Unpopular Opinions - OP Updated with Threadban List 4/5/21

Batrachotox

Batrachotox wrote: »

Look I'll not dispute all of that

However

In the 2018-19 season directly prior to the World cup Ireland won a grand slam in the 6 nations and went on a world record equalling 18 match win streak which included a win over the All Blacks (which had only ever been done once before) and reached a ranking of #1 in the world. A few months before the world cup - I really don't think it's utterly ridiculous that people might have got their hopes up.

Yeah the team bottled it in the end but it would be churlish to suggest that they weren't ever in with a shot at winning.

Did ireland not get absolutely walloped shortly before that world cup in the 6 nations by england and came up v.short againest wales??



Surely this should have sent alarm bells ringing for the "team of us"....instead they believed their own hype, under estimated japan,and flunked out,at yet another world cup

Cienciano

Cienciano wrote: »

The trick to Ireland being "good" at rugby is that only 8 countries take it serious.

Guess how many different teams have ever won the football World Cup

Batrachotox

Batrachotox wrote: »

Guess how many different teams have ever won the football World Cup

A lot less than the amount that got as far as the semis :pac:

castletownman

The one thing that really grates about rugby, is the over-analysis and criticism by the pundits.

Ireland win and they are now world cup contenders. Ireland lose and all the players should have their future involvement questioned. Just this week, Sexton's captaincy is being called into question, while Stockdale is getting a lot of flak. They walked on water not too long ago. Same goes to Murray pre and post-World Cup. There never seems to be any middle ground.

And then considering there are few top tier countries that play the game, you'd think Ireland would time their peak to coincide with the World Cup. No, instead they go full throttle in the six nations in the same year when England, France and quite often Wales have bigger things in mind, injuries and fatigue inevitably piles up, while the hype goes into overdrive again with no basis in reality.

I suppose it's marvelous to the win the Six Nations in a World Cup year, especially because we might play England on St.Patrick's Day, and the fat bandwagoners can have a right day of porter while singing Ireland's Call.

cms88

yourdeadwright wrote: »

Fee paying schools are the majority of best teams so of course they will have more players picked from the better teams, that just makes sense, ?

We are ranked high in the world ? what the problem ,

Ireland Rugby teams have beaten every top team in the world more than once bar our one win over new Zeeland
, As a soccer fan I can't say the same about our soccer teams Italy & Germany and that about it in the last 20 years ,

In a friendly

doublejobbing 2

Unpopular Opinion-

Netflix is ****e. Most of their original content is fairly meh and they have a scant back catalogue of good shows that originally aired on TV- you are more likely to find good old TV shows on free services like the C4 player and Youtube.

Greyfox

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

Unpopular Opinion-

Netflix is ****e. Most of their original content is fairly meh and they have a scant back catalogue of good shows that originally aired on TV- you are more likely to find good old TV shows on free services like the C4 player and Youtube.

Definitely unpopular, theres always something worth watching on Netflix.

French Toast

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

Unpopular Opinion-

Netflix is ****e. Most of their original content is fairly meh and they have a scant back catalogue of good shows that originally aired on TV- you are more likely to find good old TV shows on free services like the C4 player and Youtube.

I'd agree a lot of their original content is average at best.

Overall though I reckon it's a cracking service. A lot of high quality, timeless stuff on there.

Omackeral

Deleted User wrote: »

They have won a competitive knock out match,admiteldly 30 plus years ago in italia 90

Officially goes down as a draw in the record books. The penalty shoot out is just used to determine who advances. Used to be a replay and sometimes even a coin toss!

Omackeral

Omackeral wrote: »

Officially goes down as a draw in the record books. The penalty shoot out is just used to determine who advances. Used to be a replay and sometimes even a coin toss!

Fair play....il happily admit not knowing the finer aspects of FIFA rules

You learn something new everyday

doublejobbing 2

French Toast wrote: »

I'd agree a lot of their original content is average at best.

Overall though I reckon it's a cracking service. A lot of high quality, timeless stuff on there.

The missus has an account. I think we have watched something on it together maybe a dozen times in 4 years. I would have no intention of paying for it.

The lack of an A to Z is its biggest failing. They are available for it on 3rd party sites but not NF itself.

thebronze14

Live and Dangerous by Thin Lizzy (a band I really like) is a hugely overrated album. They have a handful of their weakest songs on it and it's overproduced

partyguinness

castletownman wrote: »

The one thing that really grates about rugby, is the over-analysis and criticism by the pundits.

Ireland win and they are now world cup contenders. Ireland lose and all the players should have their future involvement questioned. Just this week, Sexton's captaincy is being called into question, while Stockdale is getting a lot of flak. They walked on water not too long ago. Same goes to Murray pre and post-World Cup. There never seems to be any middle ground.

And then considering there are few top tier countries that play the game, you'd think Ireland would time their peak to coincide with the World Cup. No, instead they go full throttle in the six nations in the same year when England, France and quite often Wales have bigger things in mind, injuries and fatigue inevitably piles up, while the hype goes into overdrive again with no basis in reality.

I suppose it's marvelous to the win the Six Nations in a World Cup year, especially because we might play England on St.Patrick's Day, and the fat bandwagoners can have a right day of porter while singing Ireland's Call.

I have said it many times over the years. The commentary on Irish rugby is like the English national football team.

- Win a game and they are world beaters and basically the greatest ever with the greatest players with the greatest manager

- Loss a game and it's end of the world stuff. Worst team, worst decision, players over the hill, doom and gloom

All this in the space of a week.

8-10

Clocks should stop changing twice a year

VAR should be scrapped entirely in soccer

Suckler

8-10 wrote: »

VAR should be scrapped entirely in soccer

I doubt that qualifies as unpopular....

Iscreamkone

I don't like to see banks, alcohol, tobacco and gambling companies advertising on sporting jerseys. They are trying to make themselves look more wholesome by associating with sporting teams, when in reality they are not worthy of this linkup. I especially hate to see it on amateur jerseys. Sonny Bill Williams is spot on re this issue.

8-10

Suckler wrote: »

I doubt that qualifies as unpopular....

It does. The prevailing popular opinion is that it is overall a good idea just poorly implemented. The popular opinion is to keep it with changes, not many want it completely scrapped and never revisited.

gormdubhgorm

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

on the topic of Sport I despise the GAA who rake in millions, from RTE, SkyTV, Guinness, etc and wont pay the players a single penny.

Then part of me dont blame them if the players are stupid enough to play for nothing after being brainwashed about some parochial pride.

Justin Credible Darts wrote: »

keep telling yourself that.


and all those directors too are working for free, out of parochial pride I guess too

You should read GAAconomics and educate yourself on the subject a bit.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GAAconomics-Michael-Moynihan/dp/071715453X

It is beyond question that the majority of money gets funnelled back into the grassroots of the GAA. It is how they have built so many stadia that are the envy of other codes, and are still at the fulcrum of community life.

Although your implied idea of the GAA paying players is nice in theory, it would likely lead to the organisations collapse. As it will lead to professionalism. And I believe as an Island like Ireland is much too small to make it viable.

You only have to look at how the LOI struggles. And how Rugby primarily survives because of the majority social class who play it. In other words more disposable income - plus a tied in plan with provinces and elite international level.

Also it is easy to laugh at the parochial ideals of the GAA. But again it is beyond doubt that a tight knit support network is created. For jobs, community and so on.
You only have to look at how many GAA clubs helped/are helping more vulnerable members of the community during covid19.

gormdubhgorm

thebronze14 wrote: »

Live and Dangerous by Thin Lizzy (a band I really like) is a hugely overrated album. They have a handful of their weakest songs on it and it's overproduced

I looked it up there, thought that is my fav Lizzy album!

Then I realised I only have just over half of it on my mp3 player:

"Introduction"/"Rosalie"
"The Boys Are Back in Town"
"Emerald"
"Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)"
"Still in Love with You"
"Don't Believe a Word"

Which is 6 songs out of 11.

gormdubhgorm

Deleted User wrote: »

Tbf at least hurling,soccer even snooker have a skill set....

Rugby seems to be just blokes crashing into each other and rolling around on the ground....calling it a ruck or rooling maul (:rolleyes:) deosnt improve it as spectacle or make it skilful

I used to think this. But there is a lot of skill and nuance that goes unnoticed by those who have not played the game. It is a very technical sport and hard to see what is going on at times.
I tried to get into it, but I will only ever be casual watcher as I have never played the game. I will admit a lot of it goes over my head.

Much easier to watch sports like soccer. hurling, gaa, snooker, boxing, athletics where it is far easier to see what is going on.

Plus I used to be one of those like you, who had a chip against the rugby crowd saying 'goys' and so on. But I look at it now as people being passionate about thier sport. They cannot help thier background. No more than a farmer from Kiltimagh can help it and is mad about Mayo. Or an electrician from Tallaght who is mad about Shamrock Rovers.

Now I realise that saying things like 'goys', 'eggball' for rugby. Or "bogball" "stick fighting" for the GAA says more about a person's chip on thier shoulder and prejudices than the the sports themselves.

It only succeeds in weakening any argument.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't worry about nonsensically hating sports I do not have a background in. Life is too short. Wasted energy.

Suckler

8-10 wrote: »

It does. The prevailing popular opinion is that it is overall a good idea just poorly implemented. The popular opinion is to keep it with changes, not many want it completely scrapped and never revisited.

We could derail the thread with "Anyone I talk to wants it gone/overhauled" etc.

I'll 'second your motion' and agree it should be scrapped entirely and never spoken of again.

I was at a corporate event before VAR was brought in, Pierluigi Collina was an after dinner guest. I asked about VAR and what he thought; he was very in favour of it due to the pace of the modern game etc.

Edit: My own unpopular opinion for today: This Leo Varadkar "issue" isn't an issue and shouldn't be given the time its been given.

gormdubhgorm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I used to think this. But there is a lot of skill and nuance that goes unnoticed by those who have not played the game. It is a very technical sport and hard to see what is going on at times.
I tried to get into it, but I will only ever be casual watcher as I have never played the game. I will admit a lot of it goes over my head.

Much easier to watch sports like soccer. hurling, gaa, snooker, boxing, athletics where it is far easier to see what is going on.

Plus I used to be one of those like you, who had a chip against the rugby crowd saying 'goys' and so on. But I look at it now as people being passionate about thier sport. They cannot help thier background. No more than a farmer from Kiltimagh can help it and is mad about Mayo. Or an electrician from Tallaght who is mad about Shamrock Rovers.

Now I realise that saying things like 'goys', 'eggball' for rugby. Or "bogball" "stick fighting" for the GAA says more about a person's chip on thier shoulder and prejudices than the the sports themselves.

It only succeeds in weakening any argument.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't worry about nonsensically hating sports I do not have a background in. Life is too short. Wasted energy.

There is no significant skill in it

Lads can be passionate about it all they want....no amount of hype,buzzwords is going to make it a good spectacle



Its only sport in world afaik,where supporters cheer,when their team kicks ball out of play,and try present this as a skilful.game....their fooling noone


The irfu have long since stopped taking qs from journalists who dont toe partyline or cheerlead the hype.....hence why all.the drug cheats caught get buried and glossed over as the goys begin to "level up" for the 6 nations,


The irfu are codding people into thinking ireland are world beaters/super pros....we're simply not,any journalist who deosnt "buy in" is shunned....leading to supporters paying inflated prices (in relation to entertainment value) for tickets to 6 nations in "HQ aviva"......over odds for the jersey,game over hyped to keep viewing figures artifically high and keep ad revenue rolling in.....

the whole "team of us" shíte is built on nonsense and hype,and excuses/"soul-searching" when its found out in competive knock out games....rinse and repeat every 4 years....

.meanwhile more and more get sucked in as irfu shuts out all people who critique/constructively anylyse the game properly....which leads to the ****e like last sat,where a pundit(ex international) predicted a win,perhaps even "bonus point",instead they get arse handed to em.....and confusion reigns among its 'support' as to what went wrong

whisky_galore

Greyfox wrote: »

Definitely unpopular, theres always something worth watching on Netflix.

No. Struggling to find anything good to watch now that I haven't seen already or automatically dislike from the blurb.

Netflix Irl are not great at timely adding of new seasons compared to elsewhere.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

There is no significant skill in it

Lads can be passionate about it all they want....no amount of hype,buzzwords is going to make it a good spectacle



Its only sport in world afaik,where supporters cheer,when their team kicks ball out of play,and try present this as a skilful.game....their fooling noone


The irfu have long since stopped taking qs from journalists who dont toe partyline or cheerlead the hype.....hence why all.the drug cheats caught get buried and glossed over as the goys begin to "level up" for the 6 nations,


The irfu are codding people into thinking ireland are world beaters/super pros....we're simply not,any journalist who deosnt "buy in" is shunned....leading to supporters paying inflated prices (in relation to entertainment value) for tickets to 6 nations in "HQ aviva"......over odds for the jersey,game over hyped to keep viewing figures artifically high and keep ad revenue rolling in.....

the whole "team of us" shíte is built on nonsense and hype,and excuses/"soul-searching" when its found out in competive knock out games....rinse and repeat every 4 years....

.meanwhile more and more get sucked in as irfu shuts out all people who critique/constructively anylyse the game properly....which leads to the ****e like last sat,where a pundit(ex international) predicted a win,perhaps even "bonus point",instead they get arse handed to em.....and confusion reigns among its 'support' as to what went wrong

That’s a load of me arse.

But you’re clearly not open to having your mind changed or your tightly held prejudices prised from you so there’s no point trying to tell you otherwise.

It’s a shame that you can’t stand to see others enjoying something even if you don’t like it.

I guess live and let live just isn’t a concept you can buy in to.

Batrachotox

Batrachotox wrote: »

That’s a load of me arse.

But you’re clearly not open to having your mind changed or your tightly held prejudices prised from you so there’s no point trying to tell you otherwise.

It’s a shame that you can’t stand to see others enjoying something even if you don’t like it.

I guess live and let live just isn’t a concept you can buy in to.

People are free to.enjoy it all they want....just i dont see the enjoyment in watching something with no skill set....its prob great to play....but as a spectacle is terrible,compared to other sports



Its bullsh1t built on hype,and once people begin to see through the rubbish from irfu,it will all fall apart


You cannot be happy to see a sport,you claim to love,riddled with drug cheats who regularly get resigned for top teams over and over after serving bans???
In 2018 (when irish rugby supposdely at its peak),didnt the munster captin at the time,come out strongly in support of re-signing a known drug cheat??

In a game,which is predicated on bigger,stronger players able to maintain mobility,should it not then send alarm bells ringing among its 'support' to see drug cheats rewarded to continue careers with top clubs,and deos this intice drug taking as it gives a 1 to 2 year window (if caught) to bulk legally on steroids and a top team will re-sign them???

Quazzie

Deleted User wrote: »

People are free to.enjoy it all they want....just i dont see the enjoyment in watching something with no skill set....its prob great to play....but as a spectacle is terrible,compared to other sports



Its bullsh1t built on hype,and once people begin to see through the rubbish from irfu,it will all fall apart


You cannot be happy to see a sport,you claim to love,riddled with drug cheats who regularly get resigned for top teams over and over after serving bans???
In 2018 (when irish rugby supposdely at its peak),didnt the munster captin at the time,come out strongly in support of re-signing a known drug cheat??

In a game,which is predicated on bigger,stronger players able to maintain mobility,should it not then send alarm bells ringing among its 'support' to see drug cheats rewarded to continue careers with top clubs,and deos this intice drug taking as it gives a 1 to 2 year window (if caught) to bulk legally on steroids and a top team will re-sign them???

Can you name even a sample of these drug cheats you claim the sport is "riddled" with?

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

People are free to.enjoy it all they want....just i dont see the enjoyment in watching something with no skill set....its prob great to play....but as a spectacle is terrible,compared to other sports



Its bullsh1t built on hype,and once people begin to see through the rubbish from irfu,it will all fall apart


You cannot be happy to see a sport,you claim to love,riddled with drug cheats who regularly get resigned for top teams over and over after serving bans???
In 2018 (when irish rugby supposdely at its peak),didnt the munster captin at the time,come out strongly in support of re-signing a known drug cheat??

In a game,which is predicated on bigger,stronger players able to maintain mobility,should it not then send alarm bells ringing among its 'support' to see drug cheats rewarded to continue careers with top clubs,and deos this intice drug taking as it gives a 1 to 2 year window (if caught) to bulk legally on steroids and a top team will re-sign them???

Yeah I’d be happy to discuss it all with you but you’re being very hyperbolic over gripes that aren’t even particularly applicable

“Riddled with drug cheats”? What’re you on about, Irish rugby players are the second most tested sportspeople in Ireland after cyclists, thousands of tests are done on them every year.

Riddled with drug cheats would suggest to me players would be getting popped for doping every second week.

They’re not. In fact it happens rarely enough (very few cases that I’m aware of involving Irish players and performance enhancing drugs).
I think the case you’re referring to is that of Gerbrandt Grobler? He was signed (to much outcry I may add) and played 11 games for them - he wasn’t renewed. I’m not a Munster fan so I can’t comment other than I wouldn’t have liked to see him playing at Leinster.

gormdubhgorm

Deleted User wrote: »

There is no significant skill in it

Lads can be passionate about it all they want....no amount of hype,buzzwords is going to make it a good spectacle



Its only sport in world afaik,where supporters cheer,when their team kicks ball out of play,and try present this as a skilful.game....their fooling noone


The irfu have long since stopped taking qs from journalists who dont toe partyline or cheerlead the hype.....hence why all.the drug cheats caught get buried and glossed over as the goys begin to "level up" for the 6 nations,


The irfu are codding people into thinking ireland are world beaters/super pros....we're simply not,any journalist who deosnt "buy in" is shunned....leading to supporters paying inflated prices (in relation to entertainment value) for tickets to 6 nations in "HQ aviva"......over odds for the jersey,game over hyped to keep viewing figures artifically high and keep ad revenue rolling in.....

the whole "team of us" shíte is built on nonsense and hype,and excuses/"soul-searching" when its found out in competive knock out games....rinse and repeat every 4 years....

.meanwhile more and more get sucked in as irfu shuts out all people who critique/constructively anylyse the game properly....which leads to the ****e like last sat,where a pundit(ex international) predicted a win,perhaps even "bonus point",instead they get arse handed to em.....and confusion reigns among its 'support' as to what went wrong

I agree with you about the hype of rugby but isn't this an example of good marketing? Team of us and so on. The GAA is miles behind in terms of marketing, for example. It is not nearly as focused and consistent as the rugby.

As for the skill in rugby there is plenty of skill in it even moving away from passing and kicking. A player has to know how to engage in the tackle, roll out of a tackle, and avoid the tackle. Also how players engage in rucks and mauls is technical skill.
I don't enjoy the rucks, mauls and scrums aspects but I now appreciate why some do.
Your main gripe against rugby seems to be an inverted snobbery as you associate rugby with the D4 set and upper middle classes. As evidenced by your use of the phrase 'goys' again.
However sometimes even milkmen like Trevor Brennan succeed in the sport. Also rural players from Kerry like Mick Galwey.

Cienciano

Batrachotox wrote: »

Guess how many different teams have ever won the football World Cup

I think 2 world cups ago, Japan beat South africa. This was 6th in the world beaten by 11th. And it was considered a huge upset. That's tells you all you need to know about rugby. I like it btw, but you can't deny, fúck all countries take it seriously. If they all took it as serious as Ireland, we'd be way down the ranking. Similar to soccer

gormdubhgorm

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I agree with you about the hype of rugby but isn't this an example of good marketing? Team of us and so on. The GAA is miles behind in terms of marketing, for example. It is not nearly as focused and consistent as the rugby.

As for the skill in rugby there is plenty of skill in it even moving away from passing and kicking. A player has to know how to engage in the tackle, roll out of a tackle, and avoid the tackle. Also how players engage in rucks and mauls is technical skill.
I don't enjoy the rucks, mauls and scrums aspects but I now appreciate why some do.
Your main gripe against rugby seems to be an inverted snobbery as you associate rugby with the D4 set and upper middle classes. As evidenced by your use of the phrase 'goys' again.
However sometimes even milkmen like Trevor Brennan succeed in the sport. Also rural players from Kerry like Mick Galwey.

Exactly its a marketing stunt....its no substance to.it.....its skill level is overblown and hyped with buzzwords/nonsense....backed up by a media,which if deosnt engage in the hype is denied access



Noone will ever be able to convince me a rolling maul is a skilful aspect of it......it may be an example of teamwork etc,but technically skilful it is simply not



Its not a snobbery aspect to it,highlighting.team of us,is 80% private schooled is just blowing holes in that marketing nonsense



Its not a safe,nor skilful game,and we shouldnt be encouraging our youth to play it (anyone ovr 18 is their own business tbf)....the media are hyping this up,and young people are headed into a life of injuries,premature retirements and drug taking.....no mind the drinking culture that surronds its supporters at matches


The fact rugby players over last 8 to 10 years suffer injuries that previously were only associated with body building (muscle tearing from.bone etc) isnt be allowed quiered by media (tbf this injury type has started to creep into gaa aswell)....i know people got blocked by irfu for asking it on social media,....surely this should alarm bells ringing

(I hope this answers all quiries etc,il try not reply as much going forward dont wanna be going on and on, annoying people)