Ireland's biggest sporting embarrassment?

CrabRevolution

jack presley wrote: »

While not the most embarrassing, making GAA players play in hot pants is pretty bad.

Funny that the shorts used to be even shorter, especially in the 70's and 80's.

I also reckon they made the referees shorts even shorter than the player ones back in the day, some referees looked like they wore little more than extended y fronts. The fact the referees were generally old men made this combination even worse.

Matta Harri

jack presley wrote: »

While not the most embarrassing, making GAA players play in hot pants is pretty bad.

As s female that attends quite a lot of matches, I'm not complaining.

twinytwo

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Can i enquire as to what games you would be watching?

While it happens, 99% of the games (union) i have watched in the last decade ( which is a lot) have never involved anything underhand or cowardly.

You obviously have near heard of

Cricket is a game for gentlemen played by gentlemen,
Football is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans,
Rugby Union is a game for hooligans played by gentlemen,
And Rugby League is a game for hooligans played by hooligans

PS

if its rugby league your talking about thats a whole different kettle of fish

Tugboats

Matta Harri wrote: »

As s female that attends quite a lot of matches, I'm not complaining.

I thought women abandoned the gaa and jumped on the rugby bandwagon?

Matta Harri

Tugboats wrote: »

I thought women abandoned the gaa and jumped on the rugby bandwagon?

Oh God no! I'm far too loyal to the club and county! Even if they're shiite.

Berserker

Macavity. wrote: »

Don't know any Irish Colchester or Reading fans myself.

I have seen Irish Reading fans travelling to games.

Halloween Jack

the bandwagon jumping event junky whoppers who latch on to any success.... People selling kidneys for euro 2012 tickets and miserable gates at landsowne shortly after, andy lee's recent title, conor mcgregor, munster's declining attendances of recent times, lather rinse repeat.......

Obviously success brings the crowds in, but people are all too quick to act like die-hards. Not into LOI but respect those fans, and what they do.

washman3

Era I Wilshere wrote: »

Then u should meet our Gaelic football trainer whose on 80 euro a session. He made over 5000 euro of us last year

But do you consider that an embarrassment.?
As another poster said, have you raised your concerns at your club's AGM.?
Is he an 'outside trainer' ie from another club?
How far does he travel to your training ground.?
Who decided that this guy should train your team, the players,the supporters or the committee.?
Were other guys within the club overlooked in favour of this guy.?
If he's an 'outsider' then you can hardly expect him to train your team for free.
My club also pays an outsider, approx. the same amount. It was demanded by the players, paid for by the weekly club lotto.
The players felt that an outsider would command more respect. We have never paid a trainer from within the club. The players just felt that a new voice/ideas were needed. Its no big deal really.
I know of another club where the players decided to pay €3 each per week into a pool and this is given to the 'outside' trainer (which they picked) at the end of the season.
I also know of a club who are fortunate to have a bar at their clubhouse.
This takes care of most of their financial needs for the season.

The Bould Rabbit

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

Horse racing is not a sport, it's purely a means to facilitate gambling.

Any links or sources to back this up?

Last time I checked, it was covered in the sports sections of all the newspapers, book shops and TV & radio coverage.

A race to a finish line to determine a winner is one of the oldest forms of any known sport whether it involves horses, camels, dogs or even people.
Its what makes it a sport.

Its even known as The Sport of Kings FFS.


As for facilitating gambling. Rubbish. you don't have to have a bet to enjoy racing. Ask any of the tens of thousands who go racing here every year.

Don't knock it simply because you don't like it. Its the sport we are best at on a consistent level and it employs thousands here.

A sport we can be proud of.

Tarzana2

AboutaWeekAgo wrote: »

Euro 2012 is the most recent one that comes to mind.

My fella and I were surprised to recall a few months back that the Netherlands also left Euro 2012 with 0 points! Though the beatings weren't as mortifying.

Richard Hillman

I always cringe when I see irish fighters in MMA or boxing enter the ring to some sort of stereotypically Irish begorrah music. Bernard Dunne used to be a walking cliche.

Tarzana2

murpho999 wrote: »

That mad priest Neil Horan who ran on to the Marathon course in Athens 2004 and cost the leader a gold medal.

Well, the guy was flagging and probably wouldn't have medalled, but that's beside the point, of course. Mortifying in the extreme.

Breffnigolfer

The Bould Rabbit wrote: »

Any links or sources to back this up?

Last time I checked, it was covered in the sports sections of all the newspapers, book shops and TV & radio coverage.

A race to a finish line to determine a winner is one of the oldest forms of any known sport whether it involves horses, camels, dogs or even people.
Its what makes it a sport.

Its even known as The Sport of Kings FFS.


As for facilitating gambling. Rubbish. you don't have to have a bet to enjoy racing. Ask any of the tens of thousands who go racing here every year.

Don't knock it simply because you don't like it. Its the sport we are best at on a consistent level and it employs thousands here.

A sport we can be proud of.

What would it be without gambling? Nothing. Gambling is the sole reason the "sport" exists. Without gambling what would you have? A horse beating other horses. The so-called punters who enjoy the "sport" without betting? Are you joking?

jack presley

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

What would it be without gambling? Nothing. Gambling is the sole reason the "sport" exists. Without gambling what would you have? A horse beating other horses. The so-called punters who enjoy the "sport" without betting? Are you joking?

It would be funny hearing the racing results without the odds after each horse though

jack presley

The Bould Rabbit wrote: »

Its even known as The Sport of Kings FFS.

That probably comes from a time when the only other options were cock fighting and archery

S. Goodspeed

Breffnigolfer wrote: »

What would it be without gambling? Nothing. Gambling is the sole reason the "sport" exists. Without gambling what would you have? A horse beating other horses. The so-called punters who enjoy the "sport" without betting? Are you joking?

It would probably be a lot less popular but would still exist as a sport similar to show jumping or even car racing. Personally I don't have much of an interest in gambling or horse racing but I always try to catch the grand national, derby etc whether I have a bet on or not.

bobbysands81

murpho999 wrote: »

That mad priest Neil Horan who ran on to the Marathon course in Athens 2004 and cost the leader a gold medal.

I was embarrassed that he was Irish.

I'm sure someone else has already pointed this out but no way was the leader going to win Gold when the clown jumped on him. In fact the runner admitted it himself after everything died down.

S. Goodspeed

tayto lover wrote: »

And nothing has been done against poor refereeing since or for that matter about the cheating of the Meath player. All the focus was on the thuggery of some of the Louth supporters.
Gaa head in the sand stuff.

Personally I think fans invading a pitch to attack the referee, throwing objects onto to pitch at the same referee and umpires and general acts of intimidation and violence towards opposition fans to be a far bigger story than a player breaking a rule. In the history of the GAA or any field sport I don't think there has ever been a game where nobody "cheated" and unfortunately I don't think there is any player who would have come clean about that goal. If anything I think the fans antics that day got way too little attention.

Berserker

bobbysands81 wrote: »

I'm sure someone else has already pointed this out but no way was the leader going to win Gold when the clown jumped on him. In fact the runner admitted it himself after everything died down.

Well, it sure as hell didn't help the athletes. It was embarrassing but I certainly wouldn't put it on the same level as most of the other moments mentioned in this thread.

threeball

The Bould Rabbit wrote: »

Any links or sources to back this up?

Last time I checked, it was covered in the sports sections of all the newspapers, book shops and TV & radio coverage.

A race to a finish line to determine a winner is one of the oldest forms of any known sport whether it involves horses, camels, dogs or even people.
Its what makes it a sport.

Its even known as The Sport of Kings FFS.


As for facilitating gambling. Rubbish. you don't have to have a bet to enjoy racing. Ask any of the tens of thousands who go racing here every year.

Don't knock it simply because you don't like it. Its the sport we are best at on a consistent level and it employs thousands here.

A sport we can be proud of.

I'd have to agree with Breffnigolfer here. Its a bit of a con job as far as sports go. Can you imagine Usain bolt arriving at the starting blocks with a couple of weights in a rucksack just because he pished on the opposition the last few races.

I wouldnt rely on the sport of kings thing either, its just a nod to its eliteism. Theres not too many that own or train horses that aren't minted.

Tin Foil Hat

Rule 42. Rule 42 is the answer to the OP's question.

There's really no reason to be embarrassed about one of our teams or one of our athletes performing poorly on any particular day.
There's no particular reason for national embarrassment when one of our sportspeople act like cnuts (Roy Keane - 2002) or takes drugs (Michelle Smith- 1996). These things happen everywhere.
However, the deliberate, high profile bigotry of the GAA, up until less than a decade ago, is rather unusual - and made me absolutely cringe. I stopped supporting the GAA in my early teens because of it.

Berserker

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

Rule 42. Rule 42 is the answer to the OP's question.

However, the deliberate, high profile bigotry of the GAA, up until less than a decade ago, is rather unusual - and made me absolutely cringe. I stopped supporting the GAA in my early teens because of it.

It has been mentioned before and it is a candidate but I have to say that I look on that fiasco as shameful as opposed to embarrassing.

WesternZulu

Tin Foil Hat wrote:

There's really no reason to be embarrassed about one of our teams or one of our athletes performing poorly on any particular day. There's no particular reason for national embarrassment when one of our sportspeople act like cnuts (Roy Keane - 2002) or takes drugs (Michelle Smith- 1996). These things happen everywhere. However, the deliberate, high profile bigotry of the GAA, up until less than a decade ago, is rather unusual - and made me absolutely cringe. I stopped supporting the GAA in my early teens because of it.

Name me a sporting organisation who has acted in a completely dignified manner throughout their existence?

threeball

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

Rule 42. Rule 42 is the answer to the OP's question.

There's really no reason to be embarrassed about one of our teams or one of our athletes performing poorly on any particular day.
There's no particular reason for national embarrassment when one of our sportspeople act like cnuts (Roy Keane - 2002) or takes drugs (Michelle Smith- 1996). These things happen everywhere.
However, the deliberate, high profile bigotry of the GAA, up until less than a decade ago, is rather unusual - and made me absolutely cringe. I stopped supporting the GAA in my early teens because of it.

Rubbish, a legacy issue from a different era and when it was required it was removed.
Pales into insignificance next to stuff the FAI does on a weekly basis never mind their biggest stuff ups. The FAI are Irelands biggest sporting embarrassments by a long shot and every time one of the money hungry scuts that run it open their mouths they get more embarassing.
The list associated with them is exhaustive

BuilderPlumber

Surely, Ruby Walsh being thrown from a horse??

Bridge93

The funding the GAA receive from the government is fairly embarrassing. They are the biggest association on the island with by far the largest revenue yet they recieve a huge cut of the funding compared to those who need it more.
They got 600,000 to help build a HQ in London for feck sake. Ridiculous. If the want to waste money like that it should be out of their own large earnings rather than public funds. There are associations like Basketball, Athletics and Hockey struggling to survive due to a lack of funding and they can't raise it themselves as they don't have the structure, opportunities or facilities the GAA have.
Yet the GAA continue to take a considerable chunk of the money. For a sport not competing on an international stage it's all the more needless.

What's even more embarrassing and surely near the top is the Government funding itself. €25 million was the total sum out government put up for sport this year. A pathetic sum of money to spread across everything.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Bridge93 wrote: »

The funding the GAA receive from the government is fairly embarrassing. They are the biggest association on the island with by far the largest revenue yet they recieve a huge cut of the funding compared to those who need it more.
They got 600,000 to help build a HQ in London for feck sake. Ridiculous. If the want to waste money like that it should be out of their own large earnings rather than public funds. There are associations like Basketball, Athletics and Hockey struggling to survive due to a lack of funding and they can't raise it themselves as they don't have the structure, opportunities or facilities the GAA have.
Yet the GAA continue to take a considerable chunk of the money. For a sport not competing on an international stage it's all the more needless.

What's even more embarrassing and surely near the top is the Government funding itself. €25 million was the total sum out government put up for sport this year. A pathetic sum of money to spread across everything.

The GAA generates millions for the economy on an annual basis and so pays back any of the funding money it gets from the government in the additional tax revenue GAA matches generate.Think of the amount of money that is spent in Dublin, Thurles, Killarney,Cork etc and time there is a big match that would otherwise not be spent.

pmasterson95

Joe Lapira

DEFTLEFTHAND

pmasterson95 wrote: »

Joe Lapira

Poor old Stan could nothing right could he?

Bridge93

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

The GAA generates millions for the economy on an annual basis and so pays back any of the funding money it gets from the government in the additional tax revenue GAA matches generate.Think of the amount of money that is spent in Dublin, Thurles, Killarney,Cork etc and time there is a big match that would otherwise not be spent.

That's a good point but in the short term anyway, seen as they are the most profitable sports organisation here you could say they don't need the funding while others do. Smaller bodies will continue to struggle and some make a loss as they don't have adequate investment to allow them to develop sustainable models long term. All this while the GAA has a brilliant model that makes them millions.
The GAA can as you say effectively pay back their funding through schemes, and both quantifiable and unquantifiable benefits to the economy. But I was talking in a strictly sporting sense it's quite unfair they're allowed to flourish spectacularly with largely unneeded support while other flounder badly.
GAA also gets massive income from non sporting events like concerts that others don't.

Not embarrassing from the GAAs point of view but from a government viewpoint it should be. Those who earn a better wage pay more taxes and those really struggling get more benefits. It's kind of like what I'm saying the division of funding should be.

The total funding of 25m should really be an embarrassment.