Players competing in the air for the ball used to be one of the spectacles of both codes. This has now stopped in Football because of the fear of losing the ball. Taking scores from distance used to be the norm in both codes. This has now stopped in Football as there is a fear of not scoring. The speed of the two games is completely different. Humping the ball for want of a better term, is not normally what happens in hurling. The ball is normally played over distance into space, something that is a strategy worked on by teams to give their forwards an advantage in winning the ball. This also used to be the norm also in Football. Now the game has been steered into a defensive possession game that bears no resemblance to the game that was played even 20 years ago. Football is no longer the correct term for the game. It has been turned into a game to a hybrid of Basketball/ Olympic handball. Count the kicks v handpasses. Football is more popular as a game as it takes a lesser number of skills to play it and it is easier to coach. It is easier to kick a ball. You have sets of snobs in either code that will tell you that one is better than the other. Take the opportunity the next time a senior championship game is played in both codes at he same venue. There is no real comparison.

3feetoftimber (Meath) - Posts: 113 - 21/09/2012 13:01:35    1270143

Football is improving to watch and is definitely better than a few years ago I think. I think the kick pass is coming back and that is only a good thing.

But to be honest, I still love hurling more and that wont change no matter how good football becomes!

Pinkie (Wexford) - Posts: 4100 - 21/09/2012 14:18:19    1270215

I always refer to 09, when this subject comes up, I never really got hurling id hit a few balls with hurley Years ago and thought it was a less civilized form of tennis, never got me going like football did. Id seen a few hurling matches and again felt it was booring, but was told that club matches can't compare to the top quality, so then 09 came Meath v mayo football and ai semi between jk and i think waterford, the intense excitement skill and sheer entertainment of the foot ball was outstanding, i wife and kids sat down to watch the hurling, by half time we were all bored senseless, hoofing the little ball anywhere at all, no clear plan just hoof it bhoys, and this was two top teams. I and my family got up and left as my oldest daughter said to me that if we stayed there for second half it would equate to torture.
If hurling is your thing then fair enough, I'm all for people having their passion, it's just not mine.
But each to thier own. Just for me it's football, hurling doesn't come near

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 21/09/2012 14:48:24    1270243

I see someone here compares the skill of handpassing the ball in hurling with handpassing the ball in football. Neither are what you would call a skill that requires much class but it does show how pathethic this arguement has become.

ZUL10 (Clare) - Posts: 708 - 21/09/2012 16:16:00    1270320

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 2517

1270101
Of course hurling is better, it's played by more,it gets more through the gates, the TV audiences are always more for hurling, kids up and down country want to play it, i mean it's not like the gaa are saying we could have sold a quarter of million tickets for this Sunday,
Oh wait!!!!!

See you are not really that smart although you try to make it look like you are by TRYING to make somebody else look silly. Anybody who is really smart does realise that it's all down to marketing and unfortunately hurling until recently has not been marketed nor supported really well. All the money in recent years has been pumped into football only because it's been the game more popularly played in most counties. And why you might ask, well I think it's something to do with ash trees, good farming land and a low IQ in some counties. Starting to make sense now, probably not, low IQ??!?!??!!

Nick (Wexford) - Posts: 1100 - 21/09/2012 16:16:46    1270322

yeah hurling people seem far too smug...i love a good game of hurling but they are few and far between and lets face it the competition is pathetic...same teams every single year with only a few counties in the actual competition

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 21/09/2012 16:22:50    1270328

ffgg
County: Longford
Posts: 776

1270328
yeah hurling people seem far too smug...i love a good game of hurling but they are few and far between and lets face it the competition is pathetic...same teams every single year with only a few counties in the actual competition

For one your comment that a good hurling match are few and far between is totally inaccurate. Any given year there are more quality and exciting hurling matches that football. You need to back a comment like that one up. Pathetic it definitely is not. The reason football has so many alternative teams in a finals each year is because it's so average. There are lots of average teams out there that can compete against eachother. It's got to be a bit of a joke now. Like there is nothing attractive about how Donegal or Mayo play but you can put Kilkenny, Tip, Galway, Limerick, Waterford. Cork and others up there in hurling and you will get some great games and skill. Tyrone, Down, Kerry, Dublin, etc.. were pathetic this year in the football (come on prove me wrong). I cannot really remember a game where I could say that it was quality and really exciting.
At the end of the day the only counties you could really take opinions from in the football versus hurling argument are Galway, Cork, Offaly, Wexford, Antrim and to a lesser degree Dublin. Lets face it the majority of those teams will have more hurling backsides on the seats that football (in relation to support). Need I say more. Coming from Longoford I suppose you could put them in the 50/50 bracket too as they have become totally crap at both (with their boring blanket defence in football and support of WestMeath hurling).

Nick (Wexford) - Posts: 1100 - 21/09/2012 16:59:52    1270370

For one your comment that a good hurling match are few and far between is totally inaccurate. Any given year there are more quality and exciting hurling matches that football. You need to back a comment like that one up. Pathetic it definitely is not. The reason football has so many alternative teams in a finals each year is because it's so average. There are lots of average teams out there that can compete against eachother. It's got to be a bit of a joke now. Like there is nothing attractive about how Donegal or Mayo play but you can put Kilkenny, Tip, Galway, Limerick, Waterford. Cork and others up there in hurling and you will get some great games and skill. Tyrone, Down, Kerry, Dublin, etc.. were pathetic this year in the football (come on prove me wrong). I cannot really remember a game where I could say that it was quality and really exciting.
At the end of the day the only counties you could really take opinions from in the football versus hurling argument are Galway, Cork, Offaly, Wexford, Antrim and to a lesser degree Dublin. Lets face it the majority of those teams will have more hurling backsides on the seats that football (in relation to support). Need I say more. Coming from Longoford I suppose you could put them in the 50/50 bracket too as they have become totally crap at both (with their boring blanket defence in football and support of WestMeath hurling).


god you are very smug...both football semi finals have been brilliant this year and i find donegal very good to watch..us and wexford had an excellent game in the replay and there have been numerous others....and longford dont really play much of a blanket defence we just have lads tracking back like everyone else so more ignorant nonsense from you...kerry and cork were good this year just donegal were simply better...why do you have such a chip on your shoulder in relation to football?...and why feel the need to insult longford?

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 21/09/2012 17:25:20    1270383

hurling championship is such a great competition yet the sport is so small and the same team wins every year..explain this?..why does nobody care about the sport in vast amounts of the country?

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 21/09/2012 17:27:06    1270384

Nick
County: Wexford
Posts: 885

For one your comment that a good hurling match are few and far between is totally inaccurate. Any given year there are more quality and exciting hurling matches that football. You need to back a comment like that one up. Pathetic it definitely is not. The reason football has so many alternative teams in a finals each year is because it's so average. There are lots of average teams out there that can compete against eachother. It's got to be a bit of a joke now. Like there is nothing attractive about how Donegal or Mayo play but you can put Kilkenny, Tip, Galway, Limerick, Waterford. Cork and others up there in hurling and you will get some great games and skill. Tyrone, Down, Kerry, Dublin, etc.. were pathetic this year in the football (come on prove me wrong). I cannot really remember a game where I could say that it was quality and really exciting.
At the end of the day the only counties you could really take opinions from in the football versus hurling argument are Galway, Cork, Offaly, Wexford, Antrim and to a lesser degree Dublin. Lets face it the majority of those teams will have more hurling backsides on the seats that football (in relation to support). Need I say more. Coming from Longoford I suppose you could put them in the 50/50 bracket too as they have become totally crap at both (with their boring blanket defence in football and support of WestMeath hurling).

Firstly I agree that hurling is a better and more enjoyable game to watch. Secondly I also agree that this years championship has been very good. I disagree profoundly with your comments in relation to football. Put simply whilst hurling is the better game the football competition is a better competition. I have read your comments in relation to football and quite simply they are a joke. You quite clearly know very little about football. Your smug remarks in relation to Longford are laughable.
Firstly the reason there are so many competitive counties in football is because they have worked hard to raise their levels of play. They have done so. Kerry, Dublin, Down and Tyrone were far from pathetic this year. Dublin won Leinster. Kerry pushed a serious Donegal team all the way this year. Down made an Ulster Final and a league semi final this year. That in football is not easily done. To say there is nothing attractive about how Donegal and Mayo play football is to be ignorant of what constitutes good football.
I was at the two football and the two hurling semi finals this year. Easily the worst of the four games was Kilkenny and Tipp. There were plenty of good football matches this year. Monaghan v Down was a cracker. Donegal v Kerry, Dublin v Laois, Mayo v Dublin and Donegal v Cork were all very good competitive games. There were plenty more through the provincial championships and qualifiers. Hurling has far too few teams that can compete at the highest level. Three teams have won 89 All-Irelands between them. The pattern is repeated at minor and U-21. Thankfully Galway have challenged that hegemony over the last thirty years. For the last three years only two teams could win the All-Ireland That was Kilkenny and Tipp. Galway are a breath of fresh air. Now maybe three teams can win the All-Ireland. You talk about pathetic. Remember the hurling finals of 2007 and 2008. Pathetic adequately describes them.
I agree hurling is the better game. Football has the better competition because far more teams can compete at the highest level. Anyone saying football is easier to master is missing the point. Sport is about providing opportunities for people to play and compete. Football does that more successfully than hurling. I say this not to denigrate hurling ( I am a huge fan of the game) rather I want to challenge your silly, ignorant comments.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6178 - 21/09/2012 17:58:50    1270399

Oh yes it IS.

kikfada (Louth) - Posts: 2091 - 21/09/2012 18:06:20    1270405

hill16no1man
County: Dublin
Posts: 2536


if hurling is the better product then why is football selling better even with all the negativity from pundits and newspapers alike it still sells better then hurling?

because most counties take the easy road and prefer to coach young kids the limited skills of football against the skills of hurling....
and im a dual fan btw before im labled some sort of snob
football simply does not compare with hurling

pidge (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 21/09/2012 18:06:29    1270406

thats your opinion and come up with something better than that sad excuse...the skill in hurling is overrated seeing as there is little tactics you can get away with murder in the tackle while the majority of players just whack the ball into the forwards as if it is still the 1970s...footballers are much fitter stronger and far better prepared than hurlers....im not against hurling at all but the skill in it is greatly exaggerated and hurling people are incredibly smug on here for some random reason...does it hurt that football is so much more popular or something?

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 21/09/2012 18:28:41    1270418

pidge

im a duel fan myself but i just dont see where some of these hurling only people are coming from the title of the thread is hurling is simly the btter product yet there is no reason for this to be remotly true as football is more cometitive more teams play at the top level the gates a re higher and viewing figures so for me that means football is ahead

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 21/09/2012 18:32:35    1270420

nick you are right in what you say but the hurling panel know hurling is in need of help do there do there very best to help it out. football is not in trouble so the pundits aren't bothered about giving out 24/7.

hurling at the top level is better than football yes,.......... but......... there are feck all teams that can win it so if the GAA ever want it to become "to big to fail" they need to grow it in the counties neighbouring dublin and other select counties such as westmeath, antrim and kerry. it's the only way forward.

BettystownRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 3353 - 21/09/2012 18:42:03    1270424

hill16no1man
County: Dublin
Posts: 2539


pidge

im a duel fan myself but i just dont see where some of these hurling only people are coming from the title of the thread is hurling is simly the btter product yet there is no reason for this to be remotly true as football is more cometitive more teams play at the top level the gates a re higher and viewing figures so for me that means football is ahead

your right football is way more competitive and ofcurse there would be more intrest...what im saying is hurling is far better from a skill and excitment point of view..
only 10 - 12 counties take hurling seriously..and by that i mean distributing county resources to the game...
what im saying is if counties took both codes equally serious more counties would come to the fore...i dont think mayo or donegal are planning on equally dividing sums next year and they are right to that,each to their own...but their ever was a day when other counties start to pile resouces into hurling..i have no doubt that it would surpass football
thats just my opinion

pidge (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 21/09/2012 19:04:14    1270447

can't stand hurling snobs - apart from the top 2 or 3 teams, hurling is catch it, balloon it forward, scramble, score, repeat x 70 mins.

JimmyK (Dublin) - Posts: 240 - 21/09/2012 19:45:28    1270471

Hurling isn't a product it's a game!!

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 21/09/2012 19:55:17    1270480

pidge

how can you measure the differance in a skill in one sport to the skill in another sport,every sport has neccesary skills in order to play it so i cannot see how people say one sport is more skillfull like does this mean the handpass in hurling is more skillfull then the handpass in football ? is it harder to kick a point from 40 yards with the boot or take a point from 40 yards with a hurl how do you compare these things?

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 22/09/2012 11:56:52    1270609

i hate this rubbish that hurling snobs come out with that hurling is more skill full than gaelic football, no its not. using a hurl and sliotar is second nature to most irish people who are into sports and are co-ordinated. you'll find just as many people uncoordinated kicking a football. in football at least theres some direction to the game with teams trying to work it about, in hurling its just consistent firing the ball up the field for 50/50's

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4146 - 22/09/2012 12:19:27    1270617