Sportscall on RTE 1

[Éanna]

One City fan got onto them and was told he'd be on tonight, so I listened in for the full hour. Torture. they said at the start that they'd have "a Corkman with the UEFA Cup on his mind" on later, but not a bit of it. I always thought that Today FM's Live after 5 phone-in was the worst around, but I got proved wrong tonight. Hillbillys and rednecks was pretty much all it was. Whinging moaning fools giving out- "I went to most Cork games this year and I couldn't get a ticket." Most being how many mate? Bright spot was two lads who rang up to talk about the cricket, until some yahoo from up a hill somewhere rang up giving out about the time being given to "de cricket and de soccer" on the day after an all-ireland. "Well Des, I've nuttin against it, but the day for discussin de cricket is de 29th of february and de soccer on de 30th of february ha ha ha" Moaning ****ing bigots reminded me exactly why I hate the ****ing GAA. And of course the City fan never got on, much better to leave some inbred cattle-molestor slag off other people's interests Those people should be shipped off to an island somewhere

[TheOwl]

One City fan got onto them and was told he'd be on tonight, so I listened in for the full hour. Torture. they said at the start that they'd have "a Corkman with the UEFA Cup on his mind" on later, but not a bit of it. I always thought that Today FM's Live after 5 phone-in was the worst around, but I got proved wrong tonight. Hillbillys and rednecks was pretty much all it was. Whinging moaning fools giving out- "I went to most Cork games this year and I couldn't get a ticket." Most being how many mate? Bright spot was two lads who rang up to talk about the cricket, until some yahoo from up a hill somewhere rang up giving out about the time being given to "de cricket and de soccer" on the day after an all-ireland. "Well Des, I've nuttin against it, but the day for discussin de cricket is de 29th of february and de soccer on de 30th of february ha ha ha" Moaning ****ing bigots reminded me exactly why I hate the ****ing GAA. And of course the City fan never got on, much better to leave some inbred cattle-molestor slag off other people's interests Those people should be shipped off to an island somewhere

What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?

Agree though, it should be mixed up. Last Saturday was one of the greatest days in the history of Irish basketball and I bet that didn't get a mention either.

[Éanna]

What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?

Agree though, it should be mixed up. Last Saturday was one of the greatest days in the history of Irish basketball and I bet that didn't get a mention either.

no, of course it didn't. Now believe me, I've no time for basketball at all, really not my cup of tea, but it was a historic result and should have got a mention. I accept how big the All-Ireland is, and have no problem with that dominating the show, but it was the fact that they let a fellow on to complain about other sports being covered that really got on my wick, when they could have used that time to cover City, or the basketball, or even more on the hurling

[TheOwl]

Unfortunately in this country, a worryingly large amount of people, are idiots.

Some follow the GAA, some follow the Eircom League, some vote for the Christian Democratic Party!

They frustrate, they annoy, and they **** you off, but at the end of the day, and as hard as it to do, all you can do is just fvcking ignore them.*








*Oh how I try!

[Éanna]

They can be idiots as much as they like, its their constitutional right. I just wish they'd stay out of my ****ing way.

[fbtn]

Unfortunately in this country, a worryingly large amount of people, are idiots.

Some follow the GAA, some follow the Eircom League, some vote for the Christian Democratic Party!

They frustrate, they annoy, and they **** you off, but at the end of the day, and as hard as it to do, all you can do is just fvcking ignore them.*

*Oh how I try!

Quality post

[patsh]

Sportscall is a phone-in programme, so the content is decided by the people who phone in. No matter what you say Éanna, the All-Ireland Hurling final is one of the top two sporting events in this country, so it's only natural that on the day after the game, it's what people want to talk about.

Calling GAA people bigots while posting "hillbillies...rednecks...Moaning ****ing bigots... reminded me exactly why I hate the ****ing GAA" is a tad ironic is it not?

In Séan Óg O'hÁilpin, we have one of the most eloquent, honest and endearing sportsmen anywhere in the world. He is hardly a red-necked bigot, and neither are any of his teams mates, or any of the players they played against on Sunday, or any other day.
The anti-GAA posters on this site seem to like to use "bigot" as their insult of choice for the GAA, but to quote that great philosopher, Nuttsy Fenlon, they would want to have a look at themselves.....

[republic]

To be honest I avoid (ahem)"Sports" Call like the plague as it usually has a very pro-GAA bias. For genuine sports news, chat and comment, the nightly show on Newstalk 106 between 7pm and 10pm, Monday through Friday is *far* better. The coverage of the beautiful game is far superior (and far more extensive) to anything that RTE radio ever produce and they also have a regular eircom League hour between 8pm and 9pm every Thursday. While Newstalk is still a Dublin based station, I understand that there is a possibility of them acquiring a national broadcasting license.

Otherwise both BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport offer excellent sports shows with regular phone-in's and, of course, the added bonus of absolutely no GAAH coverage!

[republic]

No matter what you say Éanna, the All-Ireland Hurling final is one of the top two sporting events in this country, so it's only natural that on the day after the game, it's what people want to talk about.

Disagree absolutely. How can anyone say that the All-Ireland cup final is bigger than an important Ireland v England Triple Crown decider, a crucial World Cup qualifier v France, or an actual match in the finals of the World Cup? TV audiences for genuine international football or rugby matches regularly exceed those for the GAA. Unfortunately attendances at those games do not exceed those for the GAAH simply because of a lack of a suitable stadium. For instance, the FAI indicated that they could have sold out Croke Park at least twice over for the France game last week.

[gspain]

It's not just about the people who phone in but the people they put on.

If RTE want to have a GAA phone in they should just go ahead.

In general I find the qaulity of the shows very poor mainly due to the ignorance of the participants. Still maybe that is what works for ratings and gets people talking.

[patsh]

Disagree absolutely. How can anyone say that the All-Ireland cup final is bigger than an important Ireland v England Triple Crown decider, a crucial World Cup qualifier v France, or an actual match in the finals of the World Cup? TV audiences for genuine international football or rugby matches regularly exceed those for the GAA. Unfortunately attendances at those games do not exceed those for the GAAH simply because of a lack of a suitable stadium. For instance, the FAI indicated that they could have sold out Croke Park at least twice over for the France game last week.

"Triple Crown"??? "Triple Crown"???
Don't make me laugh. Some imaginary competition, now and again?
Rugger is a minority sport in this country.
How can anyone say that a rugger "game" for some imaginary prize ( the "Triple Crown", WTF???) is of more interest and importance than an All-Ireland final?
Get a grip, it doesn't come remotely near.

Ireland v France:
So because a huge number of event junkies want to go to one big game that happens once in a blue moon, it's bigger than the All-Ireland final? Why did the FAI have to sell the tickets as a bundle with other games? Because so few were interested in the "lesser" games.
IF Ireland get to the WC finals, there will be massive interest for a few weeks, and then it will all die down again for another 4 years. Same as any other time.

The GAA championship gets millions of spectators, and millions of TV viewers EVERY SINGLE YEAR. It seems to annoy some people on here, but whether you like it or not, the GAA is hugely popular in this country and will continue to be. It is the best sporting organisation in this country by a million miles and instead of some peopletaking every opportunity to have a go at it, they should maybe have a good hard look at just why it is so successful and how football in this country could learn so much from it.

[OneRedArmy]

"Triple Crown"??? "Triple Crown"???
Don't make me laugh. Some imaginary competition, now and again?
Rugger is a minority sport in this country.
How can anyone say that a rugger "game" for some imaginary prize ( the "Triple Crown", WTF???) is of more interest and importance than an All-Ireland final?
Get a grip, it doesn't come remotely near.

Maybe in football, but "All Ireland" in hurling is an absolute oxymoron, two-thirds of the country wouldn't know what end is up with a hurley, including anywhere north of a line from Galway to Offally.

Rugby may not be truly representative but its right up there with hurling in that regard. At least the four provinces can field a decent team.

[patsh]

Maybe in football, but "All Ireland" in hurling is an absolute oxymoron, two-thirds of the country wouldn't know what end is up with a hurley, including anywhere north of a line from Galway to Offally.

Rugby may not be truly representative but its right up there with hurling in that regard. At least the four provinces can field a decent team.

EVERY county in the country enters the All-Ireland championship, and EVERY country in Ireland fields a hurling team. The relative strengths of counties is a different matter entirely.
That is a fact, much as it might not suit the GAA bashers.

[OneRedArmy]

EVERY county in the country enters the All-Ireland championship, and EVERY country in Ireland fields a hurling team.

The latter statement MAY be true (not sure), the former certainly isn't. AFAIK the All-Ireland is now played for by 12 teams (not sure on the exact number).
The rest all play amongst themselves, in the manner of all the nerds at school when the big boys don't pick them for the proper game on the big pitch.

Hurling is a minority sport in most of the country.

[gspain]

The Ireland v France was by far the biggest sporting event in the country this year. It was bigger than all the GAA game sput together.

The GAA does not have an International demension and will never even come close to the appeal or the exposure football gives to this country.

Football is the most played sport in this country. yes more people gop to GAA because football fans tend to focus on Manchesyer United or Liverpool rather than Cork City or Shelbourne.

[gspain]

Every county in the country has teams in the F.A.I. Junior Cup as well.

Don't be fooled by the hype in Cork.

[razor]

Those people should be shipped off to an island somewhere

They were and we got em.
I don't think the caller in question is typical of all GAA fans but there is a minority who can't see past GAA and are stuck in the past.
His reference to the Irish National football team as the England B team said it all for me. Sickened me to the core.

[Réiteoir]

EVERY county in the country enters the All-Ireland championship.

*cough* Three-tier competition *cough*
*cough* Warwickshire *cough*
*cough* GAA Eliteism *cough*
*cough* London winning an "All-Ireland" competition *cough*
*cough* Bullcrap by the Sombrero-wearing Cork GAH Idiots *cough*

[republic]

"Triple Crown"??? "Triple Crown"???
.... is of more interest and importance than an All-Ireland final?
Get a grip, it doesn't come remotely near.

Ireland v France:
So because a huge number of event junkies want to go to one big game that happens once in a blue moon, it's bigger than the All-Ireland final? ....

While I don't have much interest in rugby it is obvious that there is massive interest in the Six Nations Rugby. And yes, the Triple Crown is an integral part of that.

As GSpain correctly points out the GAAH simply cannot offer an international dimension to their own brand of sport (apart from that hybrid 'compromise' rules game) and will never even come close to the appeal or the exposure football gives to this country. The same applies to rugby. The international exposure, publicity and tourism generated by one important Six Nations match is worth 20 All Ireland cup finals. Likewise, a single appearance by our national team in the World Cup finals.

As for 'Event Junkies' they are found at every sport. They were at Lansdowne last Wednesday and I'm sure there were plenty of them there at Croke Park on Sunday. I'm certain that the France game attracted more TV viewers than the All-Irelnad cup final on Sunday in this country alone and *infinitely* more worldwide.

[Mick89]

EVERY county in the country enters the All-Ireland championship, and EVERY country in Ireland fields a hurling team. The relative strengths of counties is a different matter entirely.
That is a fact, much as it might not suit the GAA bashers.

Not true. Kilkenny don't enter the football and a legion of counties don't enter the hurling. There's no connaught championship, so it's only Galway entering there. (Leaves out Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon) In Ulster Only Derry, Antrim and Down enter teams, so Donegal, Cavan, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Tyrone and Armagh are out.

London and New York don't enter either the hurling either as far as I know, tho could be corrected here.

And to your point that EVERY county has a hurling team, that means nothing. Any county could have any sort of sports team if they so wanted.