Messages

Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's dive in the AI final and then feigning injury so he didnt have a to give a speech 'as gaelige' deserves a mention.

sound like a bit of a bar stool story but an amusing one !!

on second thoughts ...looking at the incident here loks like Mickey Ned had a fair case for not being able to speak !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc9VY7BKKCw&feature=player_embedded

Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's dive in the AI final and then feigning injury so he didnt have a to give a speech 'as gaelige' deserves a mention.

sound like a bit of a bar stool story but an amusing one !!

1989 - The Tony Keady affair - he was, in a way, cheated when inviterd to play in the US in good faith (everyone waas doing it but not legal apparently) and was then made an example of when he came back. His loss to that great Galway team and the furore that the controversy created possible unsettled the Galway camp and cost them an All Ireland that year - they lost the semi to Tipp and Tipp then had a soft one against Antrim in the final. A fine player and a fine team cheated by silly GAA rules !!!

don't know if it qualifies as 'fair play' or a 'cheat' or something else entirely but back in 1987 when Dublin played Cork in a league q-final I think and Cork refused to leave the dressing room for extra time. The Dubs did and, unopposed, they won the ball at the throw in and then moved it neatly upfield for Barney Rock to score a winning goal.
Should Barney have opted for 'fair -play' that day and kicked it wide ..... and then there would be no-one to kick it out?

With all the hoo-haa Henry La Cheat going on was just wondering of any great examples of cheating or fair play in GAA matches.

One example of fair play that springs to mind was the famous 1998 hurling s/f match Clare v Offaly when the ref blew up early and Clare won. Then generously Clare offered a replay and duly lost and Offaly went on to win the All Ireland - that 'fair play' cost Clare a place in the final and maybe a third All Ireland.

As for cheating a recent one was in 2008, I think, when Kerry's Aidan O'Mahony did his fake dive that fooled the referee and got Cork's Donnacha O'Connor sent off.

Any more ?

not questioning that Kerry and Tyrone were / are great teams in their own and deserved their wins on the day. Most teams that win any given match (including an All Ireland Final) deserve their win ...... that's not being challenged or debated. Kerry and Tyrone both play to the back door system and fair play to them. And if there wasn't a back door the approach to provincial games might have very well seen different outcomes.

What is being raised is the question of whether the back door system has directly resulted in the likes of Cork or Mayo or Dublin or Meath not getting one single title between them. Sure, Dublin didn't even make it to a final in that time but they have won 5 Leinsters on the trot from 2005-2009 but in 2005, 2008 and 2009 they have then lost to Tyrone, Tyrone and Kerry respectively, all coming through the back door and each of those 3 years their conquerors have gone on to capture the title. Not making any special case for the Dubs btw..

Here is another fact - in the 10 years pre back-door (1991 - 2000) there were 7 different counties winning Sam and 10 different counties actually got to a final. Over the 9 years of the back door just 4 counties have won (Kerry, Tyrone, Armagh and Galway) and only Cork, Mayo and Meath other than the winners have made it to a final. Whichever way you look at it there are less counties getting a final day outing or sharing the spoils and the back door looks like part of the reason why.!!

In yesterdays Sunday Indo Eamon Sweeney had an interesting piece http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/novelty-gets-shown-the-door-1903772.html comparing how the last 9 years of football would have ended if there was no back door. His conclusions were as follows :

2001 - Final would have been Meath v Roscommon with a Meath win instead of a Galway win over Meath
2002  - Armagh win over Galway instead of Armagh win over Kerry
2003 - Tyrone win against Laois in final instead of a win against Armagh
2004 - no change - Kerry beat Mayo
2005 - Armagh would have met and beat Kerry instead of Tyrone beating Kerry
2006 - Mayo would have met Cork and won instead of losing to Kerry
2007 - Kerry would have met and beat Tyrone instead of their win over Cork
2008 - Dublin would have won final against Cork as opposed to Tyrone's win over Kerry
2009 - Dublin v Cork again with a Cork win this time instead of Kerry win over Cork

so instead of the 9 titles going to 4 counties - Kerry (4), Tyrone (3), Armagh and Galway - the result could have been 7 counties winning a title - Kerry (2), Armagh (2), Tyrone, Cork, Dublin, Mayo and Meath. And on top of that Roscommon and Laois could have made it to a final.
I know it's all hyopthetical but themain point is to question if the back door is good for the game or not. Certainly the weaker counties benefit by getting the extra games and an extended run. But it also looks like it is also working to the benefit of the stronger counties who can afford to lose and get that second chance.  The big losers seem to be the likes of Dublin, Mayo, Cork and Laois and a few others who have brought great excitement and effort to the game in the same period but have nothing to show for it.
The game is better when the spoils are more evenly divided.
This post is not to generate debate on who exactly might have won in each year but to question whether the current Kerry / Tyrone dominance is being faciliated by the back door system to the detriment of others. The main case against the back door being dropped is that it will penalise the weaker counties but is that a fair argument if the only real winners are 2 counties. Nothing against either Kerry or Tyrone as they are both great teams but ....
Paudie O'Se thinks the back door is working fine http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/back-door-gets-my-vote-to-deliver-the-right-results-1903775.htmlbut he would as Kerry have bagged All Irelands in 2006 and 2009 that they otherwise wouldn't and Tyrone would't have even been in the finals of 2005 and 2008.

nice idea on the ClubMayo website http://www.clubmayo.ie/ - they are organising that you can send a good luck message to the Mayo Minor team
I'm sure some players (and mentors) from teams all over the country do come on to these forums, like the rest of us, and read all kinds of good and bad stuff about themselves and their teams.  Not always good reading going into a big match like an All Ireland Final so this idea of sending a bit of real postive support direct to them sound to em like a good idea - even more so for minors.

looks like Charlestown is confirmed for saturday - it's on http://www.clubmayo.ie/ this morning as well

Mayo team will not be announced till Sunday according to an update on http://www.clubmayo.ie/

Mayo 0-06 : Derry 0-05 at half time
Derry had 3 players yellow carded in first half

What was that infamous Late Late line ....." It started with (or on) the Late Late Show ...."?
Well I think this time RTE have a real winner - tongue in cheek!!!

This GAA Late Late has the potential to make it the very top in cult status - just because it was so so bad and managed to attract so much negative reaction.  It could really confound us and go on to become a collectors item like the infamous 'Effin Eddie'.

On second thoughts, maybe that's not being fair and a dis-service to Eddie!
So, on third thought I think it should be elevated to be up there with RTE's other famous entertainment decision of in the last 12 months - sending Dustin to represent us on the Eurovision stage. What happened to Dustin since by the way?

Are the RTE heads of entertainment who make these decisions clued in or just arrogant enough to believe that they know what's best for the licence payers???

[So what was missing that one might have genuinly expected?]

don't know who's to blame for the late late fiasco - RTE for putting such a brainless production together or the gaa for going along with it. Surely the gaa had some idea in advance of what the show content was and who the guests were. Had they no say in the style or content of the show? GAA wasted a great opportunity to showcase the 125th anniversary and RTE looked like they had free reign and managed to mees it up even further.

So what was missing that one might have genuinly expected?
Here's a few obvious ones....
1- The man at the helm and official chairman of the 125 GAA Committee - Jarlath Burns - to enlighten us about all the 125 events in 2009
2- The main trophies (SAM & LIAM) that have been the icons of the gaa for all these years weren't even on display (as far as i know).
3 - Then and Now - How the game has been modernised from the days of 'caps and sandwiches' to the modern game (nothing wrong with caps and sandwiches just an expression !). The game as a player and spectator sport has changed enormously over the years so a bit of discussion on the bigger changes.
4 - A panel maybe of Micheal O'Muiracheartiagh, Sean Og O'C, Mick O'Dwyer and the likes to have a proper reminisce of past gaa glories and suitable anecdotes - there was GAA before the 1970's that RTE production seemed happy to ignore.
5 - The GAA Club - More on the grassroots that is GAA - the local club. Some real representation and not just the cliched curtesy mention that it got. In fairness Des Cahill did try to highlight it using his own club as an example but it could have been a whole section.
6 -  Football v Hurling - hurling hardly got a mention on the show at all but a bit of debate and banter on one verses the other might have been an idea - even as to why most clubs and counties (but not all) excel at one or the other.

Here's 3 to savour on video clips...

B Dooher for Tyrone v Kerry in 2008 Final
http://www.dvdsales.ie/shop/football_final_2008___tyrone_v_kerry.417.1.10302.sports.html


C McDonald for Mayo v Dublin 2006 & Alan Brogan in the same match
http://www.dvdsales.ie/shop/2006_football___semi_final_mayo_v_dublin.417.1.10099.sports.html

Declan Meehan for Galway v Kerry in 200 Final
http://www.dvdsales.ie/shop/2000_all_ireland_football_final_kerry_v_galway.417.1.10024.sports.html

again courtesy of http://www.clubmayo.ie

Favourites Aghamore win by 1 point
--  Aghamore 3-05 : Kilmaine 1-10

outsiders Kilmaine came so close !!!