The long wait is coming to an end!

[armaghniac]

No they didnt. They allocated categories of games, RTE and Sky had freedom to pick individual matches within those categories.

As I said, they designed the system.

And while I don't want to come across as paranoid, Dublin all of whose games are at home get several games on terrestial TV for those not wanting to travel the 10Km to the game. Armagh, who had only one game at home get no games on regular TV.

Paranoid it is so.

Because you are  paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you.

[rrhf]

Armagh have been very dignified on what is tantamount to oppression. Their suffering has been incalculable.  I can't see them ever making another audible noise.. today as a mark of solidarity with our suffering angry brothers in Armagh can we all self impose a media ban..

[Dinny Breen]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/petulant-armagh-only-losers-in-this-sorry-mess-278697.html

Jesus some Journalists really believe their opinion matters.

[Zip Code]

I see Paddy Heaney is urging the apple chompers to call an end to it. I think he has written that article a couple of times now over the years.

His thinking is that the players will look back in years to come and think they missed out in fully appreciating their great fun. Wise up Paddy.

Has Paddy ever apologised for the shite he penned after the Cavan match?

[ONeill]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/petulant-armagh-only-losers-in-this-sorry-mess-278697.html

Jesus some Journalists really believe their opinion matters.

Haha! That piece is a laugh. Yer man Fogarty was probably boiling over writing that. He comes across a bit of a tit there.

It sort of shows how crap sports journalism has become. Write about the football lads. Not babies.

[Zip Code]

Is this for real? Every national newspaper in Ireland should do a weekly spoof article on Armagh, as O'Neill suggested, from now on. It was nonsense carry on before now but if they actually cancelled a news conference they were going to have on the morning of it then they deserve no sympathy from anyone. Siege mentality me arse!

The Irish News did a blinder of a one after the Cavan game - so there would be no change there.  O'Neill is nearly as infatuated with Armagh as the media at this stage.

[AZOffaly]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/petulant-armagh-only-losers-in-this-sorry-mess-278697.html

Jesus some Journalists really believe their opinion matters.

Sad.

At what point in our history did journalists move from reporting the news into giving their opinion of it? Who really cares what some lad with a degree from college thinks about Donegal's defense? Sure a lot of people have degrees from college, just not in 'writing'. Why is their opinion given ANY more weight than anyone else's? Obviously I'm interested in the opinion of ex-players because of the perspective they bring, and I like a good article well written by a journo who knows he or she are not the story, the subject is the story.

But journalists, and sports journalists in particular, whose only function seems to be to enlighten us with their opinions get on my tits.

[Hardy]

Press conference goes ahead after all

[armaghniac]

But journalists, and sports journalists in particular, whose only function seems to be to enlighten us with their opinions get on my tits.

Quite. Here we see rants posted all the time, but journalists get paid for posting rants in publications we have to pay to read!!

And as for history graduates, if a person had acquired academic method of properly researching things before writing then that might be of some benefit, but there is no evidence of this in Irish journalism. In Ireland there are are good and responsible journalists, but they are often drowned out by those without professional standards.

[ONeill]

Juvenile journalism caused ban, says Armagh's Paul Grimley

BY JOHN CAMPBELL – 07 AUGUST 2014

Armagh manager Paul Grimley has hit out at what he feels is "juvenile journalism" in relation to the county's media ban.

And, as Armagh absorb further brickbats following the 11th hour cancellation of yesterday's planned media briefing at the Carrickdale Hotel near Dundalk, he now insists no such blanket ban has existed.

"I am not under any contractual obligation to speak to any element of the media. I have a basic human right to speak to whom I choose and I will continue to exercise that right," insists the Armagh boss.

"I think we have seen the juvenile side of GAA journalism of late in relation to Armagh. There are even journalists who make the point that no one would be interested in Armagh anyway so it is baffling to see them continue to write about us. Strange that, isn't it?"

"It is also disturbing that certain journalists, both north and south, have seen fit to continually refer to the team management and county board in derogatory terms. One of the most recent instances of this was when our county board was described as 'spineless' and it's hardly surprising that some members of the board would like to meet the journalist in question to seek clarification on his remarks."

"The county board and executive in Armagh are people who are held in high esteem and do not deserve to be vilified by any journalist."

Grimley may have found himself in the firing line of late – it is understood that the GAA's top brass had a part to play in organising yesterday's media event that never was – but he is certainly unrepentant as he channels all his energies into planning for Saturday's showdown with Ulster champions Donegal.

And the Armagh boss stresses that what he refers to as "a so-called media ban" has not really been in operation.

"Go back over recent weeks and you will see that players like Kevin Dyas, Stefan Campbell and Ciaran McKeever have picked up significant man of the match awards and there was certainly no gag placed on them when they went to take delivery of their respective trophies," points out Grimley.

"I had asked them, though, to dwell on their own performances and contributions rather than on the team's display or tactics."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/juvenile-journalism-caused-ban-says-armaghs-paul-grimley-30488731.html

[Donnellys Hollow]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/petulant-armagh-only-losers-in-this-sorry-mess-278697.html

Jesus some Journalists really believe their opinion matters.

He has some previous with McGeeney.

[ONeill]

But Oisin hits back for the media:

McConville: Armagh media ban 'gone to ridiculous level'

Former Armagh star Oisín McConville, pictured, claims the county's behaviour has reached a ridiculous level after they pulled out of a scheduled press conference yesterday.

The GAA were left embarrassed when the All-Ireland quarter-finalists pulled the plug on an event set to take place in the Carrickdale Hotel.

Selector Peter McDonnell and injured captain Ciaran McKeever had been expected to be in attendance.

In a statement, the GAA said they would endeavour to ensure Armagh players and management would be available for interview before and after this Saturday's clash with Donegal.

The latest act runs consistent with Armagh's selective media ban, which extends to the national media, although Stefan Campbell appeared on Sky Sports after last weekend's victory over Meath.

Their stance stems back to their Ulster quarter-final win over Cavan when manager Paul Grimley claimed "hysterical" media coverage of the counties' pre-match row had convinced the GAA to serve three Armagh players with one-match bans as well as a €5,000 fine.

Cavan were also handed down the same fine with two players banned.

Croke Park had only been informed yesterday morning of the Armagh management's decision not to go ahead with the press conference.

Head of communications Alan Milton said: "We discussed the event with the Armagh County Board and the relevant parties, and we wouldn't have put it out there if there wasn't an understanding that it would take place."

McConville has been dismayed by the action and can't understand how the management believe it will aid their preparations for Donegal.

"I was buoyed by the fact we were going to speak to journalists. I thought, 'right, they've made their point' and were moving on. But this now smacks of a county that's looking for headlines rather than trying to shy away from there. For it to be pulled at the last minute doesn't seem right.

"I have spoken to lots of Armagh people on this. The important thing to them is that the team are going well and that's an essential point to make. The second point is people at this stage are just wondering what is going on.

"Most supporters could understand why they felt they needed to make the point and that's probably fair enough but it's now gone to a ridiculous level and this latest incident doesn't help anybody. It doesn't help the PR of Armagh, it doesn't help the sponsors or the team.

"The focus has to be on Donegal and the massive task ahead of the players. But this stuff is just a distraction and it won't help."

McConville suggests Donegal, as much as Armagh, have been indulging in gamesmanship ahead of the last eight fixture.

He believes Martin McHugh's "two-trick pony" remarks about Colm Cooper were an attempt to take the focus off Donegal ahead of the game.

"If you're gonna be Hercule Poirot about it you almost feel as if they're trying to deflect from the camp just as Martin McHugh's comments at the weekend deflected on Donegal. Both propaganda machines are trying quite hard."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/cwqlidgbsnau/rss2/

[ONeill]

Aided by McGuinness' nemesis, D Bogue:

It's time for Armagh to put an end to childish tantrum

BY DECLAN BOGUE – 07 AUGUST 2014

Is this one of these 'media writing about media' bore-fests that the media loves, or is there a nonplussed indifference to the entire scenario surrounding the Armagh media ban?

Is it even a media ban? I don't think it can be, given the companion piece to this column on the same page is an interview willingly given by Armagh manager Paul Grimley to my colleague John Campbell.

You will see from Paul's comments that he and his squad feels wronged over the course of the summer. It has led to probably the worst-kept media bans in the history of the GAA.

Because Kevin Dyas was allowed to speak at the presentation of his Ulster GAA Writers' Monthly Award. Stefan Campbell was allowed to speak to Sky after winning his Man of the Match Award. And when an email dropped into the inboxes of the country's GAA journalists on Tuesday, the prevailing notion was they had seen sense.

Not that speaking to players and management is any great thrill. The fact is, while their opinions matter in the context of a game, they are still human. Therefore, you will have boring footballers, just as you have boring bricklayers and boring accountants and boring journalists. Nobody gets excited about speaking to somebody who could bore their way through five minutes of post-match platitudes.

But, in nominating Peter McDonnell and Ciaran McKeever, there was juice to the story. Take McKeever for example. In years gone by, he granted many interviews, one that appeared in Gaelic Life while I was editor a particular favourite.

With the interviewer, Ciaran Woods, he talked about his 'apprenticeship' as a player under Kieran McGeeney, his knowledge and appreciation of green tea and how he had faced the scourge of online abuse. He revealed himself to be engaging and forthright.

His own development this year as Armagh's main ball-playing defender, along with the influence of McGeeney back in as selector, were all interesting topics to be covered. And that's before we even got onto his thoughts on the Donegal reinvention since the two teams last met in 2010 and how their paths have been blown off course since.

And consider Peter McDonnell. Last week he was quoted in a newspaper as saying "people would need to retrace their steps very accurately. Respect and good manners are not difficult qualities to carry.

"We would feel that we have been disrespected and dismissed and portrayed inaccurately ...

"Those ... who seek to report accurately and honestly do a marvellous job. Those who wish to pursue more insidious lines, motivated by factors that do not have the good of our county at heart, are another story altogether."

Now that deserved a little more clarification.

The curious thing about all this is that last year Armagh arranged an excellent media evening before the Ulster Championship, where the media was treated to the usual outstanding hospitality in the Athletic Grounds.

That the team went on to lose to Cavan and then ultimately Roscommon in the qualifiers had nothing to do with their good courtesy at the time, just as their relative success in getting to an All-Ireland quarter-final bears no relation to their silly games now.

Having interviewed McDonnell at the aforementioned press evening last summer and found him to be a philosophical, interesting deep-thinker, I don't think it would have been disrespectful to ask him at a press event what he meant by respect and good manners. I would also have asked him how the 'resolution was achieved' and how much influence Croke Park had on the hastily assembled press day.

Ultimately, the whole thing is laughable at this stage. There is no way a media blackout is fostering any real siege mentality among the players, who are all too clever to truly force themselves to believe it.

Whether Armagh talk are not is irrelevant, but the only people they cheat, in the end, remains themselves. Whoever is making the decisions in the camp need to take themselves a little less seriously.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/its-time-for-armagh-to-put-an-end-to-childish-tantrum-30488708.html

[Zip Code]

O'Neill is truly obsessed with Armagh, obviously too much time on his hands in the summer months!!!

[Harold Disgracey]

"Those ... who seek to report accurately and honestly do a marvellous job. Those who wish to pursue more insidious lines, motivated by factors that do not have the good of our county at heart, are another story altogether."

Sounds like a description of Bogue.