The mountainy men .

ozy, did u really threaten to have someone banned, for referring to u as a 'mick' ?

Not banned, Freddie, that wouldn't be my decsion.  Reported, yes.

Betfair banned a forumite a couple of years ago for repeatedly throwing this term around, so it appears they are in accord with me.

I don't wish to debate the implications of the word, I just don't like it, several don't, including betfair it seems.

nothing to it. we re micks and paddys at the end of the day


that stuff shouldnt be taken seriously when there is a real racism debate at the moment

I dislike being referred to as a mick or a paddy.

maybe u dislike being irish too

Clearly enough people complained about it to Betfair to make them think its useage was not desireable.

That's not the reason,Betfair are terrified by politically correct people like Ozymandius and so are bullied into submission by these new liberal tyrants.

ozy , sadly for me i only reached primary level , i had to work , i come from a smashing family who came upon hard times , which ment i left school at 14 yrs ..so no uni for me ...work work and more work ....still i did my best , i always wanted to go on in education , but as i said the real world took over ... i only had  thee teachers during my school years , a beautiful lady till i reached the huge age of 7 ...then upstairs to the men ...the two teachers i had were country lads , one a lunatic from cork , who i now realise had a lot of problems , god love him...the other a lovely man from donegal , i went to meet him a few years ago , just to sit and talk , i met this wonderful gent who told me a lot about himself , he told me he was 21 when he came to our school and hadn't a clue , in fact he was amazed he'd qualified to be a teacher , he told me he was sorry for not been able to enhance my education ...in fact he apologized for what in his words , were his lack of understanding of what was needed to help us understand...a good man , scared to fail , i told him of my love of english literature , i'd read shaw , o casey , behan , i even read a little sheridan , my love of art , etc ,
        after a couple of hours we parted , i'd like to think he felt forgiven , funnily enough he ended up teaching in a irish collage in dublin...i managed to live a great life despite my lack of education ....i worked in the civil service for over 20yrs ..says a lot for them doesn't it....in 1999 i started my own business , i've owned horses , bred , owned , trained greyhounds , sired 4 wonderful children ,...not bad for one with so little education , my reading consists of the following , joyce , shaw , on the international front gurdjieff , p.d ouspensky ...etc ...i'm sorry if my lack of education upsets you or anyone else on here ...i would't swap been me for anything....

Tuesdays with Workrider

Fair play workrider, I respect that  and I can assure you hold no biases biased on educational level.

It's just that Borneo seems obsessed that the university chaps on here hold similar views on a few topics. I think its a chip on the shoulder thing, he is forever bringing it up.

Reading Joyce is beyond the capabilities of most University graduates btw, myself included.

i must admit its a struggle , but been a dub helps...if you know what i mean re mr joyce......

workrider 04 Dec 12 20:04 Joined: 29 Jun 02 | Topic/replies: 11,821 | Blogger: workrider's blog
ozy , sadly for me i only reached primary level , i had to work , i come from a smashing family who came upon hard times , which ment i left school at 14 yrs ..so no uni for me ...work work and more work ....still i did my best , i always wanted to go on in education , but as i said the real world took over ... i only had  thee teachers during my school years , a beautiful lady till i reached the huge age of 7 ...then upstairs to the men ...the two teachers i had were country lads , one a lunatic from cork , who i now realise had a lot of problems , god love him...the other a lovely man from donegal , i went to meet him a few years ago , just to sit and talk , i met this wonderful gent who told me a lot about himself , he told me he was 21 when he came to our school and hadn't a clue , in fact he was amazed he'd qualified to be a teacher , he told me he was sorry for not been able to enhance my education ...in fact he apologized for what in his words , were his lack of understanding of what was needed to help us understand...a good man , scared to fail , i told him of my love of english literature , i'd read shaw , o casey , behan , i even read a little sheridan , my love of art , etc ,
        after a couple of hours we parted , i'd like to think he felt forgiven , funnily enough he ended up teaching in a irish collage in dublin...i managed to live a great life despite my lack of education ....i worked in the civil service for over 20yrs ..says a lot for them doesn't it....in 1999 i started my own business , i've owned horses , bred , owned , trained greyhounds , sired 4 wonderful children ,...not bad for one with so little education , my reading consists of the following , joyce , shaw , on the international front gurdjieff , p.d ouspensky ...etc ...i'm sorry if my lack of education upsets you or anyone else on here ...i would't swap been me for anything....

Oh my god i swear i'm crying laughing at this. Teacher apologises for not spotting boy prodigy who went on to prove his failings as a teacher by becoming a fcuking civil servant and then came back to tell him all about it . What a life you've lived indeed Chitty you really are 'special'

not as special as you though....in fact you're VERY SPECIAL.....

imitation is the greatest form of flattery i see Chitty

rocket, why u always attack forumites with higher self-esteem than yourself?

Freddie if you can find for me one single post of me attacking anyone please? TBH what chitty posted is very funny and i was pointing that out.

Looking back at education, its the teachers that matter . I had brilliant teachers in primary school , and I zoomed through my primary education in 4 years when the 11 plus was passed .  Loved it , maybe because I felt I was progressing every day .  Nowadays most of my grandchildren are destined to go to primary school at 4 and stay there till they are 11 plus  , thats 7 years , a long time to be doing colouring in ( joking ) .

6 years in grammar school , the last year for A-levels , also exposed me to brilliant teachers , the last of whom died a few months ago sadly .  Most of them were priests , and they tended not to teach science unfortunately  , but all the other disciplines they made interesting and progressive . And they took the football and hurling too and were committed .

Went to Uni at 16 , the teachers relatively speaking ( sorry lecturers ) were cut from a different cloth to what I was used to ( different backgrounds I suspect ) , take it or leave it attitude , no discussion , stick it up on the board or handouts .  Hated it as a learning system , would have been far better with a course based on videos .  I managed to have a good time though , play football and golf , and graduate .  Never opened a book subsequently with any relationship to my subject , waste of 4 years except for the growing up process , and meeting my wife and cementing some lifelong relationships with friends who used to be football opponents at different schools in the previous 6 years .  Golf buddies too .

I guess life is what you make it  , different people get there by different routes , with my own kids when it came to Uni I did as much as I could to steer them onto courses which had definite career paths at the end of their Uni course .  There were 58 in my class at Uni , most of them finished up teaching locally , frustrated generally , looking forward to early retirement .  Sad comment on how not to use talent . Those that did not teach finished up scattered around the world , going down the research route .  There was no way in the world there were opportunities for 58 graduates in the same discipline  in the same year in Northern Ireland , never mind those graduating also from Galway , Cork , Trinity and UCD . Governments fault , they set the parameters , the bean counters then were no better than the ones nowadays .

Then I went to Dublin for 2 years plus  and saw how the other half lived ! Loved Dublin , still do ! But it has changed substantially .

as you rightly say kelly , its the teachers that matter , that teacher i spoke of went on to become a well respected ref , the other one , well god only knows what happened to him...that feeling of progressing was not part of his way of thinking ..punishment , followed by more punishment , seemed to be his motto...i suppose it was like the lad who was forced to become a priest , he never wanted to be a teacher , in fact he was incapable of it ...yet many like me would have been put through his hands ....pity for me also a pity for him ..we both ended up been losers ....such is life ....at least i had the good fortune of meeting people who interested me ....happily for me it all ended well ...in fact can you just imagine me been educated ..they'ed be no living with me.....

Rocketfingers,

You definitely overstepped the mark in a recent thread about league titles.

How do we know Ozymandius is a Cambridge graduate because he told us same as TheGalwayman,this is a recurring theme posters reveal things about themselves and then wonder how others know Shaneboy and Never Give Up prime examples.
Off the top of my head four of the best posters here are Distant View Royal Academy Bassanio and Tolmi they never felt the need to tell us of their academic achievements but Ozymandius and TheGalwayman are constantly reminding us of it and playing it like some sort of trump card.
It also would appear that my attempt at humour in the post about graduates was missed but then maybe that is the proof that possession of a degree is not a guarantee of intelligence.
The sneering at others education is done by Ozymandius that's why he asked me about Workriders done in his usual condescending way but in a democracy even the uneducated are entitled to a view it's called equality a thing you liberals are forever banging on about but hypocritically don't really believe in.

Attacked and defended myself tolmi

show me the post that u r talking about me on wildbore please

i would love to c the post were u allege again that i "reveal myself" wildbore

It was the one where you lost it and started to tell us your fears and the fact that people were pursuing you.
I thought you had all these on file and now with Ozymandius as your adviser you should be ready to strike.

Dec 5, 2012 -- 12:00AM, wildmanfromborneo wrote:

It was the one where you lost it and started to tell us your fears and the fact that people were pursuing you.I thought you had all these on file and now with Ozymandius as your adviser you should be ready to strike.

i WANT you to show it please,all these allegations are on file that u have made.i cant put something on file that  I HAVENT WROTE,BUT CAN KEEP EVERYTHING  on file that has been wrote BY YOU......................u can ask betfair to bring up any thread/remark were u claim once again what u have just wrote

Great post by IrishRo that workrider is unlikely to get.

freddiek     04 Dec 12 18:33 
maybe u dislike being irish too

What a ridiculous response. The terms 'Mick' and 'Paddy' have been used to deride our ancestors for generations. They are most definitely derogatory in nature. I don't think any proud Irish person would put up with being called either of those.

Wildman, I have never made any reference to my own level of education on here. You are the one who is fascinated by the subject. Personally I don't think it is relevant to anything, bar maybe a CV.

Wildman is obsessed by those of us lucky enough to have the university education that he missed out on.  He throws the 'university-educated ' label out in derogatory fashion all the time and is forever prattling on about it.  Then he has the gall to call our claims into question, but is unwilling to put his money where his mouth is, for charity, in order to put the debate to rest.  Having been humiliated on a thread about me having attended Cambridge, he again questions my honesty on the subject a week later.

A brass neck and no shame.

Generally what you never have you never miss,i won't think you would have to have a Cambridge degree to realise the world(certainly Ireland) was a different place 20/30/40 years ago,with the dad out working and the mam bringing up the children(a fair few in a lot of cases). Money could be very tight and for most people it was often hand me downs and jam sandwiches in the latter part of the week. A fair percentage of children helped out by having part time work in shops,delivering papers,bread vans etc.
While it is an achievement getting a degree at Oxbridge,the wisdom of life experience is much more important and you don't find it in a book.

pa lapsy , thats a very valid point , i'm lucky enough to have some very well educated friends , as you say , some of them just cant seem to cope with life , if life was a theory they'd be winners alright...

Surely you are not falling for that one, Pa LApsy?.  Boreneo contstantly brings it up, not me!!!!.  How many times have you heard me mention it unannounced.  Once or twice at the very most.

I am not the one labouring my Cambridge degree, I am not the one constantly bringing it up. 

But I will not stand by and be challennged on it by a gob**** who won't put his money where his mouth is and yet constantly repeats the accusation.

is there any other cambridge grads. on here ozy?

ozy , a friend of mine will appear on uni challenge over xmas , i hate name dropping , but he went to anglia uni...i'm sure you'll spot who he is ....i know the result but am unable to divulge same .... take it you'll be watching ,i thought bamber still did the show , but he told me no , its now done by paxman...

he's slightly famous in fact you might just have read his book...it was a bestseller....

University Challenge is way over my head, workrider, I struggle to answer a handful of questions.

I haven,t seen you mention it Ozy to be fair,but we'll take it you were there.Supposed to be the highest form of education isn,t it Ozy? Didn,t have much of a schooling myself but the Christian brothers were all in all good teachers.Generally i have no problems accepting another persons point of view and questioning a subject in a civil manner without name calling.

how did u reveal your academic achievements ozy?

UC is extraordinarily tough, but you have not been tuning in workrider. Paxman has been there for 20 years or so.

Pa lapsy, someone taught you how to tell tales anyway.

well that says it all tgm...i thought it finished about 20yrs ago tbh , and this was a one off xmas special or something  ...i'm only getting into u 2 now ffs....

As i said before i never reported you for calling all Cork people pigs.

workrider 05 Dec 12 13:52 Joined: 29 Jun 02 | Topic/replies: 11,832 | Blogger: workrider's blog
ozy , a friend of mine will appear on uni challenge over xmas , i hate name dropping , but he went to anglia uni...i'm sure you'll spot who he is ....i know the result but am unable to divulge same .... take it you'll be watching ,i thought bamber still did the show , but he told me no , its now done by paxman...

More comedy gold from chitty , 100% this is the only episode of UC he ever watched

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxA0a5G6ccg

Ozymandius losing his temper again with the now customary descent into name calling but he hasn't read the post right,surely he understands the spot the Ringo reference.

Just for the record , Aaron Cunningham says that this is the first time in 7 years playing senior football that he has encountered racial abuse . Thats why I was amazed to hear of the incidents as reported last Sunday , it is so out of line with my experience .

And let us acknowledge that anti racism is a tenet of the GAA rules .

But get it sorted quickly , Ulster Council .  No dithering and sitting around waiting for "reports" which was indulged in in my time as a club secretary  , fence sitting and hoping that "time is always a great healer "  which to me was always a feeble excuse for doing nothing  .

well i would have thought as an ex administrator in down gaa circles ,you would know what is in the hearts and minds of the ulster coucil.there will be no sanctions here against any players.

I hope they bear in mind that the Armagh boys are very sensitive to name calling and have previous.In a match against Laoise they were so upset by name calling they had to exact physical retribution,they then lodged a complaint but then in Chelsea like fashion just let it die.

stop yre spoofing kellytheres a good lad.

I believe kingrat has caught Kelly here and badly, i see wildman trying to butt into this one sided debate.

Kingrat couldn't catch a cold.All he has done is be personally abusive to Kelly he has raised no issue just like Kilcoo engaged in a bit of name calling.
I don't want to be too hard on you but you should read the posts slowly because you never seem able to follow them.

dear god widbore/dark rosaleen,were u born a racist ?

ngu pops up like a rabbit, same stuff over and over again. bore off

Dec 7, 2012 -- 1:34AM, freddiek wrote:

ngu pops up like a rabbit, same stuff over and over again. bore off

and u cant help replying,sad isnt it freddiek that u pop up at the same time u silly person

you re obviously a unhappy man ngu. the forum has done that to you, shame really

Dec 7, 2012 -- 1:39AM, freddiek wrote:

you re obviously a unhappy man ngu. the forum has done that to you, shame really

u must be lonely following me around,u bring shame on urself

Glad I didnt read kingrats posts ( full of info as usual ) last night before I went to bed , might have had a sleepless night otherwise .

Some information might be worthwhile , kingrat , instead of useless piffle . Otherwise just drift away please and pollute elswhere .

why do you bother with those clowns kelly ....let them play away in the kinder garden as kids do...

Racist abuse not being tackled, says mum of teen GAA player

Independent.ie

By Majella O'Sullivan

Friday December 07 2012

THE mother of a teenager of Egyptian/Irish descent, who claims he was told to "go back where you came from" during a GAA match, has spoken of her disappointment that the matter won't be pursued further.

Ann Marcus made a complaint to gardai and the GAA after her son Dion (14) claimed he was subjected to racial abuse by an adult during a GAA football match in May.

The teenager has represented his country abroad in the Irish athletics team for the world championships in South Korea in July.

The incident highlights the growing problem of racism in sport, which reared its ugly head again this week when Crossmaglen Rangers player Aaron Cunningham claimed he was subjected to racial abuse during the Ulster club final.

Mrs Marcus says she was notified by gardai this week that the DPP would not be pursuing the matter any further. However, she said she had not heard from the GAA since the formal complaint was made over six months ago.

Dion, who was only 13 when the incident occurred, is a promising underage footballer with Dr Croke's in Killarney. His father Refaat was born in Egypt.

The teen claims the racist comments were made by an adult from the opposing team at a GAA underage match in Killarney.

Kerry County Board said its hands were tied while the garda investigation was ongoing.

Chairman Pat O'Sullivan said the board was not aware the investigation had concluded.

- Majella O'Sullivan

ah kellyme old flower........i will bet that there will be no sanctions against any kilcoo players.


would you like to take me up on this and maybe that great fella wr can take a piece of the action?

we are not in the kinder garden now wr?

enough said.yeah ,"useless piffle"  eh?

whats the story kelly?

Was hoping you had disappeared off into the sunset , kr . Would have been an early Christmas present .

6 months and 4 months apparently , 2 Kilcoo players ban . Sad its in my own county , but fair play to those who investigated it and for sanctions .  Lets hope it does not sully our games again .

kelly the issue of sledging has to be addressed in its entirity....to me i dont see any difference between racial sledging or sledging another player re his  wife/sister or mother........by all accounts this is rife in the game and has been 4 years and this very much includes crossmaglen.......the racial incident in the ulster final hopefully will end at that but the other provocation of players has to be seriously looked at imo.....

Agree if its true , but I suspect its a recent trend , Richters , never happened when I was playing or when my children were .  Can really only speak for my own county  , and some of ours did experience  verbal abuse from a referee ( from Dublin ) in Croke Park in a high level schools game about 28 years ago . Thankfully it was an isolated instance , and generally most counties play it straight .

Those bans are worse than disgraceful they are unjust,these men are amateurs and should not be sacrificed for race finder generals.The title of this thread is significant and part of the problem show off your superiority and sneer at the mere mortals who in the heat of battle engaged in some name calling.I have a soft spot for Kilcoo a small team coming up against probably one of the best club sides of all time,they lose yet still the Armagh men are whingeing and not for the first time,they had similar problems with Laois a while back.
Crossmaglen history is troubled and they deserve great credit for surmounting adversity but I have lost respect for them over this are they proud that having beaten a small team they have now managed to get two of their players banned,brave men indeed.

agreed wmfb.....these sledging incidents should be investigated across the board on a broader basis if they are to isolate the racial incidents rather than the personal sledging incidents.....as i said earlier no difference imo.....

That's the correct word Sledging and hard to see if you could ever eliminate it completely.
I feel the GAA have soured a great occasion for a small club but then because they were a small club easy to push around.

Research has examined factors influencing racial tolerance, in particular ethnic tolerance, prejudice, and trust. Authoritarian personality has been associated with prejudice and intolerance. Education has an inverse association which is stronger in established democracies than in emerging.

Some would argue we are still an emerging democracy.

ozy ozy ozy oi oi oi.........

What you really mean is you would question it,you look down on the Irish through your snobbery yet it never dawns on you that could be misconstrued as racism by some crazy quango.
The best looking woman on TV at the moment is Victoria Coren she also happens to be the most intelligent,she now is being pursued by the Ozymandius types claiming she is racist because she wrote an article about Sherlock Holmes saying Dr Watson should not be played by either a woman or an Oriental,this is the logical conclusion of these witch hunts.

Victoria Coren...not bad Borneo...but I have always had  penchant for darker meat.  Much jucier and ironically less repressed

You sound like a slave owner.

this will do no favours to aaron.he should have took the verbals on the chin and gave as good as he got.thats the true gaa way and always will be.deep down some of his club mates secretly think the same and i suspect aaron knows that.hes a marked man now and is going to get a belly full of it in future games ....as for down teams having no hatchet men,well that just laughable.btw kelly you should have took me to the cleaners

ozy showing his true colors , oh god ....his love of darker MEAT ...NOT VERY HUMAN MY FRIEND ....EVEN IF THEIR SKIN IS DARKER THAN OURS , SURELY NO WAY TO TALK ABOUT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING....SHAME ON YOU....

correct and right kingrat

i met victoria coren in a cash game about 10 yrs ago in the merrion.i found her delightful her book is not a bad read.shes a bit deep for a simple irish man like meself.

The Mayans could be right yet Kingrat comes up with two posts I agree with and swears in neither of them,just shows them awards had some value.
I first saw Victoria Coren on Have I Got News For You she was witty funny and intelligent,I then read some of her articles which I found enjoyable and although I didn't always agree couldn't fault her thought process but I thought this stuff about her being a professional poker player was a bit of old flannel so was delighted not alone to discover it was true but that she is the most successful woman player in the world,the fact she is a honey helps too unfortunately.

The Mountainy Men is a figurative title I would ascribe to those people who have "redneck "outlooks on life , which includes thinking they are superior to someone not their own ( white ) colour . Hence verbal abuse  , particularly if they feel that at the time they are NOT superior .

Assuming a just verdict 2 Kilcoo players fell into this category in my book , I saw none of the match , and the rights and wrongs of any behaviour by any other team members on any side is not an issue .  But of course contributors on here will invent and ascribe all sorts of things to all sorts of people , liquorice allsorts type of thinking .

The players concerned have been outed , punished , hopefully Kilcoo will not suffer unduly because 2 of their players overstepped the mark of decency we expect .

To me this verbal "sledging" or equivalent is juvenile , people who glorify it are doing nothing for their sport . The juvenile element of it I ascribe to an inferiority complex  , and if managers etc encourage it they diminish themselves in my eyes .

Don't knock it till you've tried it workrider.  You and Borneo have led a very incomplete life imo.

Fair fecks to ya Ozy for sticking up for the missus all this time.

Your life could be complete without using someone as a bed wench.

Lapsy, I recently got involved with a pub discussion as to which 10 women would you sleep with again, given the pick of all conquests over the years.  Only 2 white European girls made the list, none Irish.  I find Black, Latino and Asian ladies much more attractive, sexually aware and confident.

Each to his own.  They say of course, when you go black you don't go back.

I do appreciate that older generations on here didn't have the opportunities to fornicate with the variety of races that today's global village serves up.

^ ...You'd get a better spin off of a bag o' spuds than the vast majority of Irish women...

PS I never thought that Mitch Albom would get such a favourable mention on the Irish forum!

Ozy twas the phrase "darker meat" which is plain wrong,refers to a thing rather than a person,i was surprised at you,i know tis the mountainy man thread,still an all not very correct pc wise.
Going back to the older generation part of your post think there was possibly a bit more "romance"  in years gone by,rather than the other side of a relationship which isn,t/wasn,t a bad thing either.
Would it be fair to say a meeting of minds would have precedence than body?
Anyway i,m getting a bit deep there,must try and make a few bob,have a good Christmas Ozy.

Darker meat was a seasonal quip, Pa, nothing more.

I missed the Ballroom of Romance days, unfortunately.

in my experience,a good pilot never brags about his conquests,its ungentlemanly and has nothing to prove

very true, Mr Rat, the context here was of course the delights of dusty maidens.

again a slip of the tongue by the egoist ozy , i suppose its better than DARK MEAT ....i'm sure he tells many a good yarn in the pub as well , him and coco together , now there's a thought  , on the other hand.......

Rocketfingers had to be there for the pub discussion,remember it was the last ten women thank God it was limited.
Any discussions of that nature are always dominated by the lonely fantasists indeed tis they that always introduce the topic and tis they that go home alone,they are nearly always childless and as some of the old stagers used to say stop talking about it just produce it when needed,these same gentleman used nearly always have a fondness for lewd behaviour.
The two posters who try to introduce smutty infantile posts on a regular basis are the well matched Ozymandius and Rocketfingers

wildmanfromborneo , i'm just wondering did ozymandius  pay cash or by credit card.....

It was either that or the infamous blow up doll got the works.

Cash, workrider.  One doesn't leave one's card details in such establishments

Borneo, no need to be such a prude. Perhaps its time, even at your age, that you got back in the saddle?

...

Kelly I normally like your posts but I think you are way out of order on this thread, not only with its title but with your comments about how the bans and the standard of the investigations. You do not live in the county anymore,so you may find it hard to understand what has happened to our club within the county since the final.
What should have been one of the proudest days of our small club's history has turned into a nightmare and has been turned into an anti-GAA campaign by the BBC. Our local clubs taunt our members yet many of these clubs have more serious problems within their own clubs. The achievement of getting to the final has been lost in all this. The best team on the day won partly due a dodgy penalty and another goal from the kick out but mainly due to the lack of experience at that level from our club (check the delay after the Kilcoo goal).
With regard to the "investigations" there is not a shred of evidence to back up AC's claim and the suspensions you quoted are also incorrect (another BBC error). Another point is the initial proposed 4 month suspension for one of our players was for using a term P##i, the same word was used throughout the game by a Crossmaglen player to a Kilcoo defender. Kilcoo will not bring this or other "sledging" up as the game is over and may look like sour grapes. If the investigators looked at the video evidence how can they miss some of the punches thrown (by a Cross sub and their management).
I am not anti Cross, in fact I have been around the country supporting them over the years and love the way they play football but they have a sinister element to them (ask Mickey Linden - which prob makes them the winners they are).
Joey Cunningham stated that he suffered racist abuse for 20 odd years in the Irish league why did he not go to the BBC when this first happened? I am not a racist and I know our wee club will come back bigger and stronger, so all the local clubs get your own house in order before having a go at Kilcoo. 
My first post since the final - Merry Xmas everyone

Ozy when you said wildman to get back in the saddle why did i think of Ken Whelan? Wonky i'd imagine to be a bit of JP Magnier or Luke Harvey, richters is some poor 7ib claimer who has yet to ride a winner under rules. I'm not sure who Eddie Ahearn is.

Puke football rules , a few facts.

I have not attacked Kilcoo . I have picked up the facts from reportage , and from what I have gleaned 2 of the Kilcoo players were found guilty by the GAA of abuse of Aaron Cunningham . No blame attaches to any of the other Kilcoo players , and I have been at pains to point that out in various posts .  So I am not attacking Kilcoo , I am just ashamed that 2 players from my county have allegedly crossed a line they should not have . I was born and bred and have lived in Down all my life outside of 2 years plus in Dublin post Uni , still live in Down and while I am no longer actively involved in football my grandchildren are ( and in hurling such as it is in Down ) . I spoke today to the chairmen of our 2 local clubs , one of them is  a relation .

Your gripe , properly , is with any slant the media may have put on events . None of that is down to me , I just expressed an opinion regretting the initial incident . The reportage I heard on TV was that 2 Kilcoo players had been suspended , one for 6 months , another for 4 months in connection with the alleged racism abuse incident . If that reportage is incorrect there will be legal steps taken to rectify that , proper order .  And recent events in the BBC are not all champagne and roses as we all know for incidents much more serious than this . And if Kilcoo are taking flak from other clubs in Down that is regrettable and not worthy of a county where generally speaking we have always been able to hold up our heads in the best company .

You may have gleaned from previous posts that I am actively pro GAA , think they have added a huge amount to Irish life in the last 100 years plus . But if there is any problem my attitude has always been to tackle it head on and publish the truth , anything else is unworthy . Not always popular in certain quarters  , but you cant live with a lie . You may also have gleaned that my view on some of the admin at top level in GAA has not always been favourable , have seen some things brushed under carpets which should have yielded different actions in my book . Dont want anything similar in this or any other case . Some of our administrators have been brilliant , but sometimes the "committee " process and over reliance on referees reports has been disadvantageous . Referees are not above the law , and several of my acquaintance are not worthy of the trust bestowed upon them  , but thats going back a bit and it was common knowledge in certain circles . And that was before Betfair when the only way to make money was to back with the bookies .

If Mark Sidebottom says he heard stuff , I believe him . From any conversations I have had with him I have him down as sound . But he is not a referee , albeit as a responsible reporter his voice has to be heard .

The good that may come out of the incident long term may outweigh any disadvantage accrued short term . Thats the hope . And as I posted earlier Kilcoo should not be pilloried if 2 of their players did act as alleged .  You can take a horse to water but you cant make it drink , and individual players in the heat of a moment can revert to behaviour not consistent with what team mentors have tried to instil .  But if the players are guilty as charged the club will have to be proactive somehow  , and I understand that Kilcoo have said as much  , fair play to them .

Comparing GAA and soccer attitudes to racism is not a level playing field .  Relatively speaking GAA is racism free , soccer as reported daily in the media is not .  But thats a debate for another day .

Cheers .

Kelly your use of the phrase "Mountainy Men" and your post about sorting out the Kilcoo hard men say enough about your attitude towards my club. Those days have long gone! No mention of our underage achievements over the years either. Would like to know your club but have a fair idea anyway!
With regard to the BBC report you would appear to be a well educated man and aware that no names were mentioned, so therefore is no legal action can be taken. The point on Joey Cunningham was a question of timing - I was not comparing soccer and football. The BBC report on the Friday night news quoted proposed suspensions that had already been withdrawn and the Irish News article the next day was more accurate!
As for Mark Sidebottom how can you take this man seriously? Didnt know Joey and Aaron were related and the quote I heard was his 8 year old son said it was racist. I have no problem with suspensions where there is evidence but to say that it must have happened because of AC's reaction is rubbish. Why did he not name the players?

Puke , seems to me that your gripe is mainly with media reportage . Re sorting out Kilcoo hard men , way back maybe , point was that they were not hard men , they just aspired to be .

Under age achievements by Kilcoo were spectacular even in my period of heavy involvement at club level , only problem was they did not translate that ability to senior level .  No idea whether they have overcome that problem , results suggest they have . Our club ( though I have tenuous feet in two clubs given grandchildren and younger relatives participation ) put out reams of under age footballers , and they win things , but it stops there .  One of the longest serving players with a heavy involvement of himself and family was telling me yesterday that all our current senior team are under 25 , and lots of the potential "other" players are in Australia or USA . Guess that is not unusual , where I go to in Kerry they say that their exile team ( mainly and traditionally in USA ) would beat their "domestic" team tomorrow if they met .   

Views on media correspondents are often related to perceptions people form .  All I can say related to the person in question is that any conversations I have had with him left me assessing him as sound , other people may have different views .  I did not hear any utterings from him at match time or subsequently , just expressing my view on how I have found him over recent years  and I take people as I find them generally unless they have "history" I am aware of , and I tend to find that leopards tend not to change their spots .

Dont know Aaron Cunningham from Adam , know he was voted Ulster Player of the year recently by some means , so reckon he is useful .  Did know his dad in so far as he played against teams I was involved with , but as far as we were concerned ( and as it should be ) his lineage was irrelevant . I expect his dad did suffer abuse occasionally in GAA circles , but he dismissed that apparently , his main gripe re that revolved around his soccer experiences . Double edged sword that probably , coloured and a "taig" .  Northern Ireland people tend to buy into slagging  , aware of that recently from personal experience ( grandchildren ) and those not native to here tend to have thinner skins than us natives who often have had to battle sectarianism throughout our lives .

The relative behaviour of Cross and Kilcoo players in what should have been a showcase Ulster club final seems to have been below the level I would expect from two teams / clubs / organisations who theoretically at least are rowing in the same direction . Not sure how that happens , it is after all only a game , recreational . Time to sort out any motes in our eye , assuming they are real .

Cheers and Happy Christmas .