a good decade for the gaa?

shockframe

Whats your opinion on this.

with the decade containing the rise and fall of the celtic tiger can the gaa say that its been a good 10 years for the association.

pro's
1.great matches (galway v kilkenny - tyrone v kerry)
2.emergence of new football teams - tyrone,armagh
3.how the gaa continued to thrive when the naysayers predicted it would fade away.
4.start of warts and all books.jack o connor,oisin mcconville,donal og,mickey harte
5.players standing up for a cause - shaking the old school eg cork,clare,limerick strikes.
6.kilkenny - the greatest hurling team of them all.
7.full houses in croke park come september.
8.opening croke park.one in the eye for gaa detractors
9.jack o connor - the decades most unlikely success story

con's
1.the neverending story aka cork strikes
2.the cult of pat spillane
3.the gaa not reducing prices last summer.
4.rise of day trippers attending matches
5.levels of skill in football dropping
6.the threat of rugby(purely a limerick thing mind)
7.larry o gorman on the sunday game
8.no new breakthroughs in hurling
9.people objecting to the gpa for no reason.

am i missing anything.

Daysha

All things considered, this will be the Croke Park decade for me. In the years ahead we'll all look back on these last 10 years in which we turned a mid-size, run-down stadium into one of the biggest and best in Europe. The cost was surprisingly minimal when compared to other grounds around the world, it was built on time with little or no effect on the games itself at the ground, and now this amateur organisation has a place the entire country can be proud of.

To top it off, our members came to the historic decision of opening the place up, not just to rugby and soccer but for the entire world to see and marvel at. It was controversial at the time, but you won't find many people anymore that still believe they shouldn't be allowed to play there. They made the brave call and everyone associated with all 3 sports has reaped the benefits because of that.

So yeah, the Croke Park story for me is head and shoulders above everything else.

Pride Fighter

Bad decade IMO. In both codes I believe that the skill levels have gone backwards. At the same time the games have gotten a lot faster in both codes. In hurling this is a disaster. Several counties who used to compete well in hurling such as Antrim, Derry, Kerry and some others are now nowhere near the mark. I am just using those 3 teams as an example as the first 2 competed well in the AI series in the not too distant past with Kerry beating Waterford in the Munster championship. Although in hurling now the top teams when they play provide a great quick contest like this years league and AI final the average has gone down significantly.

In football the same thing has happened. Speed and power is unreal in the modern game but many players cannot kick the ball over the bar. Kildare versus Fermanagh 2 years ago was truly awful. Too many other games spring to mind too.

JupiterKid

1. The completion of the super impressive Croke Park
2. The debate over the status of GAA players - remain amateur or go professional
3. The GPA and the Cork Hurler's strike
4. Donal Og Cusack coming out as gay

todolist

Kerry win one third of the football finals.Kilkenny win similar in hurling bogball.I used to be a fan but after Corks defeat to kerry,i have no interest or opinion on bogball or bodstick anymore.I'm out!!!

K-9

shockframe wrote: »

Whats your opinion on this.

with the decade containing the rise and fall of the celtic tiger can the gaa say that its been a good 10 years for the association.

pro's
1.great matches (galway v kilkenny - tyrone v kerry)
2.emergence of new football teams - tyrone,armagh
3.how the gaa continued to thrive when the naysayers predicted it would fade away.
4.start of warts and all books.jack o connor,oisin mcconville,donal og,mickey harte
5.players standing up for a cause - shaking the old school eg cork,clare,limerick strikes.
6.kilkenny - the greatest hurling team of them all.
7.full houses in croke park come september.
8.opening croke park.one in the eye for gaa detractors
9.jack o connor - the decades most unlikely success story

con's
1.the neverending story aka cork strikes
2.the cult of pat spillane
3.the gaa not reducing prices last summer.
4.rise of day trippers attending matches
5.levels of skill in football dropping
6.the threat of rugby(purely a limerick thing mind)
7.larry o gorman on the sunday game
8.no new breakthroughs in hurling
9.people objecting to the gpa for no reason.

am i missing anything.

1. I'd add Tyrone Vs. Armagh.

Completely agree with 2 to 9.

I'd add the remergence of Ulster. I thought for a few years after 91-94 it was a false dawn but the work done at underage level was immense and unprecedented.

Ulster is no longer the also rans, the "aren't you doing great work" province.


The arguments about Ulster football will continue forever but seeing Fermanagh being a kick of a ball away from a All Ireland Final with Kerry justified it all!

Gaelic Football is no longer a traditional county elite.

shockframe

JupiterKid wrote: »

1. The completion of the super impressive Croke Park
2. The debate over the status of GAA players - remain amateur or go professional
3. The GPA and the Cork Hurler's strike
4. Donal Og Cusack coming out as gay

1-3 yes
4 no

donal og's personal life has no bearing on whether the gaa was better or worse in this decade.

JupiterKid

shockframe wrote: »

1-3 yes
4 no

donal og's personal life has no bearing on whether the gaa was better or worse in this decade.

On the contrary, I'd say it was a very important development. Hopefiully it will make the GAA better, more inclusive and tolerant of difference.

Funny how straight GAA players' heterosexual relationships aren't considered a "private" matter, eh?:rolleyes:

Het-Field

Its been a mixed decade.

Removal of Rule 21, and the opening of Croker to Rugby and Soccer have been the greatest achievements of the GAA in the noughties. These congressional could be considered as a form of GAA Glasnost. They were in line with the national political advances of 1993-1998 and pulled the GAA from a tribal, and jingoistic organisation, to a progressive movement.

The full development of Croke Park has been a success. It is a fantastic stadium, and it will continue to be up there amongst Europe's best. Of course, most will have reservations about Hill 16, but that aside, it is a superb stadium, which was the culmination of 10 years work.

I also believe GAA players have become more skilful, and more asthetically pleasing. They are stronger, and with greater stamina. On the flipside that ensures that we wont see the likes of Vinny Murphy, Niall Sheridan etc thriving ever again.

The positives of the qualifiers have been the increased participation of sides who often found themselves out of the championship on the second week of May. Fermanagh, Wicklow, Westmeath, Longford, Cavan have all enjoyed increased runs in the finals, which would have been unthinkable in 1999.

There have been some absolute crackers of matches this decade. The 2005 All Ireland Final springs to mind. Dublin's three semi final apperances have been fantastic nailbiters, while it was often a treat to see the top Northern teams slog it out in some of the hardest football ever played

Donal Og's admission as to his sexuality. Hopefully this will be a defining point, and a point of education for those in the sport.

Downsides

-No fewer then Five All Ireland Football Finals were lopsided contests, with inferior teams making up the numbers while the likes of Kerry, and Galway steamrolled their way to the Sam Maguire. This trickled down through the whole competition, and in terms of potential victors, the Championship's potential winners have never been such a closed shop.

-In spite of some facts to the contrary, the likes of Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Down, and Donegal have been in decline since their haydays in the 1990s, while Galway have never built on their success of 2001. Mayo are in a rut, they are good, but completely mentally frail. None have come close to taking Sam off Kerry/Tyrone and to a lesser extent Armagh. Equally, some of the developing counties like Westmeath, and Laois have completely dropped off the radar, with Wexford likely to do the same in the coming year. As such, the GAA's member counties have not built on the competitive success that was the 1990s. It is of no benefit to have the compeitition revolving around two or three counties.

-The serious delay in opening Croker to other codes. For years, the parochial and jingoisitic elements of the organisation managed to proffer their isolationist agenda.

-The furore around Donal Og's admission. If our national sport is to be progressive, then it shouldnt matter what a man's sexuality is. Unfortunatly, there will be those involved in the sport who will believe that they have never met a homosexual before, and that will carry all the preconceptions that it normally entails. This includes the steryotypical view of the ignorant i.e that gay men are naturally going to fancy all other men around them. Trust me that is not true. Its a sad fact of like, but a parochial organiation like the GAA will have a far harder time accepting this type of thing then most other sports. And by the way, im talking about the more rural branches of the organisation.


Hurling.

Save for the semi development of Dublin Hurling, the noughties have been a case of same old, same old. The only major spark has been provided by Galway, who appear to be the only side outside of Cork, Kilkenny, and Tipp who can mount a credible challange. Waterford have had a good decade, and hopefully, they will progress in 2010 and onwards. The Bennis era in Limerick was a sight to behold, however, they have regressed. Names like Offaly, Clare, and Wexford are no longer at the races.

There have been some superb games, however, it doesnt mitigate for the fact that the sport continues to subsist amongst the traditional powerhouses. If the sport ever manages to make it out f these strongholds, then it will begn to capture the public's imagination t a far greater extent.

Sadly, there is a lot more to be said about Football, as I still maintain that hurling is the better code

Nalced_irl

Very mixed, alot of good and bad. My main concern is that is was a slightly non-competitive decade towards mid-end naughties especially. Same teams cropping up in finals and others remaining behind.

shockframe

Nalced_irl wrote: »

Very mixed, alot of good and bad. My main concern is that is was a slightly non-competitive decade towards mid-end naughties especially. Same teams cropping up in finals and others remaining behind.

now now just because the dubs failed to get to a final.

seriously in football some poor finals alright.the most lopsided decade ever probably.no final in the 90s had more than 4 point win.now look at it.9,7,13,10 point winning margins.the only thing i will say is that tyrone,galway and armagh have won the last 3 minors so all is not lost yet but dublin,cork and down are getting left behind.

for hurling well the decade is in total contrast almost to the 90s.wexford and offaly fading in leinster.antrim not breaking through.limerick and clare at each others throats.only the cats can be pleased with the decade really.

Frank Spencer

shockframe wrote: »

4.rise of day trippers attending matches

What's the problem with this?

shockframe

Buck_Naked wrote: »

What's the problem with this?

Decent loyal gaa fans who attend club/county matches possibly missing out on tickets for big matches.

Het-Field

shockframe wrote: »

Decent loyal gaa fans who attend club/county matches possibly missing out on tickets for big matches.

The Dubs are the only team who can cause a scrabble for tickets. Even at that, there is usually plenty available. Outside of Dublin games, its very easy to get into most grounds for most fixtures.

homerjay2005

defo a great deceade. the gaa moved from an old fashioned organisation to a modern one with a world class stadium and some other top facilities emerging throughout the country. attendances at record highs, revenue generation soaring and opening of croke park to expand that revenue.

on the field, we had the back door emergining since 2001 and the likes of tyrone and armagh coming through and kerry having another golden era. weve also been blessed to see one super cork team in their power in hurling and then one of the best all time teams in kilkenny coming too the table. add in things like sligo winning a connacht, pushing armagh all the way in 2002 in a replay, fermanagh in 2004, limerick beating cork and being the 2nd best team in munster for 2/3 years,wicklows run last year and indeed Kildare. every year, we get teams more so nowadays due to the backdoor who breath freshair to the championship. that didnt happen 10 years ago.


players of the decade - Gooch, Sean Kavanagh and Thomas O Shea, with King Henry and Tommy Walsh in Hurling by a distance.

blackbelt

homerjay2005 wrote: »

on the field, we had the back door emergining since 2001 and the likes of tyrone and armagh coming through and kerry having another golden era.

I agree with most of your post but I really had to pull up when I read this part.I suppose the thing about the qualifiers is that it is good in general but even better for those that win Sam by coming through them and had it not been for the qualifiers,this decade would not have been as much of a golden era for Kerry.

I truly believe it is time the GAA review the qualifiers and restrict teams who win Sam through the qualifiers one year to not be eligible the next year.Now that would A) Stop teams abusing the qualifiers and create more excitement in provincial matches especially the annual Kerry v Cork matches where more is at stake early on in the championship.

After this,I would have to say it was a reasonably good decade for the GAA.Rule 42 being lifted and the development of Croke Park are undeniably the best things that have happened.

In Football it is a mixed bag but the ultimate prize and the mismatches that have occurred some All Ireland Final days can never overshadow those other days where counties have pulled upsets along the way or won provincial honours.I am thinking of Westmeath winning Leinster in 2004 upsetting Dublin and then beating Offaly for the first time since 1959 and then to go on and beat Laois in the Leinster Final after a replay.That was some achievement.I am also thinking of Sligo beating Galway in 2007 to win Connacht for the first time in 32 years and then also Dublin winning Leinster in 2002 for the first time since 1995 and then claiming it back from 2005 to present.

In hurling we have always had close finals and while the likes of Cork and Kilkenny have had a stranglehold on Liam,it is quite encouraging to see some counties emerging like Dublin,Laois and Carlow.It is however a bit concerning to see Wexford,Clare and Offaly go back so much.I think the disputes of Cork,Limerick and Clare will leave a smudge on the hurling decade.

premierstone

blackbelt wrote: »

had it not been for the qualifiers,this decade would not have been as much of a golden era for Kerry.

Dont agree with this at all, how can you say that?? They knew there was a back door safety net and a few years availed of it, you can be damn sure if that safety net had have been removed they would have a good few more Munster titles to boot.

shockframe

homerjay2005 wrote: »

defo a great deceade. the gaa moved from an old fashioned organisation to a modern one with a world class stadium and some other top facilities emerging throughout the country. attendances at record highs, revenue generation soaring and opening of croke park to expand that revenue.

on the field, we had the back door emergining since 2001 and the likes of tyrone and armagh coming through and kerry having another golden era. weve also been blessed to see one super cork team in their power in hurling and then one of the best all time teams in kilkenny coming too the table. add in things like sligo winning a connacht, pushing armagh all the way in 2002 in a replay, fermanagh in 2004, limerick beating cork and being the 2nd best team in munster for 2/3 years,wicklows run last year and indeed Kildare. every year, we get teams more so nowadays due to the backdoor who breath freshair to the championship. that didnt happen 10 years ago.


players of the decade - Gooch, Sean Kavanagh and Thomas O Shea, with King Henry and Tommy Walsh in Hurling by a distance.

id have to pull you up on the kerry golden era comment too.the hard fact remains that ye won all irelands against vastly inferior opponents and when ye met teams of your own standing ye didnt deliver.had kerry beaten tyrone once or armagh in 2002 then there would be no doubt but as it is an asteriks exists over them.

it was a poor championship decade in terms of the number of teams competing.it wasnt even one of kerrys greatest teams in my opinion.nowhere near the same stature as the 75-86 period who defeated all rivals.who knows slay the dragon next year and it there will be no argument.


dont agree with the super cork hurlers comment either.they were not as good as people made out.yes ben,corcoran and sean og were great players but they had a lot of passengers on the team.galway did cork a huge favour in 2005 by beating the cats.kilkenny were in a different league not just to cork but to every other team in the championship.

blackbelt

premierstone wrote: »

Dont agree with this at all, how can you say that?? They knew there was a back door safety net and a few years availed of it, you can be damn sure if that safety net had have been removed they would have a good few more Munster titles to boot.

But how could you be so sure?In most years when they lost to Cork,it was because they were outplayed and had the qualifiers been removed,that would have been it for Kerry.A lot of years this decade,they would not have even got to Croke under old system.There is no use in saying they would have won a good few more Munster titles except maybe 1 more as (in my opinion) this year was a ploy.

premierstone

blackbelt wrote: »

But how could you be so sure?In most years when they lost to Cork,it was because they were outplayed and had the qualifiers been removed,that would have been it for Kerry.A lot of years this decade,they would not have even got to Croke under old system.There is no use in saying they would have won a good few more Munster titles except maybe 1 more as (in my opinion) this year was a ploy.

You ask how I could be so sure, well in the same way I ask how can you be so sure that they wouldnt??

Simple fact of the matter is they were the best team in hte country every year they won the AI and surely that is the aim of the AI series, to ensure the best team at that time wins, otherwise lets just have a raffle.

They were beaten a few times by Cork in what was effectively a meaningless provincial game, and they were cute enough to adapt to the new system that meant you only really needed to peak for August and September, hardly their fault if other countieswerent cute enough to do likewise, they have mastered the new format to be honest, train hard in hte winter win hte league, and then ease off and aim to peak again in late summer, it also of course helps that you have the most naturally talented footballers in the country and an entire county that lives, breaths and eats football.

blackbelt

premierstone wrote: »

You ask how I could be so sure, well in the same way I ask how can you be so sure that they wouldnt??

Simple fact of the matter is they were the best team in hte country every year they won the AI and surely that is the aim of the AI series, to ensure the best team at that time wins, otherwise lets just have a raffle.

They were beaten a few times by Cork in what was effectively a meaningless provincial game, and they were cute enough to adapt to the new system that meant you only really needed to peak for August and September, hardly their fault if other countieswerent cute enough to do likewise, they have mastered the new format to be honest, train hard in hte winter win hte league, and then ease off and aim to peak again in late summer, it also of course helps that you have the most naturally talented footballers in the country and an entire county that lives, breaths and eats football.

They were but comparing like with like isn't going to get us far.Firstly,we could go back to other decades and ask ourselves what would have happened if the qualifiers were in place and then apply that to this decade and ask if the qualifiers were taken away.

With the exception of this year,I firmly believe that when Cork beat Kerry in Munster,they did so because they were the better team on the day.Kerry love it when they are written off,they actually thrive on it and thats what this year was all about.Cork don't seem to play to this and usually go out to win every game at all costs.

In those years,Kerry happened to pull it together and learn to peak in August and September.However,just because a team peaks at a certain time doesn't mean they don't go out to win games.Under the old system,that was irrelevent and had that same system been in use this decade,it can't be said that Kerry would have won many more Munster titles or contested and won as many All Irelands as they did.

The basic meaning I have got from your post is that the qualifiers have devalued the provincials competitions to the point they are meaningless.Maybe that is the attitude of Kerry fans too toward Munster but I was reading a thread recently from a few years back where some Kerry fans listed the 1999 Munster Football Final loss as one of their low points as a Kerry GAA fan.Fast forward 10 years and Munster is irrelevent to a lot of Kerry fans.Removal of the qualifiers would make these games mean more but that is not to say Kerry would have won more of them at the time.

Getting to Croke Park is what Kerry do in order to play their best football.

premierstone

blackbelt wrote: »

The basic meaning I have got from your post is that the qualifiers have devalued the provincials competitions to the point they are meaningless.Maybe that is the attitude of Kerry fans too toward Munster but I was reading a thread recently from a few years back where some Kerry fans listed the 1999 Munster Football Final loss as one of their low points as a Kerry GAA fan.Fast forward 10 years and Munster is irrelevent to a lot of Kerry fans.Removal of the qualifiers would make these games mean more but that is not to say Kerry would have won more of them at the time.

Yeah I do think that with the exception of the Munster Hurling Championship and possibly the Ulster Football Championship, the provincial championships are largely irrelevant and imo that is one of the reasons why I would disagree with people heralding the noughties as the best decade in the history of the GAA, there are very obvious flaws in both codes and the abolition of the provincial championships would seem the only logical solution but as a Tipp Hurling man the thought of no Munster Hurling really really depresses the sh*t out of me tbh, I know people outside of Tipp, Cork, Waterford, Clare and Limerick are sick of that been used as an excuse not to abandon the provincial system but it really is something unique and special.

blackbelt

premierstone wrote: »

Yeah I do think that with the exception of the Munster Hurling Championship and possibly the Ulster Football Championship, the provincial championships are largely irrelevant and imo that is one of the reasons why I would disagree with people heralding the noughties as the best decade in the history of the GAA, there are very obvious flaws in both codes and the abolition of the provincial championships would seem the only logical solution but as a Tipp Hurling man the thought of no Munster Hurling really really depresses the sh*t out of me tbh, I know people outside of Tipp, Cork, Waterford, Clare and Limerick are sick of that been used as an excuse not to abandon the provincial system but it really is something unique and special.

True but before all this,provincial championships were more competitive and meaningful and placed more significance on whether a county could win an All Ireland.

The noughties was a great decade for the Association and GAA fans but not so much in the way of how certain types of matches are played.I actually think the qualifiers are making the championship very exciting at one end of the spectrum yet the most consistent teams are losing out.I think this Kerry team is the worst team to ever win an All Ireland.I am not too sure how much of the poor qualifier run could be put down as accidental or design but if Kerry tried and were scraping those matches,it says a lot about Dublin,Meath and Cork and would suggest that the standard of football of getting worse at an alarming rate.

doodle bug

I think people might be missing out on the impact Cork hurling has had on the decade...yes people are sick of hearing of the strikes and the older player being the catalysts for all of these. However the young Cork players had and have as much say as the rest of the squad. Through Donal O Grady and John Allen they brought a new type of hurling to the pitch which has been copied and often lead to their down fall.

Ben O' Connor has been one of the best players over the decade not just the past few years and as he said after winning the Cork county with Newtown he has another 10 left in him!!!!

I also think Ken Mcgrath, John Mullane and Ollie Canning have been outstanding in the noughties hopefully the next one will have the stars of Joe Canning, Seamus Callanan and of coarse a few from Killkenny and Cork to keep hurling the top sport (with football) in Ireland.

DDC1990

blackbelt wrote: »

True but before all this,provincial championships were more competitive and meaningful and placed more significance on whether a county could win an All Ireland.

The noughties was a great decade for the Association and GAA fans but not so much in the way of how certain types of matches are played.I actually think the qualifiers are making the championship very exciting at one end of the spectrum yet the most consistent teams are losing out.I think this Kerry team is the worst team to ever win an All Ireland.I am not too sure how much of the poor qualifier run could be put down as accidental or design but if Kerry tried and were scraping those matches,it says a lot about Dublin,Meath and Cork and would suggest that the standard of football of getting worse at an alarming rate.

"This Kerry team is the worst team to ever win an All Ireland"???

Are you serious. How can a team with Gooch, Tommy Walsh, Daragh Ó Sé, Marc Ó Sé, Tomás Ó Sé, Tadhg Kennelly, Mike McCarthy, Tom O'Sullivan, Declan O'Sullivan, Diarmuid Murphy and Paul Galvin be classed as a bad team!!!

Look at the Dublin team of 1995, they were a much poorer side. Meath in 1999. etc.
And thats jus recent history. No matter the opposition beaten this Kerry team can be classed up with the great Kerry teams of old.

Why would you make such an outragious statement?

blackbelt

DDC1990 wrote: »

"This Kerry team is the worst team to ever win an All Ireland"???

Are you serious. How can a team with Gooch, Tommy Walsh, Daragh Ó Sé, Marc Ó Sé, Tomás Ó Sé, Tadhg Kennelly, Mike McCarthy, Tom O'Sullivan, Declan O'Sullivan, Diarmuid Murphy and Paul Galvin be classed as a bad team!!!

Look at the Dublin team of 1995, they were a much poorer side. Meath in 1999. etc.
And thats jus recent history. No matter the opposition beaten this Kerry team can be classed up with the great Kerry teams of old.

Why would you make such an outragious statement?

The players you listed are indeed great players and that is not up for debate but if you read the quote you will see I used the word "team".Kerry often didn't play as a team in this championship and were it not for outstanding individual performances from Paul Galvin and Tommy Walsh they could have lost games against Longford and Sligo had that been true Kerry's form at the time.

I can't see how Kerry in 2009 could be compared to Dublin in 95 or Meath in 99.Back in those days,it was one strike and you are out.The standard of football back then was also better in my opinion and provincial matches were just as important as a semi final.

And finally,I still don't buy into this Kerry team being up there with the great teams of the 70s and 80s.Those Kerry teams would never let themselves look bad against the weaker opposition in the country.Those Kerry teams won All Irelands without losing a single game.The qualifiers have been kind to Kerry this decade and have facilitated them to be heralded a great team.The vintage Kerry teams of old never had a second chance in the same year.Its like comparing apples and oranges.

premierstone

BB you talk as if the qualifiers and backdoor is only available to Kerry its the same rules for everyone and they have adapted, they won more than their fair share pre-backdoor and this has continued post-backdoor, and I agree with the previous poster to claim that the 2009 Kerry football team is the worst team ever to win an AI is plain redicolous, a little bit of sour grapes perhaps for the drubbing they handed out to Dublin??? Looked like they fairly played like a team that day wouldnt you agree

I know it christmass BB but u really shouldnt drink so much its clearly affecting you

Het-Field

homerjay2005 wrote: »

defo a great deceade. the gaa moved from an old fashioned organisation to a modern one with a world class stadium and some other top facilities emerging throughout the country. attendances at record highs, revenue generation soaring and opening of croke park to expand that revenue.

on the field, we had the back door emergining since 2001 and the likes of tyrone and armagh coming through and kerry having another golden era. weve also been blessed to see one super cork team in their power in hurling and then one of the best all time teams in kilkenny coming too the table. add in things like sligo winning a connacht, pushing armagh all the way in 2002 in a replay, fermanagh in 2004, limerick beating cork and being the 2nd best team in munster for 2/3 years,wicklows run last year and indeed Kildare. every year, we get teams more so nowadays due to the backdoor who breath freshair to the championship. that didnt happen 10 years ago.


players of the decade - Gooch, Sean Kavanagh and Thomas O Shea, with King Henry and Tommy Walsh in Hurling by a distance.

While that may not have happened in the 1990s, the reality is that the provincial championships were far more competitive, and as such they threw up far more exciting ties. In Leinster Dublin, Meath, and Kildare were fighting it out to be Leinster Kingpins. The likes of Offaly and Laois would give a game, and sometimes throw up a strange result. Ulster was another truly competitive province in the 1990s with Derry, Donegal, Down, Cavan, Tyrone, Armagh all taking a title each. In Munster, Clare took a proper scalp in a fairly strong Munster province, while Galway and Mayo battled it out in Connaught.

In terms of footballing competitiveness, the noughties are well adrift of the ninties. It will take more then a few qualifier victories, several close shaves and internal shifts (such as Limerick's, which occured during a rotten period for Cork football) in the "balance of power" to convince me that the noughties was worth writing home about as a good decade for GAA competitiveness

markod4600

good for football.
bad for hurling

Frank Spencer

shockframe wrote: »

Decent loyal gaa fans who attend club/county matches possibly missing out on tickets for big matches.

Het-Field wrote: »

The Dubs are the only team who can cause a scrabble for tickets. Even at that, there is usually plenty available. Outside of Dublin games, its very easy to get into most grounds for most fixtures.

I think Het-Field sums it up nicely.

The rise of the "day tripper" has been a good thing in my opinion. It has created more exposure for the GAA and increased revenue. In fairness if a person really wants a ticket for a match they will get it by hook or by crook. This would generally only be the case for AI finals or AI football semi-finals anyway.

Flukey

As a GAA fan, every decade is great. Obviously no Dublin All-Ireland in this one was a disappointment. Hopefully we will soon rectify that. The re-emergence of our hurlers has been a great thing. It was great to see Armagh and Tyrone, without doubt the team of the decade by a long way, adding their names to the roll of honour of Football winners. The qualifiers have had their pros and cons. Sligo, Fermanagh, Westmeath and Wicklow, amongst others got the benefit, but so did some of the big teams. In Hurling, a complete decade of the big 3 taking the titles, after such a different decade prior to that was a disappointment. The back door had a hand in that too.

As for great matches, there are too many to mention, in both codes. As ever there were plenty of days that really gave us that buzz that all GAA fans love. With that we have to take the lows too, and we had lots of them. A good decade, and another one starts in a couple of weeks. This day 2 weeks will see my first GAA games of the year, on the 3rd of January for the Blue Stars matches. It will be the first of many. We don't know exactly what they will be, but there is a lot to look forward to. All will be revealed as and when they happen. That's all part of the excitement.

One other thing worth a mention. HERE!!! This place has been good, where we've had fun of all sorts and made some good friends. Long may that continue, and hopefully it will extend. It has been good to meet some of the people behind the posts and to share our mutual interest in Gaelic Games.