Had to split this in half, as it doesn't allow a certain amount to be typed in the first post of a new thread. 2nd part of this to follow later... Hopefully the editor is sensible enough to allow this as it is in no way inflammatory but is just reflective of the way the 2 games are at the moment. Now I've every respect for bogball (yes, thats what I call it when I see Fermanangh & Armagh doing what they...erm...do) but these need to be pointed out... Hurling is better than football because... (1) It rewards skill. You can get lads to run themselves to the ground, tank themselves up in the gym till the cows come home, but you can't get them to control a sliotar flying on the ground at pace unless they're trained well enough & early enough. Hurling needs to be played from at least 8 years old, otherwise you cannot ever expect to reach inter-county standard. The little skills that only people who have played the game can appreciate is what makes hurling such a more skillful game. The importance of the first touch when the ball is fluying along the ground. The striking off both sides on the run, the art of ground hurling, the quickness of the pick-up, the hook, the overhead strike, the little flicks to dispossess opposition or to pass to team-mates, the soaring catch under pressure , the brave fantastic saves the goalkeepers make (compared to their football counterparts) etc ALL LiTTLE THINGS WHICH FOOTBALL PEOPLE COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND. Gaelic bogball on the other hand can be played by anyone with say 4-5 weeks practice. yes there are very skillful footballers, but the requirements to get to that stage are nowhere near as onerous as top class hurlers. A child can start playing football at 15-16 and become a top player as long as the fitness is right. THE DISTINCTION HERE IS THAT IN HURLING, IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT SKILL, INTELLIGENCE & CLASS, YOU WILL NOT MAKE ANY TOP TIER HURLING TEAM. IN BOGBALL ON THE OTHERHAND, HIGHLY TUNED FIT, POWERFUL ATHLETHES WHO CAN HANDPASS ACCURATELY ARE ALL THAT IS REQUIRED FOR MOST OF THEIR TEAM. Yes of course skill is required, but only 3-4 players in most inter-county teams have genuine class (e.g armagh have mcdonnell, clarke and the 2 Kernans, after that they're left with olympic athlethes who can just handpass the ball & run.) (2) It's faster. The likes of Cork, Mayo, Fermangh & Tyrone hand-passing thier way all the way to the other goal these days is pathetic. They have all the fitness in the world but don't seem to have the skill or class to play quicker and more directly (see point 1). Hurling is the type of game where unless you strike straight away upon receiving posession or make a genuine sprint towards goal (unlike the footballers going sideways/backwards), you will get dis-possesed. This makes for increased speed in the game (3) It's more exciting. Games of hurling can change in a minute with a couple of goals. The likes of Tipp, KK and Galway are capable of doing this. This hardly ever happens in football (at least certainly not these days) because of the lack of directness, clinical goal finishing & general intelligence. And of course hurling is faster as per (2) above. More to follow...

banner_boy (Clare) - Posts: 1285 - 25/07/2008 12:13:35    56659

(4) It's more noble and courageous. On the face of it, hurling would appear a more dangerous game. Ash sticks swinging right at you as you go in to block, and a small leather ball travelling at ferocious speed around the ball. But hurlers overlook this by playing courageously. We were all brought up on the mantra as hurlers that if you got a belt, you take 30 seconds to take the hit, get your wind back ,and then GET ON WITH IT. In bogball, it's completely different. Players are more interested in emulating their premiership heroes in diving and feigning injury to the extent that it turns my stomach. Where this has come from but I don't know but this is how it is. The proper sentiments of bravery & courage in hurling has never waned thankfully however..... (5) It's less predictable. On any given day, any 1 of 7 teams (KK, Tipp, Galway, Clare,Cork, Limerick & Waterord) can beat each other. This is not the case in football. Yes there are more teams in foootball from whom county loyalists will feel they can win Sam, but in reality, it's not the case. Kerry, Armagh, Tyrone & Dublin are the only genuine contenders (and even that's stretching it). Whereas in hurling, it's no great surprise if one day, Waterford say go out and hammer Tipp, and then a week later, get hammered themselves by Clare, it's part and parcel of hurling. Most games in the football are sorely predictable. (And there's too many of the bloody games too). (6) There is WAY less fouling in hurling compared to bogball. Again this is for 2 reasons. The natural physicality of the game is inherently accepted by its brave participants, hence less pleas for fress unless it's glaringly obvious. Secondly hulers are more direct-like in their distribution, hence they don't run in to players as much as say the Fermanagh bog-ballers. Again the fact that there's less fouling gives greater excitement as there's more free-flowing play. (7) Bogball gives us Joe Brolly as an analyst. Hurling gives us Michael Duignan! (8) Thurles. If there's a better venue to play gaelic games (and in particular hurling), I'll eat my hat! (and yes I'm including Croke Park) (9) The fans. Hurling fans know their game better than their bogball counterparts. They appreciate the finer technical points of what their team can and cannot do. They also know more about the opposition players nd have amore intelligent understanding of the game. They also have a healthy respect for the opposition. A significant number modern day bogball fans seem more interested in spouting vitriol at the opposition fans at matches than watching the bloody things!! And bogball fans always want to blame someone for their defeat other than the team itself. The ref was shocking, the opposition had cynical tactics, the system is unfair to us blah blah. Hurlers take their defeats on the chin and get on with it. (10) The tackle. Hurlers go for the ball shoulder to shoulder and take the hit in doing so if necessary. Hooks and block-downs are also lovely to see. Footballers on the other hand (especially in Ulster) are obsessed with the third man tackle & containment fouls, leading to cynical & slower play.

banner_boy (Clare) - Posts: 1285 - 25/07/2008 12:32:23    56690

I agree with everything you have said,but hurling still bores me ,I don't know why

footiemad (Westmeath) - Posts: 733 - 25/07/2008 12:32:34    56692

bannerboy

i agree hurling is a better game. but why come on here and try and annoy people. your post is immature and childish. why try and create a divide. football is football and hurling is hurling. ya dont hear the football lads saying blah blah football is better than hurling....YA KNOW WHY...? because they dont have a chip on their shoulders.

lads give this thread a miss.

voiceofreason (Mayo) - Posts: 588 - 25/07/2008 12:34:23    56695

"ya don't hear the football lads saying football iS better"


THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S NOT BETTER!! IT'S RUBBISH!! AND THEY KNOW THAT!! THAT'S WHY THEY DON'T SAY IT!!

banner_boy (Clare) - Posts: 1285 - 25/07/2008 12:44:46    56712

I'm 28. I took up hurling when I was 23. I've played football since 5. I agree with the headline.

You're just trying to stur up an row with Fermanagh fans though it would seem.

InterCounty Gaelic Football would be changed in a minute if the numbers of players was dropped to 13 and the sin bin was brought in. In 10 years the game has turned to be very negative AT THE TOP LEVEL. At the lower level, with less fitness, it can be more enjoyable to watch, oddly.

wingwonder (UK) - Posts: 535 - 25/07/2008 12:49:06    56719

banner boy- here is a suggestion if you love hurling so much stop talking about bog ball to anyone that will listen you obviously dont like football so why talk about it, i have no real gra for the hurling therefore i dont talk about it, i dont try to tell hurling people that football is better, I DONT USE CAPS EITHER IN SOME PATHETIC WAY OF PROVING A POINT, so why bother

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 25/07/2008 12:52:52    56725

10 reasons why hurling is better than football

1. Joe Canning
2. Joe Canning
3. Joe Canning
4. Joe Canning
5. Joe Canning
6. Joe Canning
7. Joe Canning
8. Joe Canning
9. Joe Canning
10. Joe Canning

Wests_Awake (Galway) - Posts: 877 - 25/07/2008 12:54:17    56729

Anybody that uses Michael Duignan as a reason that hurling is better than Gaelic football is clearly deluded.

St.K (Cork) - Posts: 210 - 25/07/2008 12:57:43    56733

I wasn't trying to stir up Fermanagh fans. They are just an example of what most football teams are about these days.

But I take your point about the lower standard club football games, they are indeed more entertaining due to the lack of fitness, but also because their objective is to win, not to avoid losing, there is a significant difference!

banner_boy (Clare) - Posts: 1285 - 25/07/2008 12:57:57    56735

While love football I do prefer hurling, I agree with most of the points but you are way off the mark with some of your points - the hurling is dominated by cork & kilkenny, while other teams looked ok -waterford have been the only team in recent years who looked like the might win an all-ireland but never even made the final. kilkenny should go on to win easily enough again this year. you have to go back to 2001 to find a winner that wasnt neither cork or kilkenny. As for hurling fans being more respectful towards players and oppisition fans, thats a joke. Surely as a clare man you must have noticed the vile abuse directed towards davy fitz over the past 10 years, let alone sean og, john mullane...etc The clare and tipp rivalry is not good natured like the dublin-meath/kerry rivalries, the fight that broke out at oxygen between the fans while the munster final was shameful

Seanie (Dublin) - Posts: 71 - 25/07/2008 12:58:02    56736

west awake, thats as good a 10 reasons ive seen for anything recently well done, see him on the road to croker last night a nice young fella too well grounded, wish him and galway hurling all the best, not sure about loughnane a bit too old school i reckon but what would i know about hurling :)

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 25/07/2008 13:00:29    56742

"The little skills that only people who have played the game can appreciate is what makes hurling such a more skillful game."
Only Read your first point about skill levels.
--------------------------------------------------------------
11 harder skills than hurling
*What about the flick up on the run while the ball is on the ground. Alla C.McD.
*The dummy solo. Alla eoin Mulligan/Johhny Mooney ja Fallon
*The use of both feet to kick points from 35yards+. Alla Tomas Osea,Maurice Fitz.
*slower game,more physicallity.alla armagh,ciaran whelan,darrah osea
*Goal Taking is harder. alla P.Joyce eamonn ohara.
*Soloing at top speed,not just a balancing act- alla Whello,dennis glennon,Dec Osllivan,cavanagh
*more Vision in BOGBALL- Alla CmcD,Bryan Cullan,dessie dolan (pains me to say!)
*clean catch- impressive in hurling but awesome in football-alla mcgarrity,pierce (cork)
*Free taking is a harder skill off the ground-corkery,mcdonnal,mossy
*frees from the paw- alla mulligan(leitim),joyce
*underpressure Score Taking-alla Mcconville .

Rhodejim (Offaly) - Posts: 2888 - 25/07/2008 13:33:47    56798

hurling is brillant wen plyed well .. in ulster der is very little hurling coz no1 can ply it good up here ..

downmidfeilder (Down) - Posts: 86 - 25/07/2008 13:40:42    56805

Regardless of what facts you give, or the many reasons listed, this topic always ends up sounding like a "My daddy could beat up your daddy" argument. Hurling has many wonderful aspects but speaking personally, I prefer football. Just a preference and a subjective opinion before someone tries to convinve me I'm wrong. Whether or not football or hurling could be said to be objectively better... I don't really give a baldy. One could be called bogball and the other could be called a bunch of rednecks kicking **** out each other with sticks but they're both great sports so who cares

Naomh Ultan Abú (Donegal) - Posts: 298 - 25/07/2008 13:47:51    56810

Hurling is a game where players are allowed 10 steps and not penalised.There is more throwing of the ball than rugby,a player can commit almost GBH and not get suspended(See last year's final).Sometimes it is ok to watch though.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 25/07/2008 13:51:34    56815

There are some amount of helmets in hurling.

mugsys_barber (Tyrone) - Posts: 2160 - 25/07/2008 13:56:47    56819

another reason....

You can use a hurl to hunt cows, cut bushes and beat bould children...

can't do any of the above with a football!

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 25/07/2008 13:58:29    56821

banner boy, you have more time on your hands than sense writing all that garbage on hurling. At the end of the day, 5-6 counties every year can only seriously think about GETTING TO A FINAL, and 4 of those are from Munster.....and only if Kilkenny are having an off day can they consider WINNING IT!!!! In fairness, don't give up the day job

Caff01 (Mayo) - Posts: 124 - 25/07/2008 14:01:17    56827

totaly agree.. thats why if there is a football and hurling match on the same day the football (unlike before when the hurling took preference because it is our national game and it used to be first) is played first because people wern't finding it good or exciting after watching hurling, the tv companies, prob rte, noticed(how ever they do it) that the viewings dropped.

wise_guy (Tyrone) - Posts: 1584 - 25/07/2008 14:04:48    56831