how does that test my alliegance to anything - Connacht to win a HC or mayo to win sam is that what you are saying? at present it would be mayo as it would be bigger occasion as rugby isnt that massive in connacht at present- how this is suppose to test anything is beyond me i am a sportman and don't say one sport is better than the other and that one is rubbish or whatever other nonsense. if i said connacht to win what would have changed in your psychoanalysis of me? this one now im waiting to hear. if rugby was as big in connacht as it is in munster then i would say connacht to win i dont hold any sports in higer estenn - i believe people should play sport

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 26/05/2008 14:41:08    23653

you don't know enough about the sport of horse racing to be able to comment on it methinks (if you did, you would have a lot more respect for aidan o'brien). it was probably stupid of me to start this sort of debate off in the first place but i was just trying to point out the phenomenal achievements of aidan.

secondly i am not trying to take anything away from munster's win - they are the best in europe and it takes a very good team to win the heineken cup twice in three years. but those same players were laughed off the field last year mostly by the irish public. why now, are these players being portrayed as heroes?

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 26/05/2008 14:44:43    23655

it was probably stupid of me to start this sort of debate off in the first place ..................
Loyal2TheRoyal , 26/05/2008 at 14:44
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Yep - I'll leave you with that final and correct observation!

Dubinmeath (Dublin) - Posts: 1123 - 26/05/2008 14:52:23    23664

two legends aidan and the munster team- id give aidan a serious amount of credit horses i own a few and let me tell you, take the most stuck up, hard nosed, high maintenance, stroppy, moody trophy girlfiend you could ever imagine that is nowhere near working with face horses especially flat horses - they are so difficult is unreal,

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 26/05/2008 14:57:07    23670

have to say i think loyal is right. What aidan obrien is achieved is unbelievable. Anybody who thinks a horse trainers job is easy are wrong. He is the greatest flat trainer in the world. Yes he may have the advantage of getting the best horses and the best jockeys but there is a very simple reason for this. owners want him to train their horses because they he know he is the best at what he does and the best jockeys want to ride for him because they know the horses will be in tip top condition. The man is a genius.

As far as the munster rugby team is concerned it is a fantastic achievement to win any european trophy just one thing i could never understand though, why is a province allowed to take part in a club competition? would they still win it if france, wales, scotland, italy or england each split into 4 areas and joined all their clubs in each area together?

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 26/05/2008 15:09:10    23687

but those same players were laughed off the field last year mostly by the irish public. why now, are these players being portrayed as heroes?
Loyal2TheRoyal , 26/05/2008 at 14:44
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A preposterous comment indeed. For starters we are talking about two completely different entities here - a provincial team and an International team. Would you compare the performances of the players your beloved county in their county jersies with that of your players playing in a Leinster team competing in the Railway Cup? Different management, different level, different team mates.

You my friend have an annoying habit of simplifying arguments to suit your ends with observations or 'facts' that have no sound basis whatsoever. Morevoer you are just as likely to contradict yourself the next day with the same observations reversed in order to suit another argument . The logic of most of your offerings would be deemed substandard in even the most basic elementary school. Your incongruity knows no bounds. I'd imagine you are the little boy who runs home with his football if he is not allowed to be Graham Geraghty! Irritating indeed.

Carl Jung (Leitrim) - Posts: 69 - 26/05/2008 15:15:33    23699

One thing i could never understand though, why is a province allowed to take part in a club competition? would they still win it if france, wales, scotland, italy or england each split into 4 areas and joined all their clubs in each area together?
samin10 , 26/05/2008 at 15:09
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhh!! LEAVE IT ......... JUST LEAVE IT! MY HEAD IS BEING WELL AND TRULY WRECKED TODAY!

Dubinmeath (Dublin) - Posts: 1123 - 26/05/2008 15:29:03    23729

Well done Aidan O'Brien and well done Munster. This has to be the worst discussion I've ever seen on this site.

Tomás Tralee (Kerry) - Posts: 391 - 26/05/2008 15:32:58    23734

you could argue that you are guilty of twisting "facts" to suit your argument too. if you could find a few examples of where i say one thing one day and another the next, then post them on here. until then you are just as guilty as me of twisting "facts" on the evidence of your last message. lastly there is no need to put your top ten favourite words in all your posts!!!!! it will not make you any wiser. by the way is "preposterous" your favourite? you seem to use it quite a lot???????

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 26/05/2008 15:38:30    23741

dublinmeath. that was not an attempt at a wind up or anything else. i am not a rugby follower at all, there probably is a reasonable explanation for it i just dont know what it is.

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 26/05/2008 15:43:47    23745

I've seen a lot worse Tomas!! All credit to Aidan and Munster - it was the earlier underhand snipe at Munster's achievement I took a dislike to - I shouldn't have bothered!

Samin - Munster in the context of the European Cup or Magners league are a club rather than a province. Can you imagine Cork Constitution or Garryowen competing against Wasps or Toulouse? The populations of Toulouse and Munster are actually quite similar. Basically they regionalised rugby for these competitions - Ireland was regionalised on the provincial basis but there is nothing to stop players from any province playing for another - they are professional players. eg Denis Hurley is from Meath - though his father played with Munster and Ian Dowling is from Kilkenny. Similarly the Welsh clubs were regionalised as were the Scottish. The English and French clubs have large enough populations to sustain them eg Leicester, Gloucester etc though I thinnk a couple may have merged. So its not really a province playing a club.

Dubinmeath (Dublin) - Posts: 1123 - 26/05/2008 16:07:21    23772

BallBoy

You honestly can't say that one sport is better than another don't agree with that at all. Gaa will always be my first preference for sheer passion I took issue with you saying that rugby is the heartbeat of the country although i'm a rugby fan but Gaa is clearly what stirs the majority of people in this country. I would have thought that you leaned more towards rugby seen as you come on a gaa site singing it praises. Can say i see too many people going on rugby sites singing the gaa's praises??

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 26/05/2008 16:51:57    23824

Lockjaw
County: Donegal
Posts: 101

22902 Saw this on the BBC sport website there during the week. It gave me a good wee larf!

"We all know about famous modern managers refusing to speak to television stations because of perceived wrongs in their coverage - but what about Stockport boss Jim Gannon? He, reportedly, is not cooperating with Sky before the club's play-off League Two play-off final against Rochdale because of a nine-month customer relations dispute over his defective Sky box. "
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Remember David James doing the same thing. The sky reporter stops and asks him for an interview as hes leaving the pitch and he declared he wasnt going to grant any interviews to Sky until December 02 (this was in May 04, i think).

The confused reporter asks Why and he says - 'My Sky box is broken and I was told thats the earliest they can get an engineer out to fix it'

James walks off smirking and the box gets fixed the following day!!!!!

essexile (Mayo) - Posts: 429 - 27/05/2008 09:53:48    24039

In light of the unofficial action by Iarnród Eireann train drivers in Cork is it now time to cut these troublemakers off from the rest of the country just like they have always longed for?

On the radio this morning I was appalled to hear that their union has 'special' provision for cork members over all other members. A practise disbanded in the 50's was 'coal allowance' which meant that for every journey over 100 miles the driver and co-driver got a personal allowance of coal! Now even though steam went out in the 50's of course the complainers in cork still got this allowance up until the 90's.
Furthermore they even got a 'walking allowance' for walking 100m between two different parts of the station!
Typical cork people......different!
Throwing the rattle around the pram is their biggest past-time down there!

Regards,

Snufalufagus....Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 27/05/2008 11:01:39    24129

please do not forget this thread were all non GAA topics(rugby ect ect) can be spoken about away from GAA matters


regards


off the fence

on the fence (Donegal) - Posts: 731 - 29/05/2008 09:17:44    25291

Thanks very much for that reminder off the fence...just another stupid post to add to your tally...

anyway just like to say how much I hate Padraig Harrington's new flora ad!! "If it's good for me, it's good for my game"....bad enough having to watch it all the time, it's also on the radio.....

ball girl (Leitrim) - Posts: 194 - 29/05/2008 09:59:33    25315

Anyone heading to the Ireland game tonight?

What do ye reckon Traps chances of building a decent team for the WC 2010?

essexile (Mayo) - Posts: 429 - 29/05/2008 10:39:10    25346

Traps has the personailty and the looks of a certain manager who managed our proud national team in the 80s and 90s

on the fence (Donegal) - Posts: 731 - 29/05/2008 17:32:52    25749

Yeah and he's a Catholic - you must be really pleased.

JayoCluxton (Dublin) - Posts: 2688 - 29/05/2008 17:36:49    25754

a catholic manager for a catholic country
read Bunreacht na hEireann
"The state recognises the special position of the catholic church as the Guardian of the faith professed by the majority of its citizens"

sorry if any one takes offence but i am a catholic and proud of it

on the fence (Donegal) - Posts: 731 - 29/05/2008 18:39:07    25774