Mourning in Kilkenny

Mouth of the South

Things haven't been going well for Kilkenny this year

- knocked out of minor by Waterford
-beaten in u21 in Leinster by Wexford
- beaten by Cork in senior

To be fair to the Dubs, who were actually playing last Sunday, they took their beating in the hurling very graciously, as the Dubs always do in football too on the odd occasion we get one over them. But the gnashing and wailing from Noreside about a game their county wasn't even playing in has to be unprecedented. Every one of them that I've met is like battery-acid since Sunday. What will they do if we actually win the All Ireland?

Every hurling county, bar just the one, that we play against we can have the crack with the opposing fans. The same with every county, bar none, that we play in football. But with the Kilkenny crowd, there is no mixing and only needless barbs about strikes, Sean Og and Donal Og etc. Now Cork will never be the neutral's favourite given the success over the years and supposed 'cockiness' (which is a bit of a myth, it's having the crack) but I've always failed to understand why they seem to hate us so much . And this was before the strikes too. No other county has the same hatred. The likes of Kerry in football and Tipp in hurling are massive rivals too but there is no hatred and great crack is had with their fans. Why are the Kilkenny crowd so bitter, and do they hate anyone else as much?

Moneymaker

No.

blackbelt

Mouth of the South wrote: »

Things haven't been going well for Kilkenny this year

- knocked out of minor by Waterford
-beaten in u21 in Leinster by Wexford
- beaten by Cork in senior

To be fair to the Dubs, who were actually playing last Sunday, they took their beating in the hurling very graciously, as the Dubs always do in football too on the odd occasion we get one over them. But the gnashing and wailing from Noreside about a game their county wasn't even playing in has to be unprecedented. Every one of them that I've met is like battery-acid since Sunday. What will they do if we actually win the All Ireland?

Every hurling county, bar just the one, that we play against we can have the crack with the opposing fans. The same with every county, bar none, that we play in football. But with the Kilkenny crowd, there is no mixing and only needless barbs about strikes, Sean Og and Donal Og etc. Now Cork will never be the neutral's favourite given the success over the years and supposed 'cockiness' (which is a bit of a myth, it's having the crack) but I've always failed to understand why they seem to hate us so much . And this was before the strikes too. No other county has the same hatred. The likes of Kerry in football and Tipp in hurling are massive rivals too but there is no hatred and great crack is had with their fans. Why are the Kilkenny crowd so bitter, and do they hate anyone else as much?

Perhaps a Kilkenny team that was "unbeatable" due to their unprecedented success will attract fans or have fans that will be bitter when a close rival knocks them off their perch eventually.It is invariable. Even the Kerry have them.

I don't think Kilkenny are gone though they have gone back but I would be quicker to say Tipp have gone back even further.Didn;t have a problem with any KK fans in Portlaoise either.Very gracious in defeat.

Amprodude

Mouth of the South wrote: »

What will they do if we actually win the All Ireland?

It will be a hard pill for them to swallow thats for sure.

mont277

OP has a bit of a chip on his shoulder imo, don't think Kilkenny people would have any qualms with the defeat to cork who were the better team the only thing that may upset Kilkenny fans was the inconsistency of the ref on the day.

Mouth of the South

blackbelt wrote: »

Perhaps a Kilkenny team that was "unbeatable" due to their unprecedented success will attract fans or have fans that will be bitter when a close rival knocks them off their perch eventually.It is invariable. Even the Kerry have them.

You'd think that might be the case with the younger ones who know nothing but success alright. But it's the middle aged and auld fellas from Kilkenny are the worst. And their womenfolk are just as vicious and bitter. I'm convinced there is a personaility-sucking vortex hovering over that place, and they blame a Corkman for putting it there.

Martin567

Hopefully this thread won't last long as it's just an obvious wind-up. But so long as it's here, I'll reply anyway.

You can't tar everyone with the same brush and that goes for both Cork & Kilkenny supporters. Every county's supporters will have some good and some bad and it's not fair to stereotype them as being a particular way. Maybe there is just a mutual misunderstanding between the two counties fans but since you have set out your view of the Kilkenny supporters, I will return the favour.

In my opinion (maybe I've just been unlucky in where I was sitting on several occasions), Cork have a significant number of obnoxious loudmouth supporters. In matches between the two counties and even when Cork supporters were only there as part of a double-header, I have heard sickening filth and bile directed at both the Kilkenny team and supporters from these loudmouths. They keep a running commentary going on the game and are not far from foaming at the mouth. Thurles in 2012 was a good example where a significant number dressed in red near me were far more animated in their support of Limerick against Kilkenny than they were of their own county against Waterford. If you think it is possible to have banter with people like that, then you would need to think again.

I have found a sizeable number of Cork supporters to be very bad losers and absolutely terrible winners. The amount of whingeing we've had to listen to for the past seven years is unbearable. "Kilkenny wouldn't have won anything if the games were refereed properly", "If we had a different manager, it would be a different story". And on, and on and on. Some Cork supporters have refused point blank to acknowledge any aspect of Kilkenny's recent success. The bitterness towards Kilkenny from some Cork supporters at every match over the past few years has been so obvious that talk of banter is just ridiculous. They had no interest in banter when they were losing. Abuse is all they had and everyone was to blame except themselves. I think Meath football supporters of the late 1980s might have a similar view of some Cork followers to me.

I dread to think what the Cork hurling followers would be like if they had won 6 of the last 7 All Irelands. Unbearable is the closest I can get. You've got an absolute gentleman in charge of your hurling team who everyone in Kilkenny has the height of respect for. If only everyone in Cork was more like him.

You asked why some Kilkenny supporters dislike the Cork supporters so much. I hope the above has given you something to chew on. To all of the decent Cork supporters reading this, best of luck in the final and see you again in 2014.

Pretty Polly

Ah I thought some GAA legend was after passing away...thankfully not.

Hitchens

Q. How do you know your plane has landed in Cork Airport?



A. When the pilot switches off the engines the whining doesn't stop!

Mouth of the South

Martin, I was at that double header too and the Kilkenny crowd were more animated in their support of Waterford playing Cork than they were of their own team playing Limerick in their own game. I would hazard a guess that I have encountered far more different opposition supporters (between our hurling and football teams) than you have, and I have never experienced the vitriol rained down on Cork players that I have from the Kilkenny crowd. It reached an absolutely hideous low point in Nowlan Park in 2009 when the abuse at the team in general, O'h Ailpin for his skin colour but in particular towards Cusack regarding his sexuality was the most sickening I have ever heard at any GAA match anywhere. And why was it Kilkenny who got more involved than any outside county in our internal disputes? And why do the Kilkenny crowd keep throwing it as abuse at both the current Cork team and fans, nobody else does?

And I wish I could reciprocate and say that Cody was a gentleman But his antics towards referees ,who he has cowered into becoming his subordinates to control the game the way he wants it controlled, and towards other managers like Liam Sheedy and Anthony Cunningham would prevent me from doing so.

Thinkstoomuch

Im a corkman ,and let me distance myself from this thread.

I have had many a disagreement with them,but its part and parcel,you must have respect though.You loose that,you loose the one thing that makes the gaa stand out from other sports.Respect for your opponents.

I hope this thread doesnt last long,and the icing on the cake would be,if its closed by the cork moderator.

Kilkenny are the greatest team ever,and to laugh or mock them, means your not a geuine hurling fan.

If anything,KK in mourning is a testament to how their board treat their hurling,compared to us,and they know and care too much about the game,not to be a force again.When you mourn something,you understand the true value and meaning of what it stands for and means to the fans.

I wish people would in cork mourn our hurling,as we are even if we win the title ,are in a bad place,and anyone that cant c that,would want to open their eyes.

Theres no hatred in cork,with KK,FFS, didnt the great Tommy walsh in line for hes eleventh all star in a row,come down to glen rovers and do chairty work,and michael fennelly ,do rehab with colm o neill this year.

Kk,will be back stronger than ever,and overall much healthier than cork hurling.

Thats the only post ill give this thread,as in fairness it doesnt deserve any more.

Martin567

Mouth (apt username by the way), you fit right into the type of Cork supporter I referred to in my earlier post. Don't let the bitterness and jealousy eat you up.

Regarding Thurles 2012, it's amusing that you just threw back the same comment at me that I had made earlier. The result of that Cork/Waterford game made no difference whatever to Kilkenny. To say we were more worked up about that game than the second match is laughable and makes no sense at all.

I can't let your comments about 2009 pass without comment. Any Kilkenny supporter who threw out racist or homophobic abuse at Cork players is an absolute disgrace. I didn't hear anything of the sort but I can't dismiss the possibility that somewhere in the ground there may have been idiots guilty of that. But to suggest that this was widespread or representative of any significant number of Kilkenny supporters that day is just vile propoganda and lies which unfortunately some Cork supporters still try to pedal for their own reasons. As for Kilkenny "getting involved in a Cork dispute", when did this happen? The media all reported that the biggest cheer of the day in several grounds around the country was when the score was announced from Nowlan Park. I wonder why that was. There was certainly no reason why Kilkenny should have been that popular so it must have been something to do with Cork.

Brian Cody is a gentleman to his core. I have never heard anything from him other than the highest of respect for every Kilkenny opponent. Your comment about controlling referees is typical of the bitterness and begrudgery I referred to earlier. Looking at the three ridiculous red cards issued over the past month in senior and the two in the minor on Sunday, any comments he has made about poor refereeing and the pressures put on referees have been proven to be spot on.

Royal Legend

Hitchens wrote: »

Q. How do you know your plane has landed in Cork Airport?



A. When the pilot switches off the engines the whining doesn't stop!

Mouth of the South

Well I was there in Thurles last year. And I was there in Nowlan Park in 2009 and witnessed first hand what you dismiss as "propaganda". And it wasn't kids who know no better that were throwing out that racist and homophobic abuse either, it was mainly guffawing middle aged yokels throwing out what passes for 'humour' on Noreside who felt immune from the laws of common decency which normally regulates the behaviour of crowds. If you take the supposed cheers from other grounds as vindication of the behaviour of these vile backward hicks than you are as complicit as them in their depravity .

And why did Kilkenny people like Eddie Keher feel entitled to get involved in internal Cork disputes ( as an aside why did Keher and Ned Quinn feel entitled to come on to the pitch and attack Barry Kelly in Thurles, though attacking refs is the 'Kilkenny way' norm it would seem)?And why, as I have asked you before, do the Kilkenny crowd continue to throw it as abuse at Cork teams and fans.

As for Cody, refs like Michael Wadding who actually do what their supposed to do ( i.e. ref the game) have been despatched from the refs panel, leaving "letting the game flow" ( a euphemism for letting them away with filth) merchants like his lapdogs Kirwan and Brian Gavin in situ, which perfectly suits the Kilkenny style of hurling where the actual rule book is supposed to be ignored. As for Cody's " any comments he has made about poor refereeing and the pressures put on referees have been proven to be spot on.", are you kidding me? Nobody has ever put as much pressure on referees as Cody has - to do it his way and let Kilkenny away with all the sneaky strokes they have practiced and perfected over the years. Remember the way he stormed on to the pitch when KK played Galway in the championship in 2004 to attack Kirwan ? That lapdog never dared to step out of line again. Sure even Gavin lets Kilkenny players bate the head off him with a hurley, he wouldn't dare blow against them for doing it to another player.

Martin567

Keep it up!

You asked why some Kilkenny supporters dislike Cork so much. You're answering your own question so much better than I ever could. You have an All Ireland in less than a month while Kilkenny are finished for the year and yet you're still obsessing about us. Try some deep breathing, it can work wonders!

Clareman

There's a Kilkenny GAA thread and a Championship thread, don't see why we need this thread as well so I'm locking it.