"Beating the traffic"

Crooked Jack

Apologies if this has been done before. I had a quick look but didnt see anything. It's something that really annoys me and I just wanted to gauge other people's opinions on it.
I hate when a team is losing and you see "supporters" streaming out of the grounds with 5, 10, 15 minutes to go.
I think it's the height of rudeness and shows a disgusting lack of respect for the players busting themselves on the pitch.
Ya never know, show a bit of belief in them and it might inspire a come back.

rebel girl 15

Yep, I hate to see it too - but there is a culture of sunshine supporters within some counties. People paying that much to go and see their team, yet leave with 10 mins to go. It is disappointing for the players, but they understand the sunshine supporter culture.

Watching the Cork v Tipp game yesterday, after the game they cut to a shot of a Cork man among a load of Tipp supporters and shaking the hand of a Tipp supporter. Thats what the GAA is about, and not sunshine supporters streaming out the gates to beat the traffic.

dulpit

I may be wrong, but I'm nearly certain I saw people leaving the Cork-Tipp game just before it finished... Madness!

Markcheese

You wouldn't want to be anywhere near a big GAA game as it finishes.... Have seen people driving over paths, through crowds any attempt to get a few seconds ahead of the crowd...

Joekers

There is a big difference between leaving 10 mins early wen der is five or less points between the teams and leaving early when your team is down 15+ points especially when your standing in the pissing rain, I stayed in portlaoise till the end on Saturday as I always do but I can definitely see why people were leaving early during that match

The_Kew_Tour

Reminds me of the time a Limerick man from home(cork) left the AI final in 1994 with few minutes to spare.

He managed to get train to Cork and all that time he had thought his county had won the AI. When he got to the local pub in great mood, it was short lived when he found out what happened.

Never leave match early unless its really one sided and even then be few minutes either no more.

Crazy when see people leave games when there is only a score in the game.

Stevecw

I never leave a game early no matter how 1 sided it is.
Usually being from Carlow it's us being hammered but always stay to the end anyway.

Only once i left a game with 10 mins left in extra time, but thats cos I had to get a train that was leaving at same time as ft in extra time would be. And my club team were 5 points down.
All I missed was goal for opposition and a sending off, and a 9 pt defeat. As it happened train was delayed by 20 mins, but i'm still happy I left that game when I did!

liammur

I don't see much wrong with it. People leave early for a variety of reasons.

fasttalkerchat

Armagh were getting beat by Fermanagh almost 15 years ago. We walked out early then heard cheers from inside the ground and a roar went up at the end.

Back then grounds were 75% Armagh for those sort of games so we knew it was a comeback. Gutted to have missed it.

Crooked Jack

Joekers wrote: »

There is a big difference between leaving 10 mins early wen der is five or less points between the teams and leaving early when your team is down 15+ points especially when your standing in the pissing rain, I stayed in portlaoise till the end on Saturday as I always do but I can definitely see why people were leaving early during that match

There is no difference. I would hold both people in equal contempt. The latter more so in fact.

themandan6611

being from Dublin our bigger problem is getting to a game on time

rossie1977

Crooked Jack wrote: »

There is no difference. I would hold both people in equal contempt. The latter more so in fact.

if people pay money its their right to leave whenever they please, its grand for someone like you who has grown up with success in armagh at club and intercounty level or cork fans or kerry fans preaching to others but go tell the leitrim fans that have never seen success at any level be it minor, under 21, senior or club that you hold them in contempt for leaving early yesterday when their team was losing by 22 points, the same fans that will be back next year no matter the weather despite zero chance of winning a game let alone silverware of any kind

i have stayed till the end and applauded roscommon off the field when they lost by 9 points but there is no point staying to the end of a first round game when your team is losing by 20 points or more

Black Suir

One former officer of the Waterford G.A.A. County Board was reported to have been seen leaving last years Munster Final early - maybe 15 to 20 minutes. WOuld not have blamed him to be honest.

overshoot

given that most are leaving to get away it bugs me, they came to supposidly support the men on the field and should still recognise the effort of them when it goes wrong, even if it was a first round game, the lads have still put in a huge effort for it and it should be recognised

annoyingly though i wont have time for extratime should it happen in donegal tyrone this weekend... bloody work and needing money:mad: will literally be running back to the car at full time too. if i can get work back an hour im sorted though!

Corkblowin

I wouldn't call them ignorant, but I really can't understand why you'd leave a close match early. Cork 2 points down with 3 minutes left and I had to move to let 4 guys out (2 from each county actually). What's the point in paying for a ticket & not staying til the end?

sideboard

Crooked Jack wrote: »

There is no difference. I would hold both people in equal contempt. The latter more so in fact.

doesn't sound very equal to me, Crooked Jack...but then maybe that's how you got your name :D:D

corny

rossie1977 wrote: »

if people pay money its their right to leave whenever they please

End of story.

Diabhal Beag

I hate this argument. I know where you're coming from but it isn't lack of respect. People have lives outside of GAA matches they attend. They pay into these matches just like everybody else. Some of them travel great distances and leaving 5 minutes early saves them 30 minutes in traffic on a Sunday. If they leave a match early it's none of my business nor is it something that bothers me. I pay to watch the match not the exits after all.

liammur

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I hate this argument. I know where you're coming from but it isn't lack of respect. People have lives outside of GAA matches they attend. They pay into these matches just like everybody else. Some of them travel great distances and leaving 5 minutes early saves them 30 minutes in traffic on a Sunday. If they leave a match early it's none of my business nor is it something that bothers me. I pay to watch the match not the exits after all.

1 of the better posts I've seen on boards.ie over the years.

Joekers

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Joekers wrote: »

There is a big difference between leaving 10 mins early wen der is five or less points between the teams and leaving early when your team is down 15+ points especially when your standing in the pissing rain, I stayed in portlaoise till the end on Saturday as I always do but I can definitely see why people were leaving early during that match

There is no difference. I would hold both people in equal contempt. The latter more so in fact.

How is there no difference? There clearly is when one game could be very much in the balance and one game is over with 25 mins to go

Fentdog84

I think some people are just impatient feckers or else they hate crowds. But if their team is getting a hiding no issue in walking out early, did it myself a couple of times.

Jimmy Iovine

I'd never leave early if my team was losing. Then again I have only seen Kilkenny lose about 3/4 times :P. I usually wait around after matches. Give it two or three minutes and it's much easier to get out. Unless you're at a match in Thurles. It's pretty much every man for himself in that case trying to get back to the car park in time to beat the queue.

Having taken twenty minutes to travel 100m on numerous times coming out of the Marina in Cork yesterday i can honestly see what could make some people head for the exits early but that game was such a nail biter i was going nowhere until the final whistle

Hammer Archer

I've done it once before and I regretted it. It was a Meath - Cavan league game in Navan in 2007 I think. Cavan were (harshly) reduced to 14 men in the first 5 minutes of the game yet totally dominated the game from start to finish. We were lucky to be within 3 points near the end but Cavan were playing keep ball in the last minute and seeing the game out. As I was heading out, I heard a roar which signalled that Brian Farrell had scored a last minute equaliser.
Since then, I've never left a game early. Though I don't blame anyone who does, especially during a hammering. Several Meath fans left Navan in disgust at half time during the Louth game this year.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

As has been mentioned, people have lives outside of the GAA. Only game I ever left early was a qualifier up in Navan when the Meath fans were feeling particularly piss-takeish, down by 6 points with 6 or 7 minutes to go and we were looking ****e, I had a drive back to Galway ahead of me, and would have rather been anywhere else. Out the gate I went, the jeers of the Meath fans ringing in my ears the whole way back to the car as they notched a couple more points. Was glad to get out of that place. That was a once off though. I've watched Roscommon getting stuffed and not left (that 20 point drubbing up in Castlebar in '09 springs to mind) when other lads were streaming out the gates at half time. Makes the successes (rare as they may be) all the sweeter

adrian522

I never leave a game early and I hate people leaving early, causing loads of people to stnad up to let them by and blocking the view of everyone behind them.

If you must leave early at least do it while there is a break in the play. And the same should go for latecomers.

Crooked Jack

rossie1977 wrote: »

if people pay money its their right to leave whenever they please, its grand for someone like you who has grown up with success in armagh at club and intercounty level or cork fans or kerry fans preaching to others but go tell the leitrim fans that have never seen success at any level be it minor, under 21, senior or club that you hold them in contempt for leaving early yesterday when their team was losing by 22 points, the same fans that will be back next year no matter the weather despite zero chance of winning a game let alone silverware of any kind

i have stayed till the end and applauded roscommon off the field when they lost by 9 points but there is no point staying to the end of a first round game when your team is losing by 20 points or more

Grown up with success? Believe me, I have seen some abysmal Armagh performances and always stayed til the end.
And I'm not arguing that people dont have the right to leave whenever they want, you dont see me suggesting that these people are banned from future games or anything ridiculous. Im just saying it's rude and disrespectful. Plus it would seem to me when a team is 22 points down that is when they'd need their supporters most.

rpurfield

personally i never leave a game early regardless of the score line but ive known some people to walk out at half time if the game was one sided now

DoctaDee

Reminds me of 2009 when Dublin put 27 points on Westmeath - I can still remember a pocket of Westmeath fans in the Cusack stuck it out to the bitter end, and I admired them for it. Little did I know that we would suffer the same fate a month later against Kerry ... but as the throngs were heading to the tunnels and out (some as early as 20 mins into the game) I remembered those Westmeath fans and kept me arse parked .. well no I didn't .. went over to the Hogan to the empty seats for a quick getaway :rolleyes:

J Cheever Loophole

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Armagh were getting beat by Fermanagh almost 15 years ago. We walked out early then heard cheers from inside the ground and a roar went up at the end.

Whenever this subject comes up, this is the match to lift from the archives, and with respect fasttalkerchat, your language does not do justice to the magnitude of that moment.

Down to fourteen men, and down by 1-15 to 1-6 with less than five minutes left on the clock, and about to make an abject bow from the Championship, Armagh from nowhere summoned a firestorm of attacking play that brought 3-2 in a matter of minutes, and saw us edge home by a point (4-8 to 1-16). A real I was there moment and for most Armagh fans they will have their own personal favourite stories from that day.

For me it was the van load of Fermanagh fans who toured Armagh City beeping the horn in celebration and giving it some to Armagh supporters, or to my work mate who after leaving early, was at home that night and had to be persuaded to switch on the Sunday Game for evidence of what had happened, some five hours earlier. Indeed the Fermanagh manager was in tears on the Sunday Game that night.

My own mates left early and I seriously thought about joining them but for some unknown and illogical reason, stayed put and was elated that I did. After that, I would never leave an Armagh match early, and by and large that has paid off - my brother-in-law wanted to leave Croker at the end of the 2005 Ulster Final - "I'll see you back at the car" was my terse response, before Stevie stepped up to crash a goal home and Paul McGrane nailed the equaliser with the point of his life!!

Personally, I'm there to support the team through thick and thin and will stay to the end, although that has been put to the severest of tests in recent years - the hammering Monaghan gave us in Casement as an example. However if people want to leave early, having paid their money, that is up to them, but they would lose something in my estimation for doing so.

It doesn't matter how far we are behind - I always see the ghost of Stevie lurking on the edge of the square!!

aidan24326

To be fair it's understandable for a person to leave a bit early in certain circumstances, like if your team is getting an awful hiding with no chance of a comeback, it can be hard to sit there and keep watching. Personally I don't think I've ever left early but I wouldn't knock someone who does where their team is getting walloped.

68Murph68

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I hate this argument. I know where you're coming from but it isn't lack of respect. People have lives outside of GAA matches they attend. They pay into these matches just like everybody else. Some of them travel great distances and leaving 5 minutes early saves them 30 minutes in traffic on a Sunday. If they leave a match early it's none of my business nor is it something that bothers me. I pay to watch the match not the exits after all.

I'd agree with this to a large extent but if you are one of those individuals leaving, then do actually show some consideration for the people who are staying and get the feck out as quickly as possible as opposed to blocking people who are trying to watch the game.

Croke Park is very bad for this I find, especially up in the attic seats.

Diabhal Beag

68Murph68 wrote: »

I'd agree with this to a large extent but if you are one of those individuals leaving, then do actually show some consideration for the people who are staying and get the feck out as quickly as possible as opposed to blocking people who are trying to watch the game.

Croke Park is very bad for this I find, especially up in the attic seats.

I'm a terrace man myself so it never applies to me when there's loads of room for people to walk past without blocking. I understand your point though.

ThunbergsAreGo

68Murph68 wrote: »

I'd agree with this to a large extent but if you are one of those individuals leaving, then do actually show some consideration for the people who are staying and get the feck out as quickly as possible as opposed to blocking people who are trying to watch the game.

Croke Park is very bad for this I find, especially up in the attic seats.

Nothing annoys me more.

Fair enough if you have paid your money and can go, but so others havent paid money to have their view blocked repeatadly

fasttalkerchat

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

Whenever this subject comes up, this is the match to lift from the archives, and with respect fasttalkerchat, your language does not do justice to the magnitude of that moment.

I was too young to remember much of what happened.
What year was that? I looked up records before but couldn't find the game.

klairondavis

I always stay until the end no matter how badly things are going for my team on the field. I suppose it's a sort of torture but I find it's having endured every minute of those frequent bad days that make those rare occasions when your team finally has their day in the sun all the sweeter.

c_man

I love nothing more than to have to stand up out of my seat, and miss parts of the match for a trail of fair weather supporters to file past...

Tom Joad

Usually stay to the bitter end no matter how bad things are going and have had some bad days - i was going to Cavan games for 8 years before I seen us win a championship match :eek:. But have no issue with anyone leaving early - it's their business really and I usually head for the terraces so doesn't interfere with me but can understand how it would annoy people in the stand.

J Cheever Loophole

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I was too young to remember much of what happened.
What year was that? I looked up records before but couldn't find the game.

Preliminary round of Ulster in 1993. That was a replay after we had drawn previously in Irvinestown.

In the quarter-final we played Tyrone, and drew with them in Armagh. We beat them in the replay in Omagh - a match in which Gerard Houlahan got the all important goal, late in the game. In the semi-final we played Donegal in Breffni Park and drew with them in a classic, but got hammered in the replay. Donegal, as All Ireland Champions, were then beaten by Derry in the Ulster Final, in a deluge in Clones at a half built St Tiernach's Park.

Derry won that year's All Ireland by playing five games. We played six and didn't even get to a provincial final!! :eek:

Roger Sterling

Always stay till the end even if we're getting bet out the gate: you need to suffer the bad moments to fully enjoy the good ones!

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Who cares if people leave early. just becaue they leave early it dosnt mean that are a sunshine supporter

Crooked Jack

Edith Square Footwear wrote: »

Who cares if people leave early. just becaue they leave early it dosnt mean that are a sunshine supporter

Leaving 'cause your team is losing is practically the definition of a sunshine supporter.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Leaving 'cause your team is losing is practically the definition of a sunshine supporter.

I mention anythig about your team losing

Crooked Jack

Edith Square Footwear wrote: »

I mention anythig about your team losing

Not you specifically, no, apologies if it came across that way. The general consensus from those in the "what's the problem?" column seems to be that its ok to leave early if your team is getting hammered, a number of people have said it, I was just challenging that.
But no, you didnt say that.

blowitupref

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Leaving 'cause your team is losing is practically the definition of a sunshine supporter.

A definition of a sunshine supporter is one that is never seen during in the league in Feb,Mar but only turns up in May,June,July of course it's not always sunny on Irish summer so most of these "supporters" choose to stay at home if the weather is bad.

Crooked Jack

blowitupref wrote: »

A definition of a sunshine supporter is one that is never seen during in the league in Feb,Mar but only turns up in May,June,July of course it's not always sunny on Irish summer so most of these "supporters" choose to stay at home if the weather is bad.

Yes but it also means someone who supports a team only when times are good.