Is Hurling the greatest game ever?

recylingbin · 05-02-2014 03:10PM

oldyouth wrote: »

Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Wales, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Argentina

not really taken seriously in Ireland, the northern half of England, Most of Scotland, 99.9999999% of Italy, I'm going to say Australia too (about the same level of interest as ireland) and only really played in a couple of universities in Argentina.

I like rugby as it goes. It gives fat kids something to play.

oldyouth · 05-02-2014 03:12PM

recylingbin wrote: »

not really taken seriously in Ireland,

Jaysus!

recylingbin · 05-02-2014 03:14PM

oldyouth wrote: »

Jaysus!

D4 isn't Ireland. A few mullockers in Limerick and Cork + the d4ers isn't Ireland. There is minimal interest in a game which dominates so much of our media when the tournaments are on. Passing interest at best for most of us.

TheMza · 05-02-2014 03:15PM

Rugby is cat

anncoates · 05-02-2014 03:20PM

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Just speaking from experience as a competent hurler. It looks much more impressive than it actually is.

Maybe that's because you're merely competent. :pac:

Eight Ball · 05-02-2014 03:22PM

Find it incredibly boring much like ice hockey.

Fratton Fred · 05-02-2014 03:24PM

recylingbin wrote: »

I like rugby as it goes. It gives fat kids something to play.

Lol, in the same way hurling gives skinny ginger kids a chance in life!

Timothy Bryce · 05-02-2014 03:24PM

I've really tried to get into the hurling over the last few years but really struggle to get excited about it. Granted it's a very impressive game, with tremendous levels of skill required, from players who are amateurs by all accounts.

What grinds my gears is the airtime the sport gets especially on radio.

I listen to Off the Ball most nights and you can guarantee, a huge chunk of coverage will be given to GAA - I feel like it gets more coverage than more mainstream sports which may have a larger following.

e.g. more often than not you'll hear one of the lads waffling on about Jimmy McGee stepping down from the Ballyhale Shamrocks panel for 45 mins, or an hour spent discussing the GAA All Star Awards, after briefly touching on the Irish rugby victory at the weekend - a game in which 50k+ people attended.

I don't follow it, nor do many people I know. I don't want to hear about it every time I switch on the radio.

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 03:28PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

I've really tried to get into the hurling over the last few years but really struggle to get excited about it. Granted it's a very impressive game, with tremendous levels of skill required, from players who are amateurs by all accounts.

What grinds my gears is the airtime the sport gets especially on radio.

I listen to Off the Ball most nights and you can guarantee, a huge chunk of coverage will be given to GAA - I feel like it gets more coverage than more mainstream sports which may have a larger following.

e.g. more often than not you'll hear one of the lads waffling on about Jimmy McGee stepping down from the Ballyhale Shamrocks panel for 45 mins, or an hour spent discussing the GAA All Star Awards, after briefly touching on the Irish rugby victory at the weekend - a game in which 50k+ people attended.

I don't follow it, nor do many people I know. I don't want to hear about it every time I switch on the radio.

What are all the mainstream events that should be eating into the airtime hurling gets?

Which isn't that disproportionate, in any case.

It's more mainstream than rugby less mainstream than sawker. It gets its fair share.

MayoSalmon · 05-02-2014 03:33PM

Cienciano wrote: »

Hurling is so great even half of Ireland don't bother with it. People laugh at rugby for having 10 countries that take it serious. Hurling has 10 counties.

AMEN

Duckworth_Luas · 05-02-2014 03:33PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

What grinds my gears is the airtime the sport gets especially on radio.

I listen to Off the Ball most nights and you can guarantee, a huge chunk of coverage will be given to GAA - I feel like it gets more coverage than more mainstream sports which may have a larger following.

7 of the top 10 televised sports events in Ireland last year were GAA. Only 1 soccer match made the list. No Premiership or Champions League matches even made the top 20. GAA is also gets the highest attendances in Ireland, massive figures which dwarf even professional rugby. The coverage reflects the interest in the general public which is used to attract listeners, which then attracts sponsorship. GAA is the mainstream, followed by rugby, followed by soccer.

K-9 · 05-02-2014 03:33PM

oldyouth wrote: »

Yeah, but every time you get a 'shock', you give the seeded team another go. That's not real competition. The GAA shlt themselves every year that the big counties might go out early leaving little or no interest for the rest of the season. That's why the sport will never develop in Counties that are not already up there at the top.

That's because it was a pure knock out competition before the qualifiers. To give a comparison, the European Cup used to be knock out and only for champions, now it's a bit of a joke and favours the bigger teams. It's still real competition though as the best teams usually get to the Quarter and Semi Finals.

Timothy Bryce · 05-02-2014 03:36PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What are all the mainstream events that should be eating into the airtime hurling gets?

Which isn't that disproportionate, in any case.

It's more mainstream than rugby less mainstream than sawker. It gets its fair share.

Are you saying the club championship that's on at the moment is more mainstream than rugby? With average attendances of c.5k? Especially when the RDS will be packed out for a home Rabo game?

I don't mind coverage of the intercounty stuff but some of the airtime the club stuff gets is a complete joke. I couldn't give a hoot if Billy O'Hare decided to change his wingbacks for the clash against Crossmaglen Rangers next weekend.

ArmaniJeanss · 05-02-2014 03:47PM

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

7 of the top 10 televised sports events in Ireland last year were GAA. Only 1 soccer match made the list. No Premiership or Champions League matches even made the top 20. GAA is also gets the highest attendances in Ireland, massive figures which dwarf even professional rugby. The coverage reflects the interest in the general public which is used to attract listeners, which then attracts sponsorship. GAA is the mainstream, followed by rugby, followed by soccer.

I'd be fairly sure those ranking figures are only for RTE/TV3/TG4 sports programs, which is crucially different to how you've described them.
The lack of say an EPL game in the top 20 can thus be explained by pointing out that there wasn't actually even one such game shown, and the CL has a split audience between multiple games on multiple stations.

overshoot · 05-02-2014 03:48PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

Are you saying the club championship that's on at the moment is more mainstream than rugby? With average attendances of c.5k? Especially when the RDS will be packed out for a home Rabo game?

I don't mind coverage of the intercounty stuff but some of the airtime the club stuff gets is a complete joke. I couldn't give a hoot if Billy O'Hare decided to change his wingbacks for the clash against Crossmaglen Rangers next weekend.

have a look at leinsters attendance figures, packed me arse... it is usually 2-3000 below capacity and season ticket holders are automatically counted too.

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 03:56PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

Are you saying the club championship that's on at the moment is more mainstream than rugby? With average attendances of c.5k? Especially when the RDS will be packed out for a home Rabo game?

I don't mind coverage of the intercounty stuff but some of the airtime the club stuff gets is a complete joke. I couldn't give a hoot if Billy O'Hare decided to change his wingbacks for the clash against Crossmaglen Rangers next weekend.

It's the All-Ireland semi-finals. That's why it's getting airtime. 7,200 turned up to watch Mount Leinster Rangers play Oulart The Ballagh play before Christmas.

That's more thyan watched Munster play in the Pro-12 a couple of days previously.

And more than 28,000 watched the all-ireland club finals last year. 19,000 turned up to watch the Pro-12 final between Leinster and Ulster.

You can make a lot of points with stats but they don't necessarily validate the point.

Duckworth_Luas · 05-02-2014 04:00PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'd be fairly sure those ranking figures are only for RTE/TV3/TG4 sports programs, which is crucially different to how you've described them.
The lack of say an EPL game in the top 20 can thus be explained by pointing out that there wasn't actually even one such game shown, and the CL has a split audience between multiple games on multiple stations.

List of TV stations included in TAM ratings, including Sky and Setanta!

Timothy Bryce · 05-02-2014 04:05PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It's the All-Ireland semi-finals. That's why it's getting airtime. 7,200 turned up to watch Mount Leinster Rangers play Oulart The Ballagh play before Christmas.

That's more thyan watched Munster play in the Pro-12 a couple of days previously.

And more than 28,000 watched the all-ireland club finals last year. 19,000 turned up to watch the Pro-12 final between Leinster and Ulster.

You can make a lot of points with stats but they don't necessarily validate the point.

You can use statistic to prove anything - 4/5 people know that!

thelad95 · 05-02-2014 04:08PM

major bill wrote: »

Actually Surprised it never took off in America, has everything the Yanks love about sport

Big hits
Fierce competitors
High scoring games
End to end action

Americans only like their own sports on a big scale. Also one of the reasons why 'soccer' is beginning to grow exponentially in the US is the pitch is roughly the same dimensions as American Football whereas for GAA new pitches would need to be built. I can only imagine the size of the stadiums they would build for college hurling if it caught on though. I mean we think Croke Park is the greatest stadium in the world but really it's nothing special. A lot of American colleges have bigger stadiums.

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 04:10PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

You can use statistic to prove anything - 4/5 people know that!

Still, it makes for interesting reading given your point about attendances.

Like I said, it's the all-Ireland semi-finals. It gets the airtime it deserves. Gerry Thornley, Liam Toland etc all get plenty of airtime. It got to the point whhere I thought Thornley had become a presenter.

oldyouth · 05-02-2014 04:14PM

K-9 wrote: »

That's because it was a pure knock out competition before the qualifiers. To give a comparison, the European Cup used to be knock out and only for champions, now it's a bit of a joke and favours the bigger teams. It's still real competition though as the best teams usually get to the Quarter and Semi Finals.

That's my point. The usual suspects each and every year. No giant killers reaching the final as a result of a) an underdog outperforming a favourite on any given day and b) two top teams being drawn against eachother early on, knocking one out.

Timothy Bryce · 05-02-2014 04:18PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Still, it makes for interesting reading given your point about attendances.

Like I said, it's the all-Ireland semi-finals. It gets the airtime it deserves. Gerry Thornley, Liam Toland etc all get plenty of airtime. It got to the point whhere I thought Thornley had become a presenter.

Those two lads are fairly insufferable tbf

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 04:21PM

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

Those two lads are fairly insufferable tbf

On the flip side, you get to hear Jamesie O'Connor and Daithi Regan on for the hurling.

oldyouth · 05-02-2014 04:23PM

recylingbin wrote: »

D4 isn't Ireland. A few mullockers in Limerick and Cork + the d4ers isn't Ireland. There is minimal interest in a game which dominates so much of our media when the tournaments are on. Passing interest at best for most of us.

There are over 100 rugby clubs in Ireland

http://www.localclubsireland.com/rugby.html

TheMza · 05-02-2014 04:23PM

if it's such a good sport why don't they get paid?

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 04:24PM

TheMza wrote: »

if it's such a good sport why don't they get paid?

This is one bridge I won't be crossing.

Yamanoto · 05-02-2014 04:26PM

Jaysus, can we close the thread now?

TheMza · 05-02-2014 04:27PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

This is one bridge I won't be crossing.

I was genuinely curious, they deserve to be paid if you ask me!

Alf Veedersane · 05-02-2014 04:27PM

oldyouth wrote: »

There are over 100 rugby clubs in Ireland

http://www.localclubsireland.com/rugby.html

Most of the people that turn up for Heineken Cup matches or the latter stages of the Pro-12 would know about 3 of those clubs.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 05-02-2014 04:29PM

oldyouth wrote: »

That's my point. The usual suspects each and every year. No giant killers reaching the final as a result of a) an underdog outperforming a favourite on any given day and b) two top teams being drawn against eachother early on, knocking one out.

Nobody expected Donegal to win the All-Ireland in 1992 or Armagh in 2002. Nobody thought Monaghan would win an Ulster title last year either. The GAA does have upsets. And its not the usual suspects every year. Donegal played in a final for the first time in 20 years in 2012. Mayo went 38 years without reaching a final between 1951 and 1989. Clare didn't appear in a hurling final for over 80 years before they won the title in 1995.

Is Hurling the greatest game ever?

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