Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

**BonnieShels** · 23/06/2016, 5:12 PM

The Leinster Council aren't known for common sense but my god this is a great move.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/euro-2016/2...soccer-croker/

**Stuttgart88** · 23/06/2016, 5:22 PM

Great stuff. Common sense.

**Razors left peg** · 23/06/2016, 6:01 PM

Im a big sports fan in general and the Rugby has given us a lot to shout about in the last few years, but there is genuinely nothing like the outpouring of passion in the country when the International football team does well. Nothing even comes close to it.... you would think that it would lead to more people actually giving a crap about developing youth structures etc!

**MeathDrog** · 23/06/2016, 8:57 PM

Common sense but let's not get away from the fact it is completely self serving.

**BonnieShels** · 23/06/2016, 9:35 PM

Originally Posted by MeathDrog

Common sense but let's not get away from the fact it is completely self serving.

Ah give over.

There are those of us out there, like myself who have a situation ahead on Sunday which is now made somewhat easier by this decision.

**MeathDrog** · 23/06/2016, 9:53 PM

Originally Posted by BonnieShels

Ah give over.

There are those of us out there, like myself who have a situation ahead on Sunday which is now made somewhat easier by this decision.

If you cannot see that this is self serving first and foremost then you must not know the ins and outs of the GAA well enough. Don't be so naive.

Where was the GAA's common sense when Laois and Armagh were playing during the Ireland v Belgium game last week. The only difference this time is that there are thousands more expected at the game and they're charging 30 quid a pop (which is too much). And as always it's the players who are given the least regard, none of whom can enjoy what is the country's biggest sporting occasion in 14 years.

I have also heard that a nearby county board had league fixtures fixed at the same time as the game last night. Deliberately done as a clash to test loyalty as always and afaik one of the teams didn't travel so fairplay to them.

**BonnieShels** · 23/06/2016, 10:06 PM

Originally Posted by MeathDrog

If you cannot see that this is self serving first and foremost then you must not know the ins and outs of the GAA well enough. Don't be so naive.

Where was the GAA's common sense when Laois and Armagh were playing during the Ireland v Belgium game last week. The only difference this time is that there are thousands more expected at the game and they're charging 30 quid a pop (which is too much). And as always it's the players who are given the least regard, none of whom can enjoy what is the country's biggest sporting occasion in 14 years.

I have also heard that a nearby county board had league fixtures fixed at the same time as the game last night. Deliberately done as a clash to test loyalty as always and afaik one of the teams didn't travel so fairplay to them.

So what if there's a selfish bent to this decision? I never said there wasn't. You just jumped in with whinge about it.

It's not uncommon for the GAA to stage the All-Ireland Championship during the summer. And only the most incredibly optimistic would have thought that the Dublin-Meath match would clash with an Ireland QF given how the draw went and how our build up was.

Is it not better that they did this or would you prefer if they tried to test mine and others' loyalty? All sporting organisations are self-serving. So why wouldn't they suit themselves?

The players playing inter-county ball know the deal. Stop playing the violins for them.

And your anecdote about this nearby Co Board; so what? If they decide to be shortsighted let them. The players who said "f**k that" should be commended.

There are some who will criticise the GAA no matter what they do, that they are seeing sense in Leinster is something to be praised.

And re ticket prices: yeah, 30bills is too much, but that's a separate argument.

**MeathDrog** · 23/06/2016, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by BonnieShels

So what if there's a selfish bent to this decision? I never said there wasn't. You just jumped in with whinge about it.

It's not uncommon for the GAA to stage the All-Ireland Championship during the summer. And only the most incredibly optimistic would have thought that the Dublin-Meath match would clash with an Ireland QF given how the draw went and how our build up was.

Is it not better that they did this or would you prefer if they tried to test mine and others' loyalty? All sporting organisations are self-serving. So why wouldn't they suit themselves?

The players playing inter-county ball know the deal. Stop playing the violins for them.

And your anecdote about this nearby Co Board; so what? If they decide to be shortsighted let them. The players who said "f**k that" should be commended.

There are some who will criticise the GAA no matter what they do, that they are seeing sense in Leinster is something to be praised.

And re ticket prices: yeah, 30bills is too much, but that's a separate argument.

I hardly jumped in with a whinge. I made a statement of fact which you ended up agreeing with anyway.

The possibility of a clash is not the problem. It's the principle of why they have moved the Leinster semi finals and not done the same last week which is the point I'm making. The Laois and Armagh game was deliberately fixed at the same time as the Ireland game.

Put it this way. If Kildare and Westmeath was a stand alone game in Croker on Sunday then there is absolutely zero chance it is moved. It is purely a commercial decision. I don't think they're terribly worried that the likes of me and you get to see the full Ireland game. That is secondary.

My anecdote about the county board is relevant because it shows that the GAA are not concerned about the national interest as a whole. Clashes with soccer games are a common occurrence especially in the later stages of Champions League games etc. not to mention junior soccer games.

The players lose out. Simple as. They produce the product for the GAA to cash in on and they miss out on a massive sporting occasion to boot. Talk about a double whammy.

**DeLorean** · 30/06/2016, 4:07 PM

This guy really doesn't get it. An utterly ridiculous article.

Ciarán Murphy: GAA doesn’t really need feed of pints to have a good time

Like there's any comparison between being in a foreign country for a few days and making a day trip (by car!) to the Connacht semi final. I could compare a regular soccer qualifier in Dublin to a Kerry v Cork clash in Killarney too, to emphasise the extreme p!ss head nature of the GAA.

**tetsujin1979** · 30/06/2016, 4:26 PM

Is he really saying that GAA fans don't drink before/after games, or that it's just him that doesn't?

**DannyInvincible** · 30/06/2016, 5:29 PM

Originally Posted by DeLorean

This guy really doesn't get it. An utterly ridiculous article.

Ciarán Murphy: GAA doesn’t really need feed of pints to have a good time

Like there's any comparison between being in a foreign country for a few days and making a day trip (by car!) to the Connacht semi final. I could compare a regular soccer qualifier in Dublin to a Kerry v Cork clash in Killarney too, to emphasise the extreme p!ss head nature of the GAA.

If people want to add to their experience of something with a drink, who cares? Some people don't need GAA/rugby to have a good time. So what? It doesn't make anyone a superior or inferior person just because they enjoy different things differently. What a stupid "article".

**IsMiseSean** · 30/06/2016, 7:26 PM

Originally Posted by DeLorean

This guy really doesn't get it. An utterly ridiculous article.

Ciarán Murphy: GAA doesn’t really need feed of pints to have a good time

Like there's any comparison between being in a foreign country for a few days and making a day trip (by car!) to the Connacht semi final. I could compare a regular soccer qualifier in Dublin to a Kerry v Cork clash in Killarney too, to emphasise the extreme p!ss head nature of the GAA.

Is that the gimp from Galway who hosted Second Captains on RTE2?

**Eminence Grise** · 30/06/2016, 7:28 PM

Dear God, the stink of piety in that. 'Drink as a concept' - it's like a filler piece in a student mag.

**MeathDrog** · 30/06/2016, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by DeLorean

This guy really doesn't get it. An utterly ridiculous article.

Ciarán Murphy: GAA doesn’t really need feed of pints to have a good time

Like there's any comparison between being in a foreign country for a few days and making a day trip (by car!) to the Connacht semi final. I could compare a regular soccer qualifier in Dublin to a Kerry v Cork clash in Killarney too, to emphasise the extreme p!ss head nature of the GAA.

One of the worst pieces I've read in a long time.

Incidentally the drunkest people I've seen at sporting events have all been at GAA games.

Murphy is behind Ken Early and McDevitt by some distance on Second Captains.

**tetsujin1979** · 30/06/2016, 11:35 PM

I've been to two of the live shows, Murph's by far the most comfortable on TV, but going on that, he's the worst writer of the three

**Dodge** · 01/07/2016, 8:15 AM

I haven't read the last 20 pages but could a mod close the thread now we know definitively the original intention of the thread is nonsense.

Thanks

**DeLorean** · 01/07/2016, 8:27 AM

You can't just close Stutt's favourite thread Dodge.

Maybe just change the title as it's not really just the popularity of the various sports that are discussed on here, but more the perceptions, values, hypocrisies, etc.

**tetsujin1979** · 01/07/2016, 9:07 AM

it's an ongoing debate, so I'm not going to close the thread
open to suggestions on a new title - "Comparison between attitudes to football, rugby and GAA"