Any chance??

[filthylittlebeast]

alright lads... calm down calm down! everyone's only having a bit of banter on these pages!!! 

[Main Street]

Interesting times. According to Paddy the future of football is at stake here.
Tyrone carrying the mantle of intelligent intuitive football based on solid teamwork, dedicated to playing attacking attractive easy on the eye graceful football against the hoofers, the negative long ball game of Kerry.

[In the Onion Bag]

Paddy obviously has too much time to watch videos of Tyrone games.  To work out the inevitability of a LCB winning possession and the move, almost every time, ending the the arms of Dooher, how many vids has he sat through, bit sad methinks?  But if you are a journo what the heck.

Credit must be given to Paddy for making such detailed effort to get a story that satisfied his editors albeit this article displays a degree of scraping the barrel and deliberately panders to the IN's sales constituency.  

I do however, agree with Paddy that this contest is team effort v individual brilliance and that is what makes Sunday's game so fascinating.  My own belief is that the former will prevail over the latter.

A couple of final thoughts.  Paper has never been know to reject ink whether the text be true/false, fact/fiction.  That we are discussing this is evidence that Paddy's article is a success.

[nrico2006]

Donaghy, 'the Gooch', Walsh and Declan O'Sullivan can all beat a man and take their own score, which they tend to do.

In contrast, Tyrone are much more dependent on teamwork. They provide proof of what can be achieved with excellent coaching.

Tyrone get the majority of their scores through great teamwork but Tyrone have players such as O'Neill, Cavanagh, McCullagh and Tommy McGuigan who are all able to beat a man and take their score.

[Billys Boots]

Pathetic in its entirity - journalism is after all an excuse for advertising.

And anyone who loves the game of Gaelic football and likes to see it played well should be supporting Tyrone.

A joke, right?

Don't anybody, ever again, talk up Paddy Heaney, unless in jest!

[Goats Do Shave]

Interesting times. According to Paddy the future of football is at stake here.
Tyrone carrying the mantle of intelligent intuitive football based on solid teamwork, dedicated to playing attacking attractive easy on the eye graceful football against the hoofers, the negative long ball game of Kerry.

I always found it strange, that in Gaelic football, the long ball game (Kick & Catch), was said to be the more stylish method in playing our game, while the short game (bastardised Basketball... or whatever has been quoted), was seen as the ruination of our game.

Yet in soccer, it is the opposite!

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Just for maggie 

I like Tyrone, I really do ...... but not as much as I like cake
The Last Line
By Benny Tierney

Last week, after the formalities of The Irish News Allstars were over, I made my way over to Brian Dooher, shook him heartily by the hand and wished him all the best for the final.

Brian (or Superdooher, as he is affectionately known) looked at me with an expression of absolute incredulity and replied: "Aye Benny, and you really mean that!"

The fact is that I do wish Brian, Mickey Harte and his team all the best for this weekend's clash but, after years of intense rivalry, he

obviously doubted my sincerity.

On the way home in the car I realised – after initially being slightly surprised with Brian's reaction to my message of goodwill – that there were two very significant reasons why he would doubt the authenticity of my remarks.

Reason number one is that I have spent the previous 39 years (I know I look younger) waffling and slagging people and not taking anything, apart from football, seriously. It's a bit like the boy who cried wolf scenario. When you do say something with any level of sincerity it is cast aside as insincere.

The other, and probably main, reason for Brian's scepticism is that when you are playing inter-county football, you trust nobody – only the boys who you play with and the management team that coaches you.

Outside of that circle, you are wary of everybody, supporters included, and particularly sections of the media and players past and present from opposing counties.

There is a siege mentality when you get to a game of this magnitude, a feeling that the rest of the country is against you and only the people in that changing room matter to you in your quest for glory.

When I think back to 2002, I can understand as I too would have felt exactly the same if someone from across the Blackwater had wished me all the best in the lead-up to the final.

I have to say, when you retire from county duty, these feelings of paranoia and cynicism rapidly dissipate.

All of a sudden, players that you had no love for when you were playing against turn out be decent human beings when you meet them socially and not the ogres you initially had prejudged them to be.

Instead of the rivalry and ill-feeling that had once been the overriding emotion toward your foe, a sense of respect and admiration is now the most common sentiment, especially when you think about the increasing levels of commitment and sacrifice necessary to be an inter-country footballer. Yes, even those so-and-sos from Tyrone!

So, I honestly do wish my Ulster counterparts all the best in both the minor and senior matches on Sunday afternoon.

And as to who will win the matches, you will have to read The Irish News Championship supplement on Friday to find that out.

Away from the hype and excitement of All-Ireland final build-up, the Derry manager's job looks like it could be a tough call to make with so many strong candidates making their interest known.

Three players from their victorious 1993 team will go head-to-head alongside Armagh's old trainer John McCloskey and John Brennan in a contest which is bound to supply lively debate.

While in Tyrone they are mainly concerned with their county team, the club championships in other counties are well under way and in my home county the signs are already ominous as Crossmaglen go for their 13th title in-a-row.

They absolutely annihilated Clan na Gael on Sunday, which will probably see the likes of Bumpy O'Hagan and Diarmaid Marsden consider their management and playing roles for next season. In Down, Mayobridge look strong again, while in Donegal St Eunan's look like a strong bet.

Loughinisland scored a surprise victory against Burren in their championship tie where Gareth 'Magic' Johnson scored a goal having earlier done the same in a hurling championship match the same day, which was something quite remarkable.

Another interesting aspect of that game is the fact that, at half-time in their semi-final, the Burren team were supplied with pavlova as their form of refreshment.

While it obviously didn't do the trick, I would nearly come out of retirement myself if I thought there was a chance of some cake at half-time.

[Lecale2]

Post the bit about his love of Pavlova.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Here you go maggie:

A loyalty card would be just the ticket say Tyrone faithful
Off The Fence
With Paddy Heaney

The good people at Croke Park must love to see ill-feeling and bad blood brewing among the GAA's membership.

Why else would they possibly persist with their random method of ticket distribution for the All-Ireland finals?

Every year, loyal supporters and one-match wonders join a stampede for the same tickets. And ever year there is the same outcry.

'Tyrone Supporter' is outraged. He wrote: It's galling to watch all the spoofers, freeloaders and spongers jumping on the ticket bandwagon for Sunday, September 21.

"Where was this lot when Tyrone played Down, Louth, Westmeath and Mayo?

"The true loyal fans who attended those matches who should be catered for by the GAA (not the Tyrone county board).

"Surely a loyalty scheme could be introduced to give regular fans a fair crack.

At Croke Park, tickets are now scanned. This idea could be extended to support loyal fans with a loyalty card."

- 'Red Hand Exile' echoed these frustrations. His text message read: "It's a shame that all paid-up club members in Tyrone aren't going to get a ticket for Sunday.

"Even with extra tickets for the minors, most clubs are holding draws for tickets this week.

"It's unfair that Tyrone and Kerry are only getting a third of the total tickets with 10,000 going to premier and corporate levels.

"This Red Hander had the good fortune to be handed a ticket (for the semi-final) on the premier level by a Wexford fan.

"It was an eye-opener as there was a sizeable number of fans pinting at the bar when the match began.

"Another Tyrone fan and myself, who were at most games this year, and 13 out the 14 games last year, still can't get a ticket. We are both in a draw that will be held in Omagh on Thursday night.

"It's just like 2005, when I was the only one out of three of us that got a ticket for the Hill.

"We will still go to Dublin and hope to buy on the black market. But could the GAA introduce a system of recording stubs or ticket codes during the year for regular fans?"

- 'Joanne from Brackaville' is also outraged. She's still fuming after her experience in 2003. Joanne wants to pose some questions to any Tyrone fan that got a ticket for the 2003

decider.

"In 2003 how many of you were at the match against Derry? I was.

"How many of you were at the match against Down? I was.

"How many of you were at the match against Fermanagh? I was.

"How many of you were at the match against Kerry? I was.

"How many of you were in Croke Park on September 28, 2003? I wasn't!

Instead, Croke Park was filled with people that might not have even walked through the turnstile at club level or county level, yet still managed to get a ticket.

Are you guilty of sitting in the seat that was rightfully mine?

A true story. A relation of mine and her friend got tickets for the All-Ireland final in 1993. At half-time, one of the girls discovered that she had learned something new about Gaelic football.

"Oh, I get this now," she said to her friend. "The teams have changed around at half-time."

I kid you not. And there will be people like this in Croke Park on Sunday. It's just not right.

- While the Tyrone county board sorts out tickets, the Derry county board continues to receive flak over a variety of issues.

There were just the three complaints. As two of the messages covered old ground, we'll print the text that was sent about the scheduling of night games at Celtic Park.

'South Derry Gael' texted: "What is the Derry County Board underage fixtures committee playing at?

"They've put minor championship matches in Celtic Park at 8.30pm on school nights.

"Who exactly from South Derry does this suit and how family friendly is that? I could not go and watch as I have young children who need to go bed at a reasonable time.

"Lots of people want to go to their club championship matches but not too many would drive from one end of the county to the other to do so.

"There is a credit crunch you know! Come on county board, have matches at times which suit everyone."

- Of course, no Off The Fence column would be complete without a criticism of The Irish News and some cutting remarks about its hard-working sports journalists.

'Darren from St Gall's' emailed to express his annoyance at our Allstar Awards Scheme.

He wrote: "I'd be grateful if you could allow me to voice my displeasure at The Irish News Ulster GAA Awards.

"I read with interest that 15 footballers were awarded Ulster Allstars. I turned the page to see where the hurling team was announced. After, all it is the 'Ulster GAA Awards'. Much to my surprise, there was no hurling selection, just a Hurling Merit Award.

"So, The Irish News only recognises footballers and hurling is afforded a secondary merit award.

"Fair enough, we all know that hurling and football are not on an equal footing throughout the province.

"However, if we want to see hurling develop, then the game needs to have the same recognition as football – parity of esteem.

"For so long as people within the Irish News (none of whom were hurlers I

believe) or even GAA people for that matter (have this attitude) then it will always remain a second class game. "So, enough of treating us hurling folk as second class citizens!"

Parity of esteem. Second class citizens. I didn't realise hurlers had to give up their seats on the bus for footballers. Perspective please!

An Irish News Ulster hurling Allstar team would feature about a dozen Antrim players every year. There would be no merit or any interest (outside of Antrim) in such an exercise.

You talk about "parity of esteem" and then in the next breath question someone's background in relation to their ability to do a job.

The peerless Hugh McIlvanney wrote masterfully about horseracing and boxing yet he was never a jockey or a boxer.

Anyway, we take grave exception to the accusation that none of us on the sportsdesk are hurlers.

Eamonn O'Hara is from Cushendun – a place where baby boys go to sleep with a caman in the cot.

Seamus Maloney is a hurling fanatic.

He has hurled with club, school and university. In fact, he has never played Gaelic football.

I'm also a proud owner of an Ulster Colleges medal.

I can't hurl, but I still got on the team that won the first year blitz at St Mary's, Belfast. That should tell us all we need to know about the standard of hurling in Ulster.