Hurling and NFL are the true games of the Gael, there’s a beautiful symmetry between the seasons
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But they don’t overlap?
Yeah they do.
When?
I’d imagine when Tom Brady retires a lot of lads will return to the GAA.
August and September bro.
Don’t forget the Irish Muldoon is out in his shed avoiding the wife in July following NFL training camps for his fantashy team.
i) You can’t barge the opposition out of the way like you can in other field sports, you have to find a way to play the ball into the goal using only your feet or head, and the defending team must do the opposite by denying space. You can’t score from 60 yards out like in other field sports and goals from outside the 18 yard box are rare. Therefore by definition, strategy is more important than it is in other field sports.
ii) The current best player in the world is 5 feet and 5 inches tall. The greatest player of all-time was a similar height. Association football is probably the only field sport in which players of such height can thrive and become all-time greats (Gaelic football perhaps, but even greats like Peter Canavan and Colm Cooper were not that small). Physical stature is far less important than it is in other field or team sports. This also lends itself to increased cerebrality.
iii) It’s the most played sport in the world, and therefore has the widest variety of tactical variation and sophistication.
iv) The offside rule compresses the play, meaning less space, meaning the importance of tactics and strategy is increased.
v) The play is continuous. Therefore players have to constantly and instantly adapt to situations they have no prior knowledge of, and think on their feet while a game is going on. This is inherently more cerebrally demanding than a field sport where there are constant stoppages and plays are learned by rote, with the same starting scenario each time. The difference between association football and United Statesian football is like the difference between a series of complex engineering problems and the Junior Cert.
vi) Goalkeeping is the only specialised position in association football. Every other player must be highly adaptable between defence and attack, often within the space of a few seconds. This demands greater overall tactical knowledge.
vii) The history of association football is rich with battles between styles which often play a key role in defining future tactical innovation. Celtic v Inter Milan 1967, Brazil v Italy 1970, West Germany v Holland 1974, Italy v Brazil 1982, Barcelona v Inter Milan 2010, Barcelona v Real Madrid 2011 is a short list of examples.
viii) High degrees of cerebrality must be displayed individually in every position in association football, while also operating within an overall whole.
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the same pretend american football lads wouldn’t cross the road to watch an american football game in croke park
Good post mate but really, where do you get the time?
Answered above
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You can get it by either looking at a clock, by looking at the bottom right corner of your computer screen, by looking at your phone, by turning on a television and pressing a button on your remote control, by listening to the radio (radio stations tend to provide regular updates on what the time is), or the good old fashioned way - by simply asking somebody.
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Great post
That’s some post.
Well done on collecting the low hanging fruit though Sid, the EPL barstoolers and pretend Ira rastoolers who hate the English but bizarrely obsess over their national game are rowing quickly in
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Unrale.
Ahem…please count me out of any perceived clique, pal. I’ve falling out of love with English football a good while now and would only watch the “big” games. Football is a brilliant game though and SIDs post does do it justice. Re the RA,.as a country still occupied by the British I understand and acknowledge completely their existence (terrorists Vs terrorists but that’s what happens after divide & rule and 100s of years of oppression). BTW I haven’t watched NFL since I was about 12 and haven’t an iota about the game…
Sid put up a well written post. And reading it would make someone new to sport very interested in watching it. But it doesn’t match up with the more often than not mundane nature of the sport, and the repetitive boring nature or many games. The problem is the draws. Look at barca this week, when teams have to score, and are technically competent to do so its a different game. But each to their own.
Yes it can look boring as a game but there can be some unbelievable moments, like the other night, but IMO it wasnt a great game. A game of cheese (but huge intensity in the game) for example, in the Champions League Final between Juve and Milan (in 03 I think) 0-0 AET, was a better game for me. You are correct, everyone to their own .
The champions league last 16 has been unreal pal…City-Monaco and Barcelona-PSG this week were incredible games.
Exciting games, with some bits of brilliance and an amount of chating (+ maybe a mad ref…) You heading to the hurling tomorrow pal?