[Waspie]

EWS, on Jun 29 2008, 15:13, said:

Currently watching Dublin vs Westmeath in the GAA Football All-Ireland Leinster Semi-Final. With my girlfriend being Irish, her brother watches it and I've been following Down recently. Seems quite interesting and suprisingly entertaining. Got Down vs Armagh later on.

So anyone else?

Ive been following GAA for years and used to play a bit as well. The football championship in the summer is superb and there are always some fantastic matches, the Down v. Tyrone replay a couple of weeks ago was a great game. Hopefully Down stick it on Armagh this afternoon as well.

With players representing the county of their birth there is great local pride you dont really get in many other other sports.

Hurling is good too but spoiled a bit of late by the same teams dominating year in year out.

[houston_bud]

it strikes me as the type of sport you'd invent with your pals when you were about 8yrs old.

[bobbykdy]

houston_bud, on Jun 30 2008, 02:10, said:

it strikes me as the type of sport you'd invent with your pals when you were about 8yrs old.

That reminds of when I was about 7 myself and ma pals inventing the rule at fitba "if the keeper gets a hand to the ball and it still goes in its no a goal"

Christ knows what we were on

[pollymac]

Does GAA football count as 'Other Fitba'?

If not, get it off tae f*ck. General nonsense for this pish.

[djn]

cow-bite. moo, on Jun 30 2008, 12:59, said:

Does GAA football count as 'Other Fitba'?

If not, get it off tae f*ck. General nonsense for this pish.

Dunno. But when Beyemystic sees the topic is "Gaa" and not "GAA" he'll have a hissy fit

[Waspie]

cow-bite. moo, on Jun 30 2008, 12:59, said:

Does GAA football count as 'Other Fitba'?

If not, get it off tae f*ck. General nonsense for this pish.

As its another code of football I think you can just about get away with it .

[PrestwickKillie]

cow-bite. moo, on Jun 30 2008, 12:59, said:

Does GAA football count as 'Other Fitba'?

If not, get it off tae f*ck. General nonsense for this pish.

I thought tims pyoor luvvd Irish culchur?

[Beyemystic]

djn, on Jun 30 2008, 13:28, said:

Dunno. But when Beyemystic sees the topic is "Gaa" and not "GAA" he'll have a hissy fit

Actually I have memories of watching the RTE coverage of Gaelic stuff on a grainy wee telly during annual long summer holidays in the south. Although I built up a sort of admiration for the 'Lillywhites' of Kildare (can't remember why) it was essentially quite boring. Primarily because I never understood the rules or, by extension, what was going on.

Still, when one's 'holidays' consisted of a month driving round rainy Ireland in an Austin Montego and meeting progressively more eccentric relatives, you had to take your entertainment where you found it

[djn]

Bart Simpson, on Jun 30 2008, 21:14, said:

Attendances fill Croke Park in the finals, must be 70,000-80,0000 without the full stadium upgraded.

Last time I was in Dublin it was full of people in shirts for teams, I think there were two games at Croke Park that day, really good to see rival fans mix with no trouble, and some local pride. Would never happen in Scotland

[pollymac]

PrestwickKillie, on Jun 30 2008, 15:06, said:

I thought tims pyoor luvvd Irish culchur?

Why don't you have your r*ngers crest as your avatar?

[louisxiv]

djn, on Jun 30 2008, 22:15, said:

Last time I was in Dublin it was full of people in shirts for teams, I think there were two games at Croke Park that day, really good to see rival fans mix with no trouble, and some local pride. Would never happen in Scotland

I went to the Finals at Croke park years ago. Two games (?) which I seem to remember being fairly entertained byconsidering I bought the tickets because I thought it was football, not GAA.

[PrestwickKillie]

cow-bite. moo, on Jun 30 2008, 23:09, said:

Why don't you have your r*ngers crest as your avatar?

Because I'm not a Rangers fan

[Cardinal Richelieu]

EWS, on Jun 29 2008, 15:13, said:

Got Down vs Armagh later on.

Oooooh. How exciting. An all-British semi-final.

[djn]

Cardinal Richelieu, on Jul 1 2008, 08:37, said:

Oooooh. How exciting. An all-British semi-final.

[Waspie]

Owen Mulligan downs the Dubs in 2005..

http://youtube.com/w...feature=related

And a wee scuffle between the few teams a few months later..

http://youtube.com/w...feature=related

This post has been edited by Waspie: 01 July 2008 - 14:06

[Mocko]

I motherf'king love Gaelic football. It is a brilliant sport. It's got all the fundamental skills of ball sport while still being an absolute bitch to master and perfect. I've been playing at University and also for a club and it's just great.

If you're struggling to understand it, Wikipedia it for the basic rules cos it's a perfectly logical sport and challenging sport to take part in. Easy to learn, bitch-ass difficult to master (like any great sport). It's just a shame that it's restricted to the Irish and Irish diaspora tho. Any club makes new players feel welcome however.

As for the Championship, I've been told that I shouldn't be supporting Dublin as no-one outside Dublin likes them! Being from the Borders, a relatively diddy part in Scotland sports-wise - even at rugby - I have a soft spot for the efforts of Carlow but they'll never win ANYTHING. I think Meath beat them 1-25 0-08 a while back! Growing affections for Wexford (in the final of the Leinster I think) and Westmeath just now and Tipperary in the hurling but I'm willing to lean towards any county that I visit or meet a brilliant person from a particular place. I tend to support counties on who I meet from wherever they are. If an ar'hole comes from Clare, I'll want them to gat hammered unlike if I beat an awesome lad from Sligo sort of thing.

Look up your local GAA club if you're from the cities:

Glasgow - Tir Conail Harps; Glaschu Gaels; Sands McSwinneys
Edinburgh - Dunedin Connollys
Dundee - Dundee Dalriada (my team)

Great way to keep fit and an awesome social scene!

[Waspie]

Famous win by Tyrone today to clinch their 3rd All-Ireland title . After all the injury problems they have suffered over the last 3 years then going out to Down in Ulster back in June I would never have predicted they would come back and win Sam this year, a great achievement by a great team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_i. ..mes/7628281.stm

[caoimhin]

Waspie, on Jun 29 2008, 15:32, said:

Ive been following GAA for years and used to play a bit as well. The football championship in the summer is superb and there are always some fantastic matches, the Down v. Tyrone replay a couple of weeks ago was a great game. Hopefully Down stick it on Armagh this afternoon as well.

With players representing the county of their birth there is great local pride you dont really get in many other other sports.

Hurling is good too but spoiled a bit of late by the same teams dominating year in year out.

hurling is good too?buddy ,hurlings exceptional,football can't hold a candle to it!i take your point that ,with kilkenny being so far in front of the rest,the outcome of the championship is hardly in doubt over the next few years but it doesn't detract from the overall state of the game.

[caoimhin]

Waspie, on Sep 21 2008, 19:49, said:

Famous win by Tyrone today to clinch their 3rd All-Ireland title . After all the injury problems they have suffered over the last 3 years then going out to Down in Ulster back in June I would never have predicted they would come back and win Sam this year, a great achievement by a great team.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_i. ..mes/7628281.stm

while fancied slightly beforehand,after their performances in the ulster championship i don't think anyone would have predicted that they could recover and go on to win sam.and to think ,tyrone fans were calling for mickey hartes head after the defeat to down.fair play to them