Angry Fans
THREE SUNDAYS into the championships and dreadful fare all round. All made worst by the disgraceful prices people are asked to pay into these rubbish games. The patrons at Portlaoise, Fermoy and Ennis should get their hard earned money back. The GAA is supposed to be a place to go on a Sunday to meet pals and enjoy a game. But why, then, are we now having splash out big time to go to a game? The days of going to see games as a neutral are over. Fans only go to their own county’s games. I foresee a major drop off in crowds for the next few years. It’s already kicked in and is sure to get worse.A poor product that is overpriced cannot expect to thrive.The GAA better wake up… and fast!
UNFORTUNATELY I’ve sat down at home in front of my lovely HD screen and suffered the pain of watching the games on RTÉ. Laois and Offaly was atrocious, as you’d expect I suppose. The prices into these early championship games are nothing short of a scandal. The GAA should reduce these prices for the early games or else the people going to them will have cop on and just stop going
AFR’s SHOUT:
I think that’s a good point about the falloff in neutral supporters. Their mass absence will really reduce attendances in the future, especially in hurling. The signs of people being cagier about spending money are all around us – one of the main indicators being reduced attendances at sports events, whether it is GAA, racing, eircom league or rugby. For whatever reason, all the provincial championships have got off to a poor start this year and you have to feel a bit sorry for RTÉ for putting such a huge effort into ‘The Sunday Game’ when the games being covered are so poor.
THE RECENT GAMES have just been a pandering to weaker counties to allow them to continue to delude themselves into thinking they are ‘Senior Championship’ standard. The sooner the GAA cop on and initiate a League/Championship format the better. With any luck, Offaly v Kilkenny will be a decent game. Wexford v Dublin will be like two fat women fighting over a chocolate éclair, so there should be something entertaining but a little gross in watching that.
AFR’s SHOUT:
I suppose your comment on Wexford v Dublin underlines the truth of the old saying about it not being over ‘til the fat lady sings’ or, in this case, swallows the chocolate éclair. Oh, and that big Yellow Card is courtesy of all the big beautiful women of Ireland. CANYOU PLEASE explain why A Wexford official was allowed to sit on the disciplinary process for the Meath players, when in all likelihood, Meath would qualify to meet them in the Leinster football championship? Are the GAA looking to create more loopholes or looking to generate avenues for the players to successfully appeal their suspensions?
Welcome back, Henry! I hope your crowd get a good run in this year’s championship and you get plenty of train trips to Dublin out of it. I think the Meath lads have swallowed their medicine and are quietly pleased at the way their depleted side wiped out Carlow. To be fair to them, they never made an issue of a Wexford man being on the appeal committee. That’s not the Meath way and I’ve no doubt the official concerned acted fairly and properly.
ISN’T IT TIME the GAA started using a bit of common sense regarding disciplinary procedures rather some official somewhere continually leaving the door ajar? And that applies to local club level as well as intercounty level. At times you wonder are the little clerical mistakes that lead to successful appeals, deliberate rather than accidental. Such examples include using incorrect dates, or signing a form in English rather than Irish.
AFR’s SHOUT:
Is that you Gerald? Thanks for that legal comment. I’m sure you’re well up on these matters. Here’s a Red Card to match your Mayfield blazer. There’s no doubt the GAA Rule Book is full of pitfalls for the unwary Rúnaí or Leas Rúnaí submitting any document to a county committee, let alone about an important matter like an appeal against a ref’s report or a disciplinary finding. In my club, every team has someone assigned to them to make sure the players’ names on the team sheet are properly translated and spelt as Gaeilge! But I’m not sure if the old rule is still there about everything having to be written on Gaelic watermarked notepaper? Try asking for an A4 package of that in your local newsagents and see the look you’ll get.
MAYBE IT’S just because the mighty Dubs have yet to take the field that we haven’t yet had any major incidents at championship games. Thank goodness for small mercies. When they return, let’s hope we won’t see anymore of the taunting of opponents they got up to last year. The GAA rules should make taunting a straight red bookable offence or else allow the victim of the taunting ‘respond’ without fear of even being as much as ‘ticked’ with the black book. Taunting must become a serious offence in the GAA rule book if it is to cease.
Gerald, I agree that taunting is a serious offence and really mars the games where it happens. Let’s hope there’s none of it this year. However, your suggestion that victims should be allowed ‘respond’ would only lead to more trouble. For example, might not some players just claim they were ‘taunted’ in order to ‘respond’ to an opponent? So, I’m afraid a little tick in the Black Book to yourself for not thinking that one through.
WESTMEATH PUT up a brave fight and actually went in leading by a point but they had the wind for the first half and so really needed to be more ahead. They have some tidy hurlers and apart from a few silly defensive errors could have been closer. All credit to them though as they seem to have made real strides in the last 3-4 years and this should be supported and encouraged.
WITH TWENTY minutes to go few would have envisaged Dublin would win by 20 points ‘plus’. Defensive errors cost Westmeath and knocked the heart out of them. All credit to Dublin for taking the chances that came their way. David O'Callaghan was outstanding. What a shame he lost a few years warming the bench with the footballers. Donal O’Grady maintains Dublin will be favourites versus Wexford. Will the bookies see it that way?
AFR’s SHOUT:
Well, maybe Wexford celebrity Bookie and Bainisteoir, Ivan Yates, will have something to say on that. I thought everything Dublin did against Westmeath was well planned, well executed and they look like a tidy and efficient hurling team. In 2007 their minors beat the Model county. Their under 21’s did the same and the Dublin senior hurling champions beat their Wexford counterparts. The signals point to a Dublin win and a darn good rattle against Kilkenny.
WHAT EXACTLY are Etihad Airlines doing to promote the hurling championships, apart from a few billboards around the sidelines at O’Moore Park on Sunday?
Who knows? Maybe they flew in a few wealthy oil sheikhs from Dubai to O’Moore Park without telling anyone. Only you thought the guys wearing turbans and shades were Dubs trying to look cool and ward off the rays of the sun. Still, apart from their initial sponsorship announcement and some nice photos on their web site of stewardesses wielding hurleys at Croker, Etihad are a very low profile sponsor. With longstanding Diageo and RTÉ as the other sponsors, it makes you wonder just how sought after the hurling sponsorship really was.
I THOUGHT Limerick touched the rock bottom in football against Cork two years ago in the Gaelic Grounds but I was wrong. Thirty-four minutes for the first score from play and a lucky goal from Seanie Buckley against a Tipp team that only managed a point in the second half and all but one point from Barry Grogan. It was really poor quality fare and was back to the bad old days of the 80's. Limerick's only redeeming feature was in grinding out a win. We need to really improve against Cork. Our fall from the days of competing with Kerry only four years ago is alarming. Limerick badly need to set up some kind of footballing academy to bring through promising youngsters and compete with rugby for any good kids in the city.
Yeah, with Sunday’s result from Cardiff, Limerick GAA will have their work cut out for them to compete with rugby unless the senior hurlers can deliver something this year. Maybe some kind of football academy would be a useful step. As regards Fermoy, it seemed a case of a raw and inexperienced Tipp team who are on the ‘up’ meeting a Limerick team on the way down.
I WANT TO protest in the strongest possible way at the treatment of Ulster hurling and hurling fans in Newry at the weekend. The gates were closed to host a ‘closed doors’ football challenge match between Cork and Down. Armagh and London were due to play their hurling quarter final at two o’clock but they couldn’t get in because all the dressing rooms were locked! Their game started forty minutes late. Armagh had arrived at 12.30, so they were hanging around for more than two hours.
AFR’s SHOUT:
These ridiculous events at Páirc Esler in Newry just go to remind us how a lot of good work can be undone in one fell swoop by a stupid or careless act. This year, the Ulster Council had justifiably been praised for getting all nine counties in the province to turn out senior teams in both the hurling and football championships. Then, like the old Frank Sinatra ditty, they go and spoil it all by saying something stoopid like ‘The gates are closed ...The gates are closed ....’
This week’s prize for goes to Laois Bloom for highlighting the absence of Etihad Airlines from promoting the hurling championship so far.
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