Radio 3
Lone Shark wrote:Plain of the Herbs wrote: Now, many supporters appreciate and value Radio3’s coverage of GAA. In fairness to them , they are (I think) the only radio station to cover three counties, there is a difficult balance to strike and I think they generally do it well. They also cover plenty of other sports, Junior soccer, Senior and provincial rugby, Mullingar dogs, Portlaoise basketball, local cricket, horse racing and much more.
They aren't the only radio station that attempts to cover that number of counties, but they are the only ones to do it properly. Ask anyone in Leitrim about Shannonside radio and you'll quickly be informed about how it's far from the norm for a radio station to be able so cover three territories properly.
It's to the immense credit of Will O'Callaghan that I knew the man for a good while before I knew where he was actually from - such was his depth of knowledge and interest in all three counties. Genuinely, we're blessed to have him.
On the general points raised, I note that we're in group three of the minor league, and that Kerry have dished out similarly big beatings to Wicklow and Meath - so I'm guessing that the next game might not be a foregone conclusion to the same extent. Also, Westmeath, Carlow, Wexford and Dublin are all taking part as well, but are in different groups. If we're in this group on account of seeding that's one thing, but it may just be the draw, which is hardly something that people can be blamed for.
The social media aspect is of course unforgivable. Even if Midlands 103's service was poor, it would be ill-advised to take shots at them, while to do so in the situation that existed simply defied belief. You'd like to think that both a public and private apology would be forthcoming, but there's no sign of the former anyway. This is all happening in an environment where the only promotion of our games is in the local media. The county board website has had two pieces of news up on it in the last ten days, while games like minors hurlers playing at home, the county under-21 football final, and a round of county under-21 hurling quarter finals all went without mention or preview.
As for the Paudie Butler comment, well that's just the latest in a long line of anecdotes that makes me despair.
Radio 3 is great for my purposes.
They bounce around to all the relevant games they can and the announcers are generally passionate, but clear. Hardly have any problem getting a feel for what is happening.
The guys that cover the games are clearly 'radio announcers' (meaning they comment on every turn of the screw). That is important for the radio listener.
I did not notice any outages during the game. I'm listening over the Internet and do not recall much buffering even. Was giving the screw gun a workout that day and did tune out (no pun intended) when they went away from the Limerick game.
If I email the station with a comment or a question they never fail to get back to me.
For those of us who have limited options for keeping up with the real time action, they provide an awesome service.
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.