General GAA - AOB

Brilliant stuff Tommy... Some people not grasping the severity of the situation I think. As I say, Laois and Westmeath - Leinster champions in the not too distant past - have given up. GAA dead in Offaly which I think is nothing short of criminal. Then you have a behemoth like Dublin and you're asking where is the hope in these counties... People saying leave Dublin out of it - I mean, we're essentially talking about the future of the GAA here. It's that serious.

Btw, Dubs definitely a drone alright - in more ways than one, as Dunphy pointed out, mwa-ha-ha.

Actually, just to emphasise again Tommy - that is a really brilliant article. Goes into the nuts and bolts of it superbly. Definitely one of the best sports article I've read this year, fair play.

Well done TK a very informed post. I can understand Canavan not wanting to get into it as it might look like sour grapes but it will have to be addressed sooner rather than later

Good post indeed Tommy but it's like global warming in that it's gone too far to ever revert to the way it was. What will remain will be something totally different and joyless I fear.
Dublin will probably win the next 3 finals as their opponents fall away. Mayo's best player this year was 34, Dublin's best is 21. Donegal punched above their weight but are unlikely to be a force again. Tyrone are sticking with MH and hoping something will change. Maybe Kerry can do something with the underage talent they have but it could take years.
One of the many advantages Dublin have is that they can all live and work nearby. Can any other county do that.
For all the progress we have made we are miles off them with little chance of beating them.
The GAA sought to improve the standard in Dublin, they have certainly succeeded.

In relation to the boring Dub personas let´s get real on this, county players never say anything of note until maybe they are wrapping up their playing career. I honestly never heard Tommy Walsh string two sentences together when he was playing and now he is great craic on Newstalk.
The players come across so badly in all this as they are warned not to say a word and thus seem like dullards. That is across the board and not just the Dubs.
Wooly is a rebel so it fits his profile to let it be known if the Dubs are being blocked talking to him. Kimmage is not at all reliant on the GAA beat either so he doesn´t care about calling it out.

Tommy´s article summed it up so well and he has the facts to back it up. It also shows that the GAA themselves decided to do something and now are not really sure what to do with the monster.
One thing that is clear in all of this was that John Bailey played the game so well and put his county in the position they are in. Ger Gilroy was chatting on this and honestly asked, even giving money, would you trust all the county boards to do it right.
Feck it, reading it I found myself saying if we had our arses in gear and had the bauld Charlie in with FF and all the money sloshing around, Hawkfield, Conleth´s and a serious structure could have been put in place.

Was in the M&S Foodhall off Grafton Street yesterday and at the till there were kids and their parents collecting for St Vincents Feile team. What exactly did they need the money for? A training camp prior to next year's competition I was told. Changes have been made to the Feile competition to reduce the win at all costs mentality. Unfortunately no one told St Vincents. They were wearing dublin tracksuits and found no shortage of natives willing to contribute!

Good article by the way TK. This is what no Dublin fan wants to acknowledge. Its all down to "volunteerism".

Lads, it's blatantly obvious the Dublin issue needs to be addressed at this stage. But as Tomas O Se says, in the GAA, that is usually the greatest recommendation against doing something.

In all likelihood, we will spend the next five years chasing that elusive win over them - and if we do get it, expect them to say, "This stuff about us dominating is anti-Dublin." Also expect them to come back and win another seven in a row, just like what happened when Meath beat them in 2010.

Anyway... thoughts on Gooch's testimonial dinner? As I say, I'm surprised by it, as Gooch generally not a man to court controversy. Has caused plenty of debate, but I find it hard to get it worked about it, personally. Best player I've ever seen, I don't begrudge him it.

What Dublin GAA has won this year...

Leinster treble (fourth in past decade)
All Ireland football (mens and ladies)
U21 football championship
Leinster senior club football
All Ireland club hurling

But of course money doesn't buy success!!

As for Gooch´s dinner I am uncomfortable with it as I have seen some big figures floating in terms of what he will receive. The idea is to reward his service but his playing ability landed him on the Sunday Game and doing lots of commercial work with his employers.

If it was only for charity and the man got something as a decent token from it it would sit easier. It just doesn´t sit well with GAA people when you look at the run for Adam Burke and all the deserved credit and exposure it is getting.

Huge figures alright... Quarter of a million in total, split equally for charity - so a cool 125,000 for Gooch.

Hope he makes €500k from it and keeps it all for himself. He's the man who slogged his guts out for 15 years to be what he is today, he's the man who has come back from numerous injuries, he's the man who put his life on hold for his club and county while middle aged suits were taking all the credit for the GAA's healthy financial position. It's people like Colm Cooper who have the GAA in such a healthy state. Not paid referees, not paid managers, not paid GAA coaches, not paid county and provincial delegates.

Irony is a hard sell on the likes of Brolly, McKenna and everyone other journalist who make money commentating on amateur GAA players. They witter on about volunteerism and the financial plight of clubs but what have these people done for their clubs? Sweet fuck all is the answer. You don't see Joe Brolly or Ewan McKenna down at their local clubs cutting pitches or presenting medals to underage players. They're too busy sitting behind keyboards criticising the very people who make them money.

Bizarre.

If you think top players are strictly amateur Taibi, you are mad. I believe Joe Brolly by the way does an awful lot from coaching to fundraising for clubs.

It was mentioned in the piece that Joe gives all his Sunday Game money to clubs and causes. He also is flat out coaching in Antrim.
He doesn't take any fees for any fundraising events either. My mate had a thing in Cavan and Joe was the only lad who returned the fee. As much as he annoys me at times I think he is genuine in the article.

For the record I also think that players should be allowed get as many benefits from their playing as possible, but this is just a step too far.

Good for Joe. Colm Cooper also does a lot for his club or does that not matter? I suppose Cooper doesn't remind us every week in his articles of what he has put back into the grassroots of the GAA, but St. Brolly certainly won't let us forget.

Joe Brolly is a wealthy man, Colm Cooper is not.

I don't know, I can't get worked up about it. Gooch makes a shedload of money - fair play to him. The man's a footballing genius. It's hardly the end of civilisation.

It is also true that Brolly has made a fortune from being a lawyer, not that I would ever say his philanthropic work is anything other than massively admirable.

Terrible analyst though. RTE football coverage hopelessly outdated, I can only watch Sky these days - I'm really ticking all's Joe's boxes, heh.

If Colm Cooper isn't a wealthy man, he needs to sack his accountant. Nor for a moment saying he doesn't deserve it but he has a lot of deals and I've seen the numbers around some like Lucozade.

Possibly the most interesting question around is... Will more players follow suit when they retire? Some people saying legislate for these type of events. Don't know how it'll pan out but certainly Gooch setting an interesting precedent...

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

Possibly the most interesting question around is... Will more players follow suit when they retire? Some people saying legislate for these type of events. Don't know how it'll pan out but certainly Gooch setting an interesting precedent...

That is the key question. Who else can do it and who has the star power to do it. Also, what do his former team mates think of it?
Like without Darragh O Se for example or Donaghy in more recent times he would not have won as much...
The star names already cash in as is in terms of commercial deals and appearances.

Colm Cooper also does loads up and down the country. We had him out with the young lads. He has no obligation whatsoever to show up in Kildare on a wet Saturday morning.

Still though while I can kind of see where Taibi is coming from I'm also uncomfortable with it. But Brolly et al can gtfo on this particular issue. He had no problem defending his fee for appearing on RTE. There's a pile of suits and journalists make a living from the GAA and I'm also uncomfortable with these throwing stones at Gooch.

And re: Dubs finances. There's been a few of us banging that drum here for quite a while. I don't think it would be unfair for the GAA to now say that "we've set ye lads up right now so no more money from us for the next 5 or 10 years while we concentrate on the other 31 counties". Sure their ridiculous sponsorship deals will just about keep them afloat.

Well, like I say, I don't begrudge Gooch at all but to go into the debate...

Colm Parkinson making that very point on his podcast - he was saying, are the lads who soldiered with Gooch going to be sitting going, 'What's going on here?! We played a huge part in those All Irelands as well.'

Wooly saying if one of the star forwards on his team had been getting the money he'd have been uncomfortable to say the least... I don't know, think Gooch has opened a can of worms with this one! And like I say, don't begrudge him at all but surprised, as he never once in his career really courted controversy.

Taibi wrote:

Hope he makes €500k from it and keeps it all for himself. He's the man who slogged his guts out for 15 years to be what he is today, he's the man who has come back from numerous injuries, he's the man who put his life on hold for his club and county while middle aged suits were taking all the credit for the GAA's healthy financial position. It's people like Colm Cooper who have the GAA in such a healthy state. Not paid referees, not paid managers, not paid GAA coaches, not paid county and provincial delegates.

Irony is a hard sell on the likes of Brolly, McKenna and everyone other journalist who make money commentating on amateur GAA players. They witter on about volunteerism and the financial plight of clubs but what have these people done for their clubs? Sweet fuck all is the answer. You don't see Joe Brolly or Ewan McKenna down at their local clubs cutting pitches or presenting medals to underage players. They're too busy sitting behind keyboards criticising the very people who make them money.

Bizarre.

Taibi:::::::: Having spent many years as a Club Delegate to GAA County Board  and later 10 years as an Officer in Ladies as well as Delegate to its Provincial and Central Council, I never got as much as a single cent or penny, in payment or expenses so I dislike your jibe at "paid County & Provincial delegates" who are just not paid........    
As for The Gouch dinner: I care less either way........

LGFA has nothing got to do with the GAA so I couldn't care less.

There's secretaries (paid a full-time wage) and various dinosaurs on county boards getting paid very generous expenses, but when one of the best players the country has ever seen decides he'd like to make some money, he's greedy and bringing the ethos of the GAA into disrepute. What a load of shite!

What about all these guys abandoning their clubs and counties to try and make some money in the AFL? Are they greedy too?

Hypocrites everywhere.

Speaking of 'bringing game into disrepute'... I've heard it suggested in some quarters that the concluding stages of final - Dubs rugby tackling Mayo backs; Kilkenny black card; Keegan throwing GPS unit at Rock - represented some kind "new low" in GAA. I'm not sure if we can actually get any lower as we seem to have one every six months...

Anyway, don't buy it at all tbh as win at all costs mentality has always been part of football and always will be. And if Kildare are narrowly ahead of Dublin in eighth minute of injury time next year I expect to see every trick in the book deployed... It's the ruthlessness you need.

Incidentally anyone else think those incidents showed what an absolute farce black card is. 2013 final supposedly symbolic of why black card was introduced - this year's final was actually worse!

It might open a can of worms alright.. if people are willing to fork out the money for the Goochs dinner then let the can open.
I've no doubts more will follow and if so and like was said a chunk of it is going to Charity why not.

Maybe Im being totally green here but did he not come out and say its all for charity ... ? If yes, then its a non issue other than the positive exposure he will get from it etc. Would have no problem with that