The Joe Brolly tells porkies thread

McCarthy is an utterly totemic figure in terms of respect. More than Cluxton. Comfortably more, because of personality, he has a warmer, more accessible personality than Cluxton. It’s not a power grab, because he already was the power, but he has decided to exercise that power in a benevolent way, without trying to piss on anybody, though Dessie is being pissed on quite a bit. But he isn’t being humiliated for political reasons, both because there is a respect there for Farrell as a great figure in Dublin football and because nobody needs the aggro. McCarthy has brought the band back together for a farewell tour and Dessie gets to come along for the ride too. That’s the deal. As I see it anyway. It could yet all go wrong in the final when somebody will have to make serious decisions, but who knows.

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I was at the semi final with the young lad last year and McCarthy was phenomenal,his point from the side line in the second half was absolutely vicious, nearly dragged Dublin over the line on his own

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Must take serious coin to coax these lads out of retirement

McCarthy has us purring

McCarthy is Dublin in the rare auld times.

Dessie Farrell’s current position is very like Leo Cullen with Leinster rugby. When Dublin win Dessie is only putting out the cones, when they lose it’s his fault and he needs to go.

Pat Gilroy garnering all the credit from Joe for last weeks performance against Mayo but presumably is absolved of any connection to the turgid performances in Croker against Kildare and Roscommon earlier in the summer.

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Its a very important skill in life to be able to twist things.

Joe is brilliant at it.

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This clicking into Twitter thing is a bit of a balls. Not giving out to the custodians.

Joe has turned into an awful fanny. No getting away from it.

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I think it’s great. I remember a time clicking and nothing. Then you’d slap the side of the telly and voila :grinning:

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Me ma slapped the telly in our house, me da slapped the rest of us

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Joe Brolly: Natural, unforced and argumentative – BBC pundits are miles ahead

Compelling characters like Mickey Harte keep coverage real

Joe Brolly

July 23 2023 02:30 AM

The author and entertainer Garrison Keillor said that the secret of good broadcasting is false friendship. He meant that for a programme to succeed, strangers have to be comfortable having you in their living room.

BBC Northern Ireland’s GAA coverage passes his test. My own test is a variation on Keillor’s: Is it the sort of conversation you would enjoy being part of in the pub or clubhouse?

Here, again, the Beeb passes with honours.

For last Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Derry and Kerry, they had Mickey Harte in studio (RTÉ need not apply)

Edgy, prickly, funny, stubborn and real, Mickey is a compelling personality. He said beforehand: “Kerry think they know what they are facing today but they don’t. They’ll find that out when they go toe to toe. They’ll soon realise this will go down the stretch. After that it is up to Derry.”

Kieran McKeever, the greatest corner-back of his generation, who should have got six or seven All Stars but kept getting sent off (in those days that was a barrier to the statuette) was glowing with mischief on the sideline.

​“I wish I was playing today. I wish I was marking Clifford.” So did we as it turned out. Peter Canavan once said it was his misfortune to be born at the same time as McKeever. Lucky for Peter all those young Tyrone guns came along after McKeever (‘Fever’ we called him because he raged like a fever) retired.

When Derry got the early goal, commentator Tommy Niblock, who hails from Derry aristocracy, shouted, “Derry hit the onion bag”. Tommy is one of the finest people you could meet. The sort of boy if he came to the house with your daughter, he would peel the spuds for the dinner then wash up afterwards.

His uncles are Derry and Ulster legends. Hugh, who won an Ulster title with Derry then left for Cork during the northern bother, won All-Ireland club medals with Nemo before going on to become the replacement striker for Pele at the New York Cosmos.

I had the pleasure of playing with Tommy at St Brigid’s where his delight in the games and the lads shone through. We are very proud of him in Derry.

When Kerry goalie Shane Ryan took Shane McGuigan out with an extremely dangerous head-high hit before scoring a point, Tommy’s co-commentator Philly McMahon positively gushed. “Big score. Not only did he give McGuigan a big hit as he went through, he also popped it over.”

Tommy asked for Maurice Deegan’s verdict. One of the best things the Beeb has done is to have Maurice as the eye in the sky for their games. Maurice, who is very comfortable and likeable on the telly, said, “Definite free for Derry. The goalie clearly jumps and turns into the Derry player’s head. Definite card.”

Philly said, “That’s not a foul Maurice. The two of them were going for the ball.” To be fair, Philly doesn’t think anything is a foul.

When the half-time panel argued over the black card for Diarmuid O’Connor, Maurice was called for again.

Oisín McConville: It has to be a deliberate pulldown. It’s in the rules. He did not pull him down.

Maurice: It doesn’t have to be a pulldown Oisín. Just a deliberate trip.

OisĂ­n (irritated): Did he pull him down?

Maurice: No he didn’t. All he has to do is trip him with his hand, which he did. A deliberate hand trip is a black card.

Mickey: Maurice is right.

Maurice (laughing): And just for the record, I picked Derry to win.

Michael Murphy (laughing): I think it’s the first time I have ever agreed with one of Maurice’s decisions.

OisĂ­n (sullen, like a chastised child): I disagree.

Mickey: Take it like a man. OisĂ­n. Take it like a man.

When they turned to the Shane Ryan incident, Mickey didn’t put a tooth in it.

Mickey: His feet are clean off the ground. He clearly turns and deliberately hits him with his hinch [Tyrone for ‘hip’] into his face.

Maurice: Mickey is right. Shane knew what he was doing.

Oisín: You are both wrong … again. (laughter in studio).

The whole thing is natural and unforced. Sarah Mulkerrins is relaxed and likeable in the presenter role.

​Like all good presenters she simply throws in the ball and lets them at it. This way, the conversation can go in any direction. The pundits chat amongst themselves, as they would in a clubhouse. There are no artificial interruptions.

The host is a host, not a school master. As a result, we feel as if we are eavesdropping on them. And so, it satisfies the Keillor test for great broadcasting. More than that, it is important public service broadcasting.

…

Meanwhile on RTÉ, Competition time: Q. Which Richard can’t remember his salary? Is it A) Richard Collins B) Richard the lionheart C) Richie Rich D) Rich tea biscuits? Texts cost €5. No Taliban or Northerners. Prize: The all new Renault Invoice (no paperwork required).

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Joe is going to turn into Ewan. He’ll be calling people “vile cunts” next

He’s correct about the BBC coverage,it’s miles better than RTE

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Looking forward to the hurling later, Christ I couldn’t deal with RTE, they are shocking, and that goes every sport they cover, female presenters and pundits just for the sake of it, it would sicken your hole.

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Jacqui and Maria are fine presenters, its the school master there is an issue with

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How is he so lacking in self awareness to just keep going on and on about RTE. It’d be like a fella being dropped off a team and going on and on and on and on about the management and the fellas who’ve replaced him in the pub. For years. Or a fella going on about his ex and her new fella. Nobody would do it. Even if they thought it they’d be aware it’d make them look foolish.
That discussion he transcribes there too is just a run of the mill disagreement. Sure they surely had a similar discussion on rte.
He’s an awful childish cunt. I picked up the sports section and it was the only article I read though

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Yeah, I used the ex-analogy before. It’s terribly sad. I’d say it’s only 4-6 weeks since his last Sindo article was devoted entirely to RTE’s GAA coverage & there have been plenty before that. Now he’s doing that thing the youngsters call sub-tweeting or sub-posting. He’s not directly talking about RTÉ but everything in that article about BBC’s coverage is for RTÉ’s benefit & a series of thinly veiled digs at them. Sarah Mulkerrins is a great host because she knows her role is to let the guests speak & she doesn’t carry on like a schoolmaster etc. The current RTÉ scandal has opened up another avenue for him to launch a few grenades at the organisation & circle back to criticising their GAA coverage…again.

The beige brigade don’t like it up 'em

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Just as well it was on local tv

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