The Road To Croker - Sunday Worst Magazine

[Bud Wiser]

Got the Sunday World yesterday to read the magazine insert on the championships and this expected to give an insight in what lay ahead in the hurling and football this year.

In typical keeping with current trends, hurling is again the poor relation.  Page after page about football, twenty three pages in all and then stuck in at the back three pages on hurling, one of which was half page add. 

The GAA better wake up and promote hurling and seek that publications such as this give equal exposure, although in this case it appears it was a GPA publication with Cooper and Canning togged out in their predators and Addidas gear for the photo call. 

The sponsors of the championship should be giving equal coverage to both codes in terms of advertising, right now the Ulster Bank are producing fine TV adds about the football championship and the hurling sponsors should be doing the same.  It is a disgrace that the magazine in question could produce page after page of football trivia like the history of Mick O'Dwyer, Pat Spillane in his pub, Pat Spillane in action, and then end up with less than 3 pages out of 33 dedicated to hurling, or should I say, paying lip service to hurling.  The gas thing about it is that right now hurling is way ahead of football in terms of excitement and there is a cracking championship coming up and still you would think that RTE, (Celebrity Banisteor) The GAA, and most publications regard it as a back up facility to football.

[Gnevin]

Got the Sunday World yesterday to read the magazine insert on the championships and this expected to give an insight in what lay ahead in the hurling and football this year.

In typical keeping with current trends, hurling is again the poor relation.  Page after page about football, twenty three pages in all and then stuck in at the back three pages on hurling, one of which was half page add. 

The GAA better wake up and promote hurling and seek that publications such as this give equal exposure, although in this case it appears it was a GPA publication with Cooper and Canning togged out in their predators and Addidas gear for the photo call. 

The sponsors of the championship should be giving equal coverage to both codes in terms of advertising, right now the Ulster Bank are producing fine TV adds about the football championship and the hurling sponsors should be doing the same.  It is a disgrace that the magazine in question could produce page after page of football trivia like the history of Mick O'Dwyer, Pat Spillane in his pub, Pat Spillane in action, and then end up with less than 3 pages out of 33 dedicated to hurling, or should I say, paying lip service to hurling.  The gas thing about it is that right now hurling is way ahead of football in terms of excitement and there is a cracking championship coming up and still you would think that RTE, (Celebrity Banisteor) The GAA, and most publications regard it as a back up facility to football.

The GAA do promotion once every 2 years. Individual games of Hurling may be more exciting but the Championship as a whole is over before it starts

[NAG]

BUd

I totally get where you are coming from on this one, it is a disgrace the way that hurling is treated and as for the competitiveness of the championship, in the football there is realisitcally one of two teams that can win it.

Anyway if they keep showing football matches like the ones yesterday you couldnt ask for a better advertisement for Hurling.

[Bud Wiser]

Well said.  I am absolutely sick and tired of hurling getting second place, even look at this board you have headings like GAA Discussion, General Discussion and Hurling discussion as if to say, well lads, if ye want to talk about GAA click here but if you want to talk about hurling, well off ye go to the hurling page.  Like, why is it not Football discussion, Hurling Discussion & Gaa Discussion, or better still all GAA discussion ?  In my area anyway in Dublin I see an increasing number of young lads out on the greens with hurls since Dublin made a name for themselves in the league.  If the GAA went just that extra mile for hurling right now it would promote the game.  People are talking about the great game the League Final was in the tones of voice that suggest it was an accident that a game of hurling should be so exciting !!

As far as the championship being over before it starts, I don't buy it, I am looking forward to some cracking games and a jump on the iron horse at Sean Heuston Station, a few beers and get off at Thurles for the Munster Final and I could not give a frig about who won the All-Ireland. What I do give a frig about is that Croke Park could be half empty, sorry, will be half empty for the Leinster Hurling Final and don't try and sell me the idea that it is because of the economy because it will be full for the football final.  Why?  Because hurling is not marketed with (a) the same commitment as football and (b) because neither county teams in dual counties like Laois or Offaly as an example are given the same funding for hurling and the same attention as they give to footballers.

Rant over.

[Gnevin]

Well said.  I am absolutely sick and tired of hurling getting second place, even look at this board you have headings like GAA Discussion, General Discussion and Hurling discussion as if to say, well lads, if ye want to talk about GAA click here but if you want to talk about hurling, well off ye go to the hurling page.  Like, why is it not Football discussion, Hurling Discussion & Gaa Discussion, or better still all GAA discussion ?  In my area anyway in Dublin I see an increasing number of young lads out on the greens with hurls since Dublin made a name for themselves in the league.  If the GAA went just that extra mile for hurling right now it would promote the game.  People are talking about the great game the League Final was in the tones of voice that suggest it was an accident that a game of hurling should be so exciting !!

As far as the championship being over before it starts, I don't buy it, I am looking forward to some cracking games and a jump on the iron horse at Sean Heuston Station, a few beers and get off at Thurles for the Munster Final and I could not give a frig about who won the All-Ireland. What I do give a frig about is that Croke Park could be half empty, sorry, will be half empty for the Leinster Hurling Final and don't try and sell me the idea that it is because of the economy because it will be full for the football final.  Why?  Because hurling is not marketed with (a) the same commitment as football and (b) because neither county teams in dual counties like Laois or Offaly as an example are given the same funding for hurling and the same attention as they give to footballers.

Rant over.

(c) Everyone know Kilkenny will beat who ever they met by 20  points may Galway will give them a game  .

[Bud Wiser]

Ok Nevin, lets have a good row since the Confederates from the peoples republic have gone to ground.

The way you are talking Kilkenny may as well take the McCarthy cup out of the press now and bring it up to Langtons and tie the 2009 All Ireland Champions ribbon around it?  I don't think so.  I'll have a bet with you that they won't win the All-Ireland this year - four pints, a half of a gallon of lager or guinness?

You do say that the Cat's are good at 'lowering the blades' as you put it, but, when did they have to?  In last years AI Semi Cork were more interested in doing a demo of their training drills in front of the Cusack Stand that they forgot about the game ahead.  Waterford came onto the field in the Final like the boys from Scribblestown Lane would come on with slash hooks and if they had given it as much of  a lash during the game as they did before it they would have been better served, and so would the thousands like me who paid to watch a no show like the pro's from Cork provided.

Out of these two games then the hype began that this Kilkenny team were the greatest team of all time, maybe they are but they are not that invincible, even if they do cost me half a gallon of drink.

[Gnevin]

Ok Nevin, lets have a good row since the Confederates from the peoples republic have gone to ground.

The way you are talking Kilkenny may as well take the McCarthy cup out of the press now and bring it up to Langtons and tie the 2009 All Ireland Champions ribbon around it?  I don't think so.  I'll have a bet with you that they won't win the All-Ireland this year - four pints, a half of a gallon of lager or guinness?

You do say that the Cat's are good at 'lowering the blades' as you put it, but, when did they have to?  In last years AI Semi Cork were more interested in doing a demo of their training drills in front of the Cusack Stand that they forgot about the game ahead.  Waterford came onto the field in the Final like the boys from Scribblestown Lane would come on with slash hooks and if they had given it as much of  a lash during the game as they did before it they would have been better served, and so would the thousands like me who paid to watch a no show like the pro's from Cork provided.

Out of these two games then the hype began that this Kilkenny team were the greatest team of all time, maybe they are but they are not that invincible, even if they do cost me half a gallon of drink.

I agree with what your saying they aren't unbeatable but the the GAA summer fan, the bandwagoners . They look at Offally/Laois/whoever against Kilkenny and think what is the point . No doubt there will be some great and competitive games this year but I don't think Kilkenny will be involved in any of them

[maxpower]

I think Bud makes a valid point, hurling is struggling to catch the imagination of the general public, the hurling experts are putting out that KK have it in the bag, and only Tipp or possibly Galway can rise a challenge.

To me this make promotion all the more important, its vital the GAA gets the profile of hurling lifted in non traditional areas, Dublin is a shinning example of how it can be done and show be capitalised on with the capital, Ulster & Leinster likewise need urgent help. Rather than pay annual lip service to it the GAA could pro actively encourage or demand more exposure.  I too bought the Irish News last Friday along with the Gaelic Game to read the championship previews, as a hurling an i was dissapointed.

Could the GAA not agree to free to air coverage with RTE on condition they do a hurling magazine show for 8 weeks during the championship, a certain amount of time dedicated to lesser matches such as ulster hurling final,

Compare how Sky promote the Premiership, which is very similar to the Hurling Championship in that its normally united who win with only a few real challengers, or even the FA cup which doesn't seem to matter much to even the players.

[Zulu]

Hurling is promoted just fine, I'm from a hurling county and I'm a fan of the game but I'm sick and tired of the poor mouth that some hurling fanatics constantly spout. It's rubbish to say hurling isn't promoted, there might be a poor crowd at the Leinster final but that is because Kilkenny will win it and everyone knows it. Hurling is a fine game but you get tired of people saying it is some kind of 'godly' sport, it isn't and like every other game it can be rubbish. I know plenty of people that don't like it, so what? there'll be some poor crowds at football games too but you don't hear half the hand ringing about that, the hurling fanatic is the most tiresome and annoying of the atypical sporting fan.

[Gnevin]

Hurling is promoted just fine

How can you say it's promoted just fine when it get 3 pages out of 33  and TSG don't even mention the CRC game on Sunday let alone show some of them.

[Zulu]

One magazine in a shite paper means that hurling isn't promoted?

[Gnevin]

One magazine in a shite paper means that hurling isn't promoted?

What about the national broadcaster ,who rather spend 70 minutes talking crap than spend 60 minutes talking crap and have 10 minutes of the CRC or who said the Championship started on Sunday. Does the CRC not count as the Championship any more? 

[Bud Wiser]

Hurling is promoted just fine,

I'm from a hurling county

Were you not in bed with Reillers on the other thread about the treatment of Gerald McCarthy and the Cork strike?   I hope the hurling county you are from is not Cork because Cork have done moere damage to hurling than twenty years of daily advertising can not correct.  

Hurling is not promoted just fine and it is getting to the stage where it is not promotet at all.  Three pages out of thirty three in a magazine called The Road to Croker is bullshit whetehr you like it or not.  Surely to jaysus you can see outside 'your hurling county' that meetings between Clare and Limerick, Waterford, Tipp, Galway and the Cats, Antrims arriival into Leinster and other games deserved a mention of more than three pages one of which was Joe Canning in his Adidas gear and the other page half taken up with an add?  

[Zulu]

One magazine in a shite paper means that hurling isn't promoted?

What about the national broadcaster ,who rather spend 70 minutes talking crap than spend 60 minutes talking crap and have 10 minutes of the CRC or who said the Championship started on Sunday. Does the CRC not count as the Championship any more? 

That's a seperate issue and has nothing to do with the promotion of hurling.

Were you not in bed with Reillers on the other thread about the treatment of Gerald McCarthy and the Cork strike?   I hope the hurling county you are from is not Cork because Cork have done moere damage to hurling than twenty years of daily advertising can not correct.   

This might be hard for to understand Bud but you don't have to be from Cork to support the Cork players stance, so to make it clear I'm not from Cork but did support their choice of action.

Hurling is not promoted just fine and it is getting to the stage where it is not promotet at all.  Three pages out of thirty three in a magazine called The Road to Croker is bullshit whetehr you like it or not.  Surely to jaysus you can see outside 'your hurling county' that meetings between Clare and Limerick, Waterford, Tipp, Galway and the Cats, Antrims arriival into Leinster and other games deserved a mention of more than three pages one of which was Joe Canning in his Adidas gear and the other page half taken up with an add? 

Once again........ a rubbish magazine in a rubbish paper doesn't mean hurling isn't promoted, the Guinness hurling ads were among the most famous and well known TV ads of the last 10 years. And most GAA related programs or articles I've seen give proportional coverage to hurling, it is probably less than football but that is understandable as football is the bigger sport and has a greater support. Some hurling supporters are like an annoying ex-girlfriend who constantly asks you why you don't like them, , I've never heard a rugby supporter moan about why rugby isn't played in every part of every county but some lads would have you believe that it's a national disgrace that hurling isn't the main sport in places like Mayo or Tyrone.

[The GAA]

Hurling is my first love but i'm almost as fond of the big ball too. We have to be realistic in understanding our position within the sporting psyche in the country. whilst those who love the game are bordering on fanatical, the numbers who participate and follow hurling fervrently are dwarfed by those following and playing football.