greenairfield wrote:Are we just gonna slag each other...? No point having a huge stadium with no hurlers to put in it. We were competitive when hurling was in Birr we are now falling off the the edge. The main reason for this was work wasn't been done at underage, but another factor is that we took hurling out of Birr.
So we the hurling people know what's best considering we were the ones involved when we were at the top. So for example are clodiagh gaels minor team really strong or is it that other teams are not up to it... seen them play and other minor teams this year I would say both.
So you can brag about Cliodagh gaels doing well and fair play for improving but offaly hurling is down in the gutter and it was never down there when Birr or Banagher were winning minor titles.
Unlesss hurling comes back we won't improve and all ye guys on this will have something argue about for the next 10 years.
Cheddar plunkett is doing it in laois and ye all have great praise for him.
SBP isn't in the same playing field as OCP when it comes to attendance but it would hold a nice crowd 5,000 + and has good facilities considering it doesnt owe a million like OCP.
If I genuinely wanted all hurling games to be played in OCP, I'd be delighted to see Birr advocates posting stuff like this. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that you have no idea how all that sounds. It reads like condescending, holier-than-thou, patronising rubbish and only serves to get peoples backs up. I've no doubt you'll have other people who will clap you on the back and say you're dead right, but right now you're like Donald Trump mopping up support from the extreme right wing in the US presidential race. When it comes to winning over the middle ground, this type of rhetoric turns people away.
greenairfield wrote:
So we the hurling people know what's best considering we were the ones involved when we were at the top.
Seriously - think about that comment for a minute and think about how it sounds. I was delighted to hear that the Walsh Cup games were fixed for SBP, but this is the kind of stuff that would turn your stomach.
Yes, Offaly hurling was stronger back in the 80s and 90s, when games were played in SBP. It was also a time when drink driving was unpoliced and smoking in pubs was allowed, but just like where we held our games, that had nothing to do with Offaly's success, it was based on some exceptional players and a very high standard in our club games. Your idea that the field of grass we hurled out home league matches on was a factor is like everything else about this argument - we're just supposed to take it on good faith, with no proper, mathematical evidence.
Two games on two consecutive sundays called off because the pitch wasn't playable, and yet we're supposed to take it on faith that it's draining perfectly.
Still no Slattery report for the ground, and yet we're supposed to take it on faith that it can hold 5,000 people.
As for the home advantage thing, you're correct. One result doesn't prove or disprove your theory. However as you may know, I spent a decade working in odds compilation, with primary responsibility for GAA games. I have studied results, tens of thousands of them in fact. And while there are some famous fixtures in GAA where home advantage tended to be a key factor (Cork vs Tipp, Cork vs Kerry football, Galway vs Mayo football), in the vast majority of cases it wasn't the stadium that was the issue, it was the distance. Meath were one of those counties that had an excellent home record, but when you look only at their local derbies, playing in Páirc Tailteann meant very little. It wasn't because of home advantage, it was because the away team had to travel to play.
There is no doubt that Offaly vs Cork in Birr was always considered a more winnable fixture than Offaly vs Cork in PUC or PUR, but that was only because of the distance. It would have been considered no less winnable in Tullamore. There is no way I would have changed the odds for an Offaly home game if it was moved from Tullamore to Birr or vice versa, or if a Limerick game was moved between Kilmallock and the Gaelic Grounds, or if a Tipp match switched between Thurles and Nenagh. The numbers simply didn't justify it.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.