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National Forum

The Sunday Game - Awful Coverage

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "The funniest element in last evening's coverage imo was Spillane & Brolly intimating that Tyrone were 'not great', because they weren't deploying mass defense. We were even shown clips of where Colm Kavanagh 'normally is'. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't, with football currently.

Is it any wonder that people are switching off football? If football is as bad as a lot of pundits tell you it is these days, how challenging is it to be a tv football pundit? Very challenging, because on the one hand you're asking teams like Galway, Tyrone, Kerry to lay down their blankets, come out to play & entertain punters, and then when a team like Tyrone can afford to do that for a day against a div4 outfit, you get the same pundits tut tutting that they're 'too open'. Gas altogether."
Was Spillane on the programme? I thought it was T O'Shea but maybe I am mistaken. i skipped the tiresome hurling element and missed the intro to the brief football segment. Expecting any kind of consistency of argument from Brolly is foolish.

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 13/05/2019 20:06:35    2183799

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Replying To extranjero:  "In fairness, 8 of the top 10 hurling teams were playing against each other.
In football, only 3 of the top 10 teams were in action against lower ranked teams.
If you're not going to give priority to hurling on a weekend like that, when do you?"
You know what - RTE is a media company - it's job is to provide the most entertaining service - if the early season GAA football is inferior to the hurling equivalent, what should a media outlet do - give equal weight to inferiority as Pres Horan seems to suggest - of course, it's all about numbers !
Solution - create 'hurling-sized' mouth-watering groups of 5 in football as well - 3 groups of 5 in Tier 1, 2x5 in Tier 2 and the rest in Tier 3.
Or, as I've also proposed - a Super Eighteen - 6 inter-prov groups of 3 (2 games per team + retained Prov KO games) - so you see - we can refresh and keep tradition as well.

omahant (USA) - Posts: 3553 - 13/05/2019 22:53:56    2183845

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "How many times does this have to be explained. People who didn't get to see the live games will tune in to see them that night. There is always a bigger demand for those games to be shown first. They don't just randomly select the games for the craic. Bizarre that this keeps being brought up as a topic for debate."
That was certainly relevant 15 years ago. There is RTÉ Player now etc to make that argument less valid these days.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 13/05/2019 23:20:16    2183853

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The hurling analysis is terrible too.. All they mention is work rate and puck outs...

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 13/05/2019 23:25:42    2183855

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New championship campaign, same complaints.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13671 - 14/05/2019 01:56:25    2183867

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Replying To PK57:  "The Sunday game came back for its 40th anniversary last night and yet again, the coverage was poor. They spend the day covering Hurling and on my way back from Wexford park, all i heard on the radio was Hurling. Surely, football should get first billing in the evening show. Then when the football was shown, every game was rushed through with little or no analysis. From a Louth perspective, our game received a 2 minute report and not even a mention by the panel. Anyone who hasn't seen the report on the Louth game, should watch it for the comically bad reporter, who i seen on social media likened to Father Stone (from Father Ted) such was the lack of interest he showed in the game. You have Joe Brolly screaming about weaker counties being disrespected by the GAA but it never dawns on him that this is exactly what the TSG is doing."
I remember thinking that reporter had a bizarre tone to his voice. Almost sarcastic or something.

blackspot91 (Limerick) - Posts: 1055 - 14/05/2019 09:53:31    2183893

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Replying To clondalkindub:  "The Waterford/Clare was a shocking attendance, yes I know Walsh park is tiny but it was nowhere near sold out, plus 30 thousand for Tipp Cork is hardly record breaking for two of the biggest teams in hurling."
It was a sell out, the capacity was reduced due to health and safety.

blackspot91 (Limerick) - Posts: 1055 - 14/05/2019 09:54:39    2183894

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Yet again this debate descends into hurling v football. That is not the issue at all. The questions is a) are football people happy with the coverage and analysis and b) are hurling people happy with the coverage and analysis provided by RTE?

From a football point of view, the SG has been a juggernaut of negativity for the last 20 years. A platform for pundit's personal axe-grinding and airing of pet hates. The two main analysts spend their time winding each other up and are only united by their hatred of Tyrone. I think it all traces back to one man not being able to take his beating in 2003.

Of late it is clear there has been an editorial instruction to be more positive on football but it just comes off as contrived. Rubbish analysis using pointless geometric shapes (triangles occur by definition in football). Add to that the campaigns around disciplinary actions for certain teams and players, plus attempts to hijack All-Star nominations, and you have a toxic brand. Hurling folk point to the low attendances at first round football matches as proof that air-time is not warranted, but by the same logic 80% of counties where hurling is played should receive not attention at all. It would hbe great to see some action from CR JMD cups, at least give summary on how the competitions are progressing.
On a wider point for hurling coverage , I can't stomach the cliché-ridden platitudes of most RTE analysts at this stage. They even found a way to justify the Dublin selectors intervention as 'unintentional'. it seems every dirty stroke in hurling is the same. Call it as it is lads, the game does not need the pretence of purity that is being pushed by RTE.

Rather than the ususal us v them shyte, both codes should be united in voicing the need for RTE to up their game. Start treating both as national sports, offer some proper magazine-style pre and post material about the games, and do a decent job covering a range of games from different divisions over 2 nights a week. There are only so many Fr Ted re-runs we can watch in the summer.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1390 - 14/05/2019 10:36:32    2183908

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Replying To blackspot91:  "I remember thinking that reporter had a bizarre tone to his voice. Almost sarcastic or something."
A bit discriminatory surely, to be slagging the lad off based on the tone of his accent. We can't all go to Trinity, and talk like Sharon Knee Vyolawn.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4908 - 14/05/2019 10:39:37    2183909

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watched it on GAAGO so got to skip past the two games I had seen earlier in, which like many others I don't think they should cover as extensively on The Sunday Game. My main gripe with the programme was how weak the analysis was, you could see Brolly was just was just waiting to see where he could crowbar in the tiered championship. When he analysed the Derry Tyrone game, he said how Tyrone conceded lots of close in frees and then showed the Derry lad kicking all 9. Now what they should have done was show why Tyrone were conceding the frees. Henry Sheflin then gave the great insight as to why Kilkenny are better than Dublin, they have less numbers training underage and as a result they have more space.....

Rosineri1 (UK) - Posts: 2099 - 14/05/2019 10:39:46    2183910

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Replying To bennybunny:  "That was certainly relevant 15 years ago. There is RTÉ Player now etc to make that argument less valid these days."
It's not less valid at all. You are totally missing the point. RTE still have to have the regular televised show at 9.30. If they listened to the people who want to see the non marquee games their viewing figures would be way down.

I honestly can't believe how people don't understand this. It's basic business and market research. If Liverpool were playing Man U and the same channel had a highlights show do you think they would have it at the end of the show with a couple of minutes because it was already the televised game earlier that day? Laughable stuff.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8926 - 14/05/2019 11:08:20    2183924

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Replying To PK57:  "The Sunday game came back for its 40th anniversary last night and yet again, the coverage was poor. They spend the day covering Hurling and on my way back from Wexford park, all i heard on the radio was Hurling. Surely, football should get first billing in the evening show. Then when the football was shown, every game was rushed through with little or no analysis. From a Louth perspective, our game received a 2 minute report and not even a mention by the panel. Anyone who hasn't seen the report on the Louth game, should watch it for the comically bad reporter, who i seen on social media likened to Father Stone (from Father Ted) such was the lack of interest he showed in the game. You have Joe Brolly screaming about weaker counties being disrespected by the GAA but it never dawns on him that this is exactly what the TSG is doing."
I would have to agree, The Sunday Game is all about personalities,
Hurling coverage -i would say the elite is good - elite,
Not one mention of the McDonagha Cup, Christy Ring etc
Antrim had a great win over Kerry in front of a good crowd - where was the RTE camera or footage, i'seen it on social media.
Armagh beat a much improved Monaghan in what i thought was a good travelling Monaghan support - RTE didnt even give the result
Meath beat London - hammered them - RTE had a camera in Navan for the football, the list goes on
Minor , U-20 results non-existent
Joe Brolly doesn't analysis - he just says what he thinks commentary
the Roscommon leitrom played in front on a great crowd looked like it was televised on a mobile phone......
Awful coverage yes..... awful covrage.....

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1693 - 14/05/2019 11:22:14    2183927

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "It's not less valid at all. You are totally missing the point. RTE still have to have the regular televised show at 9.30. If they listened to the people who want to see the non marquee games their viewing figures would be way down.

I honestly can't believe how people don't understand this. It's basic business and market research. If Liverpool were playing Man U and the same channel had a highlights show do you think they would have it at the end of the show with a couple of minutes because it was already the televised game earlier that day? Laughable stuff."
I am not getting the point. You don't have a point... Well not one that shows an understanding of media consumption in the 21st century.. Did you crawl out from under a rock in Achill Island or what?

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 14/05/2019 22:20:29    2184158

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Replying To browncows:  "Two of the matches were shown live so no need to show it again. People from Louth Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Leitrim- I could go on! were more interested in watching their respective counties than watching any of the top 8 hurling matches"
Agree with this. People could record or go to the RTE player if they wanted to watch the hurling again/for first time. Games that weren't shown live only about 4 hours previously should have been given priority.

Also some people from Limerick, Tipp and Wexford were more interested in watching their counties footballers than the hurling this weekend.

county man (Limerick) - Posts: 1156 - 14/05/2019 22:44:48    2184169

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Replying To bennybunny:  "That was certainly relevant 15 years ago. There is RTÉ Player now etc to make that argument less valid these days."
In fairness Benny, you can watch all of Waterford v Clare plus Cork v Tipp on the Player for another 5 days, in case you missed it live or Sunday Game highlights. Only half joking, it's good to have them on the Player. But they might at least throw a few bits together of so-called weaker counties in hurling and football footage and put it on the playe. Maybe even get a sponsor for a second show just for the Player. Clearly it won't happen in 2019. Sure anything's better than the complete works of Ally McBeal!

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8760 - 14/05/2019 23:48:16    2184180

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Replying To bennybunny:  "I am not getting the point. You don't have a point... Well not one that shows an understanding of media consumption in the 21st century.. Did you crawl out from under a rock in Achill Island or what?"
I know how it works that is why I am trying to explain it. So here I go again....... RTE have always had the 9.30 slot going out. It has a big number of viewers. Whether you like it or not most people for various reasons are tuning in to see the marquee games that were shown live earlier that day.

If RTE change that the numbers drop, that is a fact. You can debate the quality of the show but the running order is not difficult to understand.

By the way I work in San Francisco and have lived here for a while. I work in E-commerce and have a background in Digital Marketing, so you might say I have an idea about how media consumption works.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8926 - 15/05/2019 03:59:03    2184195

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Correct me if I'm wrong but all TV programs are judged by viewership by their boss. This drives more revenue through advertising and its also seen as satisfying the paying customer.

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1479 - 15/05/2019 08:03:42    2184204

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Replying To Ban:  "Correct me if I'm wrong but all TV programs are judged by viewership by their boss. This drives more revenue through advertising and its also seen as satisfying the paying customer."
RTE show 18 Airtricity league matches this year plus a round up show on Monday nights. Average attendance at LOI about 1900 per match in 2018.
Full coverage of AIL final last week. 1600 in the Aviva to see Con beat 'Tarf. Hmmm

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1390 - 15/05/2019 09:45:43    2184230

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Ive decided not to bother watching the Sunday Game this year, instead I'm going to head out on the road and watch as many live games in different counties as possible.
Fed up listening to pundits trying to throw out as many one liners as possible, and seeing who an wear the nicest and whackiest jumper.
You don't get to see enough of the games its all pure dribble hurling lads trying to make out hurling is the greatest game on the planet and dinosaurs football pundits making football out to be the worst game on the planet. BORING ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 15/05/2019 09:57:31    2184236

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Replying To Eddie the Exile:  "RTE show 18 Airtricity league matches this year plus a round up show on Monday nights. Average attendance at LOI about 1900 per match in 2018.
Full coverage of AIL final last week. 1600 in the Aviva to see Con beat 'Tarf. Hmmm"
Probably don't pay the same money to LOI comparing to the G.A.A

PyatPree (Cork) - Posts: 376 - 15/05/2019 10:38:35    2184251

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