Idiocy in the GAA

Dirty Dingus McGee

I thought I start a general thread highlighted the complete idiocy of certain aspects of the GAA.

I just saw in today's paper that Emo are playing Portlaoise in the Laois senior football final replay on Saturday and the winners are down to play Palatine in the Leinster championship on Sunday.

Who in the name of **** draws up the fixture list.

There is then a 2 week gap to the next round of the championship for whoever wins the game of Sunday so surely a bit of common sense could be used and the match be pushed out to Sunday week.A one week gap between matches would be perfect for most teams.

Gael85

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I thought I start a general thread highlighted the complete idiocy of certain aspects of the GAA.

I just saw in today's paper that Emo are playing Portlaoise in the Laois senior football final replay on Saturday and the winners are down to play Palatine in the Leinster championship on Sunday.

Who in the name of **** draws up the fixture list.

There is then a 2 week gap to the next round of the championship for whoever wins the game of Sunday so surely a bit of common sense could be used and the match be pushed out to Sunday week.A one week gap between matches would be perfect for most teams.

Absolute farce and the gas thing is they probably had 10-12 week gaps between championship games in summer.

Prop Joe

Laois were knocked out of the championship on June 20th..how it takes 4 months to run off the county championship I'll never know

brookville

Kilkenny intermediate final ended in a draw last sunday the replay will take place saturday at 3.30 and the winners play the kildare champions the next day at 1.30

djemba djemba

When we won the intermediate championship a few years back we played 5 matches in 16 days. From county second round to Leinster first round. The first round of the county was played in April.

homerjay2005

in one sense, the provincial councils need to take a stance and the fixtures are set in stone - if they move one, they will end up moving loads and we would have complete farces.


at county level, there is no excuse though and i agree, its a complete farce.

LeinsterDub

homerjay2005 wrote: »

at county level, there is no excuse though and i agree, its a complete farce.

Laois GAA's website is a farce too.

crazyman

Bare with me while I try and rattle off this....

Waterford Senior Football Championship:

2 groups of 6. But one group consisted of De La Salle who gave a walkover in their final group game because the Co. Board would not reschedule for whatever reason. Think the game clashed with a De La Salle hurling match.

Therefore 3 other teams in the group finish level on points but as one team got a walkover, head to head and score difference cannot be taken into account.
So this results in a 3 way play off to determine who finishes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the group, and to determine quarter final pairings with the opposite group.

As you can imagine it becomes a huge fixture pile up.

2 teams play the first game of the playoff - the loser finishes 3rd, and the winner then plays the remaining team for top spot.
The team that won the first game, then gave the remaining team a walkover (were due to play Tuesday night last).
So the team that won the 3 way play off didn't even kick a ball.

So now the quarter finals are to be played this weekend, the semis midweek, with the co. final next Saturday, and the eventual winners competing in the Munster championship on the Sunday.

There is also rumours that there will actually be no team competing in Munster this year.

Anyone more in the know can correct any of the above if I'm wrong.

ArmaniJeanss

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I thought I start a general thread highlighted the complete idiocy of certain aspects of the GAA.

I just saw in today's paper that Emo are playing Portlaoise in the Laois senior football final replay on Saturday and the winners are down to play Palatine in the Leinster championship on Sunday.

Who in the name of **** draws up the fixture list.

There is then a 2 week gap to the next round of the championship for whoever wins the game of Sunday so surely a bit of common sense could be used and the match be pushed out to Sunday week.A one week gap between matches would be perfect for most teams.

I don't think this is the solution at all. The dates of the provincial rounds (and then the semi finals) should be 'concrete' and its up to the individual counties to get their competition done to fit in with this schedule.
Saying that the provincial council should show 'sense' is laying the blame at the wrong door.
Like you wouldn't expect the Champions League to be delayed because the Belgian league hadn't finished, or the rugby Heineken Cup to be put back a few weeks because Italy hadn't yet decided on its entrant.

Dirty Dingus McGee

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I don't think this is the solution at all. The dates of the provincial rounds (and then the semi finals) should be 'concrete' and its up to the individual counties to get their competition done to fit in with this schedule.
Saying that the provincial council should show 'sense' is laying the blame at the wrong door.
Like you wouldn't expect the Champions League to be delayed because the Belgian league hadn't finished, or the rugby Heineken Cup to be put back a few weeks because Italy hadn't yet decided on its entrant.

I 100% agree that Laois should have their house in order but they are not the only county like this and the game did go to a replay a bit of common sense could be used and delay the game for a week with no negative affect on either team.The players are the one's suffering for something that isn't their fault.

The Leinster council being inflexible will not have much affect on the finishing time for county championship it hasn't in the past when instances like this have occured and it won't in the future.

flasher0030

crazyman wrote: »

Bare with me while I try and rattle off this....

Waterford Senior Football Championship:

2 groups of 6. But one group consisted of De La Salle who gave a walkover in their final group game because the Co. Board would not reschedule for whatever reason. Think the game clashed with a De La Salle hurling match.

Therefore 3 other teams in the group finish level on points but as one team got a walkover, head to head and score difference cannot be taken into account.
So this results in a 3 way play off to determine who finishes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the group, and to determine quarter final pairings with the opposite group.

As you can imagine it becomes a huge fixture pile up.

2 teams play the first game of the playoff - the loser finishes 3rd, and the winner then plays the remaining team for top spot.
The team that won the first game, then gave the remaining team a walkover (were due to play Tuesday night last).
So the team that won the 3 way play off didn't even kick a ball.

So now the quarter finals are to be played this weekend, the semis midweek, with the co. final next Saturday, and the eventual winners competing in the Munster championship on the Sunday.

There is also rumours that there will actually be no team competing in Munster this year.

Anyone more in the know can correct any of the above if I'm wrong.

Sorry, you lost me when you wrote "Bare with me".
I ain't no fan of nudist colonies.

Surprise surprise.

They do nothing right organisational wise.

They voted in the hooter then voted it out a year later, so the sports are plagued with timewasting and poor time management.

This evidenced again lately when the ref blew up a Galway hurling 1/4 with the ball sailing over the bar and the teams level.

Poor championship structures, poor championship schedules, poor player retention(you get two odd championship games in Galway Junior and most league games are forfeited), poor disciplinary procedures.

It might be a democratic organisation but the benefit of that leaves a lot to be desired when the same issues arise year on year.

bruschi

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I 100% agree that Laois should have their house in order but they are not the only county like this and the game did go to a replay a bit of common sense could be used and delay the game for a week with no negative affect on either team.The players are the one's suffering for something that isn't their fault.

The Leinster council being inflexible will not have much affect on the finishing time for county championship it hasn't in the past when instances like this have occured and it won't in the future.

but that's not Palatines fault. The Leinster fixtures were announced before the county championships began. So when Palatine won, they knew the date of their Leinster game, and the potential next round game 2 weeks after. Its totally at the door of Laois, and fixtures whouldnt be rearranged even in the event of a replay. Factor this into account when you set your county finals. If the Leinster council start rearranging pre defined fixtures because one county runs late, then they will get it from all 12 counties at all 3 grades.

tonc76

crazyman wrote: »

Bare with me while I try and rattle off this....

Waterford Senior Football Championship:

2 groups of 6. But one group consisted of De La Salle who gave a walkover in their final group game because the Co. Board would not reschedule for whatever reason. Think the game clashed with a De La Salle hurling match.

Therefore 3 other teams in the group finish level on points but as one team got a walkover, head to head and score difference cannot be taken into account.
So this results in a 3 way play off to determine who finishes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the group, and to determine quarter final pairings with the opposite group.

As you can imagine it becomes a huge fixture pile up.

2 teams play the first game of the playoff - the loser finishes 3rd, and the winner then plays the remaining team for top spot.
The team that won the first game, then gave the remaining team a walkover (were due to play Tuesday night last).
So the team that won the 3 way play off didn't even kick a ball.

So now the quarter finals are to be played this weekend, the semis midweek, with the co. final next Saturday, and the eventual winners competing in the Munster championship on the Sunday.

There is also rumours that there will actually be no team competing in Munster this year.

Anyone more in the know can correct any of the above if I'm wrong.

I've heard that the fixtures have changed as the Cork final was a draw last weekend and replay is set for Sunday week. Still Waterford QFs this weekend, semis next weekend and the final the following Friday with Munster club to be played on the Sunday.

In fairness Waterford were involved in the All Ireland Series until mid September this year :rolleyes:

nice_guy80

training for 9 months for 4 or 5 championship games is lunacy

however, if league games are provided and they are meaningful (relegation affects championship) then league games can be just as important

PTH2009

id say some gaa county board members are there for the free meals and are just yes men

castletownman

We have had our full fill of fixture calamity in Wexford over the last couple of years, but thankfully common sense prevailed this year.

Last year, because they fulfilled a request from the Wexford under-21 manager not to play any club games in the period between the AI semi and final, the championships in both codes were delayed. I am pretty sure the group stages weren't concluded until late September. And of course after weeks of lying idle in the long evenings of the summer, clubs were forced to play week on week to get it finished on schedule.

But of course, because a couple of dual clubs were advancing in both senior championships, they risked not having a representative in the Leinster senior hurling championship, so made the decision to postpone the football championship (and thus pull out of the Leinster football competition) so they could run off the hurling championship without a hitch. The football final wasn't played till almost three weeks into November, after commencing in April.

The only hint of controversy this year was when they went back on their original agreement (voted on by the clubs) to play off three rounds before the inter-county season, and only played two because Liam Dunne wanted max preparation for the championship. Again, games then came thick and fast after a summer of inaction

Dirty Dingus McGee

bruschi wrote: »

but that's not Palatines fault. The Leinster fixtures were announced before the county championships began. So when Palatine won, they knew the date of their Leinster game, and the potential next round game 2 weeks after. Its totally at the door of Laois, and fixtures whouldnt be rearranged even in the event of a replay. Factor this into account when you set your county finals. If the Leinster council start rearranging pre defined fixtures because one county runs late, then they will get it from all 12 counties at all 3 grades.

This happens every year in at least one province so clearly the inflexibility from the provincial councils is having no affect of fixture planning within counties.

Palatine are not going to suffer badly by having to wait a week whereas Portlaoise (potential Leinster champions) could suffer extremely badly and potentially lose a game they would win 9 times out of 10 because of their county board.

The players are being punished for something they didn't do.

rpurfield

Fixtures are bonkers at club level, Meath are out of the championship since July, senior final is on Monday, Dublin win the All Ireland, senior final is Sunday week!

bruschi

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

This happens every year in at least one province so clearly the inflexibility from the provincial councils is having no affect of fixture planning within counties.

Palatine are not going to suffer badly by having to wait a week whereas Portlaoise (potential Leinster champions) could suffer extremely badly and potentially lose a game they would win 9 times out of 10 because of their county board.

The players are being punished for something they didn't do.

I understand that, but my point is the fault lies at Laois, not at Leinster council. Leinster issued fixtures long before the county championship, it is up to the counties to get their own houses in order.

Rega

This is just crazy. Shame on the Westmeath county board

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/westmeath-minor-hurling-final-bizarrely-cancelled-after-neither-team-shows-up-701315.html

Westmeath Minor Hurling final bizarrely cancelled after neither team shows up

The Westmeath Minor Hurling final was cancelled today, and with pretty good reason.

As the throw-in time of 1.30pm approached, it became clear that both clubs were holding firm in their threat to not show up in a protest over player welfare.

The hurlers of Clonkill and Raharney were the victims of their own success by qualifying for both Minor and Senior finals, which were scheduled as a double-bill.

But with both teams having an overlap of players the two clubs sought for the game to be postponed through a joint-letter on Thursday.
A statement on the Raharney Facebook page the following day said:

“As a club we are very proud of our minor and senior players having reached their respective finals and our only wish is that every player achieve their maximum potential in both finals.

“In our efforts to promote our game of Hurling to the highest standard, we believe that is totally unfair to ask Minor Hurlers to play 120 minutes, across two matches in succession on the one day.”

The club also shared two posts about player welfare, including one from the GAA’s website.

However the County Board were unmoved, leaving Board officials and the refereeing team standing in an empty Cusack Park this afternoon.

Poor_old_gill

rpurfield wrote: »

Fixtures are bonkers at club level, Meath are out of the championship since July, senior final is on Monday, Dublin win the All Ireland, senior final is Sunday week!

Same in Kerry-all the championships should be wrapped up by Sunday week and supposedly we play a lot more games at club level down here.

Most top level players (and a few crap ones too) will be playing in both the club and county championships- so they essentially have to run accomodate both of these

Padkir

flasher0030 wrote: »

Sorry, you lost me when you wrote "Bare with me".
I ain't no fan of nudist colonies.

Unfortunate username in that case... ;-)

nice_guy80

PTH2009 wrote: »

id say some gaa county board members are there for the free meals and are just yes men

access to All Ireland tickets is the big one, if you ask me

Realt Dearg Sec

nice_guy80 wrote: »

access to All Ireland tickets is the big one, if you ask me

In fairness that's a hell of a lot of work to put in every year for an All Ireland ticket. I've never worked at county board level but even in a role in a very small club I found it very time consuming and thankless. I doubt anybody gets into it for anything other than love of the game to be honest, there's virtually no other motivation.

CrabRevolution

There might be some club delegates out there who do nothing, but I doubt there's many county board members ("the government" of a county so to speak) out there who do nothing just for free meals and tickets. You'd find it difficult for your peers to even renominate you the following year if you just fob your work off onto them.

If there was a term I could ban from GAA circles it would be "common sense"*. Its always effectively used in a "totally ignore the rules in place for a reason" sense. The Leinster fixtures should be set in stone and counties forced to have champions for them. I don't understand how the likes of Laois and Wexford can struggle to get the championships finished, they rarely ever even play into August.

On the point of Meath, while we did get knocked out in July, there were 6 rounds of hurling, plus 6ish rounds of football to play since then, and a weekend free for the AI U21 B hurling final. Add in very few weekends off and you can see how the final is this late. Meath's final was originally set for last sunday (the 18th) but was moved to the bank holiday monday to avoid the Argentina match, plus as the RWC Semi final.

Its probably easier in Kerry since they only have a 6 team province, and 1 in 3 years they'll be straight into the semis.

*actually no, the most detestable phrase is "Grab All Association", made worse by the fact every moron who uses it seems to think they're brilliantly original and cutting straight to the bone.

rpurfield

CrabRevolution wrote: »

There might be some club delegates out there who do nothing, but I doubt there's many county board members ("the government" of a county so to speak) out there who do nothing just for free meals and tickets. You'd find it difficult for your peers to even renominate you the following year if you just fob your work off onto them.

If there was a term I could ban from GAA circles it would be "common sense"*. Its always effectively used in a "totally ignore the rules in place for a reason" sense. The Leinster fixtures should be set in stone and counties forced to have champions for them. I don't understand how the likes of Laois and Wexford can struggle to get the championships finished, they rarely ever even play into August.

On the point of Meath, while we did get knocked out in July, there were 6 rounds of hurling, plus 6ish rounds of football to play since then, and a weekend free for the AI U21 B hurling final. Add in very few weekends off and you can see how the final is this late. Meath's final was originally set for last sunday (the 18th) but was moved to the bank holiday monday to avoid the Argentina match, plus as the RWC Semi final.

Its probably easier in Kerry since they only have a 6 team province, and 1 in 3 years they'll be straight into the semis.

*actually no, the most detestable phrase is "Grab All Association", made worse by the fact every moron who uses it seems to think they're brilliantly original and cutting straight to the bone.

To be fair Crab the hurling championship is also running in Dublin too, it's more down to the long winded nature here in Meath with the group stages, I can be corrected here but it looks like Dublin is straight knockout with early round exits going into a B championship. I suppose at least the A and B leagues are run off in Meath, it used to annoy me that they would start in February and still be running in November, especially when you can play without county players.

bruschi

CrabRevolution wrote: »

There might be some club delegates out there who do nothing, but I doubt there's many county board members ("the government" of a county so to speak) out there who do nothing just for free meals and tickets. You'd find it difficult for your peers to even renominate you the following year if you just fob your work off onto them.

If there was a term I could ban from GAA circles it would be "common sense"*. Its always effectively used in a "totally ignore the rules in place for a reason" sense. The Leinster fixtures should be set in stone and counties forced to have champions for them. I don't understand how the likes of Laois and Wexford can struggle to get the championships finished, they rarely ever even play into August.

On the point of Meath, while we did get knocked out in July, there were 6 rounds of hurling, plus 6ish rounds of football to play since then, and a weekend free for the AI U21 B hurling final. Add in very few weekends off and you can see how the final is this late. Meath's final was originally set for last sunday (the 18th) but was moved to the bank holiday monday to avoid the Argentina match, plus as the RWC Semi final.

Its probably easier in Kerry since they only have a 6 team province, and 1 in 3 years they'll be straight into the semis.

*actually no, the most detestable phrase is "Grab All Association", made worse by the fact every moron who uses it seems to think they're brilliantly original and cutting straight to the bone.

from Wexfords point of view, its because we play hurling and football. if either senior team remains, the championship in both gets delayed. We had U21 AI hurling finals the past couple of years too. Last years football final was played between Shels and St Annes, and they played each other in the senior hurling semi final. This year St Martins got to the premier minor hurling and football finals, and also the senior hurling and football finals. But there was very little delay in any of the championship this year. There was one round of games lost because the county teams wanted them off for practice games, which led to the resignation of the games planner as a result as he was sick of setting out plans and then the fixtures being changed.