Mickey Harte slams Down football legends

[Tyrone_redhand]

The new days can be just as good as the old ones
Mickey Harte

In recent years, Kerry and Tyrone have provided the benchmark for excellence in gaelic football.

A trip to the Ulster Council website gave me the lead for this week's column.

Earlier in the summer, Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy enlisted the skills of Jerome Quinn to cover gaelic games in our province in a previously untapped way. The Ulster Council have been very much to the fore in branding the 125 celebrations and this initiative certainly enhanced that objective. Jerome has captured some unique sideline footage from the Ulster Championship games and has interviewed many significant personalities, often not before the camera to this extent previously.

Footage of the primary schools half-time exhibition games, along with coverage of the ladies' football and camogie finals, have ensured that all GAA activities are receiving appropriate attention this special year. My browsing took me to a link covering interviews and reflections from individuals involved in the historic breakthrough by Down in the 1960s. While the Ulster Council footage was celebrating innovation and embracing the current advances surrounding our games, such sentiments were not reflected by these now elder statesmen of the GAA.

I think it's a pity that many of these great players of previous eras have difficulty accepting the excellence that prevails today. I have always acknowledged the standards set by Down in the '60s and the confidence that gave to Ulster players. Likewise, I marvelled at the new heights Kerry and Dublin brought to the '70s and early '80s.

In the late '80s, Meath and Cork were the dominant forces who gave us the highest standards of the day. Down gave Ulster the lead again in the '90s, which contributed to Donegal (1992) and Derry (1993), having breakthrough years as they won their first All-Irelands at senior level. The current decade brought breakthroughs for Armagh and Tyrone, with Kerry ever-present to ensure only the best would be good enough.

However, I found the general views, coming from these innovators of their day, somewhat narrow. We are invariably reminded of the perceived death of high fielding and long kicking. As I have stated before, the initial flaw in this myth is that, because of the current nature of the game, it is impossible to compare like with like. Isn't it only natural that if the predominant style of that era was to kick the ball as far as high and as long as you could there would be more opportunity for high fielding?

Secondly, does the fact that these long kicks invariably resulted in a lottery for retaining possession make them a lost attribute? I think not. Other negative vibes prevalent in the interviews suggested tactics were all about being destructive and solely about stopping others playing football.

A glance at some of the high-scoring games in this year's Championship negates that argument. In the case of Tyrone, we have been fortunate enough to have been involved in 23 games (League and Championship) at Croke Park since 2003 and have averaged 17.6 points per game – hardly the return of negative footballers.

Other interpretations suggested that coaches have tried to take the risk out of football and, as a result, diminished the product. The first part of this inference contains a certain truth insofar as any competent coach will certainly want to work towards improved odds, but this does not necessarily imply that uniqueness and flair should not be allowed to prevail. Yet another contributor declared that, in the current game, it is too easy to retain possession.

Quite the opposite is the case, as never before has there been so much emphasis placed on disciplined individual and collective tackling. In previous eras, your direct opponent was the only one likely to challenge for your possession. In the modern game, tackles can come from any angle and from players wearing any number. Does that make possession easier to retain?

As I see it, accepting the greatness of the past is right and proper. The best in any given era is exactly that – the best. We will always appreciate great feats of the past, but we also need to acknowledge that innovation and progress is a fact of life and that current best practise deserves similar recognition.

A motoring analogy can help put some perspective on this view.

There was a time when a Vauxhall Victor or a Ford Cortina were the last word in driving comfort. They had the latest technology with regard to ease of starting, better springs (as it was in those days) and more elaborate instrument gauges. Engines ran smoother than previous models and fourth was top gear.

Fast forward to the present era and the instrument dash is more akin to that which would have served an aircraft pilot in the past. We have air conditioning, digital read-outs to tell us distance travelled on each trip, average speed in mph or kph as the case might be, fuel consumption details and cruise control functions.Top gear has moved through fifth and is sixth in many models. Hydraulic systems have become much more sophisticated, as have safety features.

Quiet diesel engines have become almost as prolific as petrol vehicles. And, of course, there is satnav. Were the Victors and Cortinas great in their own era? Yes they were. Would you still want to be driving around in one today? I think not. I rest my case.

Great days at Campa Chormaic

Campa Chormaic continues to go from strength to strength as over 230 young people from both Armagh and Tyrone converged on the Brantry Bard Centre and Eglish playing fields to enhance their command of Gaeilge and improve their playing skills in football, hurling and camogie. In week one, over 110 8-12 year-olds took part, while in week two there were over 125 12-16 year-olds participating.

Monday and Wednesday afternoons were given over to hurling and camogie, while Tuesdays and Thursdays were devoted to football skills. Friday's sporting activities were devoted to blitzes, which proved to be the highlight of the sporting week.

During the course of the camp, Tipperary hurling star Eoin Kelly made a guest appearance, as did Tyrone's Joe McMahon, Armagh's Charlie Vernon and members of the Lory Meagher Cup-winning Tyrone hurling team. I was delighted to assist with prize-giving on the final day of the camp and the atmosphere generated through Campa Chormaic was a fitting legacy of Cormac's example as a sporting gentleman.

This year, the camp extended to Castlewellan, Co Down, and plans are afoot to extend to Co Antrim next year.

Comhgairdeas to all concerned.


Well said Mickey. Tyrone are odds on for the 2-in-row and where are Down ?

[BallyhaiseMan]

where are Down?
No wonder most of the country wants you lot beaten.
All i have to say is
Down 5 All Irelands >Tyrone 3 All Irelands.

what do you say about that?

[omagh_gael]

hoganstand must have crashed so

[Doire abú]

The new days can be just as good as the old ones
Mickey Harte

In recent years, Kerry and Tyrone have provided the benchmark for excellence in gaelic football.

A trip to the Ulster Council website gave me the lead for this week's column.

Earlier in the summer, Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy enlisted the skills of Jerome Quinn to cover gaelic games in our province in a previously untapped way. The Ulster Council have been very much to the fore in branding the 125 celebrations and this initiative certainly enhanced that objective. Jerome has captured some unique sideline footage from the Ulster Championship games and has interviewed many significant personalities, often not before the camera to this extent previously.

Footage of the primary schools half-time exhibition games, along with coverage of the ladies' football and camogie finals, have ensured that all GAA activities are receiving appropriate attention this special year. My browsing took me to a link covering interviews and reflections from individuals involved in the historic breakthrough by Down in the 1960s. While the Ulster Council footage was celebrating innovation and embracing the current advances surrounding our games, such sentiments were not reflected by these now elder statesmen of the GAA.

I think it's a pity that many of these great players of previous eras have difficulty accepting the excellence that prevails today. I have always acknowledged the standards set by Down in the '60s and the confidence that gave to Ulster players. Likewise, I marvelled at the new heights Kerry and Dublin brought to the '70s and early '80s.

In the late '80s, Meath and Cork were the dominant forces who gave us the highest standards of the day. Down gave Ulster the lead again in the '90s, which contributed to Donegal (1992) and Derry (1993), having breakthrough years as they won their first All-Irelands at senior level. The current decade brought breakthroughs for Armagh and Tyrone, with Kerry ever-present to ensure only the best would be good enough.

However, I found the general views, coming from these innovators of their day, somewhat narrow. We are invariably reminded of the perceived death of high fielding and long kicking. As I have stated before, the initial flaw in this myth is that, because of the current nature of the game, it is impossible to compare like with like. Isn't it only natural that if the predominant style of that era was to kick the ball as far as high and as long as you could there would be more opportunity for high fielding?

Secondly, does the fact that these long kicks invariably resulted in a lottery for retaining possession make them a lost attribute? I think not. Other negative vibes prevalent in the interviews suggested tactics were all about being destructive and solely about stopping others playing football.

A glance at some of the high-scoring games in this year's Championship negates that argument. In the case of Tyrone, we have been fortunate enough to have been involved in 23 games (League and Championship) at Croke Park since 2003 and have averaged 17.6 points per game – hardly the return of negative footballers.

Other interpretations suggested that coaches have tried to take the risk out of football and, as a result, diminished the product. The first part of this inference contains a certain truth insofar as any competent coach will certainly want to work towards improved odds, but this does not necessarily imply that uniqueness and flair should not be allowed to prevail. Yet another contributor declared that, in the current game, it is too easy to retain possession.

Quite the opposite is the case, as never before has there been so much emphasis placed on disciplined individual and collective tackling. In previous eras, your direct opponent was the only one likely to challenge for your possession. In the modern game, tackles can come from any angle and from players wearing any number. Does that make possession easier to retain?

As I see it, accepting the greatness of the past is right and proper. The best in any given era is exactly that – the best. We will always appreciate great feats of the past, but we also need to acknowledge that innovation and progress is a fact of life and that current best practise deserves similar recognition.

A motoring analogy can help put some perspective on this view.

There was a time when a Vauxhall Victor or a Ford Cortina were the last word in driving comfort. They had the latest technology with regard to ease of starting, better springs (as it was in those days) and more elaborate instrument gauges. Engines ran smoother than previous models and fourth was top gear.

Fast forward to the present era and the instrument dash is more akin to that which would have served an aircraft pilot in the past. We have air conditioning, digital read-outs to tell us distance travelled on each trip, average speed in mph or kph as the case might be, fuel consumption details and cruise control functions.Top gear has moved through fifth and is sixth in many models. Hydraulic systems have become much more sophisticated, as have safety features.

Quiet diesel engines have become almost as prolific as petrol vehicles. And, of course, there is satnav. Were the Victors and Cortinas great in their own era? Yes they were. Would you still want to be driving around in one today? I think not. I rest my case.

Great days at Campa Chormaic

Campa Chormaic continues to go from strength to strength as over 230 young people from both Armagh and Tyrone converged on the Brantry Bard Centre and Eglish playing fields to enhance their command of Gaeilge and improve their playing skills in football, hurling and camogie. In week one, over 110 8-12 year-olds took part, while in week two there were over 125 12-16 year-olds participating.

Monday and Wednesday afternoons were given over to hurling and camogie, while Tuesdays and Thursdays were devoted to football skills. Friday's sporting activities were devoted to blitzes, which proved to be the highlight of the sporting week.

During the course of the camp, Tipperary hurling star Eoin Kelly made a guest appearance, as did Tyrone's Joe McMahon, Armagh's Charlie Vernon and members of the Lory Meagher Cup-winning Tyrone hurling team. I was delighted to assist with prize-giving on the final day of the camp and the atmosphere generated through Campa Chormaic was a fitting legacy of Cormac's example as a sporting gentleman.

This year, the camp extended to Castlewellan, Co Down, and plans are afoot to extend to Co Antrim next year.

Comhgairdeas to all concerned.


Well said Mickey. Tyrone are odds on for the 2-in-row and where are Down ?

Where?

[HowAreYeGettinOn]

Where exactly does he 'slam the Down football legends'?

He disagrees with some views they expressed re. old football vs current football. But he doesn't cast aspersions on the greatness of those Down teams - if anything he's generous in his praise, noting how they 'set the standard' in the 60s and 'gave Ulster the lead again' in the 90s.

Sorry for the grouchiness. But the thread title is over the top and could have come from a tabloid.

[020304 Tir Eoghain]

where are Down?
No wonder most of the country wants you lot beaten.
All i have to say is
Down 5 All Irelands >Tyrone 3 All Irelands.

what do you say about that?

that Down have 5 senior all irelands to Tyrones 3?

[Jinxy]

In fairness, he has a point.
I was reading the Indo last week and that Billy Keane lad was lamenting the death of the long-range point.
Do these people even watch the games?
It seems to have been accepted simply by virtue of repetition that there is very little high-fielding or foot-passing in modern gaelic football.
Complete nonsense.

[Maguire01]

Where exactly does he 'slam the Down football legends'?

I was wondering that myself.

All i have to say is
Down 5 All Irelands >Tyrone 3 All Irelands.

what do you say about that?

I'd have to say that Tyrone could very possibly match and surpass that record over the next few years. More likely than the prospect of Down adding to their tally anytime soon.

[rootthemout]

read mickeys piece today didnt think he was discrediting down or anyone else but just trying to say the game has moved on and in years to come they will talk about how armagh and tyrone brought a new dimension of tackling to the game

[020304 Tir Eoghain]

read mickeys piece today didnt think he was discrediting down or anyone else but just trying to say the game has moved on and in years to come they will talk about how armagh and tyrone brought a new dimension of tackling to the game

Agree, but if you want to find something wrong in his writing (as some tend to do), the you probably will

[Pangurban]

Mickeys piece in Irish News, is comprised of fair comment and does not slam or denigrate anyone, so the title of this thread is nonsense. Having said that, a lot of the old skills are being lost, and the development of new ones does  not make their loss any easier to accept. One thing we have more of in Down, is humility, we may have produced the greatest team ever to come out of Ulster, but we acknowledge that Cavan had won 5 AIs before we even won an Ulster. Tyrone people would do well to remember that, enjoy their period of success, knowing that Down and Cavans time will come again, while they will face barren years. Its all swings and roundabouts. Hope you achieve your 2 in a row, but its going to be difficult

[Tyrone_redhand]

read mickeys piece today didnt think he was discrediting down or anyone else but just trying to say the game has moved on and in years to come they will talk about how armagh and tyrone brought a new dimension of tackling to the game

By normal standards , yeah it wasnt a major putdown. but we all know how diplomatic Mickey is so u cud say that by his standards there is no doubt it was a putdown.

and why shouldn't he ? Down are like Kerry, always having digs.  Tyrone have moved football forward and we aren't going to have hasbeens like Down and kerry tell us we are doin something wrong

[Zapatista]

Why the new thread?

I agree with Harte here. Not only is it compared negatively with the past but also from county to county and province to province. It seems like some people will go out of there way to put a negative aspect to modern football, starting with the Sunday Game. All bullshit if you ask me. Much like this thread.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Mickeys piece in Irish News, is comprised of fair comment and does not slam or denigrate anyone, so the title of this thread is nonsense. Having said that, a lot of the old skills are being lost, and the development of new ones does  not make their loss any easier to accept. One thing we have more of in Down, is humility, we may have produced the greatest team ever to come out of Ulster, but we acknowledge that Cavan had won 5 AIs before we even won an Ulster. Tyrone people would do well to remember that, enjoy their period of success, knowing that Down and Cavans time will come again, while they will face barren years. Its all swings and roundabouts. Hope you achieve your 2 in a row, but its going to be difficult

I assume the word "Don't" is missing from that sentence?!

[Maguire01]

One thing we have more of in Down, is humility, we may have produced the greatest team ever to come out of Ulster, but we acknowledge that Cavan had won 5 AIs before we even won an Ulster.

Humble indeed. 

And is it really that significant to acknowledge the order in which counties have won titles?