The Sunday Game

Spoke with someone in the Sunday Game office on Monday and sent this letter today re the programme's coverage last weekend:



I'm an avid GAA fan and an avid watcher of The Sunday Game and I'm fully aware that no one can please all of the people all of the time but I do have some observations about last Sunday's edition (May 26th).

You covered four Leinster quarter-finals in football. The entire package on the Laois/Westmeath match was 2 mins 44 secs. The Kildare/Longford package was 3 mins 40 secs. The Carlow/Meath package was 4 mins 53 secs and the Dublin/Louth package was 7 mins 6 secs.

Quite a disparity and, given that Dublin will progress through to late summer while most, if not all, of the other teams in Leinster will have one or two more outings maximum, would it not be worthwhile giving the weight of time to those teams before they disappear from the championship?

And, please, don't fob me off with the notion that because the first two matches mentioned were on Sunday you had a shortage of editing time!

Part of the Dublin/Louth package was a piece on Dublin fans travelling to Portlaoise - less than an hour down the road - as if it were a trip to Antarctica. What about the fans who travel throughout the summer to Croke Park for Dublin's plethora of (effectively) home games?

Did someone genuinely believe this trip was worth a package on The Sunday Game - come on, get a life!

My second point concerns the panel composition - a Dublin presenter; a former Dublin footballer and a staunch apologist for Dublin football (listen back to Joe Brolly) - you can do better than that!

Finally, when half the country - maybe 80% of the country - is talking about the financial and population imbalance that has destroyed the Leinster football championship, it goes without any serious debate or analysis on The Sunday Game.

Fair play to you – all good points.

There needs to be a serious debate on Sunday Game re financial doping of Dublin – a subject which is currently highly contentious in soccer because of Man City.

And Dublin are the Man City of GAA, which as you say goes totally unacknowledged on The Dub-Day Game.

Hopefully we get over Longford because we need to use Dublin game as an opportunity to raise these huge issues facing the association.

These questions are much more interesting and important than a meaningless game between Louth and Dublin. And why aren't they being raised by self-styled bad boy of the GAA Joe Brolly.

The whole thing is a pile of crap.

Fair play Tom and fair dues to you - totally correct on the travelling section of it prob as if it was a trip to Antartcica - could of asked about where we the other 40,000 'true' Dublin GAA fans that slobber around and won't travel outside the county but that's why we need their games in Croke Park...….

100 per cent. It's the PR arm of the Dublin county board. I see Des with John Horan in Croke Park announcing a six-figure sposorship deal for a... club.

Des do be a busy man - that's probably why he has so little to say on TSG

The Football coverage in general is cat.. very few Matches are being showed live on rte.. Not sure if either of the Leinster Semis are pencilled in, unless maybe Sky have it ?.

Side note, anyone here a club board member with a club email address. If you so you might DM me, working on a little project, you may or may not want in but let me pitch it your way.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

The Football coverage in general is cat.. very few Matches are being showed live on rte.. Not sure if either of the Leinster Semis are pencilled in, unless maybe Sky have it ?.

I think only provincial finals on TV

I like hurling.. but it's been overdosed.
Can't believe no one showing our next weekend match.

Don't worry Seamus, the overdose in football is coming and we'll actually forget hurling exists. That's why the round-robins were hastily put together because hurling folk pointed out that problem with the Super 8s. So this was the solution. More GAA reactionary bollocks, from which the club gets milled once again.

Why would you want to show Dublin in any game prior to the Super 8s in truth? Have to show the provincial final. I would understand completely why you wouldn't show Dublin-Kildare when there's do-or-die hurling championship on

I'm away for the weekend, and can't get to Croker.. so have a bit of meitis.. it'll be kfm so.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

I'm away for the weekend, and can't get to Croker.. so have a bit of meitis.. it'll be kfm so.

A dose but hopefully Ger can paint the pictures for you - hopefully they'll be pictures you want painted!

Financial doping is a fallacy it is an excuse used to paper over the massive cracks in Kildare GAA. (Both hurling and football). It is not how much money you get but what you do with the money that is important. Are we using our money wisely to develop games in Kildare ......?????? I feel sorry for the players who pull on the white jersey and are subjected to such humiliation. The root of the problem is with the county board and the county chairman mr Donnelly. At the end of the day he is the main man and always remains quiet after these humiliations. He is the man who put his name forward to take the position of chairman of the county board and should be held accountable for his actions. Cian o Neil is in fairness out of his depth but has always tried his best. He is mr Donnelly’s appointment. It is not the managers job that should be questioned but the person who persisted with Jason Ryan for too long and then led a flawed process to find his replacement. Mr Donnelly must go.,,, FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAA IN KILDARE.

Can someone block this f**kwit. Like Man City. Can't enjoy bought successes so try stop others discussing that reality. But before you block him, he might read this while telling others how to spend the money they never got.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/ewan-mackenna-cracks-are-appearing-in-the-dublin-gaa-model-and-its-time-to-ask-if-their-house-really-is-in-order-37223231.html

Tommy, you wrote a piece on the breakdown of funding per player. Any chance you could post the link? Need some ammo before work today to fire back at mouthy Dub fans.
Facts and figures trump every argument.

Shay tompkins wrote:

Financial doping is a fallacy it is an excuse used to paper over the massive cracks in Kildare GAA. (Both hurling and football). It is not how much money you get but what you do with the money that is important. Are we using our money wisely to develop games in Kildare ......?????? I feel sorry for the players who pull on the white jersey and are subjected to such humiliation. The root of the problem is with the county board and the county chairman mr Donnelly. At the end of the day he is the main man and always remains quiet after these humiliations. He is the man who put his name forward to take the position of chairman of the county board and should be held accountable for his actions. Cian o Neil is in fairness out of his depth but has always tried his best. He is mr Donnelly’s appointment. It is not the managers job that should be questioned but the person who persisted with Jason Ryan for too long and then led a flawed process to find his replacement. Mr Donnelly must go.,,, FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAA IN KILDARE.

Ah, there you are again. Johnny Come Lately. How was the Hill or did you just stay at home and troll?
Haunted Graffiti, you thought I was bad for italics etc - this chap loves the CAPITALS (including Dublin)

Done with this show after last night too - Maybe it was the mood i was in but the bungled punditry and fawning over "the champs" is just too much.

So biased, highlights reel for Stephen Cluxton, limited chat about the game, avoiding the elephant in the room, mumbling des... The list goes on.

You'd think maybe the death of football would merit a few mins, but no – Cahill waffling on about Stephen Cluxton.

Amongst serious football fans, it is now a bit of a joke – RTE wasting public money yet again.

More power to Tommy calling out Brolly & Sunday Lame on Twitter - playing a blinder... Our real MVP this season.