When Dublin played Mayo in the 2015 draw and replay, Ger Gilroy pleaded, âwhy canât we have more of this?â
You canât have more of it because by creating âmoreâ of it you remove the jeopardy and run down the very product youâre trying to improve. Dublin v Mayo in 2015 was intoxicating precisely because it was such an occasion is rare and because jeopardy is total. Itâs a prize fight.
Thereâs a fundamental misunderstanding of the GAA public here. The hardcore turn out for League matches in the winter and spring to get out of the house, they also know well in advance when these games are on.
In terms of the championship, the GAA public will only turn out in large numbers if thereâs an occasion on offer and/or jeopardy. The Munster hurling Premier League at least offers a watered down version of jeopardy for the moment, so people turn out, and non-Waterford games at least become occasions. The Ulster football final offers competition and occasion, so people turn out.
This group stage in the football championship does neither. Thereâs no jeopardy, so thereâs no turn out. People know there will be a poor turn out, so that drives own dynamic for an even worse turn out. Itâs like how opinion polls can often underestimate a trend and miss dynamics going on underneath the surface.
The irony is the new system takes away the chance of the very replay that created the âmoreâ Dublin v Mayo in 2015 that Ger Gilroy and everybody else so loved. That game would have gone to extra time and penalties if necessary under the current system and there would have been less, not more. Now weâre stuck with the less because the Ger Gilroys wanted more.
Is there a draw for these preliminary quarter-finals or it already fixed that 2nd in Group A plays 3rd in Group B etc? It would be a pity if Kerry played Armagh in the round of 12. Both of those have plenty to add to this championship.
Thatâs an amazing statistic. I almost doubted itâs validity for a split second but you can never doubt a serious internet operator like @peddlerscross. He has Limerick backers and split season zealots lining up to attempt haymakers on him but they rarely connect.
The 10 non provincial winners would be: Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford, Longford, Louth, Waterford, Antrim, Fermanagh, Kilkenny and Limerick. Wexford, Limerick and Fermanagh all came agonisingly close to winning provincial honours during relative halcyon days in the 2000âs.
Just two years of this Split Season/Tailteann Cup nonsense has been enough to effectively end Gaelic Football as a pastime in Tipperary, a County who have made 2x All Ireland Football Semi Finals in the past 8 years.
Its like an atomic bomb this Split Season/Tailteann Cup.
Closest of all. An absolutely iconic game on the same day as the World Cup Final. They had a fine team back then alright. Paddy Keenan and that curly haired livewire Colm Judge.
This whole thing has been a crock of shite from top to bottom and to the detriment of, dare I say it, club football - the very basics of the game. Weâre here in lowly Leitrim, out of everything gearing ourselves up for a club championship beginning the August weekend. The prime months of Summer conveniently bypassed to suit âthe scheduleâ. Do I need to go onâŚâŚ.
I appreciate its because of a convoluted Divisional structure, but there is absolutely no certainty in Tipp this year as to when Club Championshipâs start. All depends on how far Tipp go.
A certain cohort of Club Players like the split season alright, particularly older ones who are married and have children.
They are usually answerable to their Life Partners (cc @Bandage), who are keen to plan Holidays/Weekends away etc. These players are also under pressure to spend a certain quota of Sundays each year at playgrounds or looking at Camels/Giraffes with the kids in Fota Island or somewhere. Having a âdefined Club Windowâ from Mid July onwards kind of suits these players as they build up their brownie points early in the year but theyâll still end up missing one important game anyway in July/early August because of a wedding or something.
A lot of younger club players would prefer to be in America/Ibiza/Lollapooza/Galway in late July/early August instead of being at home so theyâd rather the old system of a few games in late April/early May and be back for the serious business from approx Aug 25th onwards.
