Off The Ball Official Thread <Mod Note - Post #1, #533, #6651>

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GAA Football panel discussion was good tonight. At least the bit I heard, didn't get all of it.
Micheal O'Mhuirceartaigh is an iconic figure in Irish GAA. Definitely my most favourite commentator across all sports.

jeremyj1968

Tell me how wrote: »

GAA Football panel discussion was good tonight. At least the bit I heard, didn't get all of it. Micheal O'Mhuirceartaigh is an iconic figure in Irish GAA. Definitely my most favourite commentator across all sports.

I thought it was a little bit awkward, seemed to be no flow to it or banter. That BJ Keane is some dose. The conversation and microphone should have been directed more towards the other two.

Didn't seem to have the same sort of "laugh at anything at all" audience that the rugby shows generally get.

Tell me how

jeremyj1968 wrote: »

I thought it was a little bit awkward, seemed to be no flow to it or banter. That BJ Keane is some dose. The conversation and microphone should have been directed more towards the other two.

Didn't seem to have the same sort of "laugh at anything at all" audience that the rugby shows generally get.

Which is a good thing.

I didn't hear Billy Keane much.
Story from Kerry lady at end about winning 9 All Irelands in a row and returning to Kerry on the train after winning one of them only to have been locked in to the station because no one was thinking about them was fairly bleak.

So much for welcome home parties!

monstermag

Tell me how wrote: »

Think it was around the time of the furore/mirth over the Irish fans laughing at/with the ladies exiting the Ann Summers shop and how they were embarrassed/entertained.

I could be wrong but I think the events were linked. Don't know why he picked that fight.

I wonder what would his dream job be? Would it be a regular host on OTB or hosting the Tom Dunne show. He seems quite good at that and much more interested than he does on sport.

Speaking of music I myself changed the dial over Christmas much to the relief of my wife and kids, l had them driven around the bend listening to talk radio. Been listening to more music orientated stations, rekindled my love of music, l do slip the odd time and tune back into OTB just to catch up. A bit of everything in moderation.
I must say anytime Richie stands in for Tom Dunne, he's been really good, really knows his stuff, seems to be in his element playing music.

djemba djemba

I enjoyed the interview with the FAI's doctor last night.

diusmr8a504cvk

djemba djemba wrote: »

I enjoyed the interview with the FAI's doctor last night.

Heard it was good, must give a listen.

Lately I'm growing tired of how they feel like they have to talk about Spygate or the GAA rule changes every single day.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Tell me how wrote: »

Which is a good thing.

I didn't hear Billy Keane much.
Story from Kerry lady at end about winning 9 All Irelands in a row and returning to Kerry on the train after winning one of them only to have been locked in to the station because no one was thinking about them was fairly bleak.

So much for welcome home parties!

General public, both men & women, just don't seem to give a hoot about ladies football.

It's very sad.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Deleted User wrote: »

Did anyone else notice some of the strange editing in the first few episodes? They clearly ran out of general shots as it would be in August and roasting and they would cut to a crowd shot with all of the fans wearing hats and gloves. There were plenty of weird shots like that.

With regard to Gibson, I have a little bit of sympathy for him. He was injured at the time of the drink driving incident and was not in the frame. His whole career has been blighted by injuries and never really took off. Having played in two Champions League semi-finals with Utd to wasting away his days on treatment tables and being dismissed as a has been must be hard.

People may dismiss that and point out all the things football has given him in terms of wealth, but being constantly injured can have a hugely damaging effect on sportspeople. Apart from the moronic incident with the fans and the awful drink driving, he actually struck me as a thoughtful enough person in the interviews they did with him.

The taxi driver guy has stated that they were feeding him lines to say in certain scenes. (not all)

Pussyhands

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

General public, both men & women, just don't seem to give a hoot about ladies football.

It's very sad.

Why would they?

Tell me how

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

General public, both men & women, just don't seem to give a hoot about ladies football.

It's very sad.

Interest, participation and attendance is growing. Slowly but it is happening.
It's a worldwide wthing. Female team field sports are growing.

Womens AFL is in its second season in Australia.
Manchester united founded a professional womens team just 8 months ago.
England have awarded their womens team with full professional contracts for the first time just this month.

I think the ladies football has increased from where it was with many teams now having a fulfillment of coaches and support staff akin to the men which was not there in the past.

Pussyhands

Tell me how wrote: »

Interest, participation and attendance is growing. Slowly but it is happening.
It's a worldwide wthing. Female team field sports are growing.

Womens AFL is in its second season in Australia.
Manchester united founded a professional womens team just 8 months ago.
England have awarded their womens team with full professional contracts for the first time just this month.

I think the ladies football has increased from where it was with many teams now having a fulfillment of coaches and support staff akin to the men which was not there in the past.

They send kids in to bump up figures.

The magical thing about football is you see things no one else can do. Canning cutting over a point, a free from 100 yards out.

I don't think anyone finds goalkeeping like womens football enjoyable to watch. They can barely kick the ball over the bar from 30 yards ffs.

Tell me how

Pussyhands wrote: »

They send kids in to bump up figures.

The magical thing about football is you see things no one else can do. Canning cutting over a point, a free from 100 yards out.

I don't think anyone finds goalkeeping like womens football enjoyable to watch. They can barely kick the ball over the bar from 30 yards ffs.

I'll just post this here again as you didn't read it the last time.

Tell me how wrote: »

It's a worldwide thing. Female team field sports are growing.

Womens AFL is in its second season in Australia.
Manchester united founded a professional womens team just 8 months ago.
England have awarded their womens team with full professional contracts for the first time just this month.

It's improving and yet some are still stuck thinking 'yeah, well, they're not as good as the men'.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Tell me how wrote: »

Interest, participation and attendance is growing. Slowly but it is happening.
It's a worldwide wthing. Female team field sports are growing.

Womens AFL is in its second season in Australia.
Manchester united founded a professional womens team just 8 months ago.
England have awarded their womens team with full professional contracts for the first time just this month.

I think the ladies football has increased from where it was with many teams now having a fulfillment of coaches and support staff akin to the men which was not there in the past.

But who pays for all this though? Is any revenue being drawn from the game to justify pro contracts?

This has come to a head in basketball recently with the WNBA.. This organization loses millions of dollars a yr and hasn't made profit in any yr since its formation back in the 90s.


The NBA owners association who fund it are basically saying that they've had enough and want the entire league to be restructured, possibly reverting to semi pro.

Tell me how

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

But who pays for all this though? Is any revenue being drawn from the game to justify pro contracts?

This has come to a head in basketball recently with the WNBA.. This organization loses millions of dollars a yr and hasn't made profit in any yr since its formation back in the 90s.


The NBA owners association who fund it are basically saying that they've had enough and want the entire league to be restructured, possibly reverting to semi pro.

How many decades did it take for mens sport to become popular enough to self-sustain a professional structure? The League of Ireland would indicate it still has not happened for professional soccer in this country.

I'm not suggesting womens sport is on a par (don't think it ever will in some cases), but that various elements around it are improving.

redbuck

Tell me how wrote: »

How many decades did it take for mens sport to become popular enough to self-sustain a professional structure? The League of Ireland would indicate it still has not happened for professional soccer in this country.

I'm not suggesting womens sport is on a par (don't think it ever will in some cases), but that various elements around it are improving.

Just curious but how often do you attend women's sports games yourself?

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redbuck wrote: »

Just curious but how often do you attend women's sports games yourself?

Rarely. Went to women's rugby game and the soccer team against the dutch last year. Rare enough I get to a mens event now either unfortunately.

But the point still stands that participation is improving.

NIMAN

I'm a big soccer fan, or at least used to be before the kids arrived, and I have tried to watch the odd woman's game.

The standard is so poor I found it hard to watch. Some girls are great and stand out, but the goalkeepers keep getting lobbed from 50 yards. Shocking standard.

Jayesdiem

NIMAN wrote: »

I'm a big soccer fan, or at least used to be before the kids arrived, and I have tried to watch the odd woman's game.

The standard is so poor I found it hard to watch. Some girls are great and stand out, but the goalkeepers keep getting lobbed from 50 yards. Shocking standard.

I’m surprised they can kick it 50 yards.

Pussyhands

Womens football is majority just running like headless chickens around the place. There's no tactics or finesse. It's all mad house stuff. Heading the ball is just a case of letting the ball hit their head and hope it goes in the direction they want it to go.

Tell me how

NIMAN wrote: »

I'm a big soccer fan, or at least used to be before the kids arrived, and I have tried to watch the odd woman's game.

The standard is so poor I found it hard to watch. Some girls are great and stand out, but the goalkeepers keep getting lobbed from 50 yards. Shocking standard.

Jayesdiem wrote: »

I’m surprised they can kick it 50 yards.

Pussyhands wrote: »

Womens football is majority just running like headless chickens around the place. There's no tactics or finesse. It's all mad house stuff. Heading the ball is just a case of letting the ball hit their head and hope it goes in the direction they want it to go.

None of this is changing the fact that women's sport is increasing in popularity.

Stephanie Roche might debate the 'no finesse' point.

Pussyhands

Tell me how wrote: »

None of this is changing the fact that women's sport is increasing in popularity.

Stephanie Roche might debate the 'no finesse' point.

As I said earlier, they're sending kids in to fluff the figures to make out like the game is getting more support...probably only doing it for sponsorships.

Tell me how

Pussyhands wrote: »

As I said earlier, they're sending kids in to fluff the figures to make out like the game is getting more support...probably only doing it for sponsorships.

If they are sending kids in thats excellent!. Those kids will be more likely to play and attend and coach when they are older, hence the improvement process.

Also, as I said earlier.

Tell me how wrote: »

Womens AFL is in its second season in Australia.
Manchester united founded a professional womens team just 8 months ago.
England have awarded their womens team with full professional contracts for the first time just this month.

Interest is growing. It is a long way from being on the same level as the mens version in each case but it is moving in the right direction.

Pussyhands

Tell me how wrote: »

If they are sending kids in thats excellent!. Those kids will be more likely to play and attend and coach when they are older, hence the improvement process.

Also, as I said earlier.



Interest is growing. It is a long way from being on the same level as the mens version in each case but it is moving in the right direction.

Those things are done more likely because of feminism rather than increased interest. Womens football does not make money, it needs money made by the men to run it.

Tell me how

Pussyhands wrote: »

Those things are done more likely because of feminism rather than increased interest. Womens football does not make money, it needs money made by the men to run it.

Of course. At this stage. It will change I expect.

As for your first sentence. My niece wants to play football. Is that 7 year old motivated by feminism?

NIMAN

Tell me how wrote: »

None of this is changing the fact that women's sport is increasing in popularity.

Stephanie Roche might debate the 'no finesse' point.

There are of course exceptions to every rule. Some of the girls are very talented footballers, most are not.

And don't want to be negative, but SR is famous cos of one great goal. Even I have scored some crackers in my day but I never played for Derry City or any sort of level cos I ain't good enough.

Didn't SR move abroad and couldn't cut it?

OldMrBrennan83

NIMAN wrote: »

There are of course exceptions to every rule. Some of the girls are very talented footballers, most are not.

And don't want to be negative, but SR is famous cos of one great goal. Even I have scored some crackers in my day but I never played for Derry City or any sort of level cos I ain't good enough.

Didn't SR move abroad and couldn't cut it?

She's in Italy currently but not sure how it's went for her.

jeremyj1968

Pussyhands wrote: »

As I said earlier, they're sending kids in to fluff the figures to make out like the game is getting more support...

Yeah that's always been the case. While there is nothing wrong with bringing all the kids to the matches, it is certainly disingenuous to come out and acclaim what a massive success the matches have been when really you have just used rent-a-crowd. It's disingenuous.

If you ever listen to the matches it sounds like the audience at an S Club 7 concert.

OldMrBrennan83

jeremyj1968 wrote: »

Yeah that's always been the case. While there is nothing wrong with bringing all the kids to the matches, it is certainly disingenuous to come out and acclaim what a massive success the matches have been when really you have just used rent-a-crowd. It's disingenuous.

If you ever listen to the matches it sounds like the audience at an S Club 7 concert.

The womens All-Ireland final is the same. Constant high pitch shriek from all the kids.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Patww79 wrote: »

The womens All-Ireland final is the same. Constant high pitch shriek from all the kids.

A lot of clubs get allocated free tickets for the Camogie and LF All Ireland finals. Which in turn leads to bus loads of kids from the club getting a day out. Which is a good thing.

Hardly anyone pays to attend. I'd imagine it costs the GAA to open the stadium for the day.

Ol' Donie

Every time I switch on Off The Ball, they seem to be talking about rugby.

I mean, I know they're not. They cover loads if stuff.

It just seems like every time I turn it on, they're talking about rugby.