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Who is/was Ireland's most famous sports star?

pleas advice

Inspired by another thread here, who do you think would make the list?

I'd have Roy Keane at the top, followed by Rory McIlroy and Brian O'Driscoll, who else would make the top 5?

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Beechwoodspark

All island - George Best

26 Counties - Roy Keane.

Honorable mention

McIlroy

Hoboo

Who tf is Eoin Morgan?

Beechwoodspark

Uncharted wrote: »

An utterly stupid,misinformed and stereotypically narrow minded statement.

Most people don’t even consider it a sport

RocketRaccoon

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Most people don’t even consider it a sport

And those people are wrong. It is a sport, UFC however is not a sport.

[Deleted User]

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Most people don’t even consider it a sport

What do you consider a sport? How would you define one?

Beechwoodspark

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

And those people are wrong. It is a sport, UFC however is not a sport.

Ah I dunno. Load of ppl would strongly say it’s not a sport and all involved should be arrested for assault.

Especially after that mma “participant” dying a few year ago in Dublin

citytillidie

Hoboo wrote: »

Who tf is Eoin Morgan?

Irish man who captains the England one day cricket team, plays a sport watched by billions, but very poor watched sport in Ireland

[Deleted User]

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ah I dunno. Load of ppl would strongly say it’s not a sport and all involved should be arrested for assault.
Especially after that mma “participant” dying a few year ago in Dublin

Better cancel boxing so...

RocketRaccoon

www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/most-famous-irish-person.amp

www.sportsjoe.ie/amp/us-sports/two-irish-sportsmen-crack-espns-top-100-famous-athletes-160898

Fairly simple research really.

RocketRaccoon

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ah I dunno. Load of ppl would strongly say it’s not a sport and all involved should be arrested for assault.

Especially after that mma “participant” dying a few year ago in Dublin

But again, they would be wrong.

What about footballers that have died on the pitch? Boxers?

Oasis1974

What about George Best must be up there.

R.F.

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

But again, they would be wrong.

What about footballers that have died on the pitch? Boxers?

People die in Motor Sport every year. And this is also considered a sport

[Deleted User]

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

What about footballers that have died on the pitch? Boxers?

List of boxing related deaths

xckjoo

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Ah I dunno. Load of ppl would strongly say it’s not a sport and all involved should be arrested for assault.

Especially after that mma “participant” dying a few year ago in Dublin

Do you mean that you don't feel it should be a sanctioned sport? Because it would be hard to deny it qualifies as a sport.

Surely fighting is the oldest sport? Followed soon after by running

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

So let me get this straight...

This man is well known among possibly BILLIONS of cricket fans the world over. But because he's not as well known in Ireland, he can't be all that famous.

Well he's known as an English player. That's enough really to disbar him from being Ireland's most famous sports star.

Sure there's a lot of people in India, but what does that translate to in a meaningful way. I mean Brian O Driscoll has a lot more Twitter followers than him. That at least is some tangible metric.

I mean no offense to Bangladesh, most of their population live on a few dollars a day, so Eoin Morgan being known by BILLIONS of people seems like a stretch to me. I'm not saying he's not well known. But people here are definitely over selling the population argument.

Uncharted

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Most people don’t even consider it a sport

Some people are stupid.

Some people believe the Earth is flat.

Beechwoodspark

xckjoo wrote: »

Do you mean that you don't feel it should be a sanctioned sport? Because it would be hard to deny it qualifies as a sport.

Surely fighting is the oldest sport? Followed soon after by running

Just a general sentiment among ppl I encounter (I drive around Ireland weekly-rural and urban locations, encountering retail staff-you can probably guess what I do for a living)

Just general comments like “it’s not a sport, it’s organised brutality” “human blood sport” “why is it not banned?” “One step above bare knuckle fighting out in the bog” “desperate violent”

These are the usual comments. I rarely if ever hear ppl say “mma is a legitimate sport”

facehugger99

I wouldn't call MMA a sport so definitely not that Mcgregor fcukwit - it's more of a blood-spectacle for the mouth-breathers. Sure was't he easily defeated by a retired boxer when he did try his hand at an actual sport?

I'd say McIlroy.

[Deleted User]

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

These are the usual comments. I rarely if ever hear ppl say “mma is a legitimate sport”

Do you know what MMA is? It's an amalgamation of Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Sambo, amateur wrestling among others. Some of these are literally thousands of years old. They're not only sports, they're Olympic sports. Olympians have competed in MMA.

[Deleted User]

facehugger99 wrote: »

Sure was't he easily defeated by a retired boxer when he did try his hand at an actual sport?

Non-boxer defeated by one of the greatest boxers of all time. Shocking.

Uncharted

facehugger99 wrote: »

I wouldn't call MMA a sport so definitely not that Mcgregor fcukwit - it's more of a blood-spectacle for the mouth-breathers. Sure was't he easily defeated by a retired boxer when he did try his hand at an actual sport?

I'd say McIlroy.

Mouth-breathers?

facehugger99

Omackeral wrote: »

Non-boxer defeated by one of the greatest boxers of all time. Shocking.

Sure plenty of journeymen fighters have went the distance with Mayweather when he was in his prime. I'm given to understand Mcgregor was coughing up a lung with exhaustion after a few rounds and Mayweather didn't have to break sweat - despite the fact he's been chillin' out for a few years eating Cheetos.

Like I say, he's hardly a 'sports' star - shouldn't be in the conversation TBH.

Tombo2001

Apparently rugby is more dangerous, when measured by number and level of injury, than MMA.....

pimpmyhat

sbsquarepants wrote: »

There's 2 brazillians work here with me - out of interest I've just asked them both do they know who George Best is, not a clue! Neither knew of McIlroy and both new McGregor.

Now, I could use a bigger sample size (5 or 6 maybe:D)

But, statistics don't lie. In a recent poll 0% of Brazilians had heard of Best or McIlroy, whereas 100% had heard of McGregor

Yes but had two Brazilians been asked in the 1960s /70s I'm sure they would of known of George Best then.

If two Brazilians were to be asked in 2070 did they know of McGregor they probably wouldn't ðŸ˜€

salmocab

This is great, people don’t like a particular sport so dismiss the people that are in it. Ridiculous statements. Mc Gregor is and whether you like or hate mma that’s not going to change it, why you’d care is worrying. I dislike mma but don’t feel the need to dismiss it.
Also dismissing a cricketer because it’s not big here is silly.

JustJoe7240

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Apparently rugby is more dangerous, when measured by number and level of injury, than MMA.....

Hardly surprising considering participation levels?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Tombo2001 wrote: »

You wouldnt think you would have to state the obvious but some times you do.

Ireland has 4 million people.

India has 1350 million people.

Pakistan has 200 million people.

Bangladesh has 150 million people.

Cricket is BY FAR the most popular sport in these countries. Cricket is way more popular in India than Gaelic Football is in Ireland, it is way out there in front of every other sport.

Eoin Morgan is Captain of one of the best cricket teams on the planet.

If famous means "how many people have heard of you" then he is an extremely famous man.

Maybe it means something else. Maybe it means how many of the your buddies have heard of him.....in which case he is not famous at all.

I think this is the fairest barometer of how big cricket is in those countries.

The total attendance figures over a season.

Indy Car (Motor racing) - 1,555,772
The Indian Premier League (Cricket) - 1,543,655
Indian Super League (Association football) - 1,477,033
Liga Venezolana de Beisbol (Baseball) - 1,275,317
Big Bash League (Cricket) - 1,053,997
Bangladesh Premier League (Cricket) - 742,000
Super GT (Motor racing) - 278,900

List of sports attendance figures

Cricket is not doing too badly. But not exactly off the chart. Baseball in Venezuela does bigger numbers. 2 billion people does not translate into billions attending games anyway.

Uncharted

facehugger99 wrote: »

Sure plenty of journeymen fighters have went the distance with Mayweather when he was in his prime. I'm given to understand Mcgregor was coughing up a lung with exhaustion after a few rounds and Mayweather didn't have to break sweat - despite the fact he's been chillin' out for a few years eating Cheetos.

Like I say, he's hardly a 'sports' star - shouldn't be in the conversation TBH.

You're completely hung up on the notion that MMA is not a sport. This seems to be why you're not willing to include Mcgregor as a sportsman.

This seems to be the crux of your argument.

Now that is out is established,what are you basing your opinion,that MMA is not a sport, on?

xckjoo

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Just a general sentiment among ppl I encounter (I drive around Ireland weekly-rural and urban locations, encountering retail staff-you can probably guess what I do for a living)

Just general comments like “it’s not a sport, it’s organised brutality” “human blood sport” “why is it not banned?” “One step above bare knuckle fighting out in the bog” “desperate violent”

These are the usual comments. I rarely if ever hear ppl say “mma is a legitimate sport”

Weird that it comes up so often in conversation. I do jiu jitsu, watch MMA and am probably still (just) within the age bracket it's most popular with, yet it never comes up. I don't think it's once come up in a casual conversation with a relative stranger. Hardly even discuss fights or fighters at training and it's an MMA gym.

Anyway, personal opinion does not dictate if something is a sport or not.

Beechwoodspark

xckjoo wrote: »

Weird that it comes up so often in conversation. I do jiu jitsu, watch MMA and am probably still (just) within the age bracket it's most popular with, yet it never comes up. I don't think it's once come up in a casual conversation with a relative stranger. Hardly even discuss fights or fighters at training and it's an MMA gym.

Anyway, personal opinion does not dictate if something is a sport or not.

It came up in general conversation any time mcg was in the headlines in the papers.

I would be in shops where newspapers are prominent and we would chit chat about stuff in the papers.