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Donegal GAA thread - 7 Like(s)
Over the top reaction by GAA HQ. 8 weeks sideline ban is appropriate for having a go at an official, not for some minor administrative technicality like this. Ridiculous
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 10/01/2024 15:04:15
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Dublin V Roscommon - 6 Like(s)
Down the decades - and I've been going to county league matches since the 1970s - I've always liked Roscommon footballers. You never got anything easy against a Roscommon team.
The amount of football purist flak that Roscommon is getting about a bit of tiki-taka is the usual hypocritical drivel that my own country has been subjected to.
As ever, when a non-traditional county does something that an established county has been doing forever, it's only the non-traditional county who will get the criticism.
I thought it was great crack to see Dublin chasing the game (something they themselves are so good at doing to other teams). And in fairness to Dublin, I didn't hear them complaining about it - Philly McMahon's comments (Barcelona does it) were very fair, and sensible. It's the sign of a great player that he can dish it out and take it too. Fair play to McMahon.
2 points:
1. Possession football is routinely practised by lots of GAA teams, and by lots of world class soccer teams. Just as every boxer who's well ahead on points jabs, slips and holds in the last round instead of being sucked into a stupid puncher's chance brawl when he does not need to. I can imagine our GAA traditionalists commentating on a boxing match and urging a man well ahead on points to start swinging the lead with no regard for the result, just to keep the half-cut "yahoo ye boy ye" brigade happy. Possession football is a legitimate tactic, and the onus is on the other team to disrupt it, not to go crying to the papers about bad, bad Roscommon not giving them the ball.
2. It's not that long ago that we were also subjected to whinging old-timers crying on about blanket defences / packed defences etc. Amazing how there is no criticism of blanket defences when the GAA morality brigade are on their latest bandwagon about possession football. How do you think a team is ever able to play keep ball for so long? It's because the other team - despite usually being behind - is not pressing, and is still stuck in blanket defence mode! There is a way to disrupt keep ball, and it involves committing everyone to attack and high energy. It's high risk of course, as you could be hit on the counter. ***But a team with a lead plays keep ball primarily because the opposition allows them to do so.*** If the chasing team, despite being behind, has no guts and wishes to stay in their shell, they're the ones who deserve criticism, certainly not the team protecting a lead.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 05/06/2023 11:35:24
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Why Are RTÉ Not Showing The Div 1&2 League Final Live? - 5 Like(s)
Replying To Inatfullforward: "I give up" Spoken like a true Longford man lol.
https://www.duolingo.com/course/ga/en/Learn-Irish
I did O-level Irish in 1982, agus tá sé thart fa go léir caite agamsa anois, but have no difficulty following TG4's GAA coverage, despite my having learned Ulster (not Munster) Irish.
Instead of complaining about TG4 on behalf of Ireland's bleating squad of Irish language haters, why not try learning it?
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 03/04/2023 07:53:13
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Non-Gaa Forum - 5 Like(s)
Replying To Saynothing: "Sure, it's not hard to have some respect but why do ye think soccer matches were off in England. Because they couldn't trust their own people to show respect." Maybe. Be some uproar if it happened at a GAA match. Let's not offer any justification whatsoever for these small handful of pea-brained morons. They are not Republicans; their silly, yobbish mouthing serves only to insult millions of ordinary decent English folk and people in the Unionist community and thereby to strengthen partition. It has a very anti-Republican effect. There is a time and a place for anyone's political opinions, but it's not drunken slabbering like that. Of course, the same clowns have zero to offer in real politics - all they know is how to be offensive. Millions of views on social media around the world. No use talking to people like that though. Brainless louts; beneath contempt.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 11/09/2022 19:59:30
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All Ireland Final 2023 - Dublin V Kerry - 4 Like(s)
Replying To Saynothing: "Second bounce didn't hit the ground, it h hit his foot. Good goal." Kerry goal in AI Final 2023.
Pretty obvious foul and free out on first seeing it on TV.
I've watched it a few times on replay, and seen nothing to change that opinion.
It bounced a second successive time, and he then tipped it up with his foot.
I freezeframed it with the ball on the ground before the chip up.
The chip-up after the second bounce was done with his right foot, and his right foot was furthest away from the ball as it bounced for the second time.
See freezeframe here. Remember, he chips it up with his right foot. This is the point when the ball hits the ground for the second time. Look where his right foot is:
https://omertagaa.blogspot.com/2023/07/kerry-goal-in-ai-final-2023.html
Nowhere near the ball.
The chip-up came after.
Did it quickly and skilfully, and knew what he was doing.
But the foul had already been committed.
GAA rule is very simple: "You may not bounce the ball twice in a row."
The foul is not negated by having the presence of mind to chip it up into your hand after the second bounce.
No goal, and free out.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 30/07/2023 18:57:40
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Can Gaelic Football (Handball?) Be Saved? - 4 Like(s)
Hitting a free off the ground well is a skill that not everyone has. By allowing frees out of the hand, we are favouring the un-skilled. And the biggest annoyance with frees out of the hand is that every single player who takes a free out of the hands cheats. They all steal a few metres and they make the angle easier. Referees do nothing.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 14/04/2024 21:36:13
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Derry v Armagh - 2023 Ulster SFC Final - 4 Like(s)
Replying To SimonstownBack: "And yet for most of the match it was a snooze fest. The last 10 minutes of normal time through to the penalties glossed over a forgettable match. But it's still the most competitive competition. Well done Derry." When Barcelona did their keep ball stuff, it was lauded as genius ...
What I can't stand is defending errors and cheap scores, big excitement for the ole ole brigade who want mistakes, adrenalin, lots of roaring and lots of scores, land all the hoof-it-up-the-pitch bores going on about "classics". I'm happy with low-scoring games and enjoy good passages of play and watching a good team working out how to break down a defence.
I've seen high scoring "thrillers" that everyone raves about, but to me they were just a mess of bad defending and cheap scores, like watching a college basketball game. Great for floating voters of course, the folks who want to be "entertained"; that's all it means to them - packaged, consumer product. You always have some half-cut yahoo roaring "let her in tae ****"; it's usually all he knows.
Since when was Gaelic football about entertainment? That's what movies are for. To me, football at county and especially at club level was about identity, and winning is all. Do not care less how the win was achieved, never have - close, one-sided, tactical, rip-roaring, makes no difference to me.
Main thing, as a neutral, it was CLOSE today. Some games are tactical, some games are shoot-outs. As a neutral, I'm happy watching either - *provided the game is competitive and that either team has a chance of winning it*.
You'll generally always get that in Ulster. And in Connacht. Munster and Leinster are very one-sided currently but who's to say it will always be that way? It's a huge over-reaction to propose scrapping the provincials just because a couple of teams are going through a purple patch. People need to take the long view on this. The GAA is supposed to be about tradition and identity. I like the provincial championships - Clones on Ulster final day is one of the most tribal places in Western Europe, and long may it continue.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 14/05/2023 20:25:02
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Underdog Wins Final After Getting Rub Of Green From Ref. - 3 Like(s)
Replying To ExiledInWex: "Maybe go become a ref, maybe you are the answer to the problem of bad refereeing.
The "ref cost us" mantra is so ingrained in GAA teams who lose, it is pathetic.
The first thing every losing county points to the is referee, while poor performances, bad wides, wrong substitutions, the wrong team, bad passes, etc all get a free pass.
Its extremely pathetic." Bloke from county who habitually gets favourable decisions sneers at people from countries who habitually don't get soft calls lol. Mind you, sometimes the ref is OK. For instance, Kerry hammered Tyrone, fair and square recently - we were rubbish, and the ref had zero to do with it. It however tends to be a feature of closer games, where the ref feels that the big-name team needs a bit of help to keep them in it, a soft free here and there. Against Monaghan, you got some soft frees to keep you in touch, e.g., in the 35th, 42nd and 61st minutes. Kerry got away with murder v Derry. McGuigan was emptied every time he got the ball. There'd rightly have been a national uproar if Derry had targeted Clifford in a similar manner. Kerry's goalie should have been red-carded, unless jumping with your hip bone into someone's face is now an accepted part of Gaelic football. Generally, I counted 16 nonsense decisions favouring Kerry at the weekend. Soft free after soft free, and similar ones not given the other way. Even at the very end, in the 68th minute, the Derry lad was hit hard (red card) to make him spill the ball, which was then picked up for a Kerry score.
But it came off a blatant foul. And even in the 71st minute, the ref ignored an obvious 45. Anyone could see what was going on.
You need to face reality though. The GAA has a weird culture of prejudice against underdogs.
If you took an FA cup in England, where a non-traditional cup team was pitched against a Man City, Man Utd etc, the vast majority of soccer fans in England would relish seeing the underdog prevailing against the big name.
Yet, consistently, down the years, every time there is a possibility of a Dublin-Kerry final, the press and lots so-called neutral GAA fans are united in their concern that an underdog might prevail.
"What everyone wants is a Dublin-Kerry final", runs the mantra. This is always referred to as a final "for the purists", as if any other team's presence on the big day would constitute some sort of contaminant.
Essentially, the rest of the country are natural born losers, absurdly deferential to tradition and to big names. And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see how that general national mindset affects referees and translates into the big names invariably getting the benefit of any soft calls going.
You can't see this, obviously. It's a non-issue for you. Obviously - you benefit from it.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 20/07/2023 08:06:53
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Monaghan GAA thread - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Ulsterman: "Irrespective of Monaghan's own failings Dublin were just not going to be allowed to lose that game at all. The decisions in the last 10 mins were scandalous. McManus was being constantly pulled, dragged and hit and no fouls were being called at all. Dublin as usual got their raft of soft calls. It's hard enough trying to play against a professional Croke Park outfit without playing the officials too." Quite agree. Scoring frees given to Dublin in 25th minute, 35th minute, 42nd minute and 61 minutes - all lifelines.
In a tight match, those fussy calls - which Monaghan got none of- make all the difference.
Poor show by the Tyrone ref
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 15/07/2023 19:10:08
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Non-Gaa Forum - 3 Like(s)
Replying To streaker: "Not xenophobic at all. You're raising a valid point.
Another issue I would raise is how we can suddenly house a five-figure number of newcomers at a time when it seems nearly every student in the country is struggling to find accommodation...." Well, that is because, despite the Open University showing for half a century that you don't need a full-time campus, we insist on requiring students to live on or near campus, so, unlike with refugees, there is no ability to spread them out across the country. That means they all have to congregate in e.g. Dublin.
As for housing generally, Ireland has long been governed by people with an extremist view, namely that "the private sector is always best, at everything" - including provision of modestly priced housing. I'm a businessman, and a shareholder in a company and try to earn as much as I can for my family, so, a capitalist. But I also see the benefits of having a mixed economy - private sector is better at some things (making cars or software or medicines), public sector is better at some things (defence, health, railways, roads), and it's all about getting a sensible balance. To me, anyone who asserts that the state, or the private sector, should do everything, is an extremist. Currently in Ireland however, govts insists on lumbering the private sector (who legitimately exist primarily to maximise profits for shareholders) with public service obligations - such as social housing - that they are utterly unsuited for. The govt could easily institute a public house building programme, but, for extremist ideological reasons, it simply does not want to do so. Further, we could also reform the rented sector - make it like e.g. Germany's by allowing for long term (25 year) fixed term leases, pegged only to CPI or RPI increases. Currently, if a young couple wants location stability (for kids' schools etc), they have no real choice - they must buy, as they know that living in the rental sector means you can be turfed out on a month's notice (and you have to ask permission if you as much as wish to hang up a picture). I left Dublin in 2012 and went back up North when my heavily pregnant (first child) wife and I were turfed out of our perfectly good apartment when it was NAMA-ed and sold over our heads and we had to leave; and so we lived in an hotel room for 2 months while getting ready to have a baby. I thought to myself, [expletive] this, this econony is skewed in favour of capital over people, and voted with my feet.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 09/09/2022 08:36:43
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All Ireland Final 2023 - Dublin V Kerry - 3 Like(s)
In Scotland, their soccer competition is deemed dysfunctional due to it generally being dominated by 2 teams.
In the GAA, that's what the vast majority of GAA fans want, and that's what the GAA plans for - long-term football domination by 2 teams.
"What everyone wants is a Dublin-Kerry final", runs the mantra. This is always referred to as a final "for the purists", as if any other team's presence on the big day would constitute some sort of contaminant.
Essentially, with only occasional exceptions, the rest of the country (and I include all Northern counties in that) are natural born losers, absurdly deferential to tradition and to big names. And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see how that general national mindset affects referees and translates into the big names invariably getting the benefit of any soft calls going, when they're playing any of the upstarts. I still remember a few years ago watching Laois playing Dublin. Poor Laois couldn't have bought a free.
Of course, now that the 2 teacher's pet teams are in the final, the refereeing will be fair enough, as both teams are equally idolised. The orgy of self-praise has started already.
Time to dust off my knee pads, and start genuflecting lol.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 28/07/2023 14:52:59
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Tiernan Kelly 6 Month Ban- Thoughts - 3 Like(s)
For a gouging incident, Philly McMahon got a 1 match ban.
Donnie Smith gouged Keith Higgins and also got a 1 match ban.
Eoghan O'Gara gouged a Mayo guy in 2017 - did he get any ban?
In any of those incidents, I don't recall the following reactions:
- Front page picture in the Irish Times
- Statement by the Taoiseach
- Calls for Garda involvement by a former Minister
- Massive outpouring of internet rage
Can anyone on here who is now "disgusted" and calling the GAA "a joke" for their 6 months' ban in this instance, explain to me why 1 match bans / no bans at all were OK for those other fellas, but a 6 months ban in this incident is insufficient?
And as for all this genuflecting at the Rugby altar, get a grip, would ye? Gouging is far from uncommon in Rugby (the scrums at non-international games hide a lot, as anyone who has played the game at local club level can tell you, and the suspensions vary. In 2019, La Rochelle's Bourgarit only received a six weeks ban for eye-gouging English player Tom Curry. Rugby's a fine game, but to suggest that they're all saints and we're all sinners is incorrect.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 02/07/2022 11:50:29
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All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2023 - 3 Like(s)
Dublin-Kerry final. Monaghan are limited. Game, and have a couple of fading oldies, and have great spirit and will do their best (which is more than you could say about Tyrone, who are in dire need of an urgent change of management, just as they have been for the last 18 months, if co board could summon up the necessary ruthlessness, which is unlikely, given that they persisted with Harte for 5 years after it was obvious he could no longer deliver), but it will not even be close.
Derry are quite a good team, but - no matter what they say in public - they deep down do not believe they can win it. Insufficient tradition, and it matters when the finishing line is in sight. Kerry and Dublin are different animals in semis and finals, and to beat either in a semi or in a final is hard, and Derry do not have enough self-belief to achieve that.
So a Kerry Dublin final, and the good thing for a neutral is that it's one of those games where either team could win handsomely - or it could be v close. Because of how hard it is to call, one to look forward to - Kerry won't want a bunch of Dubs with 9 medals, that's for sure. That may be enough to tip the scales for Kerry ...
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 03/07/2023 01:00:28
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Jimmy's Coming Back! - 3 Like(s)
Jim McGuinness has brains, will-to-win and authority. Won't stand for any nonsense from boards or players, which is what you need. Analyses the game brilliantly; his columns are always educational and original. We'd love to have him! Good to see him back anyway.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 19/08/2023 20:09:54
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Derry v Armagh - 2023 Ulster SFC Final - 2 Like(s)
Replying To Joxer: "To be honest, I'd fast-forward through the first 60m of the Ulster Final, it was muck. There were 25 scores at FT. There were 41 in the Leinster Final which says something about the speed of transition in both games. Dublin scored 5-16 from play. Louth scored 8 from play. TBH neither game was a fantastic spectacle but I'll take a quicker moving more free scoring game any day over basketball passing rotation on the edge of a defensive 3 point line at the 45m line with players afraid of their lives to kick a ball." You call that Leinster final a "game"? Bad defending and cheap scores - I'd imagine a Dublin A v B match would be more competitive than that.
The Kildare Dublin semi had fewer scores than the final, but was a far better game for a neutral.
And when Dublin are up against a better team, you'll notice they rarely take % shots - if you look at Dublin's scoring position stats in recent years, they rarely do Clifford style spectaculars - it's all about working the ball into an un-missable position. So to have a go at the Derry and Armagh teams for doing just that is a bit rich.
There is this obsession in GAA circles with high scores, as if a high-scoring game must always be a "great" game.
I've never bought that. Far too often, it's a sign of a game with rubbish defending.
To be a good game, I want to see good defending and good scoring. Defending is an art, and I enjoy seeing it done well.
I sometimes get the impression that some traditional GAA fans would prefer to have a game where defending had been largely outlawed, and then we could all shout "OLE" every 30 seconds as yet another cheap score is registered.
Dublin looked very sharp in the final, but the game was over after 15 minutes, not worth watching. Even Farrell was half apologising afterwards. You might expect that sort of mismatch in a provincial first round, but to see that sort of a hammering in a provincial final was depressing.
All the fast transitions were largely down to Louth having decided to abandon the idea of defending and naturally Dublin (who also looked very fit) took advantage.
Dublin looked very sharp and as a Dublin fan you'd be of course pleased, but as a spectacle for a neutral, forget it - I switched it off; it was like watching a car crash.
There is no merit in a big heap of scores per se - to be worth anything, to mean anything, scores must be carved out of a good opposition defence. Otherwise, any athlete with reasonable feet could have scored them.
A decent game should have tight defending and decent scores. And in a game with tight defending, you simply do not get silly scores.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 16/05/2023 21:55:01
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Shane Walsh Transfer - 2 Like(s)
Replying To anotheralias: "A couple of points.
Its been several years since colleges have really been a serious option in club championships. UCG/NUIG are several years gone from Galway champ . GMIT never played in it. I don't see UCD in this years Dublin draw. So in honesty I dont know what point you are trying to make .
My english not as good as yours so I had to look up the definition of hyberbole...exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
I dont think its any way an exaggeration that the GAA could be a laughing stock.. I have on many occasions witnessed people laughing about how silly the GAA handle certain issues... as a GAA person I don't like it ..but it happens... and I fear this will be another scenario that will force me to listen to this type of response." I've met a fair few buckos like that alright. Know-nothing bigots. The average Unionist up North, nd the average English person, in my repeated experience, have much more respect for the GAA than does the Irish anti-GAA cultural cringer.
Wiki's definition of "cultural cringe" is spot-on too: "Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalised inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries."
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 05/08/2022 20:39:38
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Ulster Senior Club Championship - 2 Like(s)
Very decent bloke Paul Finlay, delighted for him.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 06/11/2022 13:52:09
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Demise Of The GAA Pubs - 2 Like(s)
Replying To oneoff: "Not everything has to suit families. Contrary to popular belief not everyone has or wants to have a family." The wider issue is that Irish apartments are barely even suitable for a single person or couple either. I lived in enough of them in Dublin down the years.
In many countries, e.g., France, it's illegal to build an apartment which doesn't have a bit of space to store stuff. Typically, this will be a basement area where you can park a couple of cars, store bicycles, fishing gear etc - the usual stuff that would go into a garage in a suburban or rural area.
Irish apartments primarily are designed for young brochure couples who have neither children nor possessions, nor a life outside work.
The reason for that is that, in Ireland, only a house is considered a home. Apartments are viewed as short-term living spaces; somewhere you have for a short while before you buy or build a proper house. As a result, in Irish apartments, storage space, and external amenity space, are cut to nothing, and you essentially have a small glossy box to "live" in.
It's calling out for regulation, as apartments can be great places to live in. But if your experience of them has been confined to Irish apartments, you'd be forgiven for being very sceptical about apartments.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 15/12/2022 11:55:27
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Tyrone Club Football - 2 Like(s)
Replying To peiledoir20: "I am sure you've seen plenty harrowing scenes following your own county - not called the Red Hands for nothing.
Anyway, well done on getting the venue correct at the second attempt. You couldn't really go wrong though although we do play some games in Ballyshannon as well. It's nice to have the facilities to spread them around the county.
Maybe it's time you live up to your name and bench yourself before you slip up again." Well, where Tyrone are not playing, I'll always shout for any Ulster team outside of Ulster, and especially for Donegal.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 18/01/2023 21:46:26
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Monaghan GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Well done Monaghan, great game and top marks to your lad for going for that goal at the end. Had he missed, he'd have been a villain for not taking an easy equaliser.
points50swiththeargyllsonthewrongfeet (National) - 16/04/2023 18:07:15
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