Unpopular GAA opinions you hold

savannahkat

In the past 10 years Kilkenny have beaten Cork twice Tipp twice, Clare Waterford and Limerick in the All Ireland final and all they can say is boo hoo, boo hoo, ye got there to easy ignoring the fact that we were beating them in the semi finals by even more. Little wonder they love the Munster championship cause it was all they were ever going to win with this Kilkenny team around, just look at the league titles won by Kikenny in the same period. 9 All Irelands and 8 league titles tells the true story of the greatness of this Kilkenny team. I Wonder how they explain the 8 league titles won because as far as I know all them Munster boys have been in division 1A over the past ten years.

WesternZulu

djPSB wrote: »

The skill level required to play football is draining out of the game year by year.

Being physically fit and strong is enough to play at a very high level. A player can go a game without kicking a ball nowadays.

Don't believe what Pat Spillane and most of the media say in regards to gaelic football...they seem to let nostalgia get in the way of constructive analysis of the game.
The sport has never been as good, or as skillful!

Watch a match from any decade and tell me that players were more skillful in years gone by!

Dirty Dingus McGee

Croke Park looks better as it is than it would have if all four sides had been closed in.It has a unique look to it now and isn't just another new bowl shaped stadium.

Hibbeler

djPSB wrote: »

The skill level required to play football is draining out of the game year by year.

Being physically fit and strong is enough to play at a very high level. A player can go a game without kicking a ball nowadays.

The majority of football teams spend hours on end working on their physical fitness without using footballs at all.

Taking Michael Dara McAuley as an example. Current football of the year. A magnificent athlete, an absolute powerhouse in full flight but when it comes to kicking, he's very poor. On several occasions he bursts forward from midfield and gets himself in to excellent positions but doesn't have the technique to finish the move off.

Absolute nonsense! While yes fitness and strength is playing a bigger role nowadays for gaelic footballers I think you are underestimating the skill level still there in the game. The way the game is changing may be evolving but the ability to catch a high ball out of the air or to place an accurate kick pass are skills you can never learn in the gym.

Your example of MDMA is very selective in that yes he is a workhorse but you are neglecting to mention that while he can put the leg work in he is surrounded by talented players the envy of most other counties who can win games by their finesse and can capitalise on the moves created.

I would also point to recent Kildare teams under McGeeney who were considered very fit and strong and labelled 'Gym Monkeys', However when they came up against teams that beat them on quality they were goosed.

Another unpopular opinion from me: There is such a thing as poor hurling game and yes some of these poor hurling games are less enjoyable to watch then poor football or soccer games. Hurling is not special in this regard. No one would call an overly one sided game enjoyable to watch in any code and those sort of games can happen too often in hurling

Frankie Lee

djPSB wrote: »

Being physically fit and strong is enough to play at a very high level. A player can go a game without kicking a ball nowadays.

Back in 98 Brian Lacey went the whole championship without kicking the ball and still won an all star. These days corner backs are expected to score a couple of points per game.

djPSB

Hibbeler wrote: »

Absolute nonsense! While yes fitness and strength is playing a bigger role nowadays for gaelic footballers I think you are underestimating the skill level still there in the game. The way the game is changing may be evolving but the ability to catch a high ball out of the air or to place an accurate kick pass are skills you can never learn in the gym.

High catching is pretty much becoming redundant now. A lot of teams are even conceeding kick outs now, just dropping back an allowing the other team gain possession. Cluxton has perfected kick out accuracy to be fair but he's an exception.

Hibbeler wrote: »

Your example of MDMA is very selective in that yes he is a workhorse but you are neglecting to mention that while he can put the leg work in he is surrounded by talented players the envy of most other counties who can win games by their finesse and can capitalise on the moves created.

Agree there somewhat. The likes of Brogan, Flynn, Mannion etc. are exceptionally skillful. The Dubs are a bad example though, they are in a class of their own. I suppose if you look a the mid division football teams and club football in general, I think my point becomes more valid.

Watched the Mayo v Roscommon game last weekend. Think it was 4 points to 3 at half time. Only one or two points from play. There was lads attempting to kick points and missing the netting behind the goal. These are lads who train multiple times a week, yet when it comes to a fundamental of the game i.e. kicking, they are pretty sub standard. Would love to see these lads spending more time working on kicking rather than been ran around a pitch like a bunch of race horses!!!

Hibbeler wrote: »

I would also point to recent Kildare teams under McGeeney who were considered very fit and strong and labelled 'Gym Monkeys', However when they came up against teams that beat them on quality they were goosed.

Kildare are a prime example. Big and strong, cannot kick the ball yet they have been playing division 1 football for years.

Hibbeler wrote: »

Another unpopular opinion from me: There is such a thing as poor hurling game and yes some of these poor hurling games are less enjoyable to watch then poor football or soccer games. Hurling is not special in this regard. No one would call an overly one sided game enjoyable to watch in any code and those sort of games can happen too often in hurling

There is such thing as a poor game of hurling. There is such thing as an uncomepetitive game of hurling which is different. For example, Kilkenny walloped Offaly last weekend. A very uncompetitive game, yet some of the skill on show from the Kilkenny players was exceptional.

ciarriaithuaidh

djPSB wrote: »

High catching is pretty much becoming redundant now. A lot of teams are even conceeding kick outs now, just dropping back an allowing the other team gain possession. Cluxton has perfected kick out accuracy to be fair but he's an exception.



Agree there somewhat. The likes of Brogan, Flynn, Mannion etc. are exceptionally skillful. The Dubs are a bad example though, they are in a class of their own. I suppose if you look a the mid division football teams and club football in general, I think my point becomes more valid.

Watched the Mayo v Roscommon game last weekend. Think it was 4 points to 3 at half time. Only one or two points from play. There was lads attempting to kick points and missing the netting behind the goal. These are lads who train multiple times a week, yet when it comes to a fundamental of the game i.e. kicking, they are pretty sub standard. Would love to see these lads spending more time working on kicking rather than been ran around a pitch like a bunch of race horses!!!



Kildare are a prime example. Big and strong, cannot kick the ball yet they have been playing division 1 football for years.



There is such thing as a poor game of hurling. There is such thing as an uncomepetitive game of hurling which is different. For example, Kilkenny walloped Offaly last weekend. A very uncompetitive game, yet some of the skill on show from the Kilkenny players was exceptional.

The bolded bit is patently nonsense anyway. Kildare for most of the McGeeney reign kicked the ball more than any other county.

hurling_lad

Everything that intercounty managers say in relation to rule changes should be completely ignored.

rebel girl 15

Ungrateful supporters who don't realise the amount of work that goes in to getting success. Ungrateful supporters who are very quick to abuse players on forums, twitter and facebook not realizing the amount of sacrifice that goes into being a modern day intercounty player no matter how much success the county has. The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best, yet the people who put the hard work behind the scenes are not recognized nor are shouting it from the rooftops. KK had a conveyor belt of talent due to hard work put in with development squads, ahead of everyone else. Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie. Dublin having put a proper plan in place to get a foothold for GAA in the city, and development for hurling have now become successful, the football is also successful which now has calls for the county to be split.

Cork ladies are not given enough recognition for what they have achieved. Won 8 out of the last 9 All Ireland titles against six different sides - Briege Corkery winning every one of them and four camogie on top of that. Look at how much Shefflin is lauded, yet Corkery and the other girls don't get that recognition. Group of five that have played in all 8 finals.

Dick phelan

1 Damien Fitzhenry was a better keeper than either DOC or Brendan Cummins an absolute beast in goal best keeper of the last 20 years for me.

2 Paul Flynn is the greatest Waterford player ever

3 Dublin have an unfair advantage over other teams because they play at home in big games.

4 Maurice Fitzgerald was better than Paul Galvin.

5 Roscommon will win an all ireland in the next 5 years.

6 Tony Kelly should not have won Hurler of the Year Anthony Nash should.

7 The game has evolved to such an extent that the likes of Ring and Mackey would be nowhere near the skill level of modern greats.

Fireball07

Dick phelan wrote: »

1 Damien Fitzhenry was a better keeper than either DOC or Brendan Cummins an absolute beast in goal best keeper of the last 20 years for me. Fitzhenry was class, he's right up there.

2 Paul Flynn is the greatest Waterford player ever Loved Flynn, wouldn't agree with that.

3 Dublin have an unfair advantage over other teams because they play at home in big games.

4 Maurice Fitzgerald was better than Paul Galvin. That's not really an unpopular opinion, most people think Maurice Fitz is one of the greatest ever.

5 Roscommon will win an all ireland in the next 5 years.

6 Tony Kelly should not have won Hurler of the Year Anthony Nash should. Strongly disagree, I don't think Nash would have won it ahead of Horgan either

7 The game has evolved to such an extent that the likes of Ring and Mackey would be nowhere near the skill level of modern greats. Again, I think people agree with that... but it's not really a fair comparison... as you say, the game has changed.

.

shockframe

The belief that some people have of footballers being inferior to hurlers.

For all the talk of Hurling being streets ahead of Football in terms of skill nearly every inter county footballer I know has been someways useful when playing hurling and that's even when they don't play it as regularly as club/county hurlers do.

Mountainlad

shockframe wrote: »

The belief that some people have of footballers being inferior to hurlers.

For all the talk of Hurling being streets ahead of Football in terms of skill nearly every inter county footballer I know has been someways useful when playing hurling and that's even when they don't play it as regularly as club/county hurlers do.

Don't see what this proves? Shane Walsh and Brick Walsh played on a Waterford u21 team that beat a team with Gooch, Declan O Sullivan, Donaghy and Seamus Scanlon in a Munster final. Both start fir the hurlers, neither renowned as skilful players though.

Hurling requires more skill, that doesn't mean the best hurlers would be better footballers than those right now or vice versa.

RoscommonTom

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Ungrateful supporters who don't realise the amount of work that goes in to getting success. Ungrateful supporters who are very quick to abuse players on forums, twitter and facebook not realizing the amount of sacrifice that goes into being a modern day intercounty player no matter how much success the county has.

This is the best one yet,

Gentleman Off The Pitch

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Ungrateful supporters who don't realise the amount of work that goes in to getting success. Ungrateful supporters who are very quick to abuse players on forums, twitter and facebook not realizing the amount of sacrifice that goes into being a modern day intercounty player no matter how much success the county has. The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best, yet the people who put the hard work behind the scenes are not recognized nor are shouting it from the rooftops. KK had a conveyor belt of talent due to hard work put in with development squads, ahead of everyone else. Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie. .

I know these are your unpopular opinions and by their nature, not everyone is supposed to agree with them, but allow me to respond to two statements you've made


"The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best"
- quite a petty jibe, no?. At least KK people have had an excuse to claim this in recent years. If I was to be petty, I could state that this is in contrast to many Cork supporters who the well earned reputation of being constantly insufferrable irrespective of the fortunes of their senior teams. Imagine how unbearible those Cork fans would be if they had even 50% of the succcess Kilkenny have had in the last 15 years.

"Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie"

- Here's that perception, again, that nothing but hurling is played in KK. Don't equate a lack of interest in Gaelic football with a 100% dominance of hurling. Soccer is hugely popular in KK, there are many hurling clubs in KK whose disappointing performance in the club scene for many years is widely considered to be due to the popularity of soccer in the parish/town. Also, have a look at the record of KK soccer teams in Leinster championships, even St. Kierans, the hurling nursery have had success at national level. I won't attempt to list all sports played in Kilkenny but the idea that even one lives and breaths hurling in KK is nonsense, when I was in school in St. Kierans for example, far more students in my year did not play hurling than did. I know it's comforting for outsiders to put KK's success down to 100% focus on hurling but that is simply not the case.

Clareman

It doesn't matter who the best team was, or who you've beaten along the way, all that matters is who wins.
Provincial championships are a joke and are leading to a lobsided championship, in truth Kerry/Cork will have 1 game to a quarter final whereas Ulster counties could have 5.
Players will never be paid, the population just isn't big enough to support 64 paid teams, rugby is barely able to pay for 4.
98 was a complete disgrace to the GAA, Clare having players banned with no evidence and a game blown up has to have been a conspiracy.
The Waterford team of the 00's should have won something.

Godge

Dick phelan wrote: »

3 Dublin have an unfair advantage over other teams because they play at home in big games.

.

The thread is about unpopular opinions. There is a thread a week complaining about Dublin's so-called unfair advantage.

keane2097 wrote: »

This.

Have said it to a lot of people, Dublin have the most money, but they also get the most bang for their buck by running their county superbly well.

When every other county can look at their own spending and structures and honestly say they're as optimised as they could be they can start complaining if they still can't compete at that point, till then Dublin deserve their success on merit.

Now this is more like an unpopular opinion. It is very easy to blame your own county's failings on the fellas in the big smoke with the unfair advantage. It is much more difficult to look at your neighbours and friends and compatriots and criticise constructively what they are doing and put in the hard work to improve.

NavyandBlue

Professionalism would be mostly detrimental to the wider interests of a large section of intercounty players. The players wouldn't earn enough to set them up for the rest of life. The last thing we would want is a situation comparable to League1/League 2 in England where the players earn anywhere between a few hundred quid to about a thousand pound a week, retire in their mid thirties and have to fend for themselves in another environment thereafter. There won't be enough room in coaching for the majority of retried players. At present, anyone playing on the intercounty minor team stands a great chance of a University scholarship (as long as they are somewhat tuned into the books as well) and therefore can obtain a third level qualification. So they can enhance their long term career prospects as well as honing their particular football/hurling skills.

NilesCrane

That the provincial system keeps the old tradition of old Ireland alive yet they would never like to see Fermanagh and Donegal join up for a Tir Connail team.

savannahkat

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best, yet the people who put the hard work behind the scenes are not recognized nor are shouting it from the rooftops. KK had a conveyor belt of talent due to hard work put in with development squads, ahead of everyone else. Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie..

Little wonder Kilkenny people become insufferable when we have to read this kind of crap. You would think there is no soccer, rugby, basketball, cricket or anything other than hurling played in Kilkenny. There is but those who follow hurling and are interested in hurling work non stop to keep it at the top.

Fireball07

Clareman wrote: »

Provincial championships are a joke and are leading to a lobsided championship, in truth Kerry/Cork will have 1 game to a quarter final whereas Ulster counties could have 5.

I disagree with this one strongly, I guess that's why it's an unpopular opinion.


Not so much about the lop-sided Championship thing, that is a valid point, but the provincial Championships aren't a joke. They are a more realistic aim for smaller counties to win something... it mightn't happen very often, but when it does, it's great for them. It is still silverware and I'd rather win a provincial Championship than lose a semi-final any day of the week.

Hibbeler

djPSB wrote: »

High catching is pretty much becoming redundant now. A lot of teams are even conceeding kick outs now, just dropping back an allowing the other team gain possession. Cluxton has perfected kick out accuracy to be fair but he's an exception.

Agree there somewhat. The likes of Brogan, Flynn, Mannion etc. are exceptionally skillful. The Dubs are a bad example though, they are in a class of their own. I suppose if you look a the mid division football teams and club football in general, I think my point becomes more valid.

You used Michael Daragh McAuley in your original point and now you turn around and say that the Dubs are a poor example. :rolleyes: MDMA is a worker in what is mostly a highly talented and skillful Dublin team

I see what you're saying about the lower ranked teams however, but I'm not sure that your analysis is fair because really the main difference between gaelic football now and the supposedly more skillful past is tactics. You in fact highlighted this with your kickout observation. Teams no longer just blindly hoof the ball to midfield and hope for the best.

djPSB wrote: »

There is such thing as a poor game of hurling. There is such thing as an uncomepetitive game of hurling which is different. For example, Kilkenny walloped Offaly last weekend. A very uncompetitive game, yet some of the skill on show from the Kilkenny players was exceptional.

No. For me it doesnt matter the skills on show, in any sport if one team is annihilating the other team and the game is overwhelmingly one sided then that is most definitely a poor game. I have no doubt that the skills on show by Kilkenny were excellent but would their skillfullness not be undermined by the poor show by Offaly? Would they have been able to get away with the same against Clare or Cork or someone who could challenge them

But other than it really has to be said that a wildly uncompetitive match such as the one you've pointed to is a poor match because it's not really a match is it? the same goes for all sports

Hibbeler

Clareman wrote: »

Players will never be paid, the population just isn't big enough to support 64 paid teams, rugby is barely able to pay for 4.

Some form of pay of play is inevitable imo, however there most certainly will not be 1 team in each county. Most likely there will be 10-12 teams each in football and hurling coming possibly from amalgamated county teams. Anything more would be ridiculous.

NavyandBlue wrote: »

Professionalism would be mostly detrimental to the wider interests of a large section of intercounty players. The players wouldn't earn enough to set them up for the rest of life. The last thing we would want is a situation comparable to League1/League 2 in England where the players earn anywhere between a few hundred quid to about a thousand pound a week, retire in their mid thirties and have to fend for themselves in another environment thereafter. There won't be enough room in coaching for the majority of retried players. At present, anyone playing on the intercounty minor team stands a great chance of a University scholarship (as long as they are somewhat tuned into the books as well) and therefore can obtain a third level qualification. So they can enhance their long term career prospects as well as honing their particular football/hurling skills.

Has this stopped footballers in England playing football in the lower leagues? Why would that be any different for professional GAA players? I'm sure there are many that would jump at the chance to play professionally.

Sure some professional sportsmen are better with their money than others and for me that's their own choice to make. There are even cases of retired premier league footballers going bankrupt outside the game having blown all their money. And you couldn't really argue that they weren't paid enough to begin with

shockframe

Mountainlad wrote: »

Don't see what this proves? Shane Walsh and Brick Walsh played on a Waterford u21 team that beat a team with Gooch, Declan O Sullivan, Donaghy and Seamus Scanlon in a Munster final. Both start fir the hurlers, neither renowned as skilful players though.

Hurling requires more skill, that doesn't mean the best hurlers would be better footballers than those right now or vice versa.

I know well that the 2 players you mentioned are good at football. They stopped us from getting to a munster semi final at minor back in 2001.

I just find this notion that 'Football is a game for those who can't hurl' as incredibly naive and spouted by people who are ignorant of what it takes to become good at Gaelic Football.

Loughnane (who I actually like listening to on hurling) said something today along the lines of how it was a miracle that Aidan Walsh was good at hurling despite football was unbelievable. Paul Kinnerk never played much hurling in his life but still coached Clare to minor, under 21 and senior all ireland finals.

Looking at how Walsh has performed so far this season could make you wonder about some Cork players who devote all their time to hurling.Alan Cadogan and Damien Cahalane to a lesser extent.

There are parts of football that can be beneficial in playing hurling and parts of hurling that can also be beneficial in playig football.

All sports take a certain degree of skill to make it to the highest level.Hurling is no different.(to be fair you did acknowledge this somewhat earlier here). If anything its as easy to them as it is to a tennis/basketball/gaelic football player playing their chosen sport after a while.

rebel girl 15

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

I know these are your unpopular opinions and by their nature, not everyone is supposed to agree with them, but allow me to respond to two statements you've made


"The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best"
- quite a petty jibe, no?. At least KK people have had an excuse to claim this in recent years. If I was to be petty, I could state that this is in contrast to many Cork supporters who the well earned reputation of being constantly insufferrable irrespective of the fortunes of their senior teams. Imagine how unbearible those Cork fans would be if they had even 50% of the succcess Kilkenny have had in the last 15 years.

"Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie"

- Here's that perception, again, that nothing but hurling is played in KK. Don't equate a lack of interest in Gaelic football with a 100% dominance of hurling. Soccer is hugely popular in KK, there are many hurling clubs in KK whose disappointing performance in the club scene for many years is widely considered to be due to the popularity of soccer in the parish/town. Also, have a look at the record of KK soccer teams in Leinster championships, even St. Kierans, the hurling nursery have had success at national level. I won't attempt to list all sports played in Kilkenny but the idea that even one lives and breaths hurling in KK is nonsense, when I was in school in St. Kierans for example, far more students in my year did not play hurling than did. I know it's comforting for outsiders to put KK's success down to 100% focus on hurling but that is simply not the case.

Let me respond to both - I missed a key word there, and it was some. There are some Kilkenny supporters who are just insufferable about it, and are bandwagon supporters who are just looking for a reaction from people. Most KK people I know aren't arrogant about their success - they have enjoyed it but don't feel the need to ram it down everyone's throat at every opportunity they get. Its the same as Dublin supporters jumping on their success and becoming bandwagon fans, yet the same as certain loudmouth KK supporters, they become very quiet once there is a defeat. Same as Cork supporters jumping on a bandwagon and being insufferable. Certain people paint a very bad picture for their county. I mentioned KK because there was a mention of KK on thread already but my point goes across all counties. You can win everything around you, but not be insufferable about it - claim you are the best, yes, expect to win every game yes. But claiming certain competitions are held just so other teams can win some silverware, well, I'm not sure what word you would use to describe it, probably a word I shouldn't use on here!!!

On the second point, it was taken out of context - the development squads I mentioned were put in place long long before any other sport became popular. It automatically gave the county a focus on one sport, before anything else was popular. Thats where the KK domination at minor, U21 and senior level around the 00's came from - What was the most popular sport in the schools? Nowadays, yes there is more competition, but nothing like what a lot of clubs in Dublin and Cork for example have to deal with, where there is nearly every sport going, which makes it much harder to co-ordinate times for games etc.

You mentioned the lack of interest in football, I never did. The fact the team are competing in a junior championship and doing well shows interested, beat London by a point and hammered a poor Lancashire team - but you automatically presumed that was my point, which it was not. It has got two parts to it, the first part being the fact that 15, nearly 20 years ago the development squad plan was put in place, and kids were drawn to it. Our Feile in 2011, the KK girls club Thomastown were division 3 -

The second is numbers - correct me if I get any of these wrong, 44 GAA clubs in Kilkenny, 12 play football, 33 camogie clubs, 6 ladies football clubs, ~15 soccer clubs, ~10 basketball clubs, 8/9 athletics clubs. I took the sports from the KK people's sports page. So looking from outside in, what is the dominant sport by club numbers, its hurling and camogie, an uneducated view - my point is that numbers dominance stems from the work done 15 years ago, schools coaching, development squads, development booklets, long before any other county. I accept your point that it is waning, some could say a reflection on the success of the county last year, the dominance of underage hurling has waned.

Let me clarify one point raised by a KK supporter on this thread, I have NEVER been jealous of the success of the county of KK, but I have to say I was looking at the structures within KK for development and saying why can't they do that in Cork? Why can the ladies football, (13/14 years) and the camogie in more recent years all do that underage development and the men's board can't get off their backsides to do it - appointing idiots as managers with some teams, yet KK get former players trained as coaches and in as managers of their development squads. Cork are now in the last 2 years doing it.

You can say what Kilkenny started, Dublin have copied and improved on, given the success they have been having in hurling and camogie, underage camogie definitely. Ulster have worked on it at a provincial level. Dublin are probably the new standard bearers in terms of coaching and development, something that I believe started in Kilkenny hurling, and has just gotten bigger and bigger all over the country. If we in Cork started that ten years ago, we'd be in a much better position than we are now.

That's my opinion on the whole thing, unpopular as it may be, but I've backed it up with my reasons behind it, rather than a smart one line answer or be argumentative about it.

DDC1990

My one after today:

Joe Brolly was right about Cavanagh all along. He's so talented and on his day one of the best.

However lately he's become the most cynical high profile player and the most effective cheat in the game.

He's far from the only player but he has every trick in his armoury and referees fall for his tricks every time. Its horrible to see a guy of his talent have to resort to these tactics.

Whatever about the pulling guys down, the dramatic falls, outright dives and pulling of players arms and diving are disgraceful.

Hope he proves me wrong for the rest of the season but so far in the championship he's played 3 games and he's diahonestly won frees in all of those games.

savannahkat

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

The second is numbers - correct me if I get any of these wrong, 44 GAA clubs in Kilkenny, 12 play football, 33 camogie clubs, 6 ladies football clubs, ~15 soccer clubs, ~10 basketball clubs, 8/9 athletics clubs. I took the sports from the KK people's sports page. So looking from outside in, what is the dominant sport by club numbers, its hurling and camogie, an uneducated view - my point is that numbers dominance stems from the work done 15 years ago, schools coaching, development squads, development booklets, long before any other county. I accept your point that it is waning, some could say a reflection on the success of the county last year, the dominance of underage hurling has waned.

http://kilkennyandsoutheastareabasketballboard.com/kilkenny_clubs.html At least this will tell you the correct number of senior basketball clubs in Kilkenny which is 12 and this will tell you the number in Cork which is 20 htp://www.corkbasketball.com/gpage5.html.
Now if you are going to spoof you might as well state the facts Kilkenny with a population of 91'000 field 12 senior teams while Cork with a population of over 500'000 field 20.

Now this will give you the number of junior soccer clubs in Kilkenny which is 22 drawn from a population still at 91'000 http://www.sportsmanager.ie/cake/football/kilkennysoccer/contentPage/73275/j_u_n_i_o_r_c_l_u_b_sand and this will show cork to have less than 60.http://www.corkaul.com/ and still with a population of over 500'000
Totally disproves your wee pet theory now doesen't it

GBXI

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

Ungrateful supporters who don't realise the amount of work that goes in to getting success. Ungrateful supporters who are very quick to abuse players on forums, twitter and facebook not realizing the amount of sacrifice that goes into being a modern day intercounty player no matter how much success the county has. The likes of KK supporters being insufferable about being the best, yet the people who put the hard work behind the scenes are not recognized nor are shouting it from the rooftops. KK had a conveyor belt of talent due to hard work put in with development squads, ahead of everyone else. Without doubt, focusing their county on one sport, without having the draw of "foreign" sports that places like Cork and Dublin GAA have to compete against has given them a huge benefit, no matter what their population for both hurling and camogie. Dublin having put a proper plan in place to get a foothold for GAA in the city, and development for hurling have now become successful, the football is also successful which now has calls for the county to be split.

Not being smart here, but the title of the thread is unpopular GAA opinions you hold. The above is one long rant, there is no opinion expressed at all.

Tombo2001

Dublin should be removed from the Leinster Football Championships and should get an automatic bye to the quarterfinals.

They have won 9 out of the past 10 Leinster Championships, probably will win 9 out of next ten, at least.

We all know they will make the quarters, so why bother with the scherade.

Its not like the hurling where Kilkenny might have a golden crop, but Offaly or Wexford or Dublin could conceivably have their own golden crop.

No matter how good Laois or Wexford are, they will never beat Dublin so whats the point.

If we took Dublin out, then the Leinster Championship would be a proper championship where we would have proper games like Tyrone v Monaghan yesterday; where the winner knows that while they are highly unlikely to win the All Ireland title, they both have a very real chance of winning the Ulster title.

intellectual dosser

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Dublin should be removed from the Leinster Football Championships and should get an automatic bye to the quarterfinals.

They have won 9 out of the past 10 Leinster Championships, probably will win 9 out of next ten, at least.

We all know they will make the quarters, so why bother with the scherade.

Its not like the hurling where Kilkenny might have a golden crop, but Offaly or Wexford or Dublin could conceivably have their own golden crop.

No matter how good Laois or Wexford are, they will never beat Dublin so whats the point.

If we took Dublin out, then the Leinster Championship would be a proper championship where we would have proper games like Tyrone v Monaghan yesterday; where the winner knows that while they are highly unlikely to win the All Ireland title, they both have a very real chance of winning the Ulster title.

We all hear about the extremes of the Dublin training schedule, why would team do this all year to play a maximum of 3 championship matches?

I think the root of your argument ties in with mine on page 14, either the provincial championships or the backdoor system need to be scrapped. Personally I dont think Carlow would have been humiliated so badly yesterday if they'd known there was were no safety net in the qualifiers.

Tombo2001

intellectual dosser wrote: »

We all hear about the extremes of the Dublin training schedule, why would team do this all year to play a maximum of 3 championship matches?

I think the root of your argument ties in with mine on page 14, either the provincial championships or the backdoor system need to be scrapped. Personally I dont think Carlow would have been humiliated so badly yesterday if they'd known there was were no safety net in the qualifiers.

Dublin isnt better than all the rest because they train harder.

Its because they have a pool of people thats twenty times larger than anyone else, allied to sponsorhip money that far exceeds anyone else.

I wouldnt be so concerned about Carlow, that county has rightly taken the view that 'we are just here to make up the numbers, why the hell should we bother'. Thats harsh on the management and the players; but the reality is that its players that could be there for Carlow but dont bother, thats the reason that county is where it is. And they are right not to bother. Do you think the guys playing for Carlow RFC are regretting giving up the GAA right now?

I'd be more concerned about Laois last week. They bust a gut all winter, train every bit as hard as any Dublin player does, get the very best out of every county player they have and still Dublin just swat them away. Whats the motivation for the Laois player to come back next year? What have they got to play for?

I made the analogy in an earlier post.....its like a soccer championship where Germany plays Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Malta. There will only be one winner.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

intellectual dosser

Dublin didnt look immortal against Laois but they will still win Leinster at a canter.

Taking Dublin out of Leinster isn't the answer Tombo2001, perhaps something along the lines of Nicky Rackard in hurling would be more suitable for the weaker teams, but I still think we need a more fundamental overhaul in the championship structure. Do away with the provincials and the backdoor and go with a champions league format, every team gets to play a minimum of 6 championship matches a year.

I think that a kid in Longford has the same chance of developing into a Peter Canavan as a kid in Dublin, but if Longford are playing only two championship games a year (and losing both) then theres no inspiration or motivation as that kid develops.

Tombo2001

intellectual dosser wrote: »

Dublin didnt look immortal against Laois but they will still win Leinster at a canter.

Taking Dublin out of Leinster isn't the answer Tombo2001, perhaps something along the lines of Nicky Rackard in hurling would be more suitable for the weaker teams, but I still think we need a more fundamental overhaul in the championship structure. Do away with the provincials and the backdoor and go with a champions league format, every team gets to play a minimum of 6 championship matches a year.

I think that a kid in Longford has the same chance of developing into a Peter Canavan as a kid in Dublin, but if Longford are playing only two championship games a year (and losing both) then theres no inspiration or motivation as that kid develops.

Why not, the gap between Dublin and the second best far exceeds the gap between the second best and the rest......

If you take Dublin out you will have a proper championship.

If you set up some Nicky Rackard thing, and Dublin stays in, then Dublin will win it every year.

I'd disagree that a kid in longford has the same chance of developing into a Peter Canavan as a kid in Dublin.

Was Peter Canavan a better footballer than Mattie Forde? Mattie Forde never had Brian Dooher feeding passes to him. How good would Paul Barden look if he played for Dublin?

And the laws of statistics say that Dublin has a far far better chance of unearthing a gem of a player than Longford does.

intellectual dosser

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Why not, the gap between Dublin and the second best far exceeds the gap between the second best and the rest......

If you take Dublin out you will have a proper championship.

If you set up some Nicky Rackard thing, and Dublin stays in, then Dublin will win it every year.

Because its not fair on Dublin, why should they be omitted just because they're better? They've had their droughts too, why wouldnt they be allowed to challenge every year.

Take the weaker teams out and allow them to be competitive amongst one another in a Nicky Rackard type competition while the Leinster championship still goes ahead with Dublin, Meath, Kildare etc. Then again I want to emphasize this wouldnt be my preference overall.

Tombo2001

intellectual dosser wrote: »

Because its not fair on Dublin, why should they be omitted just because they're better? They've had their droughts too, why wouldnt they be allowed to challenge every year.

Take the weaker teams out and allow them to be competitive amongst one another in a Nicky Rackard type competition while the Leinster championship still goes ahead with Dublin, Meath, Kildare etc. Then again I want to emphasize this wouldnt be my preference overall.

You cant on the one hand say the weaker counties should be omitted (Nicky Rackard set up) and then say that its not fair to omit Dublin.....

The reality is that as a competition the Leinster Championship is redundant because Dublin are so far ahead of the pack. The only way to fix that is take Dublin out. Thats my (unpopular!) opinion. I dont see any other solution.

Of course it will never happen, for financial reasons. The same reason Dublin will never play an away game.

intellectual dosser

Tombo2001 wrote: »

You cant on the one hand say the weaker counties should be omitted (Nicky Rackard set up) and then say that its not fair to omit Dublin.....

The reality is that as a competition the Leinster Championship is redundant because Dublin are so far ahead of the pack. The only way to fix that is take Dublin out. Thats my (unpopular!) opinion. I dont see any other solution.

You're nearly there....

The reality is that as a competition the Leinster Championship is redundant because Dublin are so far ahead of the pack. The only way to fix that is to do away with the Leinster Championship

(Going back to my own unpopular opinion of removing all provincials)

Tombo2001

intellectual dosser wrote: »

You're nearly there....

The reality is that as a competition the Leinster Championship is redundant because Dublin are so far ahead of the pack. The only way to fix that is to do away with the Leinster Championship

(Going back to my own unpopular opinion of removing all provincials)

Nope, I'd disagree with that.

Going back to Monaghan yesterday. Monaghan arent trying to win the all-ireland. They are trying to win Ulster. It gives them something to play for. If they retain Ulster and get to an all-ireland semi, really it won't get better than that for them.

Same in leinster, a leinster championship with Meath, Laois, Kildare, Westmeath, Wexford fighting it out could be great. None of them think they are going to win the all-ireland....

DoctaDee

Dublin should be allowed entered a B team in the Leinster Championship

There's only 5 or so players from other counties that would be good enough to make the Duiblin panel

Tombo2001

DoctaDee wrote: »

Dublin should be allowed entered a B team in the Leinster Championship

There's only 5 or so players from other counties that would be good enough to make the Duiblin panel

Do you mean enter two teams?

intellectual dosser

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Nope, I'd disagree with that.

Going back to Monaghan yesterday. Monaghan arent trying to win the all-ireland. They are trying to win Ulster. It gives them something to play for. If they retain Ulster and get to an all-ireland semi, really it won't get better than that for them.

Same in leinster, a leinster championship with Meath, Laois, Kildare, Westmeath, Wexford fighting it out could be great. None of them think they are going to win the all-ireland....

In the last 15 years there have been only 4 different winners of Ulster (with Donegal and Monaghan only creeping in within the last 3 years). For the most exciting of the provincials its not that diverse when it comes to winners.

Monaghan have every right to push for an All Ireland, they of all teams know they can beat anyone on their day.

Dublin wont be kingpins of the All Ireland forever so having them start from the QF wont work, but in Leinster they will be dominant much longer.

Wanderer2010

I dont want to read about or see the Brogan brothers in every single news article or tv piece about Dublin football. Why only focus on those two, it must be really annoying to the other players on the team when any major game is played, the media go straight for the 2 pretty boys with a wealthy background for "their feedback", are there not other people on the team that also play well and do their county proud? I certainly dont know because they only ever seem to interview them two. Then you have them featured in glossy newspaper magazines talking about their clothes, love life and holidays plans. Jesus, get over yourselves, you are not celebrities, you are hurlers, end of. Its that kind of attention that swells the heads of GAA players, ive seen it time and time again where hurlers etc swagger around nightclubs like they are 50 Cent or something with people hanging on their every word and adoring them.

Enough with making huge stars out of one or two players, same with Rob Kearney and his brother- OTHER PEOPLE EXIST. And this habit of concentrating on just one or two players alienates everyone else on the team. Enough already.

Royce McCutcheon

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

I dont want to read about or see the Brogan brothers in every single news article or tv piece about Dublin hurling. Why only focus on those two, it must be really annoying to the other players on the team when any major game is played, the media go straight for the 2 pretty boys with a wealthy background for "their feedback", are there not other people on the team that also play well and do their county proud? I certainly dont know because they only ever seem to interview them two. Then you have them featured in glossy newspaper magazines talking about their clothes, love life and holidays plans. Jesus, get over yourselves, you are not celebrities, you are hurlers, end of. Its that kind of attention that swells the heads of GAA players, ive seen it time and time again where hurlers swagger around nightclubs like they are 50 Cent or something with people hanging on their every word and adoring them.

Enough with making huge stars out of one or two players, same with Rob Kearney and his brother- OTHER PEOPLE EXIST. And this habit of concentrating on just one or two players alienates everyone else on the team. Enough already.

I presume you mean football but I dont think they are the icons or wannabe icons you are making them out to be , the likes of Ciaran Kilkenny and MDMA get plenty of coverage while Diarmuid Connolly always makes it into the paper one way or another!

DoctaDee

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

I dont want to read about or see the Brogan brothers in every single news article or tv piece about Dublin hurling. Why only focus on those two, it must be really annoying to the other players on the team when any major game is played, the media go straight for the 2 pretty boys with a wealthy background for "their feedback", are there not other people on the team that also play well and do their county proud? I certainly dont know because they only ever seem to interview them two. Then you have them featured in glossy newspaper magazines talking about their clothes, love life and holidays plans. Jesus, get over yourselves, you are not celebrities, you are hurlers, end of. Its that kind of attention that swells the heads of GAA players, ive seen it time and time again where hurlers swagger around nightclubs like they are 50 Cent or something with people hanging on their every word and adoring them.

Enough with making huge stars out of one or two players, same with Rob Kearney and his brother- OTHER PEOPLE EXIST. And this habit of concentrating on just one or two players alienates everyone else on the team. Enough already.

I thought this was a typo .. but reading on it's not ... there's little to say to ya brother

Saint Sonner

I support Tyrone (everyone hates us these days! )

Wanderer2010

I have edited it to reflect football, lets not forget my points though which are still very valid. Making stars out of one or two people at the expense of everyone else- stupid.

Tombo2001

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

I dont want to read about or see the Brogan brothers in every single news article or tv piece about Dublin football. Why only focus on those two, it must be really annoying to the other players on the team when any major game is played, the media go straight for the 2 pretty boys with a wealthy background for "their feedback", are there not other people on the team that also play well and do their county proud? I certainly dont know because they only ever seem to interview them two. Then you have them featured in glossy newspaper magazines talking about their clothes, love life and holidays plans. Jesus, get over yourselves, you are not celebrities, you are hurlers, end of. Its that kind of attention that swells the heads of GAA players, ive seen it time and time again where hurlers etc swagger around nightclubs like they are 50 Cent or something with people hanging on their every word and adoring them.

Enough with making huge stars out of one or two players, same with Rob Kearney and his brother- OTHER PEOPLE EXIST. And this habit of concentrating on just one or two players alienates everyone else on the team. Enough already.

Michael Darragh McAuley gets more press attention than any Leinster player outside of Dublin. Ditto Cluxton. Ditto Ciaran Kilkenny. Ditto Diarmuid Connolly etc etc.

Kieran81

the kerry team of the late 70's early 80's would not be remotely competitive with any all ireland winner from the last 10 years

MacBizzle

I think Joe Brolly is an absolute legend.

MacBizzle

Kieran81 wrote: »

the kerry team of the late 70's early 80's would not be remotely competitive with any all ireland winner from the last 10 years

In a positive or negative sense? As in, would they destroy every team or be destroyed by every team?