Maigh Eo v Ciarrai, 1700, 30ú Lúnasa, Gaelic Grounds

[orangeman]

The O'Ses can write a bit as well as play a bit.

Peter Mc Kenna knows the value of a € but doesn't seen to know who's who.

There's been a picture in my head all week of Richard Harris going to war with that American trying to buy the field that, over the years, has turned his hands to stone.

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You know the bit where 'Bull' McCabe is declaring ownership of the land and a smiley Yank counters "Well, we'll see about that won't we?" Jim Sheridan's movie came to mind with the eruption of anger over Kerry-Mayo II being exported to Limerick's Gaelic Grounds. Croke Park is our field you see and, right now, it feels as if someone else's hands are upon it.

I love the GAA. It brightens the lives of people in every last nook and cranny of this country. I love what it stands for and the fact that, in Croke Park, we have a home, a Mecca that is the match of anything, anywhere in the world.

And, by the way, I've no problem with other sports getting in there, no problem with concerts, no problem with American football. It's not as if they get the use of the place for free and I know that that money then percolates back into the GAA. I had breakfast with Liam O'Neill in Dublin on Monday and I see himself and Paraic Duffy as two real GAA men, people who are still in touch with their members.

But maybe there's the rub.

I know stadium director Peter McKenna is brilliant at what he does, but his brief isn't the promotion of the GAA. His brief is to drive the commercial side of the Association and I applaud him for it. He's clearly a very shrewd operator.

But I remember walking down a corridor of Croke Park after winning the All-Ireland in '09, being stopped by him and asked where I was going. He didn't know who I was from Adam. I explained that I was a player, just trying to get down to meet some friends.

I'll admit I was lost and I'm pretty sure that, technically, I shouldn't have been where I found myself. But, at that moment, I might as well have been an intruder caught climbing down out of an air-vent. Look he's a busy guy and I know he's doing a fantastic job.

But Croke Park is the GAA's field and I just get the impression that, more and more, there's an attitude building around it of 'Get off the pitch, we're making money here!'

So there's a principle involved that bothers me this week. Why on earth agree to putting this American football game into Croke Park at our busiest time of year?

[Jinxy]

I realise that it's a bit of a cliche to refer to people as 'GAA men', 'Gaels' etc. but I have never once listened to Peter McKenna and thought of him as anything other than a corporate officer.
The GAA is the organisation which happens to own the asset which he is paid to manage.
There's no real affinity for the ethos or the games themselves.
As a result, the Tomás Ó'Sé anecdote comes as absolutely no surprise to me.

[muppet]

It really is a shame we are talking about referees, appealing decisions and bizarre venue selections after one of the best games of the year. Especially when we get a repeat fixture only 6 days later.

1 day to go and the green and red mist is beginning to return. The nerves are jangling all morning.

[J70]

Keegan is very lucky.

The GAA would want to get their referees enrolled in some legal courses the way things are going.

[Jinxy]

It really is a shame we are talking about referees, appealing decisions and bizarre venue selections after one of the best games of the year. Especially when we get a repeat fixture only 6 days later.

1 day to go and the green and red mist is beginning to return. The nerves are jangling all morning.

"My Mayo sense is tingling!"

[criostlinn]

I don't get all this fuss about Lee Keegan getting off the red card. He was sent off for kicking an opponent. The ref obviously taught he kicked Buckley and he was helped come to this conclusion in real time by Walsh's carry on. To be honest I taught he had kicked him as well. The ref puts in a report stating this. It then transpires that he did not kick him. You can't have the ref coming back and saying " well actually I sent him off for an attempted kick". just because he seen a replay of the incident.

I actually commend Coldrick in this situation for reporting the incident exactly how he taught he saw it and not changing things around to make himself look good.

[Denn Forever]

I don't get all this fuss about Lee Keegan getting off the red card. He was sent off for kicking an opponent. The ref obviously taught he kicked Buckley and he was helped come to this conclusion in real time by Walsh's carry on. To be honest I taught he had kicked him as well. The ref puts in a report stating this. It then transpires that he did not kick him. You can't have the ref coming back and saying " well actually I sent him off for an attempted kick". just because he seen a replay of the incident.

I actually commend Coldrick in this situation for reporting the incident exactly how he taught he saw it and not changing things around to make himself look good.

Isn't the attempt no enough to give a red card?

[blanketattack]

David Coldrick had a very poor day at the office the last day.  The perception down here (rightly or wrongly) is that we did not get the decisions in the final third and a score from frees stat of 1-5 to 0-2 does support this view.

All that stat supports is that Mayo have the best defensive unit in the country and can tackle, unlike the GBH that was going on up the other end of the pitch.

Were you similarly apoplectic when Aidan O'Shea went down holding his face after he'd been hit in the chest by a Kerry lad? It did only last a few seconds as he realised nobody was buying his charade, but was caught on camera.

AOS was fouled, literally, everytime he got the ball, in most cases by more than one player

For every free he should have gotten for being fouled there was at least one where he should have been blown for barging or too many steps 

[muppet]

I don't get all this fuss about Lee Keegan getting off the red card. He was sent off for kicking an opponent. The ref obviously taught he kicked Buckley and he was helped come to this conclusion in real time by Walsh's carry on. To be honest I taught he had kicked him as well. The ref puts in a report stating this. It then transpires that he did not kick him. You can't have the ref coming back and saying " well actually I sent him off for an attempted kick". just because he seen a replay of the incident.

I actually commend Coldrick in this situation for reporting the incident exactly how he taught he saw it and not changing things around to make himself look good.

Isn't the attempt no enough to give a red card?

Yes it is.

But if you are sent off for a punch, and it is recorded as a kick, then you have been incorrectly sent of and the chances are you will get off on a technicality, even though what you did warranted a red card.

The relatively similarity of the two offences isn't the key, it is whether the offence recorded accurately reflected what happened. Some Counties might go straight to the High Court on such an issue and all your ducks would really needs to be in a row and quacking there.

There is of course a good argument that, technically, the red card should be rescinded but that the CCCCCCCCC could look again and decide that there was another, unrecorded, offence which warrants action. But please don't tell anyone until Sunday.

[criostlinn]

I don't get all this fuss about Lee Keegan getting off the red card. He was sent off for kicking an opponent. The ref obviously taught he kicked Buckley and he was helped come to this conclusion in real time by Walsh's carry on. To be honest I taught he had kicked him as well. The ref puts in a report stating this. It then transpires that he did not kick him. You can't have the ref coming back and saying " well actually I sent him off for an attempted kick". just because he seen a replay of the incident.

I actually commend Coldrick in this situation for reporting the incident exactly how he taught he saw it and not changing things around to make himself look good.

Isn't the attempt no enough to give a red card?

But he didn't give it for the attempt. He gave it because he taught he kicked him.  It can be debated all night long whether he attempted to kick him or not. I'm inclined to give the player the benefit of the doubt considering Buckley was beside him and didn't take any avoidance action and Keegan still missed but thats just my opinion but the facts are he was sent off because the ref taught he kicked him

[Mike Sheehy]

Listening to all this guff during the week and , especially, what is being said about them I'd say the lads will be fairly fired up for this one now.

[blanketattack]

I don't get all this fuss about Lee Keegan getting off the red card. He was sent off for kicking an opponent. The ref obviously taught he kicked Buckley and he was helped come to this conclusion in real time by Walsh's carry on. To be honest I taught he had kicked him as well. The ref puts in a report stating this. It then transpires that he did not kick him. You can't have the ref coming back and saying " well actually I sent him off for an attempted kick". just because he seen a replay of the incident.

I actually commend Coldrick in this situation for reporting the incident exactly how he taught he saw it and not changing things around to make himself look good.

Isn't the attempt no enough to give a red card?

But he didn't give it for the attempt. He gave it because he taught he kicked him.  It can be debated all night long whether he attempted to kick him or not. I'm inclined to give the player the benefit of the doubt considering Buckley was beside him and didn't take any avoidance action and Keegan still missed but thats just my opinion but the facts are he was sent off because the ref taught he kicked him

If the refs are teaching players how to kick one another there's something seriously wrong in the GAA!

[ballinaman]

Listening to all this guff during the week and , especially, what is being said about them I'd say the lads will be fairly fired up for this one now.

True...how will the Kerry lads be feeling?

[macdanger2]

Listening to all this guff during the week and , especially, what is being said about them I'd say the lads will be fairly fired up for this one now.

I'd say the Kerry lads were livid about some of the comments on here alright, apparently it was the only topic of conversation during training all week

[macdanger2]

Enough of the whinging Sidney, the decision won't change, i think we should just get on with the game.

No whinging. Dublin have been the beneficiaries of this type of thing before.

I'm just trying to state the facts here.

Somebody needs to do it.

What did I just say...stop whinging. Whsssht.

*note how frustrating it is when you're labelled as whinging when you're actually not. Note for future reference.

Yeah, quit the whinging Sid