Think a few people have lost the run of themselves on here now, what with claims of the 6nations being a major world sporting event and elitist conspiracies in rugby. Would be much better to focus on whether RTE provide balanced coverage of gaelic games and if not what can be done to improve things.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 22/02/2016 12:04:18    1827171

Would be much better to focus on whether RTE provide balanced coverage of gaelic games and if not what can be done to improve things.
Soma (UK) - Posts:1295 - 22/02/2016 12:04:18 1827171

Agreed with your point - think if mediaman put his hard researched facts to rte but also to the Gaa , camogie assoc and ladies football assoc, it would be better than merely putting them here- does not help that camogie and ladies football are run by different associations, suppose they were then the GAA could lobby or propose to rte that in order to get mens championship - that part of the deal is that for example X amount of coverage is given to camogie, or maybe camogie body could try sell their product to Tg4 (who do a fine job) , MAybe then the launch of the mens hurling and football could be done at the same time as the ladies football and camogie (like they do in rugby)

MAybe more ladies football/camogie games could be played as double headers with mens national leagues and championship games (yes there maybe sponsorship issue - but they could be overcome)

Anyway as soma alludes to lets have more ideas to improve things and less anti rugby inaccuracies and hatred

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 22/02/2016 13:02:19    1827190

Bringing the focus back to RTE. It is interesting to note there was no mention of the Hurling League on 6.1 Sport (weekdays) last week. Yet Pro12 was covered.
Also noteworthy is the slant taken on concussion.
When a Mayo player was concussed at match v Cork it got the full treatment plenty of video re runs plus a interview with a surgeon who rightfully informed the viewer of the seriousness of the injury. (a surgeon who RTE omitted to inform us has ties to IRFU).
Since that we have had a number Irish rugby players suffering from concussion in International matches but no recourse to the medical opinion. Why the difference in emphasis?
No criticism on RTE either of the amount of injuries suffered by the international team, could this be as a result of (a) the style of play, (b) medical treatment of the players or (c) the game of rugby itself? It is surprising when you consider RTE has frequently aired complaints about GAA player welfare.
Neither have I heard any review on RTE of the recently released Tom Hanks film on the topic of concussion.

mod (Mayo) - Posts: 859 - 22/02/2016 16:43:57    1827277

Your point about premier league is nonsense. 6 Nations is fairly unique in many ways in how its ran and history of rugby etc makes it a major world sporting event

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts:10909 - 21/02/2016

You stated that based on an average attendance of 70000, we can claim that the 6nations is a major world sporting event. The English premier league last year had an average attendance of 36,175, or approximately half of the 6nations. You have failed to indicate what level of attendance is required to be assigned the title of major world sporting event. I'm merely trying to establish that number.

And I agree with you, it's nonsense. But it's only an extension of your logic. So it's essentially your nonsense.

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts: 375 - 22/02/2016 16:55:16    1827282

6 Nations is fairly unique....major world sporting event

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts:10909 - 21/02/2016

The top 10 populated countries, making up over half the world's population, in no specific order are;
China
India
United States
Brazil
Indonesia
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Nigeria
Japan
Russia

My questions are;
(a) in which (if any) of these countries, is the 6nations considered a major event?
(b) in which (if any) of these countries, would rugby be considered even in the top 3 of sports, based on attendance, tv figures, participation levels, or any other relevant statistics?

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts: 375 - 22/02/2016 17:12:07    1827286

Read your own post janesboro and you will get the answers. You highlighted where I said ITALY FRANCE AND THE REMNANTS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Georgia and Argentina? The numbers of adults playing rugby in those number a few thousand. As for Tonga Samoa Fiji. They all have union jacks on their flag for a reason.

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 22/02/2016 17:32:04    1827292

Sceptical- Read your own post janesboro and you will get the answers.
I have read my aforementioned posts and I cannot find the answers to the following questions posed by me to you - so for your convenience i shall repost them - and hopefully you might enlighten us all with you a reponse
- i asked for examples of rugby being elitist stating the clubs/schools involved
- i also posted links to when i previously asked same question to you - no answer forthcoming, I am wondering do you have any facts to back up such an assertion
- i asked for the names of the social elite in the sports media
- i asked why you use the term rugger
- i asked for a response to rangersfan's question seeking details of events in swaziland and east timor that got an attendance over 50000
-i asked for a breakdown to support your previous claim earlier in this thread that 100,000 regularly attend national league games each week

As for Tonga Samoa Fiji. They all have union jacks on their flag for a reason.
Correct - however you referred to rugby as a white mans sport - i merely responded that tonga, samoa and fiji national sides are full of white men!!

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 22/02/2016 17:47:42    1827298

My questions are;
(a) in which (if any) of these countries, is the 6nations considered a major event?
(b) in which (if any) of these countries, would rugby be considered even in the top 3 of sports, based on attendance, tv figures, participation levels, or any other relevant statistics?

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts:40 - 22/02/2016 17:12:07

as a die hard rugby fan (and gaa fan) who hails from an areas where the travails of munsters, shannon , garryowen et al are the be all and end all - even i would have to say my response to your 2 queries above are ...A none and B none.....their loss in my opinion !!

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 22/02/2016 17:54:05    1827299

Ormond, The Six Nations is only a major event in the countries which feature in it. I wonder how big an event it is in Italy . I was in Madrid for The Champions League Final of 2010. We went in to an Irish bar before the game. Two games were being shown on different televisions. The Heineken Cup Final was being shown and The Championship soccer final in England was also being shown. A very small group of people which was made up entirely of members of our group watched the rugby . Everyone else in the bar watched the soccer. The Spaniards had no knowledge of and no interest in the rugby.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6177 - 22/02/2016 18:04:30    1827302

Janesboro you regularly, and sometimes correctly, criticise posters for their negativity to rugby but then pose questions the answers to which inevitably are negative towards rugby. You ask about examples of schools being elitist - I know of at least one rugby school where playing Irelands national sports is prohibited, and a number of more schools where it would never be considered because it is seen as a game not in keeping with the social status of these schools. Hardly much point raking over them coals though.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 22/02/2016 18:21:59    1827306

I refuse to name schools as that would never be posted. However why not look through the record books and count the number of schools that have produced more than one international. Now in a sport that only played about 8 internationals per year for a school to have a lot of internationals is evidence of A. genetic superiority B. Massive numbers of students C. Favouritism, elitism etc. WHICH ONE I WONDER? As for Swaziland and east Timor. To pick such examples displays a lack of class from the poster. Both have recently undergone severe internal strife so sport is well down their list of priorities. Why not try Cyprus where local football clubs regularly sell out their stadiums or montenegro or Slovenia?

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 22/02/2016 19:26:26    1827320

as a die hard rugby fan (and gaa fan) who hails from an areas where the travails of munsters, shannon , garryowen et al are the be all and end all - even i would have to say my response to your 2 queries above are ...A none and B none.....their loss in my opinion !!

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts:208 - 22/02/2016 17:54:05

Fair play janesboro, an honest answer to an honest question! In the past myself I've attended Ireland, Munster, Leinster rugby matches, and had good craic. But in my opinion, to describe 6nations as a major world sporting event is disingenuous. I'd consider it an important, international, regional competition (the region being north-west Europe), but I've seen no evidence of mainstream appeal in North or South America, Asia, central and eastern Europe, or Africa (outside of a few southern countries).
To tie in with Greengrass' story, I live in Spain, and watched the Ireland-Romania rugby match at the world cup on Canal+ in the local bar. At the same time there was 6 other people in the bar, all Romanian. None of them showed any interest in the match,knew pretty much nothing about the sport, and were actually surprised that Romania had a national side! And I've found the same level of interest with the local Spanish, with no mention of rugby in mainstream media outlets.

While there is/was a lot of coverage on rugby in Ireland, I'm not sure I'd consider there to be a huge bias in its favour. But ask anybody who's lived in Spain about biased sports media, and I'm sure they'd say irish sports media is very well balanced compared to the daily stream of crap thats released here under the name of "news" on real Madrid!

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts: 375 - 22/02/2016 20:33:05    1827341

The top 10 populated countries, making up over half the world's population, in no specific order are;
China 
India
United States 
Brazil 
Indonesia 
Pakistan 
Bangladesh 
Nigeria 
Japan 
Russia 

My questions are;
(a) in which (if any) of these countries, is the 6nations considered a major event? 
(b) in which (if any) of these countries, would rugby be considered even in the top 3 of sports, based on attendance, tv figures, participation levels, or any other relevant statistics?

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts:41 - 22/02/2016 17:12:07   1827286


Interesting post - unfortunately on a global scale most people like in pretty poor situations and international sports competition have no relevance to them at all. For example to apply the football world cup to your scenario - in only four of those countries would the football world cup be a major event : brazil, japan, nigeria and russia. But im sure most would agree the football world cup is a major international sports event

In fact by your criteria - the cricket world cup is probably the biggest sporting event in the world (outside olympics)

RangersFan (Dublin) - Posts: 117 - 22/02/2016 21:30:16    1827348

Soma (UK) - Posts:1297 - 22/02/2016 18:21:59   1827306

I refuse to name schools as that would never be posted. However why not look through the record books and count the number of schools that have produced more than one international. Now in a sport that only played about 8 internationals per year for a school to have a lot of internationals is evidence of A. genetic superiority B. Massive numbers of students C. Favouritism, elitism etc. WHICH ONE I WONDER? As for Swaziland and east Timor. To pick such examples displays a lack of class from the poster. Both have recently undergone severe internal strife so sport is well down their list of priorities. Why not try Cyprus where local football clubs regularly sell out their stadiums or montenegro or Slovenia?

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts:377 - 22/02/2016 19:26:26  


Have look at the list of schools who have won the hurling schools Dr Croke cup - it must be the most elitest sport in the world!
I see you accepted your lost wager with dignity ;) respect

RangersFan (Dublin) - Posts: 117 - 22/02/2016 21:42:00    1827355

An Carraig Dubh.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7923 - 22/02/2016 21:48:17    1827358

So after 600 odd posts on this thread

What conclusion's are we starting to draw from this debate?

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 23/02/2016 09:11:12    1827369

@jimbob

the only conclusion i can see is that this is the biggest wind up thread ive ever seen on here!

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1483 - 23/02/2016 10:01:37    1827382

JIMBODUB- i posted yesterday re how to improve camogie coverage - got no response most posts since are of the rugby is bad v rugby not so bad variety. i posted a few weeks back some ideas to help promote media coverage of Gaa - yet the majority of posts since are of the rugby is bad v rugby is good variety (inc my own i admit)
So my conclusion is that the majority of posters here are concerned with the anti rugby or agenda rather than promoting a proactive GAA promotion agenda (which in fairness soma did ask for in an earlier post)

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 23/02/2016 10:14:40    1827387

Sceptical
I refuse to name schools as that would never be posted.
IS THAT TRUE DID YOU TRY POST THE NAMES , DID THE MODERATOR PROHIBIT SAME, IS IT JUST SCHOOLS INVOLVED IN SUCH ALLEGED SNOBBERY OR ARE THERE CLUBS INVOLVED AS WELL. OR MAYBE YOU DONT HAVE ANY FACTS TO BACK UP YOUR CLAIM,
I AM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSE TO MY OTHER QUESTIONS AND AWAIT WITH INTRIGUE YOUR BREAKDOWN OF THE 100,000 PER WEEK WHO GO TO NATIONAL LEAGUE GAMES (WHICH I HAVE NOW ASKED FOR 4 TIMES!!)
However why not look through the record books and count the number of schools that have produced more than one international. Now in a sport that only played about 8 internationals per year for a school to have a lot of internationals is evidence of A. genetic superiority B. Massive numbers of students C. Favouritism, elitism etc.
WHICH ONE I WONDER?

MAYBE IT COULD BE TRADITION, STANDARD OF COACHING, FACILITIES. SO IF A GAA SCHOOL WINS LOTS OF TROPHIES AND SUPPLIES LOTS OF PLAYERS TO VARIOUS COUNTY TEAM BY YOUR RECKONING IT WOULD BE DUE TO ELITISM. I WOULD BE OF THE VIEW THAT IT WOULD BE DOWN TO THINGS LIKE HAVING A GREAT COACHING STRUCTURE AND TRADITION AND ENCOURAGING A LOVE OF THE GAME.

Why not try Cyprus where local football clubs regularly sell out their stadiums or montenegro or Slovenia?
OK PLEASE FORWARD A LIST OF SPORTS EVENTS IN THOSE COUNTRIES THAT GOT 50000 OR MORE AS PER YOUR WAGER

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 23/02/2016 10:23:21    1827392

in only four of those countries would the football world cup be a major event : brazil, japan, nigeria and russia. But im sure most would agree the football world cup is a major international sports event

In fact by your criteria - the cricket world cup is probably the biggest sporting event in the world (outside olympics)

RangersFan (Dublin) - Posts:107 - 22/02/2016 21:30:16

You could probably add China and Indonesia aswell, football is big in both countries, although most wouldn't realise due to their relative lack of competitiveness on the international scene.

And cricket, by some estimates, is probably the 3rd most watched sport, after soccer and athletics (olympics). The match between India and Pakistan at the last ODI world cup has estimates between 800million and 1.1billion for global tv figures, recognised as potentially the largest viewing figures for any 1day sports match.

extranjero (Wexford) - Posts: 375 - 23/02/2016 11:07:28    1827407