Off The Ball Official Thread <Mod Note - Post #1, #533, #6651>

elefant · 19-01-2018 07:33AM

Fall_Guy wrote: »

I'm not on social media of any kind (unless this qualifies as social media, in the loosest sense if the phrase) but I find this thread really interesting...I'm a semi-casual listener to the show and I find most of the people on the show who are bashed here to be fairly likeable (though I have to say I find Gilroy labours the point to an extent that it does turn me off somewhat).

I wonder do I represent a larger silent minority, as reading this thread (and apparently social media on a wider scale too) the show would have next to no listeners left, but the listenership figures seem to be up year on year.

Or is it a case that more listeners naturally leads to more people to complain / disagree with the views of the shows presenters....I guess I fall into the 'snowflake' category to some extent, because I find myself agreeing with much of the presenters stance on things (not all!). Could it be that there are just a lot more snowflakes out there happily listening to it than people realise or is it a case that most people are listening in spite of the shows direction rather than because of it?? Do you reckon the shows ratings would increase if there was a less PC stance taken or less PC people were in the hotseat, or would it isolate the large majority of listeners and lead to worse ratings? I suppose we won't know until they see a dip, as its probably a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' as far as the station are concerned so long as the ratings keep going up!

I guess I'm part of the silent majority too. This thread is always incredibly negative.

The rugby/doping story, for example: look at the thread on the rugby forum about the situation. It's clearly not a non-story in rugby circles. Irish rugby's position of 'zero tolerance' is clearly not 'zero tolerance'. It's an interesting discussion for a lot of people.

There will always be stories people feel deserve more/less time; most people are more interested in certain sports more than others. I was sick of hearing about Martin O' Neill, don't give a fiddlers about golf etc., but I'm sure there are plenty of listeners who love hearing about it. You can't please everyone all the time.

elefant · 19-01-2018 07:37AM

Icemancometh wrote: »

I'd be like yourself in that I agree with most of their political positions. But it's a sports show. I want to listen to people taking about football, rugby or whatever, not going on about racism or sexism. They never even have people on who disagree with them, so it's just a bunch of people agreeing with each other.

Don't listen as often as I used to, mainly just at the weekends. Even then, Kimmage on a Sunday can be a bit unbearable.

Now this does frustrate me about OTB!

anthonyjmaher · 19-01-2018 08:33AM

Five steps to an Off The Ball interview.

1. No matter the guest, direct the conversation to some sort of rights issue. For example if the guest is black, direct it towards racism. If the guest is a woman, direct the conversation towards lack of funding or some such.
2. Keep probing the topic, like a liberal dog with a bone, with an overly empathetic tone. Make is sound like the issue actually pains you. This takes practice, but if you listen back to any of Ger Gilroy's interviews you will learn the skill.
3. Conclude the interview by stating how awful it is, and that something 'has to' change and remark about how completely unfair' the current situation is. Usually a statement like "it wouldn't happen in the men's game" will work for any women's sport you are discussing.
4. Wait for retweets of your interview by Sinead O'Carroll, Cliodhna Foley, etc etc who will exclaim what "an important interview" it was, which will then be followed by other tweets of "well done" from randomers.
5. Sit back in your chair with that contented feeling that you have been seen to be offended by something and are now a hero to the masses. This means that you are are a truly great person, and a truly great contemporary journalist.

Jayesdiem · 19-01-2018 08:53AM

Fall_Guy wrote: »

dominatinMC wrote: »

OTB has "jumped the shark" in TV parlance. What was once a great show (under the tutelage of Eoin, Ken, Murph, etc.), became a decent show (early days of Joe/Ger/Nathan), but has now descended in a downright poor "sports show". And I use that term lightly because whenever I tune in (which tbf is very rare these days), they are talking some ****e about the politics of sport, the circumstances surrounding a particular sport, the social injustices of certain minorities in sport, but not actually discussing sport! Maybe this decline into current affairs type segments was inevitable, given that they occupy the same building as Pat Kenny, Hook, and all these guys, but I'd love to know who is guiding the ship and setting the direction and tone of the show. All my friends, who were avid listeners up to recently, agree that it's a pale imitation of what it used to be. Seems to be a lot of backlash on social media too (that's even excluding Boards!), surely the lads are aware of this??

The only redeeming features of the show for me are the weekend shows, where they have live commentary of some games, or else shows where Nathan and/or Dave are presenting. I've long since replaced OTB with Second Captains podcasts and, if in the car in the evening, I'll listen to Game On (there's something I never thought I'd be saying ).

I'm not on social media of any kind (unless this qualifies as social media, in the loosest sense if the phrase) but I find this thread really interesting...I'm a semi-casual listener to the show and I find most of the people on the show who are bashed here to be fairly likeable (though I have to say I find Gilroy labours the point to an extent that it does turn me off somewhat).

I wonder do I represent a larger silent minority, as reading this thread (and apparently social media on a wider scale too) the show would have next to no listeners left, but the listenership figures seem to be up year on year.

Or is it a case that more listeners naturally leads to more people to complain / disagree with the views of the shows presenters....I guess I fall into the 'snowflake' category to some extent, because I find myself agreeing with much of the presenters stance on things (not all!). Could it be that there are just a lot more snowflakes out there happily listening to it than people realise or is it a case that most people are listening in spite of the shows direction rather than because of it?? Do you reckon the shows ratings would increase if there was a less PC stance taken or less PC people were in the hotseat, or would it isolate the large majority of listeners and lead to worse ratings? I suppose we won't know until they see a dip, as its probably a case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' as far as the station are concerned so long as the ratings keep going up!

Yes to everything you said. An advantage the show has is that people are just in the habit of having it on in the car etc so it doesn't dramatically lose listeners. Old habits die hard. In a hypothetical scenario, I f'ing dare them to go podcast only and see what happens. It reminds me of a very cruel comment I heard in my school days from one person to another that went along the lines of "take out the free drink from your birthday party and see how many of our year turn up". Horrible but demonstrative.

Jayesdiem · 19-01-2018 08:58AM

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Five steps to an Off The Ball interview.

1. No matter the guest, direct the conversation to some sort of rights issue. For example if the guest is black, direct it towards racism. If the guest is a woman, direct the conversation towards lack of funding or some such.
2. Keep probing the topic, like a liberal dog with a bone, with an overly empathetic tone. Make is sound like the issue actually pains you. This takes practice, but if you listen back to any of Ger Gilroy's interviews you will learn the skill.
3. Conclude the interview by stating how awful it is, and that something 'has to' change and remark about how completely unfair' the current situation is. Usually a statement like "it wouldn't happen in the men's game" will work for any women's sport you are discussing.
4. Wait for retweets of your interview by Sinead O'Carroll, Cliodhna Foley, etc etc who will exclaim what "an important interview" it was, which will then be followed by other tweets of "well done" from randomers.
5. Sit back in your chair with that contented feeling that you have been seen to be offended by something and are now a hero to the masses. This means that you are are a truly great person, and a truly great contemporary journalist.

Carlsberg don't do posts on boards, but if they did........

srfc d16 · 19-01-2018 01:05PM

DeanAustin wrote: »

That’s a case of mistaken identity I believe (the Waterford FC one).

It definitely isn't.

Utopia Parkway · 19-01-2018 01:43PM

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Five steps to an Off The Ball interview.

1. No matter the guest, direct the conversation to some sort of rights issue. For example if the guest is black, direct it towards racism. If the guest is a woman, direct the conversation towards lack of funding or some such.
2. Keep probing the topic, like a liberal dog with a bone, with an overly empathetic tone. Make is sound like the issue actually pains you. This takes practice, but if you listen back to any of Ger Gilroy's interviews you will learn the skill.
3. Conclude the interview by stating how awful it is, and that something 'has to' change and remark about how completely unfair' the current situation is. Usually a statement like "it wouldn't happen in the men's game" will work for any women's sport you are discussing.
4. Wait for retweets of your interview by Sinead O'Carroll, Cliodhna Foley, etc etc who will exclaim what "an important interview" it was, which will then be followed by other tweets of "well done" from randomers.
5. Sit back in your chair with that contented feeling that you have been seen to be offended by something and are now a hero to the masses. This means that you are are a truly great person, and a truly great contemporary journalist.

Disturbingly accurate.:D

pc7 · 19-01-2018 02:03PM

Just listening back to the Podcast now, I'm usually one of the more positive posters here, I like kimmage, I tend to like the drugs talk as I hate what its doing to sport, love when Dr Ross Tucker is on. But sweet suffering baby jebus they are flogging a dead horse with this munster story. All repeating exactly the same thing, he was young, did his time, shouldn't have been hired, - in come Joe/Ger but but but but but. I was cringing listening to Ger, Joe wasn't much better with his '80-90% telling us to shut up' well then listen joe, listen!

bloodless_coup · 19-01-2018 02:12PM

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Five steps to an Off The Ball interview.

1. No matter the guest, direct the conversation to some sort of rights issue. For example if the guest is black, direct it towards racism. If the guest is a woman, direct the conversation towards lack of funding or some such.
2. Keep probing the topic, like a liberal dog with a bone, with an overly empathetic tone. Make is sound like the issue actually pains you. This takes practice, but if you listen back to any of Ger Gilroy's interviews you will learn the skill.
3. Conclude the interview by stating how awful it is, and that something 'has to' change and remark about how completely unfair' the current situation is. Usually a statement like "it wouldn't happen in the men's game" will work for any women's sport you are discussing.
4. Wait for retweets of your interview by Sinead O'Carroll, Cliodhna Foley, etc etc who will exclaim what "an important interview" it was, which will then be followed by other tweets of "well done" from randomers.
5. Sit back in your chair with that contented feeling that you have been seen to be offended by something and are now a hero to the masses. This means that you are are a truly great person, and a truly great contemporary journalist.

You should send to offtheballbag@newstalk.com. They might read it out this evening.

Infact most of the last 10 pages of this thread could be sent in, flood the ballbag.

Ol' Donie · 19-01-2018 02:29PM

doylefe wrote: »

You should send to offtheballbag@newstalk.com. They might read it out this evening.

Infact most of the last 10 pages of this thread could be sent in, flood the ballbag.

Oddly, the ballbag is one of the best segments, I think.

DeanAustin · 19-01-2018 05:48PM

srfc d16 wrote: »

It definitely isn't.

There was a massive big deal about it in Waterford when he was signed but from what I understand, it was reported by one national newspaper but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

I’m not massively familiar with the ins and outs of it but I know of a lot of people who were vehemently threatening to never go to another game were satisfied that it was a case of mistaken identity.

anthonyjmaher · 19-01-2018 07:29PM

My God, they just wont let it go will they. They even that gobsh1te intern Eoin Sheehan on board now as well. Didn't take him long to become part of the collective.

Jayesdiem · 19-01-2018 07:39PM

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

My God, they just wont let it go will they. They even that gobsh1te intern Eoin Sheehan on board now as well. Didn't take him long to become part of the collective.

He'll do whatever he's told. Indoctrinated from an early stage.

Jayesdiem · 21-01-2018 12:44AM

I didn't listen to a single doping-related OTB show during the week but decided to tune in today to the panel to see what was said. More pontificating of course with three willing accomplices including the journalist who broke the story 6 months AFTER Grobler joined Munster. Why was there no representation from anyone who just wants these broken records to shut up? It was convenient then that they could then go on to criticise, unopposed, the entire crowd of Munster fans who clapped Grobler off the field, questioning all of these people's integrity en masse. They also speculated that the Munster squad, though remaining stoic in the face of non-existent public outrage, must be secretly devastated by all of this and they prefaced the whole show with handpicked sound bites from similarly outraged individuals. No comments from anyone who just want to get on with the rugby. Great stitch up job lads but too transparent to be convincing. Try again next week.

Utopia Parkway · 21-01-2018 04:08PM

Jayesdiem wrote: »

I didn't listen to a single doping-related OTB show during the week but decided to tune in today to the panel to see what was said. More pontificating of course with three willing accomplices including the journalist who broke the story 6 months AFTER Grobler joined Munster. Why was there no representation from anyone who just wants these broken records to shut up? It was convenient then that they could then go on to criticise, unopposed, the entire crowd of Munster fans who clapped Grobler off the field, questioning all of these people's integrity en masse. They also speculated that the Munster squad, though remaining stoic in the face of non-existent public outrage, must be secretly devastated by all of this and they prefaced the whole show with handpicked sound bites from similarly outraged individuals. No comments from anyone who just want to get on with the rugby. Great stitch up job lads but too transparent to be convincing. Try again next week.

OTB is an echo chamber where they all sit around agreeing with each other. There are no dissenting voices. The only person who used to pull them up on air for some of their BS was Parkinson when he worked there.

Howitzer the 5th · 21-01-2018 04:55PM

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

OTB is an echo chamber where they all sit around agreeing with each other. There are no dissenting voices. The only person who used to pull them up on air for some of their BS was Parkinson when he worked there.

Word is woolberto Parkinson was shoved owing to his general belligerence and not towing the party line. Mind you his fondness for sticking his neck out and offering his admittadly strong opinions was met often with laughter and sneering. An acquired taste was wooly but in his absence it's generally a bland beige non descript effort. Richie though is a fine broadcaster and actually knowledgeable and interested in sport unlike Joe and Adrian who know sweet f*ck all about sport as evidenced far too frequently.

Jayesdiem · 21-01-2018 05:49PM

The bullying of Grobler continued today. How many more days can they talk about this? Lads if you bother reading any of what gets written on here can you please, please just move on? Can you?

sightband · 21-01-2018 06:21PM

Jayesdiem wrote: »

The bullying of Grobler continued today. How many more days can they talk about this? Lads if you bother reading any of what gets written on here can you please, please just move on? Can you?

is this particular grobler any relation to aul brucie. dodgy c*nts them groblers by the looks of it.

anthonyjmaher · 21-01-2018 09:28PM

Howitzer the 5th wrote: »

Word is woolberto Parkinson was shoved owing to his general belligerence and not towing the party line.

Woolly brought a bit of edge to the show, a bit of colour, a bit of unpredictability. When he left they brought in that square Eoin Sheehan, who used to work as a talking clock beforehand I think. And he's seem to be turning in to Ger Gilroy Junior. Another "moral", self righteous, white knight type, with the same ability to find the social justice angle to even the most seemingly innocuous sports story.

They have enough Lisa Simpsons working on Off The Ball already, they need a few more Bart Simpsons.

siblers · 22-01-2018 11:04AM

Howitzer the 5th wrote: »

Word is woolberto Parkinson was shoved owing to his general belligerence and not towing the party line. Mind you his fondness for sticking his neck out and offering his admittadly strong opinions was met often with laughter and sneering. An acquired taste was wooly but in his absence it's generally a bland beige non descript effort. Richie though is a fine broadcaster and actually knowledgeable and interested in sport unlike Joe and Adrian who know sweet f*ck all about sport as evidenced far too frequently.

I used to like Richie but he is another who gets offended over anything and everything. He got incredibly offended on behalf of those Danish women outside Victoria's Secret.

I've no idea why Adrian is on the show, his sporting knowledge is pitiful

cullenswood · 22-01-2018 11:16AM

Richie used to be on Phantom in the mornings. It really annoyed me that he never pronounced his T's (when in the middle of a word), in a apparently "cool" way of talking. What bugged me most was that when he used to read the news he always pronounced them, and continues to do so on Newstalk. So it was a conscious effort not to pronounce them.

I need to find better things to get annoyed about!

Howitzer the 5th · 22-01-2018 12:00PM

siblers wrote: »

I've no idea why Adrian is on the show, his sporting knowledge is pitiful

Never read a truer sentence. Contrast 2fm and game on. Yes it's very wild and shouty but both Hugh Cahill and Damien O'Meara are positively interested and knowledgeable about many sports and it transmits. It's utterly absent from off the ball bar Nathan and Richie.

NIMAN · 22-01-2018 12:16PM

I often be driving home from work when these 2 shows are on-air.

Game On would get 95% of my ear, OTB 5%, and thats only when I happen to flick over during a piece I'm not particularly interested in that might be on Game On.

Game On far far superior show in all respects.

Jayesdiem · 22-01-2018 12:36PM

Game on on podcast? It could fill the gap for me currently left by most OTB shows

dominatinMC · 22-01-2018 12:38PM

NIMAN wrote: »

I often be driving home from work when these 2 shows are on-air.

Game On would get 95% of my ear, OTB 5%, and thats only when I happen to flick over during a piece I'm not particularly interested in that might be on Game On.

Game On far far superior show in all respects.

I'm in the same boat myself, I'm usually driving home around 7ish, and have completely converted (more or less) to Game On. It has improved a lot IMO and, as it only has an hour to broadcast, is much more focused (i.e. no political nonsense! :pac:)

NIMAN · 22-01-2018 02:21PM

...and avoiding OTB means I don't have to listen to Giles prattle on about football in the 70s.

"Back when I played for Leeds .....", yeah ok Johnny we get it, you played for Leeds in the 70s.

bloodless_coup · 22-01-2018 09:02PM

Wouldn't happen in a mans game.

Conservative · 22-01-2018 09:09PM

doylefe wrote: »

Wouldn't happen in a mans game.

What was that awkwardness about a Cork player with 8 AI medals? Google suggests Joe was correct?

ballsymchugh · 23-01-2018 10:46PM

thought Pauric Duffy handed joe his arse on a plate many times during that interview today. Joe complaining that clubs are being forgotten about and that county players aren't being released to the clubs in April.... although this is the first year of the new rules.

does Joe know something we don't?!!

OldMrBrennan83 · 23-01-2018 10:56PM

This post has been deleted.

Off The Ball Official Thread <Mod Note - Post #1, #533, #6651>

Comments