Newstalk: Off The Ball

In the 3 hours tonight wasn't any rugby, all GAA and Soccer.

Yeah I think its a bit unfair to say its all rubbish and will be replaced. While I fundamentally disagree with their paywall and especially with how the message was delivered, a Joe show is still a very good listen and they do cover a wide range of topics. Yes they focus on GAA, rugby and soccer but they are the sports with the greatest interest in this country. I'd be worried if they were covering minority sports in the main but they do occasionally have these too.

The problem I have - 7-10 doesn't always work for me and I'm not willing to pay for it, but that doesn't mean its not a good show with Joe in particular.

Every sports broadcast is covering the Taylor Swift stuff. It’s not unique to OTB. There’s plenty of time to preview the actual match.

Well the person above wasn't happy about too much rugby. A few pages back it was too much GAA and soccer and not enough given to other types of stories.

Proof that they just can't win. I didn't hear the piece but is it not a good thing to discuss the dangerous rhetoric being peddled by populists such as Trump?

Yes because sports and politics don't mix, and never should, right?

I enjoy when they cover social issues and their link to sport, especially one which has potentially such a dangerous implications for us all.

Trump HATES the NFL with a passion because even if he gave them $100bn (which he doesn't have) they would not let him buy a team since he destroyed the USFL from his ownership of the New Jersey Generals I think it was. He pretends he doesn't want to own a team but in reality he knows that even before he saw the populist trend in politics the NFL owners (despite being an equally awful bunch of men) would not let him near a team. He's like the person who says "I didn't want it anyway" when they know something is out of reach. Trump has no problem dishing it out but doesn't like it when its turned back on him (given he has already pledged "Holy War" on her. Classic narcissist behaviour and the embodiment of the dangerous dictator he threatens to be if re-elected. America is sleepwalking in to this.

Here's what I do. When they are discussing a topic I am not interested in (e.g. rugby, tennis, etc) I just switch the channel for a while. It works really well.

Does this mean that all of "The Football Show" is now pre-recorded? That used to be a fantastic listen during the knockout stages of the champions league, when the studio would react live to whatever was happening.

From what I've herd recently they'll prerecord if theres no games on (or just single game) and be live if there are games taking place

They can discuss trump and politics all they want on the hard shoulder and throughout the day but when I tune in to a sports show I would like to hear about actual sports.

Yeah I was just going to say that, I think its when there are no games on that they'll pre-record. And to be fair, would any of us choose to work 9-10 at night rather than do it during the day? I don't think so.

The issue is a lot of sports journalists these days are far more interested in finding some sort of politics within the sports they cover than actually covering the sport.This is probably because of the fact that deep down they know sports are essentially completely unimportant and frippery and in order to make themselves feel like serious journalists they try as often as they can to shoehorn politics into sports coverage.If they want to do that then fine but it doesn't mean people have to enjoy listening to their recreation and escapism time being taken over with discussion of serious issues.Sports are escapism fro the vast majority of people, understandable some people don't like seriousness interrupting their escapism.

I like GAA and rugby with a passing interest in most sports and I'd definitely pay a tenner a month to be lectured by an American eejit like this.....

Oh wait a minute,no I wouldn't,like most of the population.

Caught a bit of the Newsround in the car earlier. Talking about football and Mick says something along the lines of 'Chelsea were awful at the weekend, I didn't watch it, I saw highlights on Match of the Day but they were so bad.'

Maybe I am being harsh but surely you should watch the whole game if you are going to comment on how a team has played (even if he is correct). It isn't quite as bad as the time they had Danny Mills on and he blamed Luke Shaw for a United defeat at Anfield when he wasn't even on the bench, but at least it was free when Mills gave that expert piece of analysis.

Well I don't know about you but honestly, there is so much football on bar he spent his whole weekend watching and did nothing else with his life it he'd have to just see the highlights of some of it! You can more often than not tell from highlights when a team is brutal in a game. It was on at the same time as United v West Ham and Bournemouth Forest - both games had more riding on them. I would cut him some slack to be fair.

Both GAA shows - The Hurling Pod and The Football Pod - being offered free.

As a GAA fan, I am delighted. I wonder did Bord Gais Energy (sponsors) put the foot down and say "Here Ger, we didn't sponsor the show to have 20 listens behind your "tenner a month" paywall, make it free to air or we're off".

Same arrangement on the hurling pod