Test 1 - International Rules 2011

Action from Limerick last year

There isn't much excitement or hype around the International Rules this year. The media spotlight has mostly been focused on the Presidential election and the recent flooding. Also the Dubs aren't ready to move to the next challenge. They still want to bask in their All-Ireland victory. Last year, the failure to generate hype could be partially blamed on the fact that the Daily Mail was the official sponsor. Obviously other newspapers aren't eager to put a competitor's logo on the front page. What's the problem this year?

All-Ireland Final Preview

Sam is headed back to Kerry.

It all comes down to this. Dublin. Kerry. 70 minutes for a lifetime of glory. The buzz from Dunquin to Dublin is second to none. The banter and the predictions are everywhere - who's going to stop The Gooch, Cluxton's kickouts will be the difference, Kerry's experience will see them through and on and on. Today is my favourite day of the year.

In All-Ireland Finals, poise and polish win the day and Kerry have both in droves. Kerry have been to the Final in 9 of the past 12 years. They know what it takes.

A Mother's Love...for Tickets

by guest author Maria Shanahan

3 days before the match, Dublin is enjoying its own mini Indian Summer while the rain is threatening ruin on the Listowel Races. My mother is walking around Dun Laoghaire with a Kerry scarf around her neck, a stash of All Ireland tickets in her handbag, and casting furtively suspicious looks at anyone who walks too close to her. You could leave them in your safe at home, I point out helpfully. “They’re safer on me than in the house! What if we got burgled?!”, she scoffs, completely rational.

My formidable mother has hunted and gathered no less than 7 tickets this year, 2011, the Kerry Dublin final for which we anticipated all manner of beg, borrow, stealing and little reward. Now that (mum‘s) hard work is done we can abandon the usual annual anxiety and look forward to the match. A rare luxury for this family, and one that doesn’t sit too well.

All-Ireland Ticket Madness

2 tickets in exchange for your soul

I've been far too busy to post to the blog. What have I been doing you ask? I've been scouring the island trying to find a ticket to the All-Ireland Final. I haven't slept in days and haven't bathed in weeks. However my quest is over. I'll be going to the Final.

In truth, I did nothing but enquire meekly around my work. Despite this sorry effort a wonderful Kerry supporter took pity on me and yet again will be bringing me to the Final. As a group of four tickets sold for nearly 2 grand as mentioned here, I wonder how I'll ever pay her back.

Sunday Qualifiers July 31st

'Not very excited today'

I'm heading to Croker now but I'm not too excited. The bookies have Kerry favoured at +9 and Cork at +5. I think both matches could be much worse. The Kerry panel is the best its been all year with Paul Galvin making his first start of the year and Tomas O'Se returning from suspension. They are going to crush Limerick. The Cork match might be a bit closer but I don't expect a real challenge from Mayo. Then again, I've only seen Mayo once this year and the conditions were awful. I'm going to put on a handful of bets just to keep it interesting. I suggest you do the same.

Quarterfinals & the Last Qualifier

'Let's make Kerry play Limerick and Cork only!'

Games this weekend:
Saturday - Tyrone v Roscommon, Donegal v Kildare
Sunday - Kerry v Limerick, Cork v Mayo

There's only one interesting match this weekend in Donegal v Kildare. The other three won't even be close. Kerry, Cork and Tyrone will mangle their feeble opponents. The Kerry draw is particularly lame. Through the magic of the provincial system and draw their path to an All-Ireland Final requires beating Limerick twice and Cork twice. Wow, that's just awful.

Kildare v Donegal
This one is a great clash of styles. Kildare play a wide-open game and look to shoot like wild-west gunsligers. Donegal leave practically everyone behind the ball and then look to counter-attack quickly. I might have picked Donegal if they had a bit more firepower up front. Micheal Murphy is not enough on his own to equal the points from distance that Kildare will inevitably pile up. Also Kildare have a new dimension in Tomas O'Connor and he's sure to give the Donegal defense fits.
Kildare +3

Micko Wants to See Open Championship Draw

'Mick looking like Quint from Jaws'

Legendary manager Mick O'Dwyer as a guest on The Committee Room said he'd like to see the provincial system scrapped. I couldn't agree more. Where's the fairness if there are 12 teams in Leinster and 5 in Connaght? It's possible that Kerry will play Limerick twice and Cork twice and then the All-Ireland Final! That's a waste. An open draw would be good for the game and fair for the players.

Qualifiers - Saturday July 23rd

'We're going to Croker!'

This is a great weekend for football with some interesting clashes. The Croke Park double-bill is a hot ticket as first Derry take on Kildare followed by a rematch of the last year's All-Ireland Final with Cork v. Down. The other two matches are Tyrone v. Armagh and Wexford v. Limerick. The winner of the Tyrone v. Armagh match has a meeting with Roscommon the following week to determine the last spot of the final eight.  Let's take a look at the match-ups...

Kildare Finishes Strong; Other Matches Not Shown

'Let's play all the matches at once!'

Kildare 2-11
Meath 0-14
Due to the genius decision to schedule all the qualifiers at 7pm we were only able to watch the Kildare v Meath match. The radio was our only option for the other matches. RTE's online player didn't carry any extra games. Nice work all around boys!

There really weren't any surprises as Kildare, Armagh, Down and Limerick advanced. The Kildare performance left plenty of questions.

Qualifiers - Saturday July 16th

Wicklow supporters

I'm disappointed with this week's draw in the qualifiers. All the matches set counties from the same province against each other. Weak! Kildare and Meath have already met in the provincial championship. The Limerick v. Waterford match is irrelevant as both sides have shown they are miles away from the top. Antrim v. Down should have the usual Ulster pace and physicality.

Still, this draw is a lost opportunity for the provinces to mix it up. Playing outside your province allows for additional pride and bragging rights. It also gives punters another layer of intrigue to their booze soaked ramblings. All is not lost though because the Wicklow v. Armagh replay has me considering a drive to Aughrim to scalp tickets...never thought I'd say that!

Dublin v. Wexford - A Sloppy Mess

Hill 16 La La La

Dublin 2-12
Wexford 1-12
A sloppy mess. That phrase ran through my mind for 70 minutes yesterday in Croke Park. Even Pat Gilroy called the match 'ugly'. The quality of play was poor enough that most think Dublin are no longer serious contenders for the All-Ireland.

Both teams were sloppy throughout and lacked a sense of urgency. The match didn't have the intensity we expect in a Leinster Final. Both teams played defensive football leaving all but 2 behind the ball. There were a shocking number of errant handpasses  and other unforced errors made by both sides but particularly Wexford. Wexford gave up an own goal!

For Dublin, Bernard Brogan had a poor afternoon. The others in the front line - Diarmuid Connolly and Eoghan O'Gara - were awful. Mossie Quinn was brought in but was equally ineffective. Kevin McMenamin at least ran at the defense and made an impact.

I want to end this post with some positives from the day. Alan Brogan was excellent. He was showing for the ball all over the pitch and played with real fire. Ben Brosnan was a constant threat for Wexford and finished with 0-9. Surely Cork and Kerry were delighted yesterday as we seem to be back to a two-horse race for Sam.

Pick 5 - Round 2 Qualifiers

I'm late posting because I've been playing around with Google+. In case you don't know it's Google's new social media platform - if you need an invite post a comment below with your email address.  Who says you can't mix Web 2.0 and Gaelic football?!? Anyway here are my five picks for the evening matches.

Kerry hold on for Munster Championship; Micheal Quirke is Terrible

Final Score in Killarney

Kerry never trailed and were able to see off a tremendous second half surge by Cork to retain the Munster Championship.

The Kingdom dominated the first half much to the delight of the 43,000 in attendance. The thrill of the match and the warm sunshine proved too much for some in the crowd as a man next to me in the O'Connor Stand spent the first 10 minutes of the match screaming and the rest sitting with his head down. Maybe he just had too many pints but a poor performance on his part nonetheless.

Controversy at the end of the Dublin v. Kildare match

Here's the best video I can find of the free given to Dublin in the closing moments of the Leinster Semi-Final. Have a look and decide for yourself if the ref should have blown the whistle. It's a real shame to see such a great match ruined by a single call. We've seen huge mistakes by the refs this year already yet I don't hear about anything being done to improve the situation. Is there anyone who thinks a single ref in his 50s can reasonably cover the 130-145 metres of the pitch and not make mistakes? In this case he decided there was a foul from about 50 metres away. The players and fans deserve better.

Munster SFC: Cork v. Kerry

Tickets are reported to be nearly sold out for the Munster SFC. Here's the link to purchase tickets that are still available.

I'll be heading down to Killarney for the Munster Final on Sunday. This is the first match I'm truly excited to see this summer. There have been some great matches already but this is the first with a sense of anticipation.

The result is a tough one to call. The starting line-ups are closely matched. Cork have a better midfield and bench. Still I think the fire-power of the front six for Kerry combined with the home field will see The Kingdom as Munster Champions.

Leinster SFC: Wexford v. Dublin

Does anyone think Wexford has a chance in the Leinster final? They hammered Carlow last week. Any believers out there?

Most Overrated Player?

After watching the Armagh v Derry Ulster Semifinal I was left shaking my head at times thinking about how some players are badly overrated. We all know there are plenty to choose from. I want to invite comments to this post: who do you think are the most overrated footballers?

Dublin Short of Options

Who are the Dubs?

Cork 0-21
Dublin 2-14
I don't think we learned much about Dublin and Cork that we didn't already know on Sunday. We knew Dublin could more than hold their own against the defending All-Ireland Champions and that they are a real contender to lift Sam in September. We knew Cork was more experienced and tough as nails in midfield. I don't think we knew just how badly the Dublin attack would breakdown with Bernard Brogan on the sideline. That's exactly what happened when Cork returned from an 8-point deficit to win the National League Final for the second year in a row. Let's take a look at a few issues in the match...

Division 1 Final: Cork have nothing to lose, Dublin have everything to prove

Dublin will meet Cork today in the decider of an exciting League in every division. Dublin are undefeated and carry quite a bit of momentum into the match. We've all heard about their 6am training sessions through the winter and now is the chance for that hard work to pay off.

Overheard in the Snug: April 10th

Missed you last week

I was busy moving last Sunday so I didn't have time to eavesdrop in the snug. Instead I was moving heavy boxes and complaining to anyone who'd listen. Now that the complaints are out of my system I'm able to focus on an important final week of the League. I'm starting to think the League is more important than most will admit. Most shrug off the League as the time to get your house in order for the summer by trying new people in new positions. The increasingly professional approach to the game by players and management means the League is starting to be more important. Dublin have laid down a marker this spring with 6am training sessions and an undefeated campaign to show for their efforts. With the importance of the League in mind here are my points for the week.