came across dis from anothe social medisa site

ultraman1

In last Sunday's Sunday World newspaper Pat Spillane in his sports column had a go at runners, cyclists and tri-athletes. The following is the text of a letter which I have sent to the Irish xxxxxxx and the xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx, unpublished as of yet.

Dear Sir or Madam,
It is with dismay and disappointment that I read today's comments by Pat Spillane in his column in the Sunday World regarding runners, cyclists and tri-athletes.
Firstly, let me say that I have the highest regard for Mr Spillane in his legendary achievements on the football field. In his day he was one of the very best who achieved the highest honours playing for Kerry, the best footballing county in Ireland. However, he is also a journalist and as such he has a responsibility to fairness and balance in his comments. He seems to dismiss out of hand the many thousands who are taking to the roads around Ireland in races or tri-athlons as deluded and empty-headed who were losers in other sports. Unfortunately, I find this to be an attitude maintained by many ex-footballers towards anyone who continues to keep fit after the age of thirty-five. We must be trying to prove something or else we are having a mid-life crisis. As a runner/cyclist/triathlete for over thirty years, now aged sixty-two, I must be having a very long crisis!
Some weeks back I joined fourteen thousand others around the streets of Dublin in one of the best sporting and social occasions of the year, the Dublin City Marathon. Fourteen thousand of all shape, size and ages running 26.2 miles for the sheer love of it. Surely there is nothing wrong with that. We are not sitting in the stands munching crisps, watching while thirty super athletes provide us with entertainment, we are out there doing it for ourselves, lining up alongside the elites, struggling, sweating and dying just like them, all the way. Isn't it ironic that the average age in the marathon is 35-40, the age at which most footballers have bought their last pair of boots and allow their joints to stiffen and their waist line to expand?
This explosion in cycling, running, adventure racing and tri-athlons is taking people all over the roads and up the highest mountains of this beautiful country of ours. Surely this should be applauded, although it has been largely ignored by the sports media.
While I agree Mr Spillane has a point about the standard of athletics at international level, I cannot accept him using this argument to then go on to sneer and ridicule people for wanting to get fit and take part. It is a cheap shot with no basis whatsoever.
Finally, an olive branch. I would like to invite Pat to line up alongside us in a 10k of his choosing. I am sure he would have a very enjoyable experience and may even come away viewing us in a more kindly light.
Yours' sincerely

Timmaay

For once I'll agree with the view of a triathlete :P

sconhome

Timmaay wrote: »

For once I'll agree with the view of a triathlete :P

Embrace your inner-triathlete and join us for a day out!


Ultraman1 - excellent work.

conavitzky

ultraman1 wrote: »

In last Sunday's Sunday World newspaper Pat Spillane in his sports column had a go at runners, cyclists and tri-athletes. The following is the text of a letter which I have sent to the Irish xxxxxxx and the xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx, unpublished as of yet.

Dear Sir or Madam,
It is with dismay and disappointment that I read today's comments by Pat Spillane in his column in the Sunday World regarding runners, cyclists and tri-athletes.
Firstly, let me say that I have the highest regard for Mr Spillane in his legendary achievements on the football field. In his day he was one of the very best who achieved the highest honours playing for Kerry, the best footballing county in Ireland. However, he is also a journalist and as such he has a responsibility to fairness and balance in his comments. He seems to dismiss out of hand the many thousands who are taking to the roads around Ireland in races or tri-athlons as deluded and empty-headed who were losers in other sports. Unfortunately, I find this to be an attitude maintained by many ex-footballers towards anyone who continues to keep fit after the age of thirty-five. We must be trying to prove something or else we are having a mid-life crisis. As a runner/cyclist/triathlete for over thirty years, now aged sixty-two, I must be having a very long crisis!
Some weeks back I joined fourteen thousand others around the streets of Dublin in one of the best sporting and social occasions of the year, the Dublin City Marathon. Fourteen thousand of all shape, size and ages running 26.2 miles for the sheer love of it. Surely there is nothing wrong with that. We are not sitting in the stands munching crisps, watching while thirty super athletes provide us with entertainment, we are out there doing it for ourselves, lining up alongside the elites, struggling, sweating and dying just like them, all the way. Isn't it ironic that the average age in the marathon is 35-40, the age at which most footballers have bought their last pair of boots and allow their joints to stiffen and their waist line to expand?
This explosion in cycling, running, adventure racing and tri-athlons is taking people all over the roads and up the highest mountains of this beautiful country of ours. Surely this should be applauded, although it has been largely ignored by the sports media.
While I agree Mr Spillane has a point about the standard of athletics at international level, I cannot accept him using this argument to then go on to sneer and ridicule people for wanting to get fit and take part. It is a cheap shot with no basis whatsoever.
Finally, an olive branch. I would like to invite Pat to line up alongside us in a 10k of his choosing. I am sure he would have a very enjoyable experience and may even come away viewing us in a more kindly light.
Yours' sincerely

Fair play to ya. Met him once in Roscommon town and found him to be quite a cocky opinionated individual. I wont even get in to his ridiculous style of analysis of GAA matches, always trying to be the smart sh*te. I am moving Pat Spillane to the rant thread.

Chivito550

For anybody who hasn't seen this clown's article here it is:

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/opinion/pat-spillane/states-own-goal-over-future-of-sports

Love the way he ignores the fact that athletics is one of the most global sports on earth. Far harder for Brian Gregan to reach the top of his trade than for some GAA player to do likewise.

He's a poor enough writer also. It's sad to see people like this get journalism gigs simply because of who they are!

Chivito550

My explanation is that very mediocre athletes are picking up as much as e500 per event, which is a handy little cash cow in these tough times. So why make the extra effort and sacrifice to compete at international level, when you are being rewarded for just being half decent.

Anybody else see the irony in a GAA player saying the above?

nerraw1111

And they may face a similar whacking from New Zealand today.

LOL.

The whole article fails on the basis that he compares Irish athletes internationally, while comparing Irish GAA players with Irish GAA players.

You might as well ask why Indian athletes are so bad when India has some of the finest Kabaddi players in the World. Sure didn’t India have the finest season of Kabaddi, with X’s tour de force performance in the final.

RayCun

So the US situation where only elites take part in sport after school is terrible.
But people taking up cycling and triathlon in middle-age is a bad thing?

Chivito550

It's ok for Pat to come out with nonsense about our sport, but when Jerry Kiernan says anything negative about GAA all hell breaks loose!

Sounds fair!!

ThisRegard

But hang on lads, how many of you here are International Superstars!!

Krusty_Clown

ThisRegard wrote: »

But hang on lads, how many of you here are International Superstars!!

I am, but only in the field of Karaoke.

pa4

What an idiot.. giving out about people taking up sports in the mid to late 30's (which isn't old even by profesional standards, just look at Lagat, Gebrselassie etc.) and then goes on to say that were an obese an unhealthy nation. His 'argument' makes no sense. Not only is it insulting to athletics/triathletes but he has to have a dig at both soccer and rugby as well. Funny coming from someone involved in a sport that isn't even heard tell of outside of Ireland.

Would love to hear Jerry Kiernans thoughts on this article.

ecoli

Spillane knows what he is saying. These statements are to be taken with a pinch of salt, the aim is to maximize coverage of the article and guess what? its worked. How many people would have read this if it didn't offend them on some level.

Its ludicrously hypocritical and inflammatory and that is the whole point of the article. A Bit like Roy Keane's style of punditry. The aim is not to give accurate opinions the aim is to be controversial to the point of enhancing publicity

YFlyer

ThisRegard wrote: »

But hang on lads, how many of you here are International Superstars!!

And nearly drowned

Huff n Puff

ecoli wrote: »

Spillane knows what he is saying. These statements are to be taken with a pinch of salt, the aim is to maximize coverage of the article and guess what? its worked. How many people would have read this if it didn't offend them on some level.

Its ludicrously hypocritical and inflammatory and that is the whole point of the article. A Bit like Roy Keane's style of punditry. The aim is not to give accurate opinions the aim is to be controversial to the point of enhancing publicity

Yes he is trying to be controversial and there is no doubt that his opinion is ludicrously hypocritical and inflammatory but that is also letting him off the hook a little. He is not just saying it to get a reaction and to get people reading his article - he means every word of it.

There are a lot of GAA people out there that have the mentality that all other sports stars are just failed GAA players. That we all wanted to be the star of the GAA field but only a few good ones were lucky enough to make it. His GAA-centric viewpoint is very much clouding his judgement in this article.

Every child grows up in a family with different sporting traditions. Many families are steeped in GAA traditions but many families are not. We are not all encouraged by our parents to be the next Pat Spillane. In my local town there are hundreds of young children in the local running and swimming clubs. I am in the process myself of starting a youth cycling club in the town and see huge interest in that sport. I have played hurling 4 or 5 times in my life and never played football. GAA means very little to me. Am I a failed GAA player? of course not.

I don't like beating up on the GAA as it is a great organisation and there are some wonderful athletes in that organisation. I wouldn't have fully agreed with Jerry Kiernan's opinion either as I think the fitness levels of GAA players has increased enormously over the years and they can be justifiably proud of what they do and the effort they put in. That doesn't mean they should get cocky though and start taking pot shots at other sports. Especially sports that have an international dimension to them, which their sport does not.

There seems to be a definite inferiority complex in the GAA, where they need to go around telling everyone that their sport and their sports stars are far better than anything you would see in the pampered premier league / over hyped rugby scene / mediocre running scene etc. Look at any post game analysis and you will hear Pat and the lads at the same nonsense = GAA players good / every other sports star bad.

As a triathlete/runner/cyclist/swimmer that wins a bit of prize money and is strong nationally (in triathlon) but not good enough to make it internationally I would take an article like this very personally. I feel like he is talking to me and his analysis of my sport seems far removed from the reality of what I need to do and the sacrifices I need to make to get to the level I am at. He might regard me as a 'mediocre athlete' and 'half decent' but he probably gets that opinion from a sense that I am just a failed GAA player anyway. The real athletes compete on the GAA pitch.

To Pat Spillane I would simply say - have a bit of cop on. Respect is a two way street.

(I do realise that many deluded triathletes have a tendancy to go around telling everyone how great they are too - like Pat, they also need to cop on!)

pa4

Huff n Puff wrote: »

Yes he is trying to be controversial and there is no doubt that his opinion is ludicrously hypocritical and inflammatory but that is also letting him off the hook a little. He is not just saying it to get a reaction and to get people reading his article - he means every word of it.

There are a lot of GAA people out there that have the mentality that all other sports stars are just failed GAA players. That we all wanted to be the star of the GAA field but only a few good ones were lucky enough to make it. His GAA-centric viewpoint is very much clouding his judgement in this article.

Every child grows up in a family with different sporting traditions. Many families are steeped in GAA traditions but many families are not. We are not all encouraged by our parents to be the next Pat Spillane. In my local town there are hundreds of young children in the local running and swimming clubs. I am in the process myself of starting a youth cycling club in the town and see huge interest in that sport. I have played hurling 4 or 5 times in my life and never played football. GAA means very little to me. Am I a failed GAA player? of course not.

I don't like beating up on the GAA as it is a great organisation and there are some wonderful athletes in that organisation. I wouldn't have fully agreed with Jerry Kiernan's opinion either as I think the fitness levels of GAA players has increased enormously over the years and they can be justifiably proud of what they do and the effort they put in. That doesn't mean they should get cocky though and start taking pot shots at other sports. Especially sports that have an international dimension to them, which their sport does not.

There seems to be a definite inferiority complex in the GAA, where they need to go around telling everyone that their sport and their sports stars are far better than anything you would see in the pampered premier league / over hyped rugby scene / mediocre running scene etc. Look at any post game analysis and you will hear Pat and the lads at the same nonsense = GAA players good / every other sports star bad.

As a triathlete/runner/cyclist/swimmer that wins a bit of prize money and is strong nationally (in triathlon) but not good enough to make it internationally I would take an article like this very personally. I feel like he is talking to me and his analysis of my sport seems far removed from the reality of what I need to do and the sacrifices I need to make to get to the level I am at. He might regard me as a 'mediocre athlete' and 'half decent' but he probably gets that opinion from a sense that I am just a failed GAA player anyway. The real athletes compete on the GAA pitch.

To Pat Spillane I would simply say - have a bit of cop on. Respect is a two way street.

(I do realise that many deluded triathletes have a tendancy to go around telling everyone how great they are too - like Pat, they also need to cop on!)

Really couldn't have said it better myself. Hit the nail on the head.

CrabRevolution

As a person who most people would put in the GAA camp, I wouldnt take Pat Spillane's views as those of the GAA in general. If you've ever watched the sunday game you'll see that his definition of a 'failed GAA player' covers anyone who plays post 2002, and the vast majority of players who didnt play for Kerry.

ultrapercy

A friend of mine once said that sport ananyist is the easiest job in the world because your not held accountable when your wrong. Indeed it can be career enhancing to be wrong on a long term basis, think Giles/Dumphy and Ronaldo. The world is divided into two types of people, those who believe what Pat Spailane and his ilk have to say and those who don't.

Murph_D

ultrapercy wrote: »

A friend of mine once said that sport ananyist is the easiest job in the world because your not held accountable when your wrong.

Sounds like a lot of jobs to me :rolleyes:

ecoli

ecoli wrote: »

Spillane knows what he is saying. These statements are to be taken with a pinch of salt, the aim is to maximize coverage of the article and guess what? its worked. How many people would have read this if it didn't offend them on some level.

Its ludicrously hypocritical and inflammatory and that is the whole point of the article. A Bit like Roy Keane's style of punditry. The aim is not to give accurate opinions the aim is to be controversial to the point of enhancing publicity

Spot on.

Some posts describe him as a journalist, as if he is obliged to give some neutral coverage. He is not. He is more of a pundit. Brought in to a newspaper as a name, to help it sell. And in that guise he will say controversial things every now and again.

Pat himself was an exceptional athlete. When he came back from his snapped cruciate, almost unheard of at the time, he put himself through a torture regime of swimming non stop. He was an outstanding cyclist. And he would have the height of respect for other outstanding athletes. But he may have some suspicion of those who never played a contact sport in their lives, had two left legs when it came to team sports with a ball and suddenly become all clad in the full cycling gear at the age of 40 and took to the road like a demon. Heck I'd be a bit cynical myself. There are other factors, many GAA players possibly envy that too as the abuse their bodies take early on prevents this.

I think he makes some connections too quickly, and the exaggeration and controversy is to sell the paper, so would always take what he says with a pinch of salt.

slingerz

i dont think he's critisicing the ordinary joe who goes running or partaking in triathaltons.

i think the article is more aimed at the grass roots level of improving the structures in place in athletics/soccer/rugby/cycling/tiddlywinks

in my area, the participation rates for underage athletics versus GAA for example is about 1:1000. An improvement in participant numbers, coaching etc will see irish sports people succeed on an international stage

GAA players dont have an international arena to showcase their talents but the structures for it in the country would mean an irish team would be competivie if it were on a world stage

Similarly if Rugby, Soccer, Athletics had the facilities and support structure that the GAA has the participant level especially at underage would increase dramatically in those sports and the level of participant would increase also.

I see the article as a go at those in power for not reviewing these gaps in the battle against childhood/adult obesity rather than a shot at those partaking in events at present

MrCreosote

I'm confused. On one hand I like to run and do tris, but on the other it's Pat himself who is giving out about them.

I'm going to kick an O'Neill's football into the gable end of the house for a few hours while I try to reconcile this.