Unpopular GAA opinions you hold

Gambas

a) Henry Shefflin might be the best player of his generation by common consensus, but because he is so clinical, it's a bit like watching a golfer.

b) IMO Tommy Walsh is the best hurler of the past 25 years.

nice_guy80

Prop Joe wrote: »

And Kilkenny have a football team.

Mayo are making a bit of progress in the small ball and should be lauded for that.


Kilkenny get abuse for not having a football team but when was the last time Cavan fielded a hurling team?

Cavan are building nicely in hurling

fielding in minor and under 21 this year

savannahkat

Gambas wrote: »

Henry Shefflin might be the best player of his generation, but because he is so clinical, it's a bit like watching a golfer.

Might. Mount Everest might be the highest mountain in the world, the North Pole might be cold, The Pacific ocean might be the largest body of water on the earth and the moon might fall out of the sky.

Gambas

savannahkat wrote: »

Might. Mount Everest might be the highest mountain in the world, the North Pole might be cold, The Pacific ocean might be the largest body of water on the earth and the moon might fall out of the sky.

Mount Everest might be the highest, but it ain't the biggest

IrishAlice

Gambas wrote: »

a) Henry Shefflin might be the best player of his generation by common consensus, but because he is so clinical, it's a bit like watching a golfer.

b) IMO Tommy Walsh is the best hurler of the past 25 years.

Nice to see someone say something nice about Tommy for a change

Personally he's one of my favorites.

I also rate Anthony Nash very highly.

Martin567

ultrapercy wrote: »

Not entering a team in competition is the same as not having a team.

18 counties don't compete for the Liam McCarthy Cup including counties with large populations such as Donegal, Mayo, Meath, Kildare & Kerry. You should try comparing like with like.

Corcaigh84

ultrapercy wrote: »

killkenny are a disgrace to GAA and sport in general because of their inability or unwillingness to field a football team.

As a Cork hurling fan I think this post is absolutely ridiculous.

As much as I can't stand the sight of the black & amber this is one point I regularly use in arguments to explain how KK put themselves in a postion to excel at the sport.

If you want my unpopular opinion, Cork should follow KK's lead and forget about playing that inferior sport at senior level altogether (7 AI's notwithstanding), and concentrate 100% on hurling.

ultrapercy

Martin567 wrote: »

18 counties don't compete for the Liam McCarthy Cup including counties with large populations such as Donegal, Mayo, Meath, Kildare & Kerry. You should try comparing like with like.

All those counties have teams that compete in the League. Hurling is a game where tradition counts for a lot more than it does in football and is harder to coach and harder to reach a level of competitiveness. Killenny would rather bask in the glory and adulation of a game almost nobody knows about, even in the country where its the national sport, than put any effort into development of anything other than hurling. Its called indoctrination.

Alf Veedersane

IrishAlice wrote: »

Nice to see someone say something nice about Tommy for a change .

Many's a time I cursed him for being a dirty *insert insulting adjective* but I never actually thought he was. Hard, yes. Dirty, no.

Lemlin

Prop Joe wrote: »

And Kilkenny have a football team.

Mayo are making a bit of progress in the small ball and should be lauded for that.


Kilkenny get abuse for not having a football team but when was the last time Cavan fielded a hurling team?

Cavan are working at underage level to try and kickstart hurling in the county.

I raised this on here before - certain counties just don't have the population to support two sports. Here's a link to Irish counties by population:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_counties_by_population

It's not surprising to see that those with the lowest populations struggle to support two codes.

Corcaigh84

ultrapercy wrote: »

Killenny would rather bask in the glory and adulation of a game almost nobody knows about, even in the country where its the national sport, than put any effort into development of anything other than hurling. Its called indoctrination.

Ultrapercy, confirmed wum

IrishAlice

ultrapercy wrote: »

All those counties have teams that compete in the League. Hurling is a game where tradition counts for a lot more than it does in football and is harder to coach and harder to reach a level of competitiveness. Killenny would rather bask in the glory and adulation of a game almost nobody knows about, even in the country where its the national sport, than put any effort into development of anything other than hurling. Its called indoctrination.

Did you ever stop to think that maybe Kilkenny people play hurling and camogie because they love it?!

There are many club players in the county who will never stand a chance of getting onto the county teams and won't ever get to "bask in the glory and adulation of a game almost nobody knows about".

They play for the love of the sport.

ultrapercy

thefloss wrote: »

Ultrapercy, confirmed wum

Confirmed by whom? Everybody does not think the same way.

jimmurt

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

1. Eoin Kelly is the best forward of the last 15 years and is better than any Kilkenny forward in the same period.

Don't think the 2nd half of this sentence is needed

Martin567

ultrapercy wrote: »

All those counties have teams that compete in the League. Hurling is a game where tradition counts for a lot more than it does in football and is harder to coach and harder to reach a level of competitiveness. Killenny would rather bask in the glory and adulation of a game almost nobody knows about, even in the country where its the national sport, than put any effort into development of anything other than hurling. Its called indoctrination.

Kilkenny people play the sport they love. The attitude to football in Kilkenny is no different than the attitude to hurling in far more counties.

Alf Veedersane

Hurling and football are two completely different sports.

It doesn't matter if a county plays one and not the other in the same way that it doesn't matter if most of them don't play handball.

Corcaigh84

OK ultra, try to explain your last point, why exactly should KK diversify into other sports instead of being the best they can at the fastest game on grass?

Why not be great at something rather than mediocre at multiple things? What county are you from? I would bet it's a county without much success in anything. Struggling to figure out why you're posting on the GAA forum, as you certainly don't sound like a fan.

Prop Joe

Lemlin wrote: »

Cavan are working at underage level to try and kickstart hurling in the county.

I raised this on here before - certain counties just don't have the population to support two sports. Here's a link to Irish counties by population:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_counties_by_population

It's not surprising to see that those with the lowest populations struggle to support two codes.

Carlow,laois,Offaly?

ciarriaithuaidh

thefloss wrote: »

As a Cork hurling fan I think this post is absolutely ridiculous.

As much as I can't stand the sight of the black & amber this is one point I regularly use in arguments to explain how KK put themselves in a postion to excel at the sport.

If you want my unpopular opinion, Cork should follow KK's lead and forget about playing that inferior sport at senior level altogether (7 AI's notwithstanding), and concentrate 100% on hurling.

Oh look, another hurling snob. :rolleyes:

You can have your own opinions on which game is better, fair enough, but suggesting Cork should forget about football is about as dumb as it gets. West of Bandon is Gaelic Football to the core, one of the strongest Football areas in the country. Not to mention Nemo Rangers, St Finbarrs (both All Ireland club winners and strong football clubs) aswell as the large Football-focused areas in Duhallow and Muskerry. Looking at underage results in recent years, one might be inclined to suggest Cork should forget about hurling and concentrate on football if they want to maximise success.

Festinalente

Heart and skill will always trump tactics in hurling (as kk and cork demonstrate)
Tactics can trump heart and skill in football (as Donegal demonstrated)
Another reason why hurling is hurling is a superior game

Gentleman Off The Pitch

Here's some of mine:

- I like hurling with a little bit of niggle (hard challenges, off the ball skirmishes etc. but no outright dirt like pulling across players ), to both play and to watch

- I'd be happy enough if Dublin never win an All-Ireland since that means my own team won't win it that year, and I get annoyed when I hear the likes of 'Oh you wouldn't begrudge Dublin an All-Ireland would you?" Damn right I would, I'd begrudge all teams except my own!

- I find some Cork and Clare fans' suggestions that they hauled hurling out of the dark ages last season to be ignorant, disrespectful and amusing at the same time

- I think that if hurling keeps evolving the way it is in twenty years players will be using foot long hurls to pass the ball to each other and run it up the field. On a somewhat related note I cannot believe that in this day in age there are not some stricter regulations on hurls, such as bas size and weight for example

When reading GAA forums there are some key indicators that I use to mentally dismiss posters as not having a clue about hurling/don't watch enough of it/have never played it

1. Poster states that Tommy Walsh is dirty, the dirtiest player ever etc.

2. Poster thinks that throwing the hurl is an offence akin to murder (have a read of the hysteria in the thread on here when Tommy threw the hurl as an example). Throwing the hurl looks awful, and shouldn't happen but they way some people go on you'd swear a thrown hurl had the potential to sever limbs

3. Posters that seem to think that the seriousness of any offence is doubled or tripled in the hurl happens to break during the offence

Lemlin

Prop Joe wrote: »

Carlow,laois,Offaly?

When was the last time you saw a successful hurling or football team from either? The glories have been few and far between.

ultrapercy

thefloss wrote: »

OK ultra, try to explain your last point, why exactly should KK diversify into other sports instead of being the best they can at the fastest game on grass?

Why not be great at something rather than mediocre at multiple things? What county are you from? I would bet it's a county without much success in anything. Struggling to figure out why you're posting on the GAA forum, as you certainly don't sound like a fan.

When the pool is tiny any tiddler can be the big fish, being "great" at hurling is a lot easier than being good at sports that have mainstream participation or being competitive across a range of sport. To put it in context I have more admiration for Clare winning one All Ireland than Killkenny winning a 100 or Cork or Tipp of Offaly etc etc

savannahkat

zetecescort wrote: »

My Unpopular opinion based on the carry on here at times is "I'm from Cork and we're brilliant!"

Mass delusion running rampant on Lee side once more.

Corcaigh84

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

Oh look, another hurling snob. :rolleyes:

You can have your own opinions on which game is better, fair enough, but suggesting Cork should forget about football is about as dumb as it gets. West of Bandon is Gaelic Football to the core, one of the strongest Football areas in the country. Not to mention Nemo Rangers, St Finbarrs (both All Ireland club winners and strong football clubs) aswell as the large Football-focused areas in Duhallow and Muskerry. Looking at underage results in recent years, one might be inclined to suggest Cork should forget about hurling and concentrate on football if they want to maximise success.

I do understand that parts of Cork are more focused on football than hurling. I also know we have one of the worst conversion rates when it comes to AI football finals in the last 100 years, the record books make for pretty dismal reading.

I'd rather let Kerry, Dubin and the Northern teams who play such an attractive game get on with it and let us concentrate on hurling as a priority. If I'm seen to be a snob so be it

BUNK1982

The inter county game in it's current guise is unsustainable.

In both codes - they should have Senior, Intermediate and Junior All Ireland comps, the best players from the Intermediate and Junior teams could form a provincial team to compete in the Senior AI.

Incorporate the league so that it sets up the knockout stages, no backdoor, no replays and get rid of the provincial c'ships.

Players can get 2/3 months off in a year and have a greater degree of certainty around their schedule.

rebel girl 15

adrian522 wrote: »

Why are people so upset by Kilkenny's football team? I just don't get it a all. There are more than enough counties fielding football teams.

It would be more in line to get a lot more counties taking hurling seriously, Hurling is a sport that is really struggling outside of a small few counties but it just seems easier to bash Kilkenny.

Its because football is easier to play, requires three times less skills than hurling. To be fair, Ulster are doing a lot to promote hurling

savannahkat wrote: »

Was it not a Kilkenny team made up of Kilkenny men representing Kilkenny in Gaelic football.

London have two teams, the seniors that compete in the Connacht and All Ireland senior championships and the juniors which compete in the British and All Ireland junior championships

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Cavan are building nicely in hurling

fielding in minor and under 21 this year

Lot of that is due to the man they put in as development officer - he has done huge amount of work. Just shows where there is a will, you will find a way

WesternZulu

That someday Mayo will win Sam!

rebel girl 15

thefloss wrote: »

OK ultra, try to explain your last point, why exactly should KK diversify into other sports instead of being the best they can at the fastest game on grass?

Why not be great at something rather than mediocre at multiple things? What county are you from? I would bet it's a county without much success in anything. Struggling to figure out why you're posting on the GAA forum, as you certainly don't sound like a fan.

Because its the ethos of GAA - having football, hurling, camogie, rounders and handball as one family of games, being played by every club and every county. Thats part of the one club model

AugustusMinimus

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Because its the ethos of GAA - having football, hurling, camogie, rounders and handball as one family of games, being played by every club and every county. Thats part of the one club model

I don't think rounders is played on a GAA club basis. Rounders has specific clubs setup to just play that sport.

savannahkat

Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly elevated a mediocre Tipp team into an average Tipp team.

MayoAreMagic

That splitting Dublin in the football makes perfect sense and wouldn't be half as bad for them as they have convinced themselves it would be.

That anyone who says Kilkenny and Kerry would have to be split also is either being deliberately misleading or is an idiot.

That the seeding of Munster is in fact 100% logical and is in fact fairer than not seeding them.

That the gaa are too concerned with making money and it is actually to the detriment of the game.

savannahkat

No problem with splitting Kilkenny, other than the hard choice of having to decide if I will support the north or the south in the All Ireland final.

rebel girl 15

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

I don't think rounders is played on a GAA club basis. Rounders has specific clubs setup to just play that sport.

But the vision for it is that every club will have a team

TaosHum

savannahkat wrote: »

No problem with splitting Kilkenny, other than the hard choice of having to decide if I will support the north or the south in the All Ireland final.

Or border clubs could be play in Carlow. Would solve the whole problem :pac:

iDave

Munster hurling and Ulster football championships aren't any more special than any other provincial championships.

adrian522

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Its because football is easier to play, requires three times less skills than hurling. To be fair, Ulster are doing a lot to promote hurling

That doesn't really answer my question about why people are so upset about there not being a competitive Kilkenny football team.

Why is there such an uproar about Kilkenny not having a football team, I mean what difference does it really make? It's not like football is dying on it's feet or anything, it's also not like the Kilkenny hurling team will suffer by having a football team out there, I guess I don't really understand the hysteria at all.

Hurling on the other hand needs a lot more people playing it and needs to be promoted outside the main counties. There are a lot of counties ( and clubs for that matter) that only pay lip service to hurling and would much rather it didn't exist. I think people like to use this as stick to beat kilkenny with and would be far less outraged if kilkenny weren't a successful hurling county.

savannahkat

adrian522 wrote: »

That doesn't really answer my question about why people are so upset about there not being a competitive Kilkenny football team.

Why is there such an uproar about Kilkenny not having a football team, I mean what difference does it really make? It's not like football is dying on it's feet or anything, it's also not like the Kilkenny hurling team will suffer by having a football team out there, I guess I don't really understand the hysteria at all.

Hurling on the other hand needs a lot more people playing it and needs to be promoted outside the main counties. There are a lot of counties ( and clubs for that matter) that only pay lip service to hurling and would much rather it didn't exist. I think people like to use this as stick to beat kilkenny with and would be far less outraged if kilkenny weren't a successful hurling county.

It is pure jealousy because we are so successful at hurling and are population wise the 11th smallest county. We punch way above our weight in hurling. Is it not brutally obvious that it amounts to Munster jealousy.

ciarriaithuaidh

thefloss wrote: »

I do understand that parts of Cork are more focused on football than hurling. I also know we have one of the worst conversion rates when it comes to AI football finals in the last 100 years, the record books make for pretty dismal reading.

I'd rather let Kerry, Dubin and the Northern teams who play such an attractive game get on with it and let us concentrate on hurling as a priority. If I'm seen to be a snob so be it

So what exactly would you tell top class players like Colm O'Neill, Brian Hurley, Michael Shields, Paul Kerrigan and all the good under 21s that Cork have coming through (a lot more than in hurling)..sorry lads, ye'll have to take up hurling or go playing soccer or something? This isn't un unpopular opinion, is just plain dumb to even think such a thing.

The only reason I'm responding to someone like you who would suggest something so clearly at odds with the reality on the ground, is that this is actually the attitude of some people in Cork and it sickens me.

WesternZulu

That football is a better sport than hurling.

Although I think that hurling is more difficult to master...once you do, it's an easier game to play than football.

STIG83

savannahkat wrote: »

When it comes to Kilkenny in the Cody era the vast, vast, vast majority of Munster men and women cannot be objective through sheer green eyes jealousy. The green monster is rampant throughout Munster. Naming people who would not be fit to lace Shefflin's boots and promoting them as being just as good is a case in point.

Not just Munster, the whole country I'd say, we laughed our asses off when KK lost last year to Cork and also in 2010 when the 5 in a row was stopped by Tipp.

Professey Chin

STIG83 wrote: »

Not just Munster, the whole country I'd say, we laughed our asses off when KK lost year to Cork and also in 2010 when the 5 in a row was stopped by Tipp.

Shhhhh. Dont feed it

nice_guy80

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Its because football is easier to play, requires three times less skills than hurling. To be fair, Ulster are doing a lot to promote hurling



London have two teams, the seniors that compete in the Connacht and All Ireland senior championships and the juniors which compete in the British and All Ireland junior championships



Lot of that is due to the man they put in as development officer - he has done huge amount of work. Just shows where there is a will, you will find a way

Yep, Eoin is a good man

digzy

Lar Corbett is one of the most overrated forwards in the game. I'm so bored of pundits going on about how dangerous he is. He got about 5 touches in the 2010 all Ireland and got hurler of the year and has gone 'missing' more often than not. Guys an opportunist, and best of luck to him.

Eoin Kelly (Tipp) is one of the genuine greats. The guy single handedly brought Tipp through so many of their games taking awful punishment in the 00s.He was past his best after 2008 but his class brought him through the last few years. A real legend but like in soccer people judged players by medal haul, eoin was better than 2 AIs and a few munsters. Let down by the mediocrity around him and managing him.

savannahkat

STIG83 wrote: »

Not just Munster, the whole country I'd say, we laughed our asses off when KK lost year to Cork and also in 2010 when the 5 in a row was stopped by Tipp.

Glad you had a chance to laugh your ass off at least twice in the past ten years. We have been laughing at the best efforts of you all to dethrone us for the other eight. What we did to Offally last weekend is only a foretaste of what we have in store for the rest of you pretenders over the next three months. Look at last weekend in the Munster chumpionship,one side did not know how to take a penalty and the other did not know how to stop it so they changed a 100 plus year old rule and then they had the cheek to call it a championship, the Munster chumpionship is actually the more correct description.

Frankie Lee

Prop Joe wrote: »

Carlow,laois,Offaly?

Along with Westmeath they do an excellent job at promoting both codes (Carlow struggle at football admittedly, they underachieve considering the relative strength of their clubs). They deserve great credit.

Paranoid Mandroid

Royce McCutcheon wrote: »

Cluxton is the most overrated palyer in the country.Despite having a good kickout he is lacking basic goalkeeping skills, I cant remember the last time he made a proper save and is brutal in the air as well.

Surprised a lot of people agreed with this. There ya go. He used to make unbelievable saves all the time though, must be the solid defenders doing a better job since the pillar caffrey era? I don't think he could be overrated when he's one of the best keepers in the country. I suppose I'm biased though.

savannahkat

Paranoid Mandroid wrote: »

Surprised a lot of people agreed with this. There ya go. He used to make unbelievable saves all the time though, must be the solid defenders doing a better job since the pillar caffrey era? I don't think he could be overrated when he's one of the best keepers in the country. I suppose I'm biased though.

No your just Paranoid

Frankie Lee

Yeah I don't know how anyone cant see the greatness of Cluxton. There may be some better shotstoppers out there and some better under the high ball but he is good at both. The other aspects of his game coupled with his leadership would probably make him the best of all time. If Shane Supple had stayed at soccer he would be Ireland's number 1 now and he couldn't oust him.

RoscommonTom

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Yeah I don't know how anyone cant see the greatness of Cluxton. There may be some better shotstoppers out there and some better under the high ball but he is good at both. The other aspects of his game coupled with his leadership would probably make him the best of all time. If Shane Supple had stayed at soccer he would be Ireland's number 1 now and he couldn't oust him.

pure rubbish, if he wasn't a Jack thered be nothing made of him, oleary from Dublin was way better than him, billy Morgan and the likes