All McCann served to do was make an embarrassment out of himself and his team (by association) on national TV. Rory Beggan also did this a few moments later, Philly McMahon did it a couple of weeks later, Michael Shields a couple of weeks before that and James O’Donoghue a few weeks before that.
Aidan O’Shea cheated (in the same manner McCann did) and it had a huge say in putting Fermanagh out of the Championship, it had serious ramifications and as such was worse.
I’m not talking about the moral righteousness of the incident, both of them cheated. I’m not saying it’s right because it didn’t look as bad as other cheating.
It looked worse.
O’Shea cheated to dump Fermanagh out of the Championship. As for optics, how about him coming out a week later brazenly denying it?
I’m not disagreeing with this. I’m offering an explanation as to why it was treated differently in the media to the McCann incident.
O’Shea didn’t cheat mate
It was treated differently for one reason.
McCann plays for Tyrone, O’Shea plays for Mayo.
Switch the tables and the hysteric reaction switches with it.
Plus you can’t take anything Ciaran ‘the hypocritical cunt’ Whelan says anyhow.
@Nembo_Kid I can’t understand your fixation with Kerry when the most glaringly obvious example is the bias of The Sunday Game towards Dublin.
Imagine if Sean Cavanagh or Paul Galvin had to gouge someone like Philly McMahon did in the All-ireland final? There would have been a meltdown in Donnybrook.
Tyrone have been cheating and trash talking in a vile manner for nearly 15 years, most pundits and many columnists have had first hand experience of it. Mayo have little enough previous in that regard, this is hardly rocket science.
You. Cannot. Be. Serious.
Where have Kerry got slated on their behaviour in the past?
Kerry have always been cynical in the past but under Fitzmaurice it has reached new levels. Yer man Enright at corner back can’t go a game without trying to decapitate someone or rugby tackle them. Crowley is a lad who spends his whole game up to no good, Donaghy, O’Mahony. Barry John Keane blasting the ball away as Paul Durcan lined up for a short kick out in injury time in the dying minutes of the All Ireland final. Starting melees in injury time in the 2014 AI semi final and finals as they were winning. Kerry are every bit as cynical as the rest but they have a bunch of apologists there for them in the media as do Dublin and Mayo.
The thing is the media don’t mind what way their teams win but God help us if someone else uses those tactics.
Selective memory or just an idiot?
Lee “rear naked chokehold” Keegan in action here in the first 20 seconds of the game.
I’ll grant you Lee Keegan is no angel and he’s not the only offender, but there is a suspicion in the media and the public in general that it is an integral part of Tyrones game and has been since Mickey Harte took over. They get a raw deal from certain corners of the media but it’s often ex players who played against them that lead the charge.
I couldn’t care less but I actually love football and would rather it wasn’t a part of any teams plans. I wouldn’t condone it from a Cork player under any circumstances.
Neither are Aidan O’Shea or Colm Boyle or Cillian O’Connor or Seamus O’Shea.
Every team has its cunts, so if you’re going to go down that track then you better be consistent.
Ulster teams seem to be the only ones who have their past sins held against them.
Imagine Kerry being associated with Aidan O’Mahony rolling around holding his face from a tip to his face or Tadhg Kennelly lamping his opponent at the throw in, Paul Galvin slapping a notebook out of the referee’s hand, Kieran Donaghy roaring in Paul Hearty’s face after scoring a goal.
Just imagine that.
I’ve no appetite for an argument, you certainly appear to be better able to use specific examples to back your points, I haven’t enjoyed football in a long time so don’t watch as closely as you.
In relation to Kerry though I will say that history has obviously a huge part to play in their usual media darling status, they were always tough hard men but the shnakiness and cheating is quite new, Tyrone on the other hand have had a reputation for bending the rules and trash talking for as long as they have been of any interest to the wider GAA public.
How fucking naive are you?
There is nothing new with Kerry shadiness and cheating. It’s been there for years.
Tyrone learned their lessons in the 96 semi-final with Meath when Dinky McBride had his head stamped on, McGuinness went after Peter Canavan’s ankle ligaments and Brian Dooher also ended his game in a head bandage. You’ve got to have a nasty edge to you to compete at this level, you seem to be upset and affronted at a northern side meeting a southern side with the same ruthlessness.
There was contact?
Correct
However, a reputation for Kerry vigour seems to have persisted. Following their 1932 All-Ireland victory over Mayo, the Kerry secretary complained about the conduct of the match referee, Martin O’Neill. Before the throw-in, he had entered the Kerry dressing room and proceeded to criticise and insult the Kerry players, stating that as far as he was concerned they had been blackguarding in every game they played and threatened to stop play if they carried on like that today! This reputation was only enhanced in the fallout of the 1946 All-Ireland semi-final, a match which proved even more controversial than the 1930 final. Again Antrim (after winning their first Ulster title since 1913) provided the opposition. They stormed through Ulster after developing a completely new style of play by introducing the modern hand-pass into Gaelic football. Before the game, talk was dominated by how the Kerry traditionalists could cope with this new playing style. Their response was physicality. While Antrim launched attack after attack and effectively tried to hand-pass the ball into the Kerry net, the Kingdom’s backs resorted to pulling and dragging. Seven of the 10 points Antrim scored came from frees. After the game, the Kerry defenders admitted this cynical play was premeditated and that it was the only solution they could come up with to cope with Antrim’s blistering forward play. Kerry went on to win by 2-7 to 0-10 but the second half was mired by frequent and heated clashes. Both teams were reduced to 14 men before full-time, while an Antrim supporter in the stand threw a glass bottle at one of the Kerry players. Subsequently Antrim objected to Kerry’s win on the grounds their tactics brought the GAA into disrepute. Cynical play? Even Kerry are old dogs at it.