RESPONDING to the drubbings last weekend, Jim McGuinness says he “found what happened in Croke Park to be eerie and genuinely disturbing. It made me fear for the game.”
McGuinness says “the gap between the elite counties and the rest is becoming a chasm,” and he has called for the GAA “to address this issue urgently”.
GAA director-general Páraic Duffy disgrees with Jim. Páraic says there is no need to consider a second tier competition. To back up his argument, the Monaghan man, perhaps unwisely, pointed to the most boring competition in global sport, the Rugby World Cup which includes countries like Uruguay, Canada and the US.
That reminds me of a friend from North Antrim who once said he’d rather “have a good dose of heartburn” rather than watch a game of Gaelic football.
Uruguay versus the US? Yeah, give me the heartburn.
Which brings us back to the question, should the weaker counties be allowed in the All-Ireland football Championship?
‘It’s The Taking Part That Counts’ said: “Surely the name of the competition means the answer is self-explanatory. It’s the All-Ireland Championship.
“In other codes such as soccer’s FA Cup, the minnows are allowed to compete, albeit they have to progress through earlier rounds before they can be drawn against the big fish.
“In horse-racing, especially the Grand National, the vast majority of horses have no real chances of winning but history tells us that the miracles sometimes happen. Remember Foinavon. There needs to be some alteration in the format of the qualifiers but please don’t exclude teams just because they don’t have 30 or 40 elite players. Give them a chance.”
The provincial Championships offers a gateway to the All-Ireland title. Any county below Division One that fails to win its provincial Championship shouldn’t be allowed to compete for the Sam Maguire Cup. The qualifiers have already becoming boring and predictable and it’s only going to get worse.
In the 131-year history of the GAA, Fermanagh have never won a provincial Championship. If they can’t win their own province, what chance have they of winning the Sam Maguire Cup? Sometimes the miracles don’t happen.
‘Joe’ doesn’t think there is any need to tinker with the current system.
“The Fermanagh debate is simple. Next year they will be playing in Division Two alongside the likes of Tyrone. They are in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland alongside Dublin, Kerry, Monaghan and Mayo. They got to that stage by playing football and they deserve to be there.
“Ask the players what they want and they will always ask for the opportunity of fielding against the Dubs compared to another competition. Fermanagh did win the ‘B’ competition a number of years ago. Few even knew about it.”
The GAA’s previous attempts to introduce a second tier competition have been disastrous. If done properly, the second tier final would replace the All-Ireland minor final. If given sufficient exposure, a second tier competition could work.
Unlike Jim McGuinness and every other neutral observer with a pulse, `Paddy from Down’ was royally entertained by last Sunday’s cakewalks in Croke Park.
‘Paddy’ said: “I’d just like to say how enjoyable it was to watch the two games last Sunday. All the teams were intent on playing football in a sporting and civilised manner. What a change. Not a card of any colour in sight. I can’t comment on the two games on Saturday. Like most pensioners, I can’t afford Sky.”
Kerry and Dublin had no reason not to play in a sporting and civilised manner. They were always going to win. If Kildare had any pride, they would have received an avalanche of cards. Fermanagh had the most sympathetic referee in the history of the game. They couldn’t have got a card if they tried.
‘Paddy from Andersonstown’ echoed the last complaint about Sky Sports.
“It’s very disappointing that we couldn’t see Saturday’s two games on RTE. A lot of people can’t afford Sky. I know I can’t anyway. It’s disappointing that the hierarchy in the GAA sold out to Sky.”
Following Tyrone’s progress to the last eight, we posed the question: ‘how far can Tyrone progress in this year’s All-Ireland Championship?’
‘Tyrone fan’ said: “Tyrone can go all the way. In the last few years the pundits have been very quick to write Mickey Harte’s men off. This year there hasn’t been one pundit brave enough to stand up and write them off. There is a fear of Tyrone. There is a fear that they are going back to the top.
“Mickey has the right blend of youth and experience. After we get a rattle at Monaghan, we’ll get the Kingdom in the All-Ireland semi-final. Kerry are a very strong team but they are extremely cynical between the two 45s. We’ll see if they are as cynical in Croke Park when they are trying to deal with Tyrone. Tyrone have moved on a step. They have won the All-Ireland U21s. They are definitely a team to be reckoned with.”
Back on planet earth, the next reader provided a less deluded assessment of Tyrone’s potential.
“Tyrone can go as far as the final,” he said. Monaghan are beatable. They could maybe sneak into the final, but I can’t see us winning it. At the very best, we can go as far as the final.”
Finally, last week Joe Brolly drew the ire of referees chief Sean Walsh. The Kerry man criticised Brolly for his comments about Armagh whistler Padraig Hughes. Walsh claimed that his year’s referees are doing a good job.
Armagh fan has leapt to the defence of the defence barrister.
“Sean Walsh was knocking Joe Brolly for his comments about Padraig Hughes. But Joe Brolly isn’t the problem. The GAA is the problem. The way the GAA ignores awful refereeing performances is unacceptable.
Joe Brolly quite rightly said that Hughes shouldn’t have been stood down after the Munster final. What did the GAA do? They put him out a fortnight later.
“Then Walsh has the audacity to say that the GAA don’t ignore poor performances. Obviously they do. Walsh said that the referees have been good this year. I don’t know what matches he is watching. The referees have been terrible. Referees are killing football.”
