Pride in our winners

kneemos

Anybody else not get the whole nationalistic thing when someone wins a medal or competition

My name is URL

And what's the deal with Airline food?

Where To

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody else not get the whole nationalistic thing when someone wins a medal or competition

Depends on whether or not I have backed them.

Sauve

My name is URL wrote: »

And what's the deal with Airline food?

Those darned peanuts.

Pushtrak

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

Chuck Stone

I like seeing Irish people doing well, of course, but not solely Irish folk. I was shouting for Andy Murray the other day at the Wimbledon finals. Would love to have seen him win.

Katie for gold!

Lando Griffin

I get it especially when someone has trained all their lives and realise their dream. what's better is when some wisecrack rich kid wins a medal only for it to be stripped of them again and never being able to represent their nation again out of shame

Culleeo

I get all Nationalistic when they get to the final.

Me "Katie Taylor is in the final"
Missus "That's great"
Me "Yeah, I'm delighted, I'm meeting the lads for a few pints to watch it"
Missus "You've no interest in that"
Me "Yes I do, I've been watching it all along, see you later"

*Door slams*

BraziliaNZ

Yes of course we do, I hope Katie wins gold, she deserves it, has done a lot for women's boxing

Dyr

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

How are you with accidents of birth?

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

That point of view is fairly sad, tbh.

Rasheed

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

What you mean?

hondasam

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody else not get the whole nationalistic thing when someone wins a medal or competition

Yes I always want who ever is competing for us to win. I would always feel proud of them.

My name is URL

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

I dunno, imo being proud of the country you live in and the society you contribute to isn't sad. Though some people do take it to extremes.

Shryke

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

We are a culture and a society all our own. It's only sad if you can't see that and appreciate it even just a bit.

I'm not into sport but I could still watch the Galway/Kilkenny match and Wimbledon. I was cheering for Murray, went channel hopping and came across Galway trouncing Kilkenny in the Leinster final. It was hilarious.

I'm looking forward to seeing Katie take gold.

Pantsface

Rasheed wrote: »

What you mean?

talking out of his hole

dirtyden

I think it's fantastic. I will be shouting for all our athletes at the olympics.

These people have worked incredibly hard to acheive excellence in their athletic field, ordinary people who have dedicated their lifes to excel at something. They are representing their country and I will be proud of them all, whether we get medals or not.

I dont see anything to be ashamed of supporting my country's competitors in the olympics or my club or county in GAA.

If that is simple I will revel in my simplicity.

twinytwo

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody else not get the whole nationalistic thing when someone wins a medal or competition

Im more worried about consistantly getting shafted in sport because we are a small nation.

twinytwo

dirtyden wrote: »

I think it's fantastic. I will be shouting for all our athletes at the olympics.

These people have worked incredibly hard to acheive excellence in their athletic field, ordinary people who have dedicated their lifes to excel at something. They are representing their country and I will be proud of them all, whether we get medals or not.

I dont see anything to be ashamed of supporting my country's competitors in the olympics or my club or county in GAA.

If that is simple I will revel in my simplicity.

And yet most of them have to train outside the country

kneemos

Going on about Italia 90 is just embarrasing at this stage and we did'nt even win anything.Ronnie Delaney won gold in 1956 apparently.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

kneemos wrote: »

Anybody else not get the whole nationalistic thing when someone wins a medal or competition

I am proud of anyone who represents Ireland in any field. sporting or otherwise.

Pushtrak wrote: »

Being proud for accidents of geography is fairly sad, tbh.

Here you go with this line again. I respect that we all have opinions but I still cant seem to wrap my head around yours and hopefull I never will.

dirtyden

twinytwo wrote: »

And yet most of them have to train outside the country

What is your point?

And who are the most who train outside the country?

Our current best swimmer Grainne Murphy trains in Limerick mainly, boxers predominantly train with their own irish gyms, most of our athletes would train in Ireland too. There will be some on US scholarships who for obvious reasons train abroad. Does training abroad negate their irishness?http://www.olympicsport.ie/

You will find olympic team on here, if a third trained abroad I would be surprised.

DEFTLEFTHAND

I hope Katie Taylor wins gold in London, she has been at the top of her game for a long time and it would be the icing on the cake for her. If she does win I'll be proud for her, not necessarily because she's Irish but because I admire her.

Likewise I won't feel ashamed when other Irish athletes don't perform to the required standard and finish in lowly positions.

Pushtrak

Bambi wrote: »

How are you with accidents of birth?

benwavner wrote: »

Here you go with this line again. I respect that we all have opinions but I still cant seem to wrap my head around yours and hopefull I never will.

"Oh I was born in ________" or "I was brought up in __________" is an accident of Geography. A combination of where your parents are from and where they decide to live. I don't see why it should be a source of pride. Be proud of your own stuff. It makes no more sense than to be proud to be male/female, your ethnicity, et cetera. Be proud because you did _________ rather than some nonsense.

kneemos

Why does everybody want Katie Taylor to win so much.

cocoshovel

Out of all the sporting events in the world, The Olympics is the one I like the most. And ye negative nazi f*cks arent going to to ruin it for me!!

twinytwo

dirtyden wrote: »

What is your point?

And who are the most who train outside the country?

Our current best swimmer Grainne Murphy trains in Limerick mainly, boxers predominantly train with their own irish gyms, most of our athletes would train in Ireland too. There will be some on US scholarships who for obvious reasons train abroad. Does training abroad negate their irishness?http://www.olympicsport.ie/

You will find olympic team on here, if a third trained abroad I would be surprised.

I dont think you understand how bad things are here, compared to other countries, the facilaties for anything outside GAA in this country is a joke.
There are no high performance centers in this country, hell most athletes are lucky if they even get access to the required physio's and doctors.
How many foreign athletes come here to train??? ... and you expect our own to stay... also the amount of bull**** politics that goes on in this country especailly within athletics is comical.

If Katie Taylor a 4 time world champion cant even get showers in her gym what chance does anyone else have.

kneemos

Will you feel proud of Germany or France when they win a medal.

old hippy

cocoshovel wrote: »

Out of all the sporting events in the world, The Olympics is the one I like the most. And ye negative nazi f*cks arent going to to ruin it for me!!

I love the Olympics, too. Got tickets for a couple of events but feeling "pride"? Nah, I'll leave that to the flag wavers and other vegetables.

twinytwo

kneemos wrote: »

Why does everybody want Katie Taylor to win so much.

why would we want her to win? she is prob our best athlete going into the games and our main hope for a gold... and she is a damn fine boxer.

dirtyden

twinytwo wrote: »

I dont think you understand how bad things are here, compared to other countries, the facilaties for anything outside GAA in this country is a joke.
There are no high performance centers in this country, hell most athletes are lucky if they even get access to the required physio's and doctors.
How many foreign athletes come here to train??? ... and you expect our own to stay... also the amount of bull**** politics that goes on in this country especailly within athletics is comical.

If Katie Taylor a 4 time world champion cant even get showers in her gym what chance does anyone else have.

Limerick university has excellent facilities, athletes from all over the world visit renowned limerick sports physio Gerald Hartmann.

The point you made was that most of out athletes train abroad, they don't. We do not have facilities that match a lot of other countries that is true, and it really should be improved upon, but we do have some decent facilities and tracks. Athletics is not a mainstream sport in Ireland but we still have produced some fine athletes.

What other countries are you comparing us to? Name me a country of a similar size and population where athletics is not mainstream who has state of the art facilities? The facilites have improved recently though, but much needs to be done.

And anyhow our athletes training abroad would not make them less irish. Should we not support our team because our facilities are not state of the art, again what is your point?

kneemos

twinytwo wrote: »

why would we want her to win? she is prob our best athlete going into the games and our main hope for a gold... and she is a damn fine boxer.

I'd like her to win,she deserves it but she's not ours.

DEFTLEFTHAND

kneemos wrote: »

I'd like her to win,she deserves it but she's not ours.

Exactly, I'd like her to go and do it for herself and not feel pressured by a nation of hungry sports fans starved of success.

buyer95

old hippy wrote: »

I love the Olympics, too. Got tickets for a couple of events but feeling "pride"? Nah, I'll leave that to the flag wavers and other vegetables.

Whats the point of being a sports fan if you don't even support your team when they are competing(in this case Team Ireland)? I know this is after hours, and must of the people on this are perennial cynics. But Calling someone a " vegetable " is either epic trolling on your part or else utter high brow snobbiness. I can already here the comeback, " I'm going to the Olympics, because I enjoy seeing top athletes compete and prove their excellence, blah blah blah ." Come off it

Rawhead

Yet again the OP has brought up a subject that is completely outside the understanding of most of the cabbages on this site. The reasons are,

1. Most team sports require friends
2. Most individual sports don't involve computers
3. Most clowns on this site are nerds and think they are cool/hip by saying "I'm not cheering for an accident of geography"

This is the inevitable conclusion when the glasses wearing, buck toothed stick insects who never got picked for any team get a forum where they can finally have there say in anonymity without fear of getting the beating they deserve.

Goldman Sachs reckon we'll win 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze and those lads rule the world i believe.

alphabeat

Rawhead wrote: »

Yet again the OP has brought up a subject that is completely outside the understanding of most of the cabbages on this site. The reasons are,

1. Most team sports require friends
2. Most individual sports don't involve computers
3. Most clowns on this site are nerds and think they are cool/hip by saying "I'm not cheering for an accident of geography"

This is the inevitable conclusion when the glasses wearing, buck toothed stick insects who never got picked for any team get a forum where they can finally have there say in anonymity without fear of getting the beating they deserve.

Goldman Sachs reckon we'll win 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze and those lads rule the world i believe.

< camp it up > ooooooooooo , get her :rolleyes::rolleyes: < end camp it up >

MarkHitide

Say you're watching two chunky chaps taking turns lobbing 16lb steel balls out of a ring. They're competing to see who can throw the ball the furthest. One is wearing a red jersey with an eagle over the heart, the other a green jersey with a shamrock in the same place.

It would be simple perversity for the average Irish person not to will the latter to win the competition.

kfallon

Go on The Paddies!!!!

Love it when we do well, brings a tear to me eye and a lump in me throat! Hope Katie Taylor bates the gee off all those other splitarses she's up against :pac:

And I used to be proud of TJ Kearns every time he broke his own National Record for the 110m hurdles when he ran in any major championships even tho he'd finish sixth in his heat

Sonia in Atlanta was heartbreaking tho

kneemos

cheering on the Irish ir natural enough it's the nationalistic ferver that goes on I find odd.

Jimoslimos

twinytwo wrote: »

why would we want her to win? she is prob our best athlete going into the games and our main hope for a gold... and she is a damn fine boxer.

Going to go against the overwhelming consensus here but, if any of our Track & Field athletes make it to an Olympic final I reckon that is currently a greater achievement than a gold medal in Women's boxing.

I don't see the problem with people cheering on our athletes. Perhaps some go overboard with excessive fanaticism and patriotism but most merely wish the best for the men and women with whom they feel more closely related (by genetics) to than yet another Kenyan cruising to long distance gold.

Pushtrak

Shryke wrote: »

We are a culture and a society all our own. It's only sad if you can't see that and appreciate it even just a bit.

I can appreciate such things but I don't presume such claptrap as Ireland is the best country in the world, don't derive or try to associate the achievements of famous Irish people with me on account of my Irishness. Fair play to athletes for their dedication to their pursuits, but I tend to see myself as a human first rather than an Irish person first.

kowloon

My name is URL wrote: »

I dunno, imo being proud of the country you live in and the society you contribute to isn't sad. Though some people do take it to extremes.

old hippy

buyer95 wrote: »

Whats the point of being a sports fan if you don't even support your team when they are competing(in this case Team Ireland)? I know this is after hours, and must of the people on this are perennial cynics. But Calling someone a " vegetable " is either epic trolling on your part or else utter high brow snobbiness. I can already here the comeback, " I'm going to the Olympics, because I enjoy seeing top athletes compete and prove their excellence, blah blah blah ." Come off it

I'm going to the Olympics because it's taking place in London, where I live - it's a piece of history. We'll be cheering on Japan in the Judo and women's football final (hopefully) but if Ireland do well in those events - then there will be a bit of rivalry between me and the missus. I don't have any particular team, never had

My experience of flag wavers has, admittedly, left me in doubt concerning their overall intelligence - so apologies to the more rounded patriots here.

Rasheed

Pushtrak wrote: »

"Oh I was born in ________" or "I was brought up in __________" is an accident of Geography. A combination of where your parents are from and where they decide to live. I don't see why it should be a source of pride. Be proud of your own stuff. It makes no more sense than to be proud to be male/female, your ethnicity, et cetera. Be proud because you did _________ rather than some nonsense.

I get your point but do you not think its mighty when someone from Ireland does well? Coming from a small country beating the so called 'giants' in the Olympics or some other global competition?

I don't follow cricket but I was proud when the national cricket team did well a few years ago.

Now I can't understand somebody supporting a premireship football team made up of players from say France, Portugal, Brazil and the Ivory Coast funded by a big American company and managed by an Italian but I think it's only right to be proud of a fellow country man/woman excelling on the world stage.

Pushtrak

Rasheed wrote: »

I get your point but do you not think its mighty when someone from Ireland does well? Coming from a small country beating the so called 'giants' in the Olympics or some other global competition?

I'd say fair play to them. My issue is with people who think by virtue of shared nationality the accomplishment is somehow theirs. It ain't.

Rasheed

Pushtrak wrote: »

I'd say fair play to them. My issue is with people who think by virtue of shared nationality the accomplishment is somehow theirs. It ain't.

Ok I understand where you are coming from now. Well you can still cheer them on, hope they do well without sharing the accomplishment can you not?

Rasheed

kfallon wrote: »

Go on The Paddies!!!!

Love it when we do well, brings a tear to me eye and a lump in me throat! Hope Katie Taylor bates the gee off all those other splitarses she's up against :pac:

And I used to be proud of TJ Kearns every time he broke his own National Record for the 110m hurdles when he ran in any major championships even tho he'd finish sixth in his heat

Sonia in Atlanta was heartbreaking tho

What an eloquent way of saying you hope she does well!

kfallon

Rasheed wrote: »

What an eloquent way of saying you hope she does well!

Why thank you

MarkHitide

kfallon wrote: »

Go on The Paddies!!!!

Love it when we do well, brings a tear to me eye and a lump in me throat! Hope Katie Taylor gee off all those other splitarses sbates thehe's up against :pac:

And I used to be proud of TJ Kearns every time he broke his own National Record for the 110m hurdles when he ran in any major championships even tho he'd finish sixth in his heat

Sonia in Atlanta was heartbreaking tho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3OM2MA1pic&feature=player_detailpage#t=31.5s

MarkHitide

kneemos wrote: »

I'd like her to win,she deserves it but she's not ours.

Who are the "ours" you refer to?

Brain Stroking

I'm Irish and i support Irish athletes because they are Irish. It's very simple. Having Katie Taylor in the Irish team is an accident of geography but she lives in Ireland amongst us, has grown up here, is immersed in our culture the same as any of us and is representing our country in the Olympics. As said before, not being up for her is perverse and a little sad.