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GAA Has Never Been Better - Why So Much Complaining

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As a Wexican not old enough to remember the 90s, and other legendary games from that era, I was always told how much the game (of football in particular) has disimproved.
Well Classic GAA, since I got Eir TV, has been an eye opener.
Lets be honest here, old GAA games were mainly terrible games. Yes they were close, exciting, but an exciting 5 minutes at the end could mask over an otherwise awful game.
Football - rule #1 was win it, kick it far.
Hurling - ground hurl if you can't pick it, pick it if you have enough time. Pull first, a broken hurl will gain the approval of the crowd.
While there was no shortage of honest endeavour, much of the play was brain dead. Huff and puff and bluster.

Give me watching players play short passing, pass and move, be a spare man to move the ball out the field, over a lad pulling on the ball on the ground any day.

GAA has never been better, except maybe for the club player for whom it has never been worse. Players are committing more, being trained better, than ever before. I fail to see why the negativity?

I could keep going but need to board a flight for work, I expect to have got slaughtered for this viewpoint when I am, but just like summers being hotter years ago a lot of it is nostalgia.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1737 - 22/02/2020 14:36:20    2268994

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "As a Wexican not old enough to remember the 90s, and other legendary games from that era, I was always told how much the game (of football in particular) has disimproved.
Well Classic GAA, since I got Eir TV, has been an eye opener.
Lets be honest here, old GAA games were mainly terrible games. Yes they were close, exciting, but an exciting 5 minutes at the end could mask over an otherwise awful game.
Football - rule #1 was win it, kick it far.
Hurling - ground hurl if you can't pick it, pick it if you have enough time. Pull first, a broken hurl will gain the approval of the crowd.
While there was no shortage of honest endeavour, much of the play was brain dead. Huff and puff and bluster.

Give me watching players play short passing, pass and move, be a spare man to move the ball out the field, over a lad pulling on the ball on the ground any day.

GAA has never been better, except maybe for the club player for whom it has never been worse. Players are committing more, being trained better, than ever before. I fail to see why the negativity?

I could keep going but need to board a flight for work, I expect to have got slaughtered for this viewpoint when I am, but just like summers being hotter years ago a lot of it is nostalgia."
Spot on, have been saying that for years. Remember being shown Kerry Golden Years by my Father, now when you watch it its like Junior football.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2017 - 22/02/2020 17:12:51    2269033

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I love short pass and move tactics. The quick thinking and awareness involved are amazing especially in hurling.

Short pass football is great too and loved the way teams played in the 10s especially Kearns Limerick but tactics did go a bit too far the wrong way a few years ago but that will swing back again in time

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 22/02/2020 18:24:47    2269046

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I am certainly old enough to remember the 90s. It was a very exciting era but I have to admit that when I have rewatched some of the big games from those days, they were nowhere near as good as I had remembered them. Last season produced some outstanding football games and the quality of passing and shooting nowadays is better than ever.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 996 - 22/02/2020 19:09:45    2269053

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Replying To Gaillimh_Abu:  "I am certainly old enough to remember the 90s. It was a very exciting era but I have to admit that when I have rewatched some of the big games from those days, they were nowhere near as good as I had remembered them. Last season produced some outstanding football games and the quality of passing and shooting nowadays is better than ever."
I dunno,there was something nostalgic about
- training involving lads carrying telegraph poles around.science it is called
- laps,laps and more laps
- the throw in in the 98 munster final,"manly play" was what it was called
- lads having a fry the morning of a big match
- the warrior running around with blood spouting,and teeth being lost

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 22/02/2020 20:30:33    2269067

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Modern football is rubbish compared to the great game it was in the 1950s.

worple (Roscommon) - Posts: 340 - 22/02/2020 21:24:25    2269099

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Just wander over to the NFL 1 thread and read the complaining, bent ref's, corrupt GAA, cynical filthy Dubs, dodgy time keeping. In my experience the games are a spectacle, like Roman Collesum, complete with the last man standing ethos. If you want to moan what h soccer.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4897 - 22/02/2020 22:29:05    2269140

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Replying To perfect10:  "I dunno,there was something nostalgic about
- training involving lads carrying telegraph poles around.science it is called
- laps,laps and more laps
- the throw in in the 98 munster final,"manly play" was what it was called
- lads having a fry the morning of a big match
- the warrior running around with blood spouting,and teeth being lost"
Don't forget those infamous training sessions where the Mayo footballers had to push cars around a car park! That idea never seemed to catch on for some reason. Then there was the first round Munster hurling championship game between Clare and Cork in '95 when Seanie McMahon continued playing after dislocating his shoulder because Clare had already used all their subs - he did force the Cork corner-back into conceding the line-ball that led to Clare's last-gasp winning goal though so there was some method to the madness.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 996 - 22/02/2020 22:33:31    2269142

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Your post is a bit baffling! "Except maybe for the club player..."
There lies the answer to your question. Rest my case

tiobraid (Tipperary) - Posts: 4119 - 23/02/2020 04:11:49    2269189

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Re the title thread, I dont complain. As with a sizeable chunk of GAA gene pool people, for the most part I dont watch Gaelic football anymore. All Ireland semi final stage is soon enough to tune Into the championship. Admittedly the openness and close competitive of the league makes those games a bit more interesting especially on winter nights.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1904 - 23/02/2020 09:26:36    2269203

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "As a Wexican not old enough to remember the 90s, and other legendary games from that era, I was always told how much the game (of football in particular) has disimproved.
Well Classic GAA, since I got Eir TV, has been an eye opener.
Lets be honest here, old GAA games were mainly terrible games. Yes they were close, exciting, but an exciting 5 minutes at the end could mask over an otherwise awful game.
Football - rule #1 was win it, kick it far.
Hurling - ground hurl if you can't pick it, pick it if you have enough time. Pull first, a broken hurl will gain the approval of the crowd.
While there was no shortage of honest endeavour, much of the play was brain dead. Huff and puff and bluster.

Give me watching players play short passing, pass and move, be a spare man to move the ball out the field, over a lad pulling on the ball on the ground any day.

GAA has never been better, except maybe for the club player for whom it has never been worse. Players are committing more, being trained better, than ever before. I fail to see why the negativity?

I could keep going but need to board a flight for work, I expect to have got slaughtered for this viewpoint when I am, but just like summers being hotter years ago a lot of it is nostalgia."
100% agree. In nearly half a century of attending matches, I've never been to one I didn't enjoy. However, there will always be those who prefer games full of naive defending and cheap scores. They should stick to basketball.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 23/02/2020 09:29:14    2269205

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Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "Re the title thread, I dont complain. As with a sizeable chunk of GAA gene pool people, for the most part I dont watch Gaelic football anymore. All Ireland semi final stage is soon enough to tune Into the championship. Admittedly the openness and close competitive of the league makes those games a bit more interesting especially on winter nights."
Yeah I think a big problem has to do with the fact there aren't lots of good contests for much of the championship in football.

Ulster is ok. There are 2 good contests in Connacht but the don't always deliver good games.

Leinster has good games outside of Dublin fixtures but they kind of don't feel important because Dublin are just too far ahead.

Similarly in Munster with Kerry way ahead of the pack there.

The super 8s are a weird change in gear from knockout football to group football and I don't think it's worked well.

The semifinals is where it gets interesting again.

There's a long way until the action gets going in the football championship and I think that's a big part of the problem.

It's the tv generation though too that are a problem. These games a lot of the time are a heck of a lot more exciting live than they are sat at home.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4240 - 23/02/2020 10:40:54    2269214

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Because Irish people like nothing better than to complain about something. If life was perfect we'd be complaining why there was nothing to complain about.

pkboher (Cork) - Posts: 49 - 23/02/2020 13:43:13    2269271

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Replying To pkboher:  "Because Irish people like nothing better than to complain about something. If life was perfect we'd be complaining why there was nothing to complain about."
:)

skillet (Limerick) - Posts: 1065 - 23/02/2020 15:45:06    2269287

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Another 2 wins for Limerick today.
GAA has never been better

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 23/02/2020 15:45:33    2269290

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Replying To Breezy:  "Another 2 wins for Limerick today.
GAA has never been better"
Limerick are the team to beat in hurling. I thought they were far superior to Cork today. Horgan's prolific freetaking kept Cork in the hunt, but is camouflaging serious defects in their game.

Rockies (Cork) - Posts: 947 - 23/02/2020 19:44:29    2269411

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Replying To Breezy:  "Another 2 wins for Limerick today.
GAA has never been better"
Why Cork have moved Fitzgibbon out of midfield is beyond me! Mark Coleman has performed well in the half back line for years, now he is slotted into a midfield berth! Bill Cooper operated quite well in midfield, but now inexplicably he is center back! Aidan Walsh has been played all over the field! This management team needs to instill confidence in players and this will not happen when playing players out of position!

Rockies (Cork) - Posts: 947 - 23/02/2020 20:13:29    2269434

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Replying To StoreysTash:  "As a Wexican not old enough to remember the 90s, and other legendary games from that era, I was always told how much the game (of football in particular) has disimproved.
Well Classic GAA, since I got Eir TV, has been an eye opener.
Lets be honest here, old GAA games were mainly terrible games. Yes they were close, exciting, but an exciting 5 minutes at the end could mask over an otherwise awful game.
Football - rule #1 was win it, kick it far.
Hurling - ground hurl if you can't pick it, pick it if you have enough time. Pull first, a broken hurl will gain the approval of the crowd.
While there was no shortage of honest endeavour, much of the play was brain dead. Huff and puff and bluster.

Give me watching players play short passing, pass and move, be a spare man to move the ball out the field, over a lad pulling on the ball on the ground any day.

GAA has never been better, except maybe for the club player for whom it has never been worse. Players are committing more, being trained better, than ever before. I fail to see why the negativity?

I could keep going but need to board a flight for work, I expect to have got slaughtered for this viewpoint when I am, but just like summers being hotter years ago a lot of it is nostalgia."
There are a couple of things I'd disagree with in your post. Yes there have always been bad games, and players are generally more skillful now than ever before due to the amount of training they get from the age of 6 up, from coaches who are much more informed than 20+ years ago. But far too often there are now bad games by design - games like the recent senior club football final where neither side were prepared to take a risk resulting in a terrible spectacle. Games like that turn off viewers and more talented footballers, its only right that efforts are made to prevent such tactics being effective.
As for the club player, throughout the country there are superb facilities for players to train and play in, gone are the days of togging out in a car and chasing the cows off the pitch which was still happening just 30 years ago. Despite all the moaning, the vast majority of championships are finished in September or October, and now junior and intermediate players get a chance to win provincial and All-Ireland honours. If the club player has never had it worse I'd love to know when the golden era was.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 23/02/2020 20:29:01    2269441

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I'm more incline to compare the GAA with other sports in the modern day. That's where my dissatisfaction comes from.

I love this time of the year. Loads of great competitive matches. Football styles are not so much in discussion when that happens. The debacle that is our primary competition, the Championship - thats when it all kicks off.

I'm no longer involved in club activities so I dont feel the pain there but can understand the frustration. In England, teams can play in 4 competitions at the same time, and also release players for international duty. Maybe the GAA could learn something from there if interested in the game before one's own position.

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 23/02/2020 20:49:48    2269453

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I think it can be boiled down to a very simple point. The games have never been more professional as a result cynicism has come in and whilst it's lauded as 'closing out a game' or 'sticking to a game plan' seeing cheating for want of a better word annoys punters. I will state this is by most teams now, it's just the way the game has gone.

The ethos of gaa has always been knocking several shades out of each other then having a pint, leaving it on the pitch, those days are history and unfortunately the level of cynicism which we continue to see will tear at the heart of the game until something is done about it and that's why people complain and give a general air of dissatisfaction with the game currently.

duckula20 (Antrim) - Posts: 175 - 24/02/2020 06:07:30    2269557

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