Open night for supporters this Friday (May 10th)

[Lone Shark]

Details here - http://www.offaly.gaa.ie/offaly-news/fa ... aopennight

While I'm delighted to see Offaly doing their bit in terms of a "meet and greet" bit for supporters, and I'm doubly pleased that the event is taking place in conjunction with an attractive SHC tie which should bring out a big crowd, you really have to wonder at the wisdom of splitting it up into two separate occasions. Surely to jaysus there should be a case for having one night for the two codes, and you could still play the SHC fixture on the cards. For example, why can't the footballers go to Banagher as well for the night that's in it? There are plenty of pitches there they could train on, and it would be no harm give a bit of exposure to the big ball code in a town like Banagher either. Alternatively they could have split the nights up and done them on separate evenings. I know there is a stubborn drive to have the same thing taking place on Friday nights everywhere, but surely we could have made an exception?

That said it could have been worse. The Westmeath hurlers will have to attend theirs even after being knocked out of the Leinster championship already. That's particularly poor management.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

How did this go, was anyone at it?

[Lone Shark]

I was in Banagher, some good elements, some not so good. A good scatter of kids around but for obvious reasons, a lot of players weren't present, which was fair enough. They have commitments to their clubs and on the weekend that was in it, it wasn't reasonable for anyone to be expected to show up when it didn't suit. In fairness to the players from Kilcormac-Killoughey and Birr, they were all happy to stand around, sign autographs and take pictures with kids etc. I can't imagine it was easy for lads like Rory Hanniffy and Paul Cleary to do that after the match they'd just played, but they swallowed their pain and made themselves available, as we'd nearly expect in the case of two utter gentlemen, as they are. Little things like this don't always get acknowledged, but they should. Commitment to the cause isn't just about making training and foregoing pints.

Ollie Baker too was happy to take pictures, sign autographs, chat to people and generally enter into the spirit of it all.

I'd also have a very positive word here for the St Rynaghs club - there was tea, coffee, sandwiches, cakes and the like all available for anyone who wanted them.

On the negative, there didn't seem to be a lot of direction and nobody really knew what was going on. I'd say this was probably the case in a lot of situations, but still there were a lot of kids who didn't know what was going on.

My only genuine disappointment at the whole thing was one particular player, who would be among the better known players in the squad and who would be someone that the kids would love to have met. He attended the game so clearly wasn't on duty with his club, indeed I saw other fellow club members in attendance, and then he scooted away with a couple of minutes to go. He possibly had somewhere to be and I'm sure there was no ill will meant, but a lot of kids were asking where he was afterwards, having seen him in the crowd and a few waited around till the death hoping to meet him. In that instance, he would have been better to either not go to the game if he didn't want the hassle or had somewhere else to be, or else to just take the extra half an hour and be part of it.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Perhaps the absent player boycotted the Open Night in a bid to have more hurling matches in Burr?

[allstar2010]

Perhaps the absent player boycotted the Open Night in a bid to have more hurling matches in Burr?

What is it with you misspelling place names, very annoying!

[gingernut]

Very poorly organised as 90% of players as well as supporters were not informed and unaware. Most of whom would loved to have been part of the event. Critical commentary should be adequately informed at least. Quite disappointing to see personal opinions and assumptions result in ineffective reporting, very amateur approach but I suppose this is not a professional context. Hopefully the next event will be better organised and players will be informed to allow everyone to get the fulfillment and enjoyment such an event should bring.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The way some Dublin people pronounce 'Birr' phonetically grinds my gears. When they make it rhyme with 'whirr'. It's pronounced 'Burr', for feck sake. That probably comes from the Irish pronunciation of Biorra.

What is it with you misspelling place names, very annoying!

Perhaps the absent player boycotted the Open Night in a bid to have more hurling matches in Burr?

[Lone Shark]

Very poorly organised as 90% of players as well as supporters were not informed and unaware. Most of whom would loved to have been part of the event. Critical commentary should be adequately informed at least. Quite disappointing to see personal opinions and assumptions result in ineffective reporting, very amateur approach but I suppose this is not a professional context. Hopefully the next event will be better organised and players will be informed to allow everyone to get the fulfillment and enjoyment such an event should bring.

Okay, I'll presume this was addressed at me, since I'm the only one who posted anything remotely approximating commentary above.

I don't see what more could have been done to promote the event. The national GAA website, the Offaly GAA website, Offaly GAA Facebook, Offaly GAA Twitter, local newspapers and local radio stations all highlighted this event. Croke Park dictated that there was to be no flexibility on the date and that was disappointing, however from an Offaly point of view, I think a very reasonable effort was made to highlight the time and place, in the short time that was allocated. Ollie Baker quite rightly said that he didn't want to instruct clubs to release players for the event seeing as it was a championship weekend and many of the clubs would be meeting, training, or perhaps players would want to lie low. However I'd be shocked to learn that players were unaware this was going on - and I know that in some cases at least, players were informed. Obviously I can't speak for everyone on the panel or vouch for an official instruction from management. Certainly from a supporters' point of view, barring they took out ads on RTE or brought out billboards, the Offaly county board did all they could.

Just to clarify, I'm not naming names here because I genuinely believe that the player in question must have had good reason for leaving when he did, and I really thought I stressed that below. Consequently I don't want to be seen to accuse a player of shirking, or to allow other people to draw a similar conclusion. Can I ask what I've said that you consider amateur or ineffective reporting? Obviously I don't get paid for posting on here but if I am amateur in my reporting, then I really need to think about a career change.

[gingernut]

Unfortunately if 90% of players did not know prior to the game it is clear that "more" could have been done. "Billboards" or "RTE" seem rather dramatic when the basics were not covered, i.e. players in general did not know about the event. This could have been avoided, for example by calling players, sending players a text, announcing the event at training sessions. The social media and websites used to promote the event are all aimed at informing the supporter, not the players. The KK and Birr players were only informed in the dressing room after the game.
Although you did not accuse any player of anything, insinuations were made. While names were not "named", any player who "scooted away with a couple of minutes to go" may be insulted by the insinuation that they did so because they didn't want "the hassle". Although I am unable to speak on behalf of all players I am relatively certain that events such as these are thoroughly enjoyable for players, as much as they are for supporters. The children and young supporters in particular give players a great feeling of gratitude and satisfaction in what they do and the commitment they make, and I would sincerely hope that none of the players could agree with the insinuation that they see it as "hassle".
As this is a blog scenario profesionalism of reporting is irrelevant and I wouldn't worry about another career change just yet. However if it were a professional situation I feel your post would be more characteristic of Hello mag or Gossip column journalism rather than sports reporting. Although you did present the information or news adequately, you failed to research or prepare your material very well and unfortunately it appeared as amatuer as you allowed it to come across as being very subjective to personal interpretation and assumption.
As a "supporter" that you claim to be, I feel your profession would be better served actually supporting the players, rather than making negative insinuations or assumptions on their behalf

[Lone Shark]

Okay, there's a serious amount of inverted commas in there, some of which make sense, some of which seem to be quoting me, and some I've no idea what they refer to or what you're trying to communicate. I don't say that in an attempt to reduce this to an issue of pedantry, but I'm genuinely not sure if I'm supposed to read into some of those sentences or else take them literally.

Having said that, my feeling is that essentially, the nub of your message is that the panel were not informed of this event. I have heard contrary to this, but I will investigate further certainly. I was told that players were told about the event but that they weren't expected to make themselves available if it conflicted with club duty, on the weekend that was in it. Perhaps there were some players who missed this message, or perhaps I'm being misled by a certain individual for some reason. Either way I'll check it out, but it doesn't change the nub of the matter that it was a pity that the whole thing didn't work out a bit better.

As a "supporter" that you claim to be, I feel your profession would be better served actually supporting the players, rather than making negative insinuations or assumptions on their behalf

Jesus H. My assumptions, as listed below, were that the player must have had somewhere else to be, that there was no ill will meant, and that I genuinely believe that the player had good reason for leaving. And I cannot reiterate that often enough - I don't want to go into detail about the past history of the player because no good would be served by identifying him, but he's never been anything but a good ambassador for our county in the past, and that's all the more reason why the way this worked out is a pity. Can you please tell me which part of this was/is negative?

[Plain of the Herbs]

Spare a thought for the Offaly Senior hurlers who seemingly are constantly being kept in the dark as to forthcoming events like matches, training or meet-and-greet nights. Or at least 90% of them are. In a panel of 30 hurlers, that's 27 people. Quite an number.

Sadly they don't find these things out by phone or text. They aren't told at training and they aren't on Twitter or Facebook. Time was when these things could be announced by the Priest at Mass but this is not an option any more for obvious reasons.

It doesn't bode well for the match against Kilkenny. With so many hurlers kept in the dark it's quite possible there won't even be a match. Best not to purchase a ticket in advance just in case. Like a club league match, we won't know there's actually going to be a match until 10 minutes before it actually starts.

So if you happen to bump into an Offaly Senior hurler you might be so kind as to take a minute to remind them of the Kilkenny match. It's on Sunday 9th June at 2pm. And seeing as it is a mere 40 years since Offaly played a home championship match in Birr and six years since they last played a league match there (a very short time in the overall history of the world), please tell them the match is in Tullamore. We wouldn't want them to show up in Birr now, would we?

The practice of the current management of not informing players when matches are to start is in stark contrast to the previous manager. Ollie Baker's predecessor didn't tell the players when matches actually ended, and more often than not Offaly were left with 14 players by game's end.

So please - spread the word. Your county needs you.

[King Kev]

What exactly are you trying to say POTH?? I wonder if you bumped into any offaly senior hurler would you be as mouthy? Very unlikely. Not that they'd give a shit what you think . Just as well.

[beirut]

I hope the reason for that trash above was a few too many pints or sun stroke POTH? What I've learned in the last week about POTH:

1. He/She has a real hatred of Drumcullen
2. He/She takes every chance to get a dig in to those who would like county hurling and big club hurling matches back in Birr
3. coming soon...

[allstar2010]

Ah lads in fairness, I think POTH was taking the p*ss after one poster suggested 90% of the players weren't informed eventhough it was well advertised on twitter and Facebook and other social networks. I reckon at least 90% if not all of them are on some sort of social network so there's no excuse really for players not knowing it was on.

[Bord na Mona man]

When is this event taking place?
I'd love to go along!