carrick?

If Leinster doesn't agree with ye, ye could come back to Munster. And we would take ye back to our bosoms in a heartbeat.

You wouldn't have much of an appetite for reffin' after taking calls about what lads were going to do to your children.

Though I was assured by a wizened ould boy (who seemed to know things...like all South and East Galwaymen know things) in Killimor one evening that that was de Tipp bies again.

And who can forget the doin' that was done to ye in 2001?

There's an amusing thread on premierview called "Things that have happened since Galway won Liam McCarthy", I think it's on page 278!

"Why, man, the grass gone to waste on a hundred yards of the roadside in Tipperary was as much as you'd find in a dozen of our sea-poisoned fields"... sez the bitter Galway man.

Fair play to you bt. If Tipp win pulling up, they'll have shot their load for the year. If they get over the line, they'll have yet to convince. You've all bases covered anyway. And sayin all this regardless of the whatever performance Cork add to the equation is quite a (few) statement(s).

I'd be disappointed if we don't win midfield, Brendan Maher has bolstered this area considerably. We know what Shane McGrath brings. Michael Cahill will be around for a long time, though may be more suited to corner back. Padraig Maher to the wing and Cahill to the corner may happen before a ball is thrown in. O'Meara is a wild card and you never know what way young lads will react in their first cauldron.

Cork in Cork is never simple, but if we get a performance approaching 90% out of Tipp I think we'll have too much for them.

Tipp bet Dublin by 25 points on Monday night, both teams nearly full strength. That settles it then?

Leahy was a genius in hurling terms, and like almost all of that ilk, he was highly flawed.

I like picking Tipp lads' brains on him though because I always felt they never really got the best out of him (apart maybe in the league final of 1991 (I think it was)). In '91 he was set to be the star turn of the championship when (foolishly in my opinion) he turned out for the Tipp footballers and did his cruciate.

Though he had great days in the Tipp jersey I always felt they were fewer or maybe not as great as they might have been if things had turned out slightly differently.

And hes a shining example of someone who turned their life around - from being someone whose life was in the pits of hell, to where he is today, having fully acknowledged and (in my opinion) made amends for past discrepencies.

As regards the specific incidents being referred to here. I don't think its right to comment. Forgiveness or not would be the call of those other parties involved, not some people writing behind an assumed name on an internet forum.

Just for the record, it was in 1994 that John Leahy was injured playing for the Tipperary footballers in the Munster Championship.  I don't think it was a cruciate injury though.

sorry, yep, you're right. Sure Tipp bait KK in '91 - I've tried too hard to wipe that season from memory. Tipp went out in the first round in '94 if memory serves? Memory is a haze these days though. I do remember there were 2 dual players that year, Anthony Cross being the other. And I was almost certain is was the cruciate Leahy did playing the big ball game. People were talking up Tipp - I think that league final was against Limerick also and they turned around a 14-point (or so) deficit to come back and win (in a performance inspired by Leahy).

Think we're mixing up our NHL finals lads, Leahy did put himself out of the hurling championship in '94 playing football with the county. He destoyed Galway in the NHL Final that year and got an all-star on the back of it. That was the match when he picked up a loose free from Sean Treacy (Galway full-back that day) and put it straight over the bar from way out the field. He gave Treacy the thumbs up after it.

The League Final in '92 Limerick came back from being well down to win by a point. I think it was one of the Nash's got the winning point.

Leahy was a force of nature. Didn't fully exploit his potential for various reasons, but when on his game he was untouchable and could dominate games like no other. His point against Galway in the 2000 QF where he dummied the ball over Fergal Moore and drilled it over the bar was a signature score if ever there was one.

[should]

Tipp have to be red-hot favourites for the final after that pretty awesome demolition job. Tipp were going at half-pelt, yet still racked up a huge 6-19. Imagine if they had enjoyed a spell of that awesome hurling they showed in patches in earlier championship games.

People will talk up Kilkenny, but lets face it, thats on the back of last year's championship. Tipp are the best team in this year's championship. They have clinically demolished anyone that came before them, while on the other hand Kilkenny have struggled against Galway, Waterford (who Tipp destroyed) and Dublin (who were beaten by that Limerick team). Tipp are the form team. Kilkenny aren't. Kilkenny are a tired, jaded outfit on the decline. The years are taking their toll. The miles have built up and fatigue and apathy have set in.

I repeat, Tipp are red-hot favourites for the all-Ireland. I only hope Kilkenny can give them a bit of a game, for the sake of hurling. Stay with them til half-time at least.

If you feel so strongly about it, I'd take Tipp at 100/30 at Cashmans bt. 1/4 KKK.

I stand corrected over what I said before about ye're defence. I though O'Mahony had a fine game at 6 and Maher likewise at 3 on sunday. The defense overall looks to have a nice balance to it lining out that way.

And other question marks I had were put to bed - I hadn't really rated Pat Kerwick from what I'd seen of him, but he was busy throughout. And showed he can finish. And both the Borrisoleigh lads at the back look very capable.

The only question mark that remains for me about Tipp is in midfield. I don't think you're particularly strong there. McGrath is good when on song, but hes not had a good year this year. Brendan Cummins should have made way for Darren Gleeson in the league also. Hes too error-prone at this stage of his career. But not so much that he'd ever prove the difference in any given game.

I'd be happy enough with the hurlin' and aggression in the back 6 as of now. As you said midfield is a serious concern. Shane McGrath has not fired properly this year since his illness and Sheedy has not really groomed another to confidently replace him. Gearóid Ryan has not done enough. Benny Dunne is best suited to coming on when the game is looosened up (and not in the crucible) as he'll read the game well and use the ball reasonably ok. He'll not swing a midfield for 70 minutes I fear. Tomás Stapleton must be injured? Hugh Maloney should have been tried there earlier. Sheedy seems intent on using him as a half-forward which is crazy. He was not even considered for midfield on Sunday with both midfielders replaced? I admire Woodlock's workrate and phyicallity, but I don't think he has the savy or ability to process ball efficiently between half-back to half-forward lines. His distribution can be loose.

Our half-forward line is more problematic. Kerwick will work hard all day long and can take a score. Not as refined as John O'Brien or Callinan but what you see is what you get. John O'Brien is having a fine season foraging back around midfield and delivering good ball inside. He'll have to be on-top of his game for the final picking up Tommy Walsh. Consistency has been John's problem up to this point, but this has been his best intercounty season since 2001. His work-rate has been admirable and will be needed again and more against the hardest working team in the game. Callinan is Callinan, maybe he'll mature into a more rounded player but I'd be worried how honest he'll keep Tennyson/Hogan. If John O'B doesn't break even and Callinan does not do the basics (like stand under his man for long-ball/puck-outs) we'll be beaten well as the KK attack will benefit from the surplus of service that our inside line should be receiving.

Thanks for your help so far lads, much appreciated.

I need about 7/8 activities per weekend (x 4 weekends in a month) roughly from September to March.

So keep throwing them out!

Maintenance of sheds/guttering. Maintaining bait program in meal stores/barn etc.

Selling of last years weanlings? February/March?

First application of nitrates? In March?

What dosing is required for cows/weanlings over Sept to March?

I am doing a project based around activities done on an average Irish farm from September to March each year.

The farm scenario is: 70 acre holding, 30 x suckler cow herd, slatted shed, barn, outhouses in-situ, farmed part-time.

What would be typical activities/jobs undertaken on an enterprise like this from September to March?

Example of what I have already are:

March: rolling of pasture land, agtiaition and spreading of slurry, hedgecutting etc.

General activities: maintenance of boundary fencing, laying of ditches, maintenance of farmbuildings and yard, setting up of strip grazing paddocks, daily foddering

Specifics are greatly appreciated particularly in terms of the maintenance of a suckler herd and any general activities.

I need to get a fairly exhaustive list reflective of the weekend farming activities of a part-time farmer, so everything is appreciated.

Thanks in advance