Ray Silke: Sunday Game, Pat Spillane...what an anchor!

[DJGaliv]

After reading Ray Silke's column, I realised I've barely watched the Sunday game at all this year. I'm sure many others have given up on it too with that clown Spillane in the presenter's chair. The viewing figures must be on a downward spiral.

Surely the time has come for a change with the Sunday game. The presenter is terrible, a transition year student, taught by Trevor Welsh would do a better job. Some of the analysts are just pointless. What informed opinion have you ever heard McStay, Davis, Spillane, Lyons give? Compare them to Brolly, O'Rourke, and Tohill and the aforementioned quartet are a joke.

Colm O'Rourke, Joe Brolly, and Anthony Tohill are the only ones that should be kept on, and maybe ó Cinneide as a presenter who'd do a good job with his RnaG presenting background, as Ray says. There are some awful bullshitters in there now, and some lads who are just too afraid of upsetting anyone in their county or should I say constituency for O'Mahoney. It's just deteriorated ever since Spillane's puke football comment.
People in RTE must realise what people want is knowledgeable analysts who aren't afraid of upsetting their own county, or controversial for the sake of it. Or am I on my own? It's about as good as ITV sports coverage now, Tommy Lyons our Terry Venables.

I'd like to see someone like Paul Bealin if he was out of a job involved. I'm sure there's loads more football men that could do a hell of a lot better than the crowd in there now. RTÉ could afford to poach Daire O'Brien(presenter of the Hub) from Setanta too as anchor. It's shocking to think that you'd get more informed debate about a match on here than from the mugs on the Sunday Game.
Any other analysts worth getting in for the Sunday Game? 

Ray Silke The Way It Is
Best TV moment of the weekend
On Tuesday afternoon I threw the video cassette into the recorder to re-live the last frantic ten minutes of Saturday's ASll-Ireland quarter-final of the Galway versus Kilkenny clash.

It did not make pretty viewing from a Galway perspective and watching the All-Ireland champions smash home 2-4 without reply did little to lighten my mood.

However, I let the tape run on to catch the analysis with Michael Lyster, Cyril Farrell and Tomás Mulcahy and got a good laugh for my troubles.

Near the end Lyster asks Farrell: "Will Ger Loughnane stay on with Galway next year?"

Quick as a flash and with typical Rebel wit, Mulcahy pounces on the loose ball and peeling with laughter retorted; "Sure, that depends on how much they pay him".

Farrell, trying hard to hide his obvious annoyance, rebukes the uncouth and unsubstantiated remark:

"That has nothing to do with it, not down our side anyway".

The camera panned to Lyster who was rocking rather uncomfortably in the presenter's chair with a - what did you say that for look on his face.

It was a good laugh and made for some lively and spontaneous TV.

Time to ditch Spillane and Lyons from the Sunday Game:

Were you watching the Sunday Game last Sunday night?

The carry-on of Pat Spillane and Tommy Lyons was absolutely pathetic and cringe inducing.

Since Spillane introduced the term "Puke-Football" to GAA lexicon, he should be able to recognise that this was "Puke-TV".

They were like two national school boys fighting over a few sweets and the sooner both are shown the exit from the show the better for it, and us.

To start off, Lyons looked like he had fallen into a massive jar of false tan and his face had that peculiar sheen normally reserved for Tom Jones. Anthony Tohill must have arrived at the make-up room, seen Lyons, and made a bolt straight for the couch.

Lyons and Spillane started their pettiness from the get-go:

Spillane: "You went for Laois to beat Derry, Tommy". Hee hee, hee hee.

Lyon's: "You've called a few wrong in your own day too Pat."

A few minutes later after watching Donegal's annual capitulation to any team in particular, they were off again.

Spillane: "You said that Donegal would win the All-Ireland earlier in the season Tommy, what have you to say now?"

A clearly agitated Tommy replied in a – I'd love to box those big Kerry ears of you tone - "You are getting predictable now Pat".

The only thing that is predictable now on that show is that Lyons and Spillane will have a cat fight whenever they are in each other's company, and it makes for nauseating viewing.

Lyons has no real credibility in football circles and his recent rant about how the Dublin players were driven to their stupid antics in front of the Hill by thrash talking from the Laois players highlighted a complete lack of objectivity and understanding of the point being addressed.

And he also had a real cut at Spillane and Kerry that night too. It was turgid stuff.

The fact that he is often paired with the quite excellent Anthony Tohill only highlights his many inadequacies.

Tohill is eloquent, thoughtful and always has his research done.

He is in my estimation the best football pundit on the Sunday Game at this stage. Both he and the smooth talking Dara Ó Cinnéide have both been very positive recent additions to GAA coverage on RTÉ.

It is hard not to be impressed too with the passion, honesty and animated chat that Anthony Daly brings to the hurling analysis even if he finds it impossible to keep his feelings for his former manager in check.

Indeed it is time for a good shake up with the Sunday game. Some of the boys who are on the show are pure stale and have been there way too long.

When you hear a Cork pundit informing you that in his opinion Padraig Joyce and Ja Fallon were the Galway contenders for the Man-of-the-Match award after this year's Connacht final, you'd have to wonder what game he was watching.

The show badly needs some new faces and for 2008 the first two who should be given the high road are Spillane and Lyons.

The Kerry man should at the very least be removed from the presenters chair where he wants to answer all his own questions, and seems incapable of developing any point thrown up by the panellists.

The obvious replacement for Spillane in the presenter's chair is Ó Cinnéide. He is intelligent, good looking, soft spoken, charming and is prepared to listen to others which is always a plus for the presenter.

RTÉ should make that change at least next year, because I know many people and the number seems to be growing who don't watch The Sunday Game on Sunday nights anymore as they can't bear to listen to Spillane.

And based on what was on offer last Sunday night, I wouldn't disagree with them.

[Tubberman]

I'd agree with nearly everything Silke (you?) has to say. O'Cinneide is a lot more polished that Spillane and would make a much better presenter. Tommy Lyons is a complete ass, and bluffs his way through the programme blabbering on saying nothing.
But Ray Silke wouldn't be much of an addition either, in case that's the gig he's looking for with this article!

[GalwayBayBoy]

I'd agree with nearly everything Silke (you?) has to say

You've been outed DJ.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

He calls it correctly in this article, well done Ray (DJ ?  )

[Denn Forever]

Has Pat been reading these posts?  On sunday he was allowing pundits to answer, in the footballl section anyway.

[Square Ball]

Not even funny any more, reached the stage when its the game only I watch, no build up or after match analysis when hes on.

[Moose]

Also have to agree with everything Ray Silke says, he makes some very good points, been missing a lot of Sunday Games for this very reason.

[Jinxy]

Remember the days when your county won and you were in the pub later and the Sunday Game was on, and you'd actually be disappointed that you couldn't hear what they were saying about the game? Time for a bit of spring cleaning.

[Redgreenery]

P Spillane then The Brollacks then T Davis are the 3 worst on it.

[jodyb]

In fairness, Big Ant'ny was a wee bit wooden in his early days, but for sure has come on leaps an bounds. As Silke mentioned, appears to have his research well laid out an knows what he's talkin about, although that Gombeen Spillane cuts across him (as he does to most) in an infuriating, cringeworthy way. When Spillane started out, he was wooden too, but unlike Anthony, he hasn't improved a bit. I cant think of another word other than cringeworthy.

Was it not some sort of strike by himself an O'Rourke that resulted in the ejection of the ultra professional (imo) totally impartial (also imo) and extremely eloquent Lyster, in favour of that clown?

The show has suffered for it and furthermore, to hear him talking Hurling brings cringeworthy (there's that word again) to unprecedented levels.

Jerome Quinn is almost as bad, with his totally partisan, predictable lines of discussion, but not quite.

[An Laoch]

Old Silkey might not want to be chucking so many stones from within glazed structures. He is the most annoying co-commentator/presenter. His writing isn't much better either, he repeats himself as near as much in text as in speech.

What I'm saying is that he just keeps saying the same thing without shedding any extra light on the subject.

There's a lot of words but they are out of proportion to the nub of the information he is trying to impart.

Silke isn't very good at making the point just once as he continues to labour it in any number of re-phrasings.

and so on...

He's also given to undermining superlatives. An example would be "Dara O'Se is absolutely running this game, to a certain extent"

[Pangurban]

Bring in a real pro. like Donnacha O Duling[ probably spelt wrongly] to anchor the show

[lynchbhoy]

great article by Silke.
It had me laughing out loud in here.
I fully agree with what he says. I think he is a comical genius - though he has plenty of good material to satarise!

Also think that it would be a good idea to try O'Cinnede as anchor.

I too am a lapsed devotee of the 'sunday game'.
In recent years the trip that has been aired has turned me off watching, so I try to get to see it for the hurling/football highlights, but am never paying any attention to the analysts.

Time to get it back to being the unmissable institution it once was...

Big Anthony is no stranger to the fake tan himself - though that seems to run in the family...

[magpie seanie]

Changing the theme tune and removing Lyster were the beginning of the end for the Sunday Game evening programme. Smacked of some turd with a clipboard who was big into "progress" and "modern ideas". It wasn't broke but they tried to "fix" it and they've made a hames of it.

RTE seriously need to lift their game in regard to GAA coverage.

[Kerry Mike]

I think O'Cinneide will be the long term choice as host, as the only qualified journo amounst footballers he has been well groomed during his time with Radio Na G.

He is a nice lad and is fairly diplomatic and gives a good balanced view of what he sees in a game , even if its Kerry playing.