2013 All Ireland Final: Mayo v Dublin

[dublin7]

I know it may be therapeutic for Mayo folk (and others) to grieve in public but I think you'd all be better off now just getting on with life.

THIB living in this hellhole of a country where over 60% of even the employed are packing the bags and fecking off out of here away from either the depressing shit on the radio and the elitist shit on the TV  and having Vincent bloody Browne and Missus Bloody Brown to put up with and listening to those rank idiots in the Dail who never worked a proper day in their lives and who don't have the balls to lock up the w**ker bankers who partly caused the mess and I don't have to go on about the church and their carry-on.... a large part of our lives becomes and is the GAA and for Mayo folk it's Mayo GAA. The GAA is the only spiritual and dignified entity left in this godforsaken place. So getting on with life for Mayo is to get on with the football again.


Mighty place to be if your a Dub though, i suppose.

It might not feel like it to a Mayo person but there has to be something, as you say, almost spiritual about following a team like that. It's something bigger than just following a team, and as a Dublin supporter, I almost envy Mayo supporters.

We have all the advantages. Population, money, we play all our championship matches  and now, it seems, most of our league matches too, at home. It's a pleasure to watch this Dublin team, but given those advantages and now that we've won two All-Irelands and will probably come back for a good few more, I find myself becoming much less partisan. The thrill of winning has gone. There is no desperation to win. We should be winning.

When Dublin won in 2011, it was great. We were underdogs, we hadn't won it for 16 years, we hadn't been in a final for 16 years, and they way we won it coming from behind and winning with almost the last kick was thrilling. Every one of those 16 years was worth it for that moment.

Now it just isn't the same, and it probably never again will be. Dublin have had dark days, but they were nothing compared to what it must be like for a county that hasn't won for 62 years and has lost seven finals.  We may have been underdogs in 2011, but we will never be real underdogs. The feelings of disappointment must be magnified by ten when Mayo lose compared to what Dublin fans feel, the feeling of winning will be magnified by a similar amount should they win it.

I find myself being reminded of Kilkenny people, who used to go on about the disappointment they felt in 1999 as if it was the most devastating thing that had happened to any county in history. Sorry lads, but you haven't a clue. You will never know disappointment or joy like Mayo.

I read in some paper that the other day that the Boston Red Sox failing to win a World Series for 86 years almost defined who Bostonians were as a people. There's a certain similarity alright, but they were professional players, most of whom weren't even from Boston. They might have been playing for the Yankees the next year.  The Mayo team is the Mayo people, and everybody in Mayo is a part of your team in some small way.

Mayo's continuing quest to win Sam is a heartbreaking yet beautiful  odyessy. We in Dublin will never know anything like it. In a strange way it's great for football in Mayo. Every year without Sam reinforces that hunger and reinforces the obsession. Mayo are always there or thereabouts at underage level, and few counties have reached more senior finals over the last 25 years. As long as the odyessy keeps going football in Mayo will never decline, it will only get stronger - it's as true a football county as there is. When Mayo finally win the All-Ireland, yes, you will regret that certain players didn't win All-Ireland medals, but every Mayo person will look back at every year and every defeat and realise that it was worth the journey.  Until then, you have no choice  but to keep enduring,  keep working and keep hoping.

You can't be following Dublin long  if you are already becoming bored  of winning. We had to wait 16 years to win in 2011. In 1995 it was a 12 year gap between victories. I have seen Dublin lose plenty of big games over the last 20 years so I have feel far different to you. I hope this Dublin pushes on to become the equivalent of Kerry/ kilkenny and becomes a team that will be compared with the great teams of the past

[rrhf]

I do think there should be a book written about Mayo football.  Could we call it "aweshitenawfinalMayo"

[heffo]

Jesus I go away for a few days and there must be ten threads about Dublin!

Hard luck Mayo, I think you're just short a bit of variety in attack and although Mayo fans don't seem to like it, a big scoring forward that'll do it on the big day - O'Connor may yet turn into that player.

Awful game, but we've had enough moral victories over the years.

[Sidney]

You can't be following Dublin long  if you are already becoming bored  of winning. We had to wait 16 years to win in 2011. In 1995 it was a 12 year gap between victories. I have seen Dublin lose plenty of big games over the last 20 years so I have feel far different to you. I hope this Dublin pushes on to become the equivalent of Kerry/ kilkenny and becomes a team that will be compared with the great teams of the past

Following them since 1987 when I was 7.

[Cold tea]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

[Sidney]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

So, do Kerry people cherish the memories of their 2004 All-Ireland title in the same way that Armagh people cherish the memories of 2002?

[Cold tea]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

So, do Kerry people cherish the memories of their 2004 All-Ireland title in the same way that Armagh people cherish the memories of 2002?

I am not from Kerry but I am sure they cherished it as much.  This bullshit that constant winning cheapens the magic is usually thrown about by those who don't win too often. 

[JBM on the 21]

I know it may be therapeutic for Mayo folk (and others) to grieve in public but I think you'd all be better off now just getting on with life.

THIB living in this hellhole of a country where over 60% of even the employed are packing the bags and fecking off out of here away from either the depressing shit on the radio and the elitist shit on the TV  and having Vincent bloody Browne and Missus Bloody Brown to put up with and listening to those rank idiots in the Dail who never worked a proper day in their lives and who don't have the balls to lock up the w**ker bankers who partly caused the mess and I don't have to go on about the church and their carry-on.... a large part of our lives becomes and is the GAA and for Mayo folk it's Mayo GAA. The GAA is the only spiritual and dignified entity left in this godforsaken place. So getting on with life for Mayo is to get on with the football again.


Mighty place to be if your a Dub though, i suppose.

It might not feel like it to a Mayo person but there has to be something, as you say, almost spiritual about following a team like that. It's something bigger than just following a team, and as a Dublin supporter, I almost envy Mayo supporters.

We have all the advantages. Population, money, we play all our championship matches  and now, it seems, most of our league matches too, at home. It's a pleasure to watch this Dublin team, but given those advantages and now that we've won two All-Irelands and will probably come back for a good few more, I find myself becoming much less partisan. The thrill of winning has gone. There is no desperation to win. We should be winning.

When Dublin won in 2011, it was great. We were underdogs, we hadn't won it for 16 years, we hadn't been in a final for 16 years, and they way we won it coming from behind and winning with almost the last kick was thrilling. Every one of those 16 years was worth it for that moment.

Now it just isn't the same, and it probably never again will be. Dublin have had dark days, but they were nothing compared to what it must be like for a county that hasn't won for 62 years and has lost seven finals.  We may have been underdogs in 2011, but we will never be real underdogs. The feelings of disappointment must be magnified by ten when Mayo lose compared to what Dublin fans feel, the feeling of winning will be magnified by a similar amount should they win it.

I find myself being reminded of Kilkenny people, who used to go on about the disappointment they felt in 1999 as if it was the most devastating thing that had happened to any county in history. Sorry lads, but you haven't a clue. You will never know disappointment or joy like Mayo.

I read in some paper that the other day that the Boston Red Sox failing to win a World Series for 86 years almost defined who Bostonians were as a people. There's a certain similarity alright, but they were professional players, most of whom weren't even from Boston. They might have been playing for the Yankees the next year.  The Mayo team is the Mayo people, and everybody in Mayo is a part of your team in some small way.

Mayo's continuing quest to win Sam is a heartbreaking yet beautiful  odyessy. We in Dublin will never know anything like it. In a strange way it's great for football in Mayo. Every year without Sam reinforces that hunger and reinforces the obsession. Mayo are always there or thereabouts at underage level, and few counties have reached more senior finals over the last 25 years. As long as the odyessy keeps going football in Mayo will never decline, it will only get stronger - it's as true a football county as there is. When Mayo finally win the All-Ireland, yes, you will regret that certain players didn't win All-Ireland medals, but every Mayo person will look back at every year and every defeat and realise that it was worth the journey.  Until then, you have no choice but to keep enduring,  keep working and keep hoping.

Great Post.  When I read it, it bought to mind Anthony Daly's speech in 95 "Many of those Clare teams were better than us but less fortunate than us. I accept this cup on behalf of all those players who ever wore the Clare jersey". -  best speech ever. That is what will await Mayo.

[Syferus]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

So, do Kerry people cherish the memories of their 2004 All-Ireland title in the same way that Armagh people cherish the memories of 2002?

I am not from Kerry but I am sure they cherished it as much.  This bullshit that constant winning cheapens the magic is usually thrown about by those who don't win too often.

It's thrown up so often because it's blindingly obvious.

[Asal Mor]

It's the law of diminishing marginal returns and it defies logic to say that someone who has witnessed their county winning several All-Irelands has enjoyed each one as much as someone who has witnessed their county's only All-Ireland win. For proof you can compare the reactions to Monaghan's Ulster title this year with Kerry's Munster title.

[Johnnybegood]

It's the law of diminishing marginal returns and it defies logic to say that someone who has witnessed their county winning several All-Irelands has enjoyed each one as much as someone who has witnessed their county's only All-Ireland win. For proof you can compare the reactions to Monaghan's Ulster title this year with Kerry's Munster title.

from a footballing point of view this years triumph was better than 011 but for sheer joy I and the way we won it I doubt 011 will ever be topped

[Cold tea]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

So, do Kerry people cherish the memories of their 2004 All-Ireland title in the same way that Armagh people cherish the memories of 2002?

I am not from Kerry but I am sure they cherished it as much.  This bullshit that constant winning cheapens the magic is usually thrown about by those who don't win too often.

It's thrown up so often because it's blindingly obvious.

Catch yourself on, it's bullshit.

[Syferus]

Ok, I will. Who should I tell? Osin? Jamser Clarke? BC1?

Winning repeatedly cheapens the magic of each individual title no matter the county or club. At that point it becomes about legacy as much as the singular moment of winning.

That's bullshit.

So, do Kerry people cherish the memories of their 2004 All-Ireland title in the same way that Armagh people cherish the memories of 2002?

I am not from Kerry but I am sure they cherished it as much.  This bullshit that constant winning cheapens the magic is usually thrown about by those who don't win too often.

It's thrown up so often because it's blindingly obvious.

Catch yourself on, it's bullshit.

Thanks for the scientific and detailed explanation why everyone else is wrong and you're right. You've won me over.

[muppet]

Jesus I go away for a few days and there must be ten threads about Dublin!

Hard luck Mayo, I think you're just short a bit of variety in attack and although Mayo fans don't seem to like it, a big scoring forward that'll do it on the big day - O'Connor may yet turn into that player.

Awful game, but we've had enough moral victories over the years.

To be fair O'Connor, Moran, Dillon and (incredibly bad luck on the weekend) Freeman were not fully fit. I know Dublin can point reasonably to Alan Brogan but you have cover for him, we had 4 starting forwards who were not right and we needed them all flying. Donegal last year had a smooth run with no major injury concerns, which is even more amazing when you consider how combative the Ulster Championship is. We needed a run like that.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Look, if Dublin were to win the next 20 on the bounce, I'd be very happy, but the 18th clearly wouldn't mean as much as the 2011 win v. Kerry.  Anyone saying otherwise just hasn't thought it through.