Topics

Because of the day that is in it, what are people's memories of that dreadful day?
For me:

(1) The anticipation of the match - two great attractive teams at the time was Forest and Liverpool. At the time RTE carried live a semifinal.
    I recall Tommy Gaynor from Limerick starting for Forest that day.

(2) Beardsley hitting the bar - I think that was my only memory of the actual time that was played. It seemed to take forever to go from his boot to the crossbar.
(3) The rising death toll - 5 o'clock it was around ten, then 6 pm, up to 20 and so on up into the 60s and 70s. As the numbers went up, the enormity of what had happened deepened.
(4) Pictures on the paper next day - always remember this picture of a woman squeezed up against the fence with her face jammed against the grill. That was the one memory that will be forever imprinted on my brain. At the time we were all told that all English football supporters were animals and all I could think of was she looked like an animal trapped.

I wish RTE / GAA would pay more attention to this part of the day's proceedings.
I always look forward to it but it seems to become less relevant with each passing year.  I really wanted to see the Tipp team from 1989 yesterday - grew up watching them in their battles with Cork and Galway in the mid to late 80s and aside from English, Ken Hogan and Leahy,  the rest seem to have disappeared from  public eye for the last 20 years. Found it hard to recognise anyone of them (for the brief moment that they were shown). Does anyone know who the small fellow with the glasses was? (he was I think the last one shown before the camera cut off)
They also shunt them off to the corner down by the Davin End. Bring them out into the centre of the field and have someone like Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh present hem. That, from my recollection was how they used to do it many years ago. 
I might drop RTE and the GAA an email and tell them to get their act together considering the next three teams up are Cork!!

Does anyone know what is the current function of the former commentary box over the Nally Stand in Croke Park? I noticed last summer that they had moved to the upper tier of the Canal End/Hogan Stand corner. They should remove it if it is serving no function and redo the terrace down there - always felt that it takes away from the stadium - it just looks like they got bored with the final piece of the redevelopment. I know that it is backing onto the train track but it could look better.

Watching the end of the match today got me thinking if teams that find themselves in the situation that Mayo did (2 down in injury time) practice a set routine (similar to the "Hail Mary" in American football).  A goal has to be scored (if  2 or 3 points down). It would make sense if they did.

Had this discussion with a friend last week  - what was the first championship match outside of an All-Ireland final/semi final to be televised live on RTE?

Noticed today in Cork a lot of people running down the footballers  - "you can never rely on them like the hurlers" (heard this line so many times over the years )  -  this has always existed - how they will never be as good as the hurlers (somehow forgetting the hurlers packed it in twenty minutes into the Galway game). These lads yesterday have a good record in playing in the latter stages of the championship for the last number of years (maybe being from West Cork, I am a bit more sensitive here!. You can take the abuse from outside the county but from within??!!

Anyone else experience this in their own county?

Just got back from Atlanta where I spend some time visiting the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. It got me thinking that it would be a great idea to replicate this here with the respective Taoiseach since the founding of the State.
It would serve as a way to educate people (especially school children) about the issues that the respective Taoiseachs faced ( what was going on at the time, the personalities involved, etc). Plus it would bring a lot of tourist euros to areas that could be off the main tourist trails (Longford , Drumcondra , Cork city).

I just got done watching highlights of the 1984 Munster Hurling Final on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXrWon3kZdI

Fenton had some pair of wrists on him - He pulled on a ball close to the half way line (at 4:30)  that barly went wide for a point.
Watching this for the first time, I understand better the goal he scored against Limerick three years later in 1987 
When it came to ground hurling, the man was a legend - he pulled on every thing - the build up to Tony O'Sullivan's equalising goal, he pulled on a ball when most hurlers would have picked it up
It is a skill you rarely see anymore - were there any exponents of ground hurling that you can think  of that would match Fenton?
It is something that seems to be dying out of the game.

Anyone catch the Laochra Gael programme last night on the Tipperary/Galway rivalry in the late eighties - early nineties?
20 years on and you feel the bitterness is still there.  Maybe I am wrong but I don't think any rivalry in the GAA has come close to the hatred those two teams felt for each other, condensed into those 4 - 5 years. It was hard to feel sorry for Galway in 89 - the focus that should have been there (from an experienced team that they were) just was not there.

Came across this on ESPN - an interview with every player that has scored a goal in a world cup final - fair play to the yanks for putting this together


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/i-scored-a-goal?cc=5901&ver=us

Now that the final door has closed on the 08 Cork Hurling Panel , does anyone think that it one be possible for the entire panel to line out for another county (lets say Fermanagh).They could carry on training in Cork like they are now and just put the green and white jersey on for the championship. What are the logistics behind this? Would the players have to be registered with clubs within the county? It would be a hell of a coup to pull off and it would do the promotion of hurling no end for the specified county. Is it possible?

From listening to Eoghan Harris on Friday night on the LLS, he commented that there was legislation coming down that will bar the sheriff from evicting people from their homes. Is there any truth to this? What happens if people decide to deliberately not pay their mortgages?

Just finished listening  to a RTE Radio documentary on SUVs in Ireland. Jeezus, where were those people got? It mainly spoke to young couples in South Dublin. Unreal - they all justified their SUVs - all aware of how status meant to them ' we can be recognized by our tribe!! "- all those SUVs seem to cost over 100 K from listening to the wifes - can that money be attained in Ireland? .  Every time I go home to West Cork, people I know are are not like that -  Is this show a true representative of modern Ireland - I would like to think not, bit if it is, then god help us all.
I have been living in the States for the last 10 years and was thinking of moving home. After listening to that, I think I have changed my mind.

After what has gone on this week with the rescheduling of the Cork - Waterford match, I have a few gripes to get of my chest


To me the GAA seems obsessed with the maximizing of profits:
Three issues stand out for me:


(1) Scheduling of Dublin matches on their own and in Croke Park.

Let's say Dublin play Kerry in the All-Ireland semi. Why should the game be played in Croke Park? Its not an All-Ireland final.

People will trot out the argument that Croke Park holds over 80000 and thus is the only stadium that could cater for this game - that's great but is it fair when you have 80000 Dubs and only 2000
from Kerry (who most set out from their homes at 6am that morning to catch the train up. Try telling a man down in Waterville who has two young lads onto him about going to the match in Dublin - that's a 7 hour trip to Dublin (not much change from 500 euro from the day out)
 

(2) Regarding the Cork -Waterford match next Sunday, the obvious choice would have been Thurles, but realizing that due to the recent history of Kilkenny - Wexford matches, they
would be lucky to get 30000 in the gates; put the Cork/Waterford game on after it, that will add 50000 more (and it is all pure profit, they get a nice tidy profit with the inflated ticket prices
at Croker without having to worry about opening Thurles as well.
(3)Does it really make sense to have a situation like last Sunday with 4 Munster counties converging on the Naas dual carriageway - it took me 7 hours to get back home to Cork.
  On top of that (here's the beauty), they are charging an extra 10 Euro (tickets are 45 Euro because it is a semi-final day) for the match next Sunday!.
I know a lad who took the wife and two kids to the match last Sunday (cost him well over 500 by the time the day was finished and now he is being asked by his kids to go again next Saturday to see the Sligo match, stay over night to attend the Waterford match the next day. Was it beyond them to maybe reschedule the matches (i.e move the Meath/Tyrone to Sunday or Kilkenny/Wexford to Saturday to allow a doubling up of the Cork games) and before anyone says anything about rescheduling, it has already happened this summer :
The Leinster Council also decided last night to put the Wexford v Kildare/Offaly football semi-final back by a week to Sunday, July 2 when it will be played as part of the doubleheader with the Kilkenny v
Wexford Leinster hurling final. That leaves the Dublin v Laois football semi-final as a stand-alone fixture on Sunday week. It will have a 2.0 throw-in which is good news for TV fans as it can now be shown
'live'.

The GAA should not forget where it has come from and  start realizing that the organization was built from the ground up by generations giving their free time to their communities to develop pitches and community halls and not asking for anything in return. When they start going down the road of catering for the corporate fan, then they deserve what they will get.

If the GAA had some vision, they would redevelop Thurles and move more of the matches there. Then again, they finished the redevelopment of the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick over 3 years ago
and it has yet to see a major final
Cork should get rid of Frank, he is obviously not doing his job!