Messages

I was sorry to hear Joe Kernan resigned. I think he's been a fantastic character for Crossmaglen, Armagh and the country as a whole. You have to admire men like Kernan and Ger Loughane and others who are able to lead their teams to the promised land. Health and happiness to him in his retirement.

Game over and ball burst, as Finno just said on the radio. When you meet a better team there's not a lot you can do. Mayo have got a right scutching here, which stings, but what you can do?

Hats off to the Derry boys, the defence keep the leash tight in the first half and then their forwards showed the true difference between the teams. 2-13 to 1-06. Best of luck to them in the rest of the summer, I hope they all enjoy their pints in Derry tonight.

I think you'll find the tickets in the North are a lot snazzier than they are in Caisléan a'Bharraigh Deel Rover. I was in Tyrone for the last game of the league and they gave me a ticket that looked like a ticket to the Ambassador's reception, where you can ate as many Ferraro Rochers as you can swalla. Seeing that this is Championship, I'm expecting gold edges and oak leaf filligree. 

thats not a bad reflection on Vinnie Murphy because he would have been an asset to any county panel in his prime...

.... except Dublin, of course, who didn't want to play him either. 

It's Dublin's Ciarán "Whelo" Whelan.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/born-in-the-wrong-place-996929.html

If Romeo and anyone else who thinks that playing for Dublin puts a man at a disadvantage when it comes to winning medals can PM me, I think I may be able to interest them in a tower property in Paris, France, that will look really well in their portfolios. The vendor is a hurry to sell so you fellas can get a really good deal here. 

Martin Breheny has an astonishing piece in today's Independent about a player who, if he "was from Kerry, he'd be a multiple All-Ireland winner after a dozen years at centre-stage."

The role accidents of birth can have in a particular man's career are hardly news. But what I found astonishing was who the particular player Breheny chose is, and what county he's from. I'm not posting the link so we can all guess. I'll give you a hint - it's not Sligo's Eamon O'Hara, or that Leitrim boy that played so well for them at full-back, or Dermot McCabe of Cavan, or the recently retired Declan Browne, or Kildare's Johnny Doyle, or Offaly's Ciarán McManus or Wexford's Mattie Ford or anyone from Antrim or Clare or Carlow or Roscommon, the constant heart of Ireland. Go have a guess.

The Independent ought to be ashamed of themselves. It's an insult to the vast majority of county players who know that only one team can ever win the All-Ireland but go out anyway for the honour of wearing the county colours, and without whom there is no Championship. Shame, shame, shame.

Pietas is correct. A fundemental misunderstanding of the very nature of the GAA in RTÉ is the only possible explanation for the depths to which their coverage so often sinks.

As for what Tyrone Dreamer is saying, I take his point but it's no harm to remember that there was more or less universal praise on this board for the late lamented Breaking Ball. If RTÉ want to do us a favour why not bring that back, instead of inflicting Ger Gilroy on the nation, or another serving of the nation's teddy bear, Dessie Cahill? Bring back Breaking Ball and give Lyster the heave-ho, and then we'll see. Until then, RTÉ keeps getting the hammer, because they deserve it.

This Saturday we play our sixth championship game this summer, not one of them has been televised or been even close to being televised. Setanta has been a god send because at least with them most of the games have been shown again during the week.

You're dead right Louth Exile. When Louth and Wicklow played their second replay RTÉ chose to show Waterford getting pished on by Kerry. Terrible, terrible decision.

A Dublin City FC wouldn't get 50,000 as soccer is boring as shit and the thrill would wear off after a few years

The Porterhouse Bar in Phibsboro - a fifteen minute walk from Croke Park itself - was showing Premiership soccer on the bar's main screen and the All-Ireland final in a back room on All-Ireland Football Final day. Every time I've gone to Fagan's in Drumcondra for the Sunday feed I see Premiership soccer on the big screen and GAA on the portable telly above the door, if you're lucky. I think they'd find their gates for their soccer alright.

Every time ! Even in June,July and early August. They must be mad into soccer, what league are they watching ?

I don't go into Fagan's during the summer - the carvery is a bit heavy for the good weather, don't you think? But in September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April and May it's soccer, soccer, soccer in there. And if they can't show Premiership they'll show Championship, Burnley v Crystal Palace or something equally wretched, before they'll put on TG4 and the GAA.

A Dublin City FC wouldn't get 50,000 as soccer is boring as shit and the thrill would wear off after a few years

The Porterhouse Bar in Phibsboro - a fifteen minute walk from Croke Park itself - was showing Premiership soccer on the bar's main screen and the All-Ireland final in a back room on All-Ireland Football Final day. Every time I've gone to Fagan's in Drumcondra for the Sunday feed I see Premiership soccer on the big screen and GAA on the portable telly above the door, if you're lucky. I think they'd find their gates for their soccer alright.

hopefully its a good open game, it would suit mayos forwards

You'll be hoping pretty dang hard for that one Barney. Martin Carney was talking to Matt Cooper on The Last Word last night - Carney was at the Derry v Armagh game in Clones and he reckoned that Derry stood up to and eventually overcame Armagh in the physically intense stakes. Derry beat Armagh at their own game, in other words. Looks like a 2-5 to 0-9 to me. In the Oakleaf's favour I'm afraid.

If it's just a question of sheer numbers going through the gate, why not scrap football entirely and follow Eamon Dunphy's suggestion - set up Dublin City FC to play Premiership soccer and then you'd have 50,000+ going through the gate every second week? But it's meant to be more than the bottom line, isn't it? Isn't this meant to be a cultural thing as well? Why don't we ever talk about that instead of revenue, revenue, revenue?

Every year, before nearly every Dublin championship match, we have to look at stuff like this. I don't think I'm the only one that's tired of it; let's see if we can settle it once and for all.

Now, the first thing we need to understand is the concept of per capita; it's important in statistics to be able to tell the difference between how much something affects a group of people and the rate at which it affects that same group of people. I found a link to help you fellas get this. It's written for journalists originally - the poor eejit that wrote it probably doesn't even know there's such a thing as a "Dub" - but it should get the point across.

http://www.robertniles.com/stats/percap.shtml

Got all that? The important thing isn't that eighty thousand are going to Croke Park; it's much more interesting to know what that works out per capita. At what rate are the Super Dubs the biggest crowd pullers.

Now, I notice that Tankie clearly thinks that the only people in the ground will be supporting Dublin. This is not the case. It is the Leinster Final, and therefore it's the Leinster total population that counts. After all, as I said on another thread, you Dubs wouldn't like to be in there in Croker just playing with yourselves, now would you? Happily we have the latest census figures to hand from the CSO, to help us do our sums:

http://www.cso.ie/statistics/popofeachprovcountycity2006.htm

Working it out on the back of an envelope, we see that the Leinster Final will have a per capita attendance rate of 3.49% ((80,000/2295123)*100 of course). Three point four nine per cent of the available population of super Dubs, once again the biggest crowd pullers, will attend the Leinster final - not on time of course, but who owns a watch in these hard times? So is this the best in the country?

If Doctor Hyde Park holds 30,000, the Connacht Final had a per capita attendance of 5.95% yesterday. Much better than the Super Dubs.

It's 30,000 odd for Kilarney too, isn't it? That a Munster per capita of 2.55%, worse than Leinster, but not as good as Connacht.

Sadly, we can't do the sums for Ulster as we are limited to Free State statistics, so we have to end it there. But I think it's fair to conclude, my learned colleagues all, that this super Dubs one again biggest crowd pleasers stuff is all of dubious legitimacy. QED. 

Ní thagann ciall roimh aois.... 

As Bearla 

Sorry Sam - wisdom doesn't come before age is what it means.

A Sh!t is this that really dodgy week up north, never would have copped it until ya said. Feck just got real nervous about wearing the GAA jersey up there. Hope no-one points out what the Green over the Red stands for 

Jaysus ye blueshirts don't know much about the north - little geography lesson.  Celtic Park is in Derry city, Derry city is 90% nationalist - the side of the river where Celtic Park is located is approx 110% nationalist - as Lynchbhoy pointed out to someone else the only problem you'll have is if some locals think that the Mayo shirt is in fact a FC Pyunik shirt (who Derry City play in the Champions League next week) or more likely a Glentoran shirt
To be honest you's won't encounter any problems at all - Henry Downey has a bar in the city which is one of big spots for going out I'm led to believe - Bailestil or some of the locals can give ye all better info during the week.

Fair play, only been in the North 3 times, first time was this year. I think I nearly sh!t a brick the first time I crossed the border out of Leitrim, kept quite for hours (which my mates found do out of character, and very funny, they where all a little uneasy at first too, 6 lads on the Beer in Belfast all Connacht & Munstermen all first time in the 6 counties), however hours later lost & locked, I was wandering in a direction I did not know, belting out the Green & Red.

Ní thagann ciall roimh aois....