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The media want professionalism so they can start writing lurid stories about the private lives of gAA players.

You mightn't be a million miles off the mark.

Armagh v Mayo, Athletic Grounds, Armagh, 3rd March 2012 (7pm)

Looking forward to seeing the refurb at the Athletic grounds, love these saturday night games. Be interesting to see how Mayo line out for this.

You won't be disappointed with the Athletic Grounds, it really is a superb venue now. I'd put money on Billie Joe starting for this one after last year's performance. Red Ned's in Ogle street for your pre-match pints, see ye there;)

As a matter of curiosity. How many of the Crossmaglen team are actual local lads and not blow ins from other clubs?

Don't know if any are blow ins, in fact Aaron Cunningham and a few of the other younger players were only born within four doors of each other.

Just one word.

Class.

Cross by at least three.  Not a club team in the Country will beat Cross IMO. Class Act. Credit to them. Theyl have Gooch under some restraint.

In all fairness, class is not an adjective I would use in relation to Crossmaglen

Get used to it, you'll be using it on Saturday evening.

So you would be in the McConville camp so...a handy win for Crossmaglen ? God you boys are fierce arrogant.

It was a game before Vincent Casey started shooting his mouth off. Now it's over.

Cross by at least three.  Not a club team in the Country will beat Cross IMO. Class Act. Credit to them. Theyl have Gooch under some restraint.

In all fairness, class is not an adjective I would use in relation to Crossmaglen

Get used to it, you'll be using it on Saturday evening.

Froma an Armagh perspective its the one that got away.  There'll need to be an emergency meeting about this at the back of the Athletic grounds.

And a fight. Bit a boke too, probably.

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This year's transformation is down to Paul Grimley.

Funny was expecting that but yet when they were getting beat last year when Oisin and Mc Grane was there it was all Paddys fault but when they win its everybody else that gets the plaudits and not poor Paddy

Grimley has benefited from that type of thinking for years, he was supposedly responsible for all that was good in Armagh in the 2002 era, Big Joe was responsible for all the failures.  POR as manager derserves credit, but PG's current positive influence is hard to argue with.

He's not my cup of tea, and I have to admit I wouldn't be thrilled to see him get the Armagh job, but players seem to love the man, and that's the main thing. Also think the role of Brendan Hughes needs to be acknowledged too.

Disappointment in Croke Park, but this was a nice surprise.

I spend much of my day working with photoshop, and have done so for the past 15 years or so, and I'd be extremely surprised if this image was photoshopped. The tone and light is even across the image and it is extremely difficult to get these things to match up when you're mashing images. That's the first thing I would look for. Secondly, there is motion in the Derrytresk man hand and body which is naturally and perceptibly blended with the background so he was definitely there when the picture was taken. Again the tone and light of Declan O'Sullivan is what points to him being part of the original image. Look also at the grass around the feet. If either had been imported there would be telltale touch ups to blend the grass in. That hasn't happened. If this is doctored, it's an extremely good job, using and extremely propitious cutout of Declan O'Sullivan. It requires greater suspension of disbelief to believe this image is doctored than it does to believe it is genuine.

how did the keeper do? and what happened for the goal?

It was a free in and Niall had it covered all the way but Kingham took a head stagger and tried to do a Daragh O Se on it, but fumbled and it flew into the net. Niall made a good stop in the second half, showed a lot of variation in kick outs and was competent.

I think people are too down on Kingham. The goal came from inexperience on all counts and was forgiveable, even though it looked awful. Kingham got an undeserved yellow card for a second tick and was probably on borrowed time because of that anyway. However he looked big, ignorant (in a good way) and mobile, which makes him better than James Lavery who is merely big and ignorant. I'd like to see more of him, I know Kerry wouldn't like to see him coming anyway.

Man of the Match was McKeever. Even when every single other member of the team was playing pure dung, McKeever was getting in Cork's collective grills and making them work. The subs were a huge addition, but this is a recurring theme with O'Rourke. We start with a team that we think are alright, but when they come out they play the first 20 minutes as if their confidence is in their boots.

I don't doubt we'll see Rafferty or Campbell, for example, starting against Kerry and them not able to do anything right and playing with total fear and getting subbed before half time. This happens again and again under O'Rourke.

As Crossbar says, large dose of perspective required here. Cork were crap even before they went down to, after that they were worse again. By rights we should have put six points on them. We huffed and puffed to draw when the win was there for the taking, it's a point lost, but hopefully we'll have learned valuable lessons this week and apply them in Kerry and maybe for once send out a team with a tiny amount of confidence in their ability and not shitting themselves about the reputations of the opponents for the entire first half.

On the ref, as noted earlier he was awful. However he was consistent with the soft free thing. Basically if a man was going through and he went over at all he won a free. Cork copped that very quick, it took us to the second half  to do it.

How is Anto Duffy still on the pitch?

A point in an entire half of play. Lumping the ball in like it was the bloody 50s. Good players playing like they've never seen a ball before. This is beyond pathetic. Doyle making a balls of things isn't helping either. Cork are bloody terrible too. If we could play with a smidgeon of conviction we'd be tearing them apart.

The departure of Mr Patrick O'Rourke

People have posted here before about how bad Armagh football is. Cross have now won the last 5 Ulster Championships they have entered so the Ulster football must be bad too going by that way of thinking.

Yes but would it be better for Armagh football if there were more teams in Armagh winning the county Championship and then proving themselves in Ulster and beyond?

Why? As Jarlath Burns says, Pearse Og are probably the second best team in Ireland.