Off Topic Thread too point uh

.ak

Yeah let's not forget what the sport is, and who it's likely to attract.

Say what you will about McGregor, I think 80% of it is show and 20% is attitude. I think he's a genius in that respect, but he doesn't even deny it, always saying its part of the job etc. He knows how to create hype and get money.

But the crowd weren't pretending... I thought it was hilarious, but also very sad.

irishbucsfan

Of course it was an embarrassment in terms of amateur nobodies calling Jose Aldo all sorts of things. I would love to see any of these guys saying it to his face...

But as a single part of the whole (the buildup to the July fight) it is just even more excitement. It's got to be the best buildup to a fight any Irish fighter has been a part of.

thomond2006

Some gutter stuff alright. I know little about MMA but I like McGregor and enjoy his confident/cocky persona. We're so used to watching professional athletes/players give out rote comments and rote answers to questions/interviews (not a criticism, it is what it is) and McGregor is refreshing. Some of those neanderthal comments would get you behind Aldo though!

b.gud

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Vince Gilligan makes good TV. Better Call Saul is good.

Ya really enjoying it myself

thought it was very smart to bring tuco into the end of the 1st episode, really made me wanna watch the 2nf one knowing what he is capable of

Teferi

That belt grab from McGregor though That chap will be rolling in PPV money from this fight. He's the best thing to ever happen to Aldo's career win, lose or draw.

awec

It seems strange to me that a sport would organise a press conference where instead of the champion being treated with the deserved respect they are purposefully abused by the crowd.

It seems a bit classless.

.ak

awec wrote: »

It seems strange to me that a sport would organise a press conference where instead of the champion being treated with the deserved respect they are purposefully abused by the crowd.

It seems a bit classless.

It's an American sport body. What do you expect?

Teferi

Ah the Brazillian crowd in Rio done the exact same thing to McGregor except McGregor embraced it and played himself up as the villain. Aldo lacks the English and the charisma to do the same.

But lets be honest here lads, when have crowds at combat sports ever been known for their class?

chupacabra

The fan questions seemed to go on longer in Dublin than in Rio and that one drunk idiot who called Aldo a baboon just made me shudder it was so cringey. I still think this kind of stuff is very one sided when you consider the language barrier. Also the Brazillian>English translator in Rio was hilariously into it and mimmicking the fans perfectly.

Buer

I don't think the Rio event was as bad as this one. It was a far more leery, obnoxious affair yesterday, to my mind. McGregor was booed and jeered in Rio but he was allowed perform as he tends to. Aldo doesn't have the language, obviously, but nobody was interested in hearing his translated answers either and he was just downright abused.

It's all pantomime stuff but it just made me cringe mightily seeing some of the cretins that populate this city get a microphone in their hands. It would make me feel more sympathetic to the Aldo camp. I'm still firmly in the McGregor corner but a section of his support does nothing for him.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

I don't think the Rio event was as bad as this one. It was a far more leery, obnoxious affair yesterday, to my mind. McGregor was booed and jeered in Rio but he was allowed perform as he tends to. Aldo doesn't have the language, obviously, but nobody was interested in hearing his translated answers either and he was just downright abused.

It's all pantomime stuff but it just made me cringe mightily seeing some of the cretins that populate this city get a microphone in their hands. It would make me feel more sympathetic to the Aldo camp. I'm still firmly in the McGregor corner but a section of his support does nothing for him.

I don't think he does anything for him either. But then I don't get the hoopla around the sport. It's basically grown adult men being allowed to behave like 14 years olds again and then giving license to other adults (fans of the game) to behave in the same way. I think it's pathetic tbh. I haven't seen the event in Dublin or the one in Rio and I never will. The whole thing is cringe-worthy, distasteful nonsense if you ask me. The fact that it gets celebrated the way it does is even worse.

Synode

molloyjh wrote: »

I don't think he does anything for him either

All the hype leads to a bigger paycheck for himself. He knows exactly what he's doing

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

I don't think he does anything for him either. But then I don't get the hoopla around the sport. It's basically grown adult men being allowed to behave like 14 years olds again and then giving license to other adults (fans of the game) to behave in the same way. I think it's pathetic tbh. I haven't seen the event in Dublin or the one in Rio and I never will. The whole thing is cringe-worthy, distasteful nonsense if you ask me. The fact that it gets celebrated the way it does is even worse.

I can definitely see the athletic ability and skill in it. It's an extremely intense physical bout with a hell of a lot of subtlety involved rather than just beating the snot out of someone. The ground skills from jiu jitsu and wrestling backgrounds are hugely influential and technical.

The acting up away from the ring is not much different to how boxing is/was. It's all about bravado and confidence. At the end of the day, though, the best competitor will win, though.

Generally, the build ups can be entertaining and heighten the excitement around the fight. Previously, I've enjoyed the McGregor build ups. They've been entertaining and, while brash and obnoxious, have always had an element of cleverness to them. He has an ability to promote himself few have while simultaneously disrupting his opponent's preparation.

But yesterday was just a fiasco. I know 3 people who attended, all of them fairly dedicated MMA followers for a long time and involved in training gyms at a low level. They were disgusted with the entire thing; the cameras and microphones don't pick up half the rubbish that was spouted there, apparently.

One lad near them told a group to show some more respect to Aldo after a torrent of abuse. They told him to shut the f*ck up and threw a drink over him. The other stand out moment for them was when the Brazilian girl stood up to ask Aldo a question. I couldn't hear much of what was said in the crowd as they booed her but the lads told me she was completely abused with every insult you could throw at her.

Overall, I think the sport is an entertaining one with huge amounts of skill and dedication required. Yesterday was a complete embarrassment for it though. Morons and scumbags prevailed.

.ak

.ak

Buer wrote: »

Overall, I think the sport is an entertaining one with huge amounts of skill and dedication required. Yesterday was a complete embarrassment for it though. Morons and scumbags prevailed.

Yeah completely. Although I don't know if it really was an embarrassment to them, like, for example this is their target audience. The guys they target who are watching it at home that didn't make it to the event will be loving this, blood lust is peaking. It's football hooliganism with a microphone. Like I said earlier, it's an American sport, they'll be loving the fact the 'trailer trash' vibe is picking up on it, as quite simply the more working class that subscribe to it the better, their money in terms of PPV is more important than smaller numbers of the middle class who might want to watch it.

Dana seemed to love the brash ugly nature of it. He really is selling a scrap, and you don't do that with nice words and etiquette.

Personally I'd prefer if they didn't give them the mic, but rather screened a few of them and considered their questions. The little kid asking for an advance on his paycheque was gold, that's the sort of thing that'll build up viral steam.

thomond2006

Dear well-travelled boardsies,

Does going through US preclearance in Dublin avoid a lot of hassle when you arrive in the US? I am flying to Miami and my options are a connection in the US or via Heathrow. I believe I can't go through pre-clearance in Ireland if I'm going via Heathrow.

irishbucsfan

Yeah it saves a bit of time in the US. I fly through Dublin despite living 20 minutes from Heathrow.

Except in May, when I'm flying from Heathrow. And where I've also made the stupid mistake of booking my return flight a month too late...

.ak

Well honestly it depends on the time of day. The pre clearance in Dublin sometimes is ridiculous. Spent around an hour and a half queing there once, then sometimes there's nobody there. The guys at the desk are ridiculously anal.

awec

Be aware that if you connect in the US you have to collect your bags, go through customs and then re-check them again - your bags aren't automatically put on your connecting flight like they are everywhere else. You go through customs at the first airport you arrive at, not necessarily your final destination. Which means you'll have to account for that time when booking a connecting flight.

I went through clearance in the US in Newark two weeks ago and it only took about 45 minutes.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

Overall, I think the sport is an entertaining one with huge amounts of skill and dedication required. Yesterday was a complete embarrassment for it though. Morons and scumbags prevailed.

Don't get me wrong I can see the athleticism and skill involved in the sport myself, but it's all the ancillary nonsense that actually goes on a lot longer than the fight itself that turns me off it.

.ak wrote: »

It's football hooliganism with a microphone.

An interesting description and a bloody good reason to avoid it at all possible costs IMO.

.ak wrote: »

Well honestly it depends on the time of day. The pre clearance in Dublin sometimes is ridiculous. Spent around an hour and a half queing there once, then sometimes there's nobody there. The guys at the desk are ridiculously anal.

Really? I always found it the other way around. The guys in the States are total dicks more often than not where-as the ones in Dublin can often be pretty nice. You can get stuck in it for a little while on this end, but equally you can get unlucky in the US. I'd rather do the queueing before the 8 hour flight than after, but that's just personal preference.

.ak

molloyjh wrote: »

Really? I always found it the other way around. The guys in the States are total dicks more often than not where-as the ones in Dublin can often be pretty nice. You can get stuck in it for a little while on this end, but equally you can get unlucky in the US. I'd rather do the queueing before the 8 hour flight than after, but that's just personal preference.

Well I should say I don't think I ever used the clearance inside the states so I can't comment on it, but EVERY time (with one exception) I've used the Dublin one the officers have given me grief, ranging from being too hungover to not looking like my passport photo enough. The time I was hungover they asked for my left hand on the finger print machine, I MOMENTARILY lifted my right and went to correct my mistakes and the office gave me a load of grief, so I said sorry sorry etc. etc. and they pulled me into a private room. :rolleyes:

awec

I actually found US clearance not too bad (in the US). Canada was more difficult. I got a real grilling in Dublin before boarding the plane to Toronto. Guy was asking me all sorts of questions and even pulled me to the side to ask for further forms of ID. When he realised I was travelling with my girlfriend he said "oh you're travelling together? go on ahead".

I was expecting having a good few questions in the US cause my passport expires in June but the guy just took fingerprints, photo and waved me on. The guys in the states were dead on, probably as dead on as you can expect someone to be when they sit there all day looking at passports and taking fingerprints and asking the same questions over and over.

awec

In the states it's weird too. You go through security before you collect your luggage but there can be a queue. So by the time you get to the luggage collection chances are your flight doesn't even have a carousel any more so your luggage could just be left sitting in a corner somewhere. Anyone could lift it.

Even weirder is some airports have the luggage collection outside of the secure zone! People waiting on people arriving can get access to the carousels.

molloyjh

.ak wrote: »

Well I should say I don't think I ever used the clearance inside the states so I can't comment on it, but EVERY time (with one exception) I've used the Dublin one the officers have given me grief, ranging from being too hungover to not looking like my passport photo enough. The time I was hungover they asked for my left hand on the finger print machine, I MOMENTARILY lifted my right and went to correct my mistakes and the office gave me a load of grief, so I said sorry sorry etc. etc. and they pulled me into a private room. :rolleyes:

Really? Most of my experiences in Dublin were positive. I remember one time I ended up holding up the queue a little because the guy at the desk was yapping to me about things to do when I got over there. Most of them in the States have been really bad. That kind of attitude you mentioned from Dublin is exactly the sort of attitude I've gotten in the US. It always struck me that the first impression people would get of the States is one of rude and aggressive security even if they've nothing to be rude or aggressive about.

awec wrote: »

In the states it's weird too. You go through security before you collect your luggage but there can be a queue. So by the time you get to the luggage collection chances are your flight doesn't even have a carousel any more so your luggage could just be left sitting in a corner somewhere. Anyone could lift it.

Even weirder is some airports have the luggage collection outside of the secure zone! People waiting on people arriving can get access to the carousels.

I experienced the whole bags left in the corner thing once in Florida. Found that very weird. And the baggage claim thing is also really odd too. It tends to happen in the smaller airports but it also happens in JFK in the smaller terminals.

Podge_irl

As with most things it's incredibly dependent on the person you're dealing with. I went through immigration in Chicago a few years back and it was an absolute breeze. Guys joking with me and everything.

In general though, I'd prefer to get it out of the way before the flight than after.

Buer

Would agree, Podge. Went into Australia which has a notoriously fussy customs and immigration section and we breezed in. Went to NZ and we were held up for 40 minutes as they went through our bags and gave us a lot of attitude.

awec

Be careful what you pack to cause they do open checked bags and go through them if they are unsure about anything. Think how it will look if seen through a scanner.

.ak

Yep, my guns tend to look odd on the xray screen...



Although we joke now, but I remember when the CIA let us see the boards.ie review from after the last presidential visit... Scary the things they pick up on here!

Synode

.ak wrote: »

Although we joke now, but I remember when the CIA let us see the boards.ie review from after the last presidential visit... Scary the things they pick up on here!

That raises so many questions ak - can you give us more info?

.ak

Synode wrote: »

That raises so many questions ak - can you give us more info?

I think it was made public... Let me check.