Ivefoundgod wrote: » Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the GAA schedule for 2021 starting with the leagues? Which isn't widely watched with a lot of games on Eir Sports rather than terrestrial TV. If it was the All Ireland that they were allowing GAA back for I'd say fair enough but that's not the case. Rugby is professional only though isn't it? So those players are in bubbles and that still didn't prevent French rugby having an outbreak during the 6 nations. I'm not against the GAA coming back if it was for the All Ireland as that would be a genuine boost to a huge amount of people across the country but bringing it back now to allow the leagues is ridiculous if its at the expense of sports with much larger participation amongst the general public. I take your point around outdoor sports in general but I think its harder to justify a large group of people gathering to play GAA than it is tennis or golf.
The Big Easy wrote: » Maybe they'll allow tracksuit bottoms initially upon reopening
blue note wrote: » Cases are twice what they were last year. And you have these new variants. But you have the vaccines. Overall we are probably in a worse position than this time last year and we're talking about easing rather than increasing restrictions. Maybe a further lockdown is what's needed until the vaccines actually come in. People are talking about a raft of restrictions being lifted and individually you wouldn't really criticise any of them. But combined, maybe it's not such a good idea. We'll see do the government take the easy option and relax restrictions or the ballsy one and keep them.
blue note wrote: » I'd say you're underestimating how many watch the league games. The ones on tg4 would still get 6 figure viewership I'd say. Depending on who is in he league final you could get 4 or 5 hundred thousand viewers. Being on terrestrial TV makes all the difference. I don't think the league should go ahead to be honest. The championship would be enough. But it's not accurate to say that it's not widely watched. You've also got all the radio discussion on it too, newspaper articles, league Sunday is one of the most watched programmes of the week. It's a valuable outlet for a lot of people.
bustercherry wrote: » You can't just expected intercounty players to pick up and resume without proper training. It's just not feasible. Inter country training would be classed under elite amateur status, so effectively club golf and intercounty GAA is not equivalent. If they allow intercounty and don't open up golf to elite amateurs, then people can moan all they like then
Wombatman wrote: » Nope. If we go by hospital admissions, because they are more reliable: April 2020: 34 admissions per day average (average daily cases: 503) March 2021: 22 admissions per day average (average daily cases: 538) So 600 cases today would see the same number hospitalized as 388 cases last April.
whitefoot wrote: » Does anyone know of any other country apart from Ireland in the R&A Top 20 by quantity of courses, that could be still closed on the 12th April? I know US, Australia, England & Sotland would certainly be open by that date. Top 20 golfing countries(by no. of courses) Country United States16,752 Japan 3,169 Canada 2,633 England 2,270 Australia 1,616 Germany 1,050 France 804 Korea, Republic Of 798 Sweden 662 Scotland 614 China 599 Spain 497 Ireland 494 South Africa 489 New Zealand 418 Argentina 349 Denmark 346 Netherlands 330 Italy 321 Thailand 315
Ivefoundgod wrote: » Quick google gives me this, so 265k watched the 2019 league final, not exactly massive. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/broadcasting-pendulum-swings-back-to-gaelic-games-in-2019-1.4142313 I think even most GAA people would admit the league is of a lot less interest to a anyone outside the hardcore GAA fan. Right but I didn't actually say I expect them to pick up and resume without training. I am saying the All Ireland isn't due to start until a few months time, I'd have no issue with GAA coming back in a months time when we're further along the vaccination journey, that allows plenty of time to get back up and running with training and time to run off the All Ireland as well. I don't think there is time to run off the leagues and All Ireland to be honest and the club season looks like a write off at this stage as well IMO. Anyway I'm getting sidetracked, my point is I don't think its logical to allow inter county GAA resume but not golf or tennis, that's it.
bustercherry wrote: » Does it? Have you ever competed at elite level to back this up? At this point there would have been a full league campaign and club GAA. Also there are commercial rationals for getting inter county GAA up and running sooner. It's completely illogical to compare elite amateur sport to club golf. I think it should and hope golf opens; but as as I pointed out using inter county GAA (non-contact) training as a reference equates to elite amateur golfers only being allowed out to practice, so they can prepare for the elite amateur comps. How many of those are you eligible for?
blue note wrote: » Allowing intercounty is entirely for the masses. The idea is that you let a couple thousand people compete under strict guidelines and hundreds of thousands will watch them on TV each week and have something to follow. But I expect as before most people here will ignore that, talk about "GAA being open" as opposed to .1% of GAA being open. It's amazing how much people can see what they want to see.
11521323 wrote: » I'm not clear where you stand on this but there is zero scientific evidence or rational logic to support the closure of golf courses. ~10% of the population play occasionally (which logically could be regularly now that everything else is closed) and it's completely safe (at least as safe as going to a park or for a walk on the street) Every other country on the planet have also acknowledged the above besides us if they remain closed any longer. It's farcical they were ever closed to begin with.
bustercherry wrote: » Does it? Have you ever competed at elite level to back this up?
At this point there would have been a full league campaign and club GAA. Also there are commercial rationals for getting inter county GAA up and running sooner.
It's completely illogical to compare elite amateur sport to club golf. I think it should and hope golf opens; but as as I pointed out using inter county GAA (non-contact) training as a reference equates to elite amateur golfers only being allowed out to practice, so they can prepare for the elite amateur comps. How many of those are you eligible for?
RGS wrote: » I'm not anti GAA I played the game for over 25 years and still miss the playing. But inter county is for the elite of the sport. There wont be any GAA on TV in April, so your argument about people watching is moot.
bustercherry wrote: » What's that got to do with my post? Plus it's not completely safe, it's deemed low risk. The only thing that is safe is staying the fcuk at home Golf is closed because we are in level 5.Everything is closed to limit the movement and interactions of people from non-essential journeys. The problem is the government need to enact policy that limits the spread/outbreaks but balance it with acceptable risk. Opening golf will have to coincide with other restrictions being lifted which in turn increases the cumulative risk (of all activities a person does) of catching or transmitting the virus not only within their own community but to other communities. I hope it opens but there is plenty of scientific evidence to back up limiting the movement of people prevents the spread from communities.
ForeRight wrote: » Why are people still banging the drum that golf is safe and there’s no scientific evidence of it being a lethal activity in terms of the virus? Everyone knows it’s safe, nphet, government and the dogs in the street.It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.
ForeRight wrote: » Why are people still banging the drum that golf is safe and there’s no scientific evidence of it being a lethal activity in terms of the virus? Everyone knows it’s safe, nphet, government and the dogs in the street. It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions. However I firmly believe now is the time for an easing of these restrictions given the vaccination of the population that largely threaten the hospital system.5km in the bin now, kids play their sports, golf and tennis open, construction should open. Pubs, restaurants, gyms etc I can understand they need a while longer before opening to assess how the minor opening up affects things.
newport2 wrote: » This. The more outdoor low-risk activities are restricted, the more indoor higher-risk events will happen. NPHET have confirmed themselves that people meeting indoors is where the cases are coming from. Make it easy for people to spend time outdoors on healthy activities. I'm expecting golf to open, but suspect they will only increase 5k to 10k, making it unavailable to a lot of people. I hope I'm wrong about this.
blackbox wrote: » Has there been any talk of wearing masks whilst playing? I'd be happy to if it meant getting out next month. .
ForeRight wrote: » Masks are for when you can’t socially distance. If lads can’t keep 2m apart playing golf they should be barred. I know myself and my partners are always very distant. I’m usually right rough he’s usually left rough.
ForeRight wrote: » It’s not closed because it’s unsafe. It’s currently closed as if was allowed there is a domino effect behind it of industry after industry arguing their cause as they deem themselves safe also. It’s hard to draw a line in the sand as to what’s ok and what’s not without a can of worms being opened so I was always able to understand the logic of restrictions.
Kiith wrote: » And this is what has probably pissed me off more then any other argument in this entire saga. "Optics" and "If golf is allowed, x needs to be allowed". Why should anything else automatically allowed because something else is. If you can show, with evidence, that an activity is not anymore of a risk then walking in the park, it should be allowed. Outdoor, non-contact activities are as low risk as can be. Yet they give people a chance to actually enjoy themselves, and allowed a lot of clubs a chance to dig themselves out of the financial hole they are in. We may need to remove water from any course though...guaranteed we all go in there :P
