While winning the football World cup would be my preference (If I had to choose), as a sports fan and an Irishman I would be almost equally delighted for Ireland to win the Rugby World cup. GAA All-Ireland I'd also be pleased but doesn't come anywhere near the other two.
I don't understand people who follow one sport exclusively......sometimes to the extent of developing a hatred for other sports.
Winning a throw in, would not be high on the agenda......i'd like to win the world cup without the ball going into touch.
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
Well I support the Irish football team so winning a throw in is more significant for me than Ireland winning the rugby world cup or Dublin winning the All Ireland. I would also prefer Katie Taylor to win Olympic Gold or and League of Ireland team to get through to the next round in a European qualifier. I am sure you do not like every sport that Ireland competes at.
In some ways I think the French attitude is great. I remember chatting to a French guy in 1999 and saying he must have been delighted that France won the world Cup and he said Non, I am a cycling fan, I do not like football much. Irish people love a good old bandwagon and if some equestrian guy won Gold we would be all tuning it Oh that already happened ok, some swimmer girl then wins a few golds oh yeah that already happened. Yet we do not support the grassroots week in week out in the way we should.
I do like other sports but I must say that GAA and Rugby would be low down in my sports I must say probably because what they represent more than anything.
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To me the GAA represents the conservative farmer class in this country which was led by Fianna Fail and the Catholic Church for so long and was anti football and sectarian in many ways.
Rugby represents the private colleges and schools and the closed golden cirlcle of the professional classes.
Both of these have had a corrosive affect on Irish sociey in my view. That is not to say that the GAA and the IRFU are all bad but they do not represent me and as I said, I would rather that the Irish football team wins a corner or a throw than anything significatn in either of those sports.
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Sorry, just have a mental picture of 99% of people throwing a party celebrating Ireland winning the rugby World cup (yes bandwagoners included), while Neil sulks in the corner cause Montenegro won a throw in!![]()
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
Well I would be in a stadium either in Dublin or Podgoricia half ****ed with my friends singing the songs and having the craic and caring passionately about a game I love rather than having an empty feeling that I am at a party that I was not invited to and I did not want to go to anyway.
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I think you're too quick to put people in neat little boxes.
In my opinion your closed-minded attitude is out of date and in fact very similar to what you accuse the GAA and Rugby of representing.
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
Did you read my post I said that not all of them were like that but to me that is what the core of the sports represents.
Even to this day the core element of the GAA would be Catholic, white and Fianna Fail voting people.
In additon to that, they are both sports that I a am not particularly fond of as spectacles either. Stuart Barnes was on the other day lamenting the demise of rugby union and how as a spectacle it has gone to the dogs. Gaelic football is a joke to look at in my view. Hurling is a far better sport when played at the top end but there are not enough good teams for that to happen much. The fans at both games are rubbish in that there very little singing and usually rubbish atmospheres. Supporing the Irish football team can bring you to Podgoricia, Bratislava, Torshaven, Tel Aviv, wherease in the main with Rugby its, Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Paris again and again and again and again.
The beauty of footbal is that it is egalitarian in that all sectors of society play it and all colours creeds sexualities play it and it is played in ever corner of the world and all you need is a few mates and a ball and away you go.
and players like Paul Scholes, Lionel Messi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Xavi can be amongst the best players of their generation.
Last edited by NeilMcD; 21/09/2009 at 5:28 PM.
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Fair enough......but is hurling better because there are more or less Fianna Fail voters involved..I'm confused.
Neil, If the Kerry footballers were black, Hindu Fine Gael voters would you support them?![]()
Last edited by dahamsta; 22/09/2009 at 10:56 AM.
"Can I have a Kit-Kat, chunky?"
"you mean a big one"
"No a normal kit-kat you fat bitch"
Its probably a bit too much for you to understand. I was just pointing out that purely as a spectacle that hurling is a better sport, not that I would be a big fan of it either but purely as a spectacle and a form of entertainment its streets ahead of Gaelic football. However they both largely share the same gene pool of support which is a monoculture in the main. That is not to say its not slowly changing but it has take a long long time for that to happen.
No cause I dont like the sport. Is that really hard for you to understand and I not from Kerry or a Hindu or a Fine Gael voter.
Last edited by dahamsta; 22/09/2009 at 10:56 AM.
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I do enjoy many other sports...Tennis,Boxing,Horse racing,Swimming and enjoy watching the Golf on occasion...just have no interest in GAA or Rugby...
If memory serves not a lot of people had much interest in Rugby until 2 things happened..1. the team started winning!!!...2. The Celtic Tiger...certainley around where i've lived it's popularity soared when alot of people found themselves wealthy all of a sudden and the SUV's and designer clothes,Sunglasses and handbags just did'nt fit with Soccer or even the GAA!!!....i remember there was a small hardcore of Rugby Fans around while now EVERYONE is a fan..and as was mentioned earlier in thread most dont even know the rules!!
Has to be Ireland winning the World Cup. For the sheer prestige of it.
That said a fans owned Cork City team winning the league (or anything for that matter) would be miles ahead of any of them for me.
Might have been a valid argument in the early 90s but when Ireland only has 2 or 3 British born who all supported Ireland as a kid then it loses credibility. Unless you want all players to undergo an "Irishness" test and sign a contract promising to live in Ireland when their career ends.
Foot.ie has really slid. No offence lads, you are giving it a go, but really, you're not having that much success. Gone are the days, when a topic like this would lead to rallies like:
Originally Posted by TheFlunkie
Originally Posted by Gorsoon
Originally Posted by TheFlunkie
Originally Posted by Deever
Originally Posted by DasButt
Originally Posted by Gorsoon
Originally Posted by InchCascarino
Originally Posted by InchCascarino
OK, the last bit is familiar enough.Originally Posted by InchCascarino
For what it is worth, I don't think it is possible to compare them as better or worse - each hits a different part of our identity in a different way. In my case, I love cycling and participate in it as a matter of my life and lifestyle, hurling is in my family going a long time back, the Blues are my chosen family; conversely football and Rugby mean nothing to me. I will be happy for my country to win in the Rugby, while it not impacting on me, but I couldn't choose between seeing an Irish world champion in cycling or football or my county win the All-Ireland as they all tap into almost unrelated areas of my psyche, and I'd dare to guess this is true for all. Ultimately the whole matter will be heavily influenced by what people's favourite sport is, or which they have been involved with longest or most regularly. Trying to create a hierarchy to cover all is a two dimensional excercise that happens after a few pints too many in the pub, and is something which really should stay there.
That question was less stupid, though you asked it in a profoundly stupid way.
Help me, Arthur Murphy, you're my only hope!
Originally Posted by Dodge
All-Ireland Tadgh kennelly showed what it can mean
Yeah by acting like a thug and nearly taking a cork players head off. Just an act of thuggery really.
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You hardly need anything more than a few mates and a (different shaped) ball to play rugby, and as far as I know gaelic football is not exactly beyond most peoples' financial means.
There aren't any openly homosexual footballers, and in many parts of the world football is dwarfed by supposedly more 'elitest' sports (such as cricket and rugby) in all sections of society. Football is just like any other sport as regards 'equality', with some obvious exceptions like motorsport in which wealth is an overwhelming factor in your ability to compete.
"Life is like a hair on a toilet seat. Sooner or later you are bound to get pi$$ed off."
"In this league, a draw is sometimes as good as a win" - Steve Morison
Rubbish you cant really play rugby or Gaelic football without goalposts, whereas with football you can have as they say jumpers for goalposts.
In Ireland in the main rugby is a middle class and uppper sport with the exception of Limerick. This is the same for England and Scotland. Maybe not so much Wales and New Zealand. Football is the biggest sport in the world by a mile. Htere are always going to be exceptions but in general the crux of my argument is through and your nitpicking does not really disprove my main points.
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