What a waste!!

blackbelt

Think this is the topic of discussion this weekend every year but yet again we go another year of having the New York fixture as the opening fixture of the championship.No offense to Sligo and New York but the opening of the championship should really be kicked off with a high profile game with fireworks and live coverage and media speculation yet again there is only going to be 10 seconds dedicated to this on the 9 o clock news and no mention of it in the first Sunday Game special.

The GAA continually insist on dropping the proverbial ball.

DublinGAA96

Don't agree with you here. The opening game has never been high profile and so on. Why change it now? And fireworks? What relevance has that to anything? God help us all if they started having fireworks at big champo matches.

blackbelt

DublinGAA96 wrote: »

Don't agree with you here. The opening game has never been high profile and so on. Why change it now? And fireworks? What relevance has that to anything? God help us all if they started having fireworks at big champo matches.

What is your basis for not agreeing though? This is the start of the championship and is a very tame way of going about promoting it.They bring out fireworks and promotions for the league which is in itself at least an intent to promoting the competition.You really have to wait until mid to late June before the championship gets warmed up.

DublinGAA96

Well yeah, nobody expects the championship to hot up until Mid June which is totally understandable. Players start to see the benefit of strength and conditioning by then, conditions are perfect, and the **** starts to hit the fan then. The championship intensity can't be switched on like the flicker of a switch in May, which is why i think the opening
Game of champo is %80 percent of the time a low key affair. Unless its Cork or Waterford in hurling or Cork and Kerry.

themandan6611

your hardly going to have a humdinger of a game in the first match, so there is not much to get excited about, with or without fireworks.

even if Kerry / Cork meet with the backdoor its not the real deal till knockout stage

overshoot

how can they start it with a humdinger and fireworks, unless they rig the draw?... best "first round" football game is probably tyrone v armagh but how could that be played before donegal v cavan in the prelimary game? the winner has to wait for that prelim game, prelim winner v derry then the semi.
i rather the slow build and then the big guns in the finals after shaking off the rustyness. long road to croker, clash of the titans and so on with any other corny sayings

Syferus

overshoot wrote: »

how can they start it with a humdinger and fireworks, unless they rig the draw?... best "first round" football game is probably tyrone v armagh but how could that be played before donegal v cavan in the prelimary game? the winner has to wait for that prelim game, prelim winner v derry then the semi.
i rather the slow build and then the big guns in the finals after shaking off the rustyness. long road to croker, clash of the titans and so on with any other corny sayings

For one, Roscommon and Galway would make a far better first match.

Diabhal Beag

That's like saying the FA Cup should kick off with two PL teams playing on opening weekend. It's pointless unless you wanted to start fixing the Championship so big teams face off early leading to a poorer Final. Factor in that a lot of teams need preparation after the League finals and the fact that some players are doing exams and you have two good reasons already to leave the format the way it is. GAA is also competing with Heineken Cup Final, Champion's League Final and a lot of other big sporting events in May. In June there's only the Euros and later in the Summer there's the Olympics.

Syferus

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

That's like saying the FA Cup should kick off with two PL teams playing on opening weekend. It's pointless unless you wanted to start fixing the Championship so big teams face off early leading to a poorer Final. Factor in that a lot of teams need preparation after the League finals and the fact that some players are doing exams and you have two good reasons already to leave the format the way it is. GAA is also competing with Heineken Cup Final, Champion's League Final and a lot of other big sporting events in May. In June there's only the Euros and later in the Summer there's the Olympics.

It's pretty simple, though. If they want a bang, have Dublin's first match start the championship each year. Re-jigger things a little if you have to. There really is no other way to excite the media.

KevIRL

Under the current format I gotta disagree Blackbelt. Firstly there isnt usually a 'razzmatazz' type game drawn to kick things off, secondly with the qualifiers the provincial championships have become more of a starter to the main course anyway.

Lets have a look at the opening games in all provinces in football this year

Connacht
New York v Sligo
Roscommon v Galway
London v Leitrim
Leinster
Westmeath v Louth
Longford v Laois
Meath v Wicklow
Munster
Limerick v Waterford
Tipp v Kerry
Ulster
Cavan v Donegal (prelim)
Monaghan v Antrim
Fermanagh v Down
Armagh v Tyrone

Now of all those ties only Armagh v Tyrone could get near to fitting the bill of a a big opener to the season, and even then probably only to die hard football fans or Armagh/Tyrone fans. The casual fan still wouldnt really care too much cause (a) its a provincial game, so less appeal and (b) there is the qualifiers, so the losers arent finished. Even taking all that into consideration to play that game first would still mean messing around with the 'natural' order of the draw - ie a quarter final provincial game on before a prelim game from the same province.

I do agree that the GAA could do more to announce the arrival of the championship, but under the current draw system I cant see how they could do it. Change the way the whole thing works perhaps, but thats a different discussion for another day.

I do think that the priority under the current systrem should be to sort out the madness that causes provincial championships to be so drawn out. For example in the 7 team Connacht championship which begins today May 6th, Mayo wont play their first game until on June 24th. Madness

overshoot

Syferus wrote: »

For one, Roscommon and Galway would make a far better first match.

the same galway to lost to meath and roscommon who went down to tyrone by 11 last year and couldnt get out of D3? thats better than the 2 teams who have shared 12 or the last 13 ulster titles? neither are quite what they were then but they are ahead of those two, armagh also went out in the AI to tyrone which always ads a little (and they only lost by 6)

Syferus wrote: »

It's pretty simple, though. If they want a bang, have Dublin's first match start the championship each year. Re-jigger things a little if you have to. There really is no other way to excite the media.

dublin would still have to play someone decent and be at home... longford at home to the dubs isnt going to draw the masses. im still far from convinced on the dubs support ability to travel beyond an hour

KevIRL wrote: »

For example in the 8 team Connacht championship which begins today May 6th, Mayo wont play their first game until on June 24th. Madness

good post kev, fully agree (except for the 8 team connacht) or has another been landed in there?:p
think the only way big bang openers will exist is without the back door, and even then its down to luck of the draw unless there is a full overhaul

KevIRL

overshoot wrote: »

good post kev, fully agree (except for the 8 team connacht) or has another been landed in there?:p
think the only way big bang openers will exist is without the back door, and even then its down to luck of the draw unless there is a full overhaul

Typo, sorry. 7 teams out West.

Diabhal Beag

Syferus wrote: »

It's pretty simple, though. If they want a bang, have Dublin's first match start the championship each year. Re-jigger things a little if you have to. There really is no other way to excite the media.

It's a knockout competition. You always have to give attention early to weaker counties. It's only fair and they won't get it any other time.