80% of Intercounty fixtures now complete

Darkest Horse

www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=253270

Sorry if this has been brought up in another thread and knowing the volume of talk in relation to championship formats, it probably has. This is absolutely ridiculous. By my reckoning, we are (not including McGrath, O'Byrne Cups etc.) just over two months into the season with around 6 to go, yet just one fifth of games remain to be played. In any man's language in any country of the world, that has to be the most absurd statistic anyone has ever heard and the GAA just leave things continue along as is. Can anyone answer to me if this is being addressed? This isn't a question of Champions League formats, scrap provincial championships etc. I'm simply asking if the GAA has, in any way, acknowledged the ridiculous imbalance of fixtures, regardless of the poor structure of the association's main competitions.

DuffleBag

Still plenty club games to play, and at the price of attending inter county games it's just as well there's not many left.

nice_guy80

Hopefully we can get a few club games.
None so far this year

Darkest Horse

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Hopefully we can get a few club games.
None so far this year

That's not fair on club players either. It seems neither intercounty or club players are served by the current calendar. It would be resisted but for me the only solution is to separate the club game from the intercounty game and they run concurrently and mostly independent of each other. Unused intercounty players can dip in and out of the club game and the GAA can pay clubs a fee for players that are absorbed into the intercounty game considering they are the ones that profit from these players. I'm not suggesting professionalism, just concurrent seasons and monetary compensation for clubs for sharing in the development of intercounty players which they are destined to lose.

PTH2009

Some football counties may only have 2 games left dis season. (Prov game and all Ireland qualifer).

U have to admire guys from weaker county's who train for the year knowing there not going to win anything

The tier 2,3 and 4 hurling comps are finished by the middle of June

Bonniedog

It was never any different. Up to the introduction of the qualifiers, nearly every county was gone by early June.

Only thing that has changed is that club competitions are held up for nonsensical reasons. Championships that start in April finishing in December!

I remember seeing Vinnies with all their Dublin players in ferocious games in SFC and SHC and then turning out for the Dubs a few days later. Now we have junior championships suspended for months because a player from one team is a sub on the fkn under 21 county team!

Flukey

It seems that the only thing that would make some people happy would be if all 32 counties, along with London and New York, would march behind the Artane Band, stand for the national anthem and then all 510 players would take their positions on the field, ready for the ball to be thrown in for the All-Ireland Final. Sorry to disappoint you all, but only 2 counties can play in the final. All others have to be knocked out before that, be it in June, July or August. You can come up with any system you want, and we've had all sorts of ones proposed over the years in this forum. Whatever system you come up with though, only one team will walk up the steps of the Hogan Stand and collect Liam or Sam and that will invariably be the one of the best teams.

No weaker county has or ever will win those trophies. However, counties that have been weaker counties have got their act together and turned themselves into successful counties and then won them. Instead of moaning about structures and saying there is no point in putting effort in because they won't win, the weaker counties of today should focus and they will become stronger, and then they can win.

There are some very young contributors in this forum, but even they have seen counties win provincials and All-Irelands, that at one time have been weaker counties. If some of the older of us had in our younger days suggested that such counties would do so, we wouldn't be able to be here in this forum. We'd be in strait jackets, in a securely locked padded cell deemed a danger to society with no chance of release. Any county, yes, any county, can win provincial and All-Ireland titles, if they put the effort in. The evidence is there, among the rolls of honour. Maybe don't mention some of those county names too loud, as you might end up in one of those cells, but the counties you are thinking of may win in the future. That kind of thing has often happened before and we've all seen it and we will again.

Flukey

As a follow on from my previous post, should any of you ever get into a time machine and find yourself going back 20 or 30 or 40 years ago and find yourself talking to some GAA fans of the time, don't say any of the following, or you might find yourself surrounded by men in white coats, and I don't mean umpires:

"Tyrone will win the All-Ireland Football Championship."

"Offaly will win the Leinster Hurling Championship."

"Westmeath will win the Leinster Football Championship."

"Offaly will win the All-Ireland Hurling Championship."

"Donegal will win the All-Ireland Football Championship."

"Clare will beat Kerry in the Munster Football Final."

OK, I could give you a few more, but maybe I've already said too much. Who knows, if time machines are invented in the future, there may be people who are now in asylums having ignored the advice in this post.

Fr Tod Umptious

Flukey wrote: »

As a follow on from my previous post, should any of you ever get into a time machine and find yourself going back 20 or 30 or 40 years ago and find yourself talking to some GAA fans of the time, don't say any of the following, or you might find yourself surrounded by men in white coats, and I don't mean umpires:

"Tyrone will win the All-Ireland Football Championship."

"Offaly will win the Leinster Hurling Championship."

"Westmeath will win the Leinster Football Championship."

"Offaly will win the All-Ireland Hurling Championship."

"Donegal will win the All-Ireland Football Championship."

"Clare will beat Kerry in the Munster Football Final."

OK, I could give you a few more, but maybe I've already said too much. Who knows, if time machines are invented in the future, there may be people who are now in asylums having ignored the advice in this post.

Fermanagh would get to an All Ireland Semi Final replay !

Only one team would win back to back football titles in 26 years.

Darkest Horse

Flukey wrote: »

It seems that the only thing that would make some people happy would be if all 32 counties, along with London and New York, would march behind the Artane Band, stand for the national anthem and then all 510 players would take their positions on the field, ready for the ball to be thrown in for the All-Ireland Final. Sorry to disappoint you all, but only 2 counties can play in the final. All others have to be knocked out before that, be it in June, July or August. You can come up with any system you want, and we've had all sorts of ones proposed over the years in this forum. Whatever system you come up with though, only one team will walk up the steps of the Hogan Stand and collect Liam or Sam and that will invariably be the one of the best teams.

No weaker county has or ever will win those trophies. However, counties that have been weaker counties have got their act together and turned themselves into successful counties and then won them. Instead of moaning about structures and saying there is no point in putting effort in because they won't win, the weaker counties of today should focus and they will become stronger, and then they can win.

There are some very young contributors in this forum, but even they have seen counties win provincials and All-Irelands, that at one time have been weaker counties. If some of the older of us had in our younger days suggested that such counties would do so, we wouldn't be able to be here in this forum. We'd be in strait jackets, in a securely locked padded cell deemed a danger to society with no chance of release. Any county, yes, any county, can win provincial and All-Ireland titles, if they put the effort in. The evidence is there, among the rolls of honour. Maybe don't mention some of those county names too loud, as you might end up in one of those cells, but the counties you are thinking of may win in the future. That kind of thing has often happened before and we've all seen it and we will again.

You couldn't have missed the original point of this thread any more if you'd tried.