...... GAA.....

Maybe you should watch a match on telly first just to get a feel for it. That way when you do attend one you will have a better idea of what's actually going on.

Wexford v Kilkenny should be a belter this coming Saturday night. Cody v Davy Fitz(you might find yourself sitting next to Davy in the stands!). Kilkenny are not the force they were but they still have the likes of Ritchie Hogan and TJ Reid. Wexford are reborn under Davy this year and won promotion to Div 1A. They have some marquee hurlers themselves including the likes of Lee Chin and Ciaran McDonald. They are at home, in sizzling form and Davy will be sure to have them psyched to the gills. Kilkenny are still the benchmark but anything around 11/4 for the yellowbellies represents genuine value imo.

Gaelic Hurling is a great game to watch workrider and as an Irish man , it's slightly surprising that you have never seen a match. Would you not be aware of the magnitude of the All Ireland series in both codes?,and the importance of the GAA right round the island.
Anyway , as we know you are a big League of Ireland fan , and if you do manage to attend a GAA match , I will prepare you for some of the subtle differences that you may notice.
1. Hurling is played with a smaller ball
2. There could be up to 82,000 at some of these games while the LOI may have a couple of hundred.
3. 99% of the crowd will be employed whereas the LOI fans will invariably be scroungers and dole cheats
4. There will be a member of the guards for every 10,000 people at an average GAA game where the other sport, it's probably closer to man to man.
5. When the GAA match is over the crowd will disperse peacefully, where the LOI mob will break windows, urinate in people's gardens, and loot if there are shops near the ground.
6. And finally should a GAA crowd happen to pass a wake on the way to a match, they will pass it peacefully and respectfully. Some supporters of the other code have been known to urinate and throw empty beer cans in to the garden of the residence where the wake is taking place , before going in and kicking the shhit out of relatives of the deceased.
Just giving you a heads up and preparing you for a few small variances.

There I was thinking of heading to Thurles after reading Kavvies description of what was on offer,it seemed like a very interesting game to attend,then low and behold,some lunatic called Jimeen who was the first to respond to my request and seemed like a level headed guy,then goes and shows himself to be a real lunatic,stating 99% of the attendance would be in full employment,well that got me thinking,do the Inland Revenue know about this,from what I've been reading over the past few years,the Irish Farmers are having a rough time of it according to themselves.Jimeen seems to have a contradictory opinion,were EVERYONE in rural Ireland is in full employment.Thurles most have grown into a mighty stadium since I past it the other month.So all these workers will be paying taxes or is it all cash in hand ?. Gardi obviously don't like Hurling if they only attend in such small numbers,and here's me thinking all Culchies loved the hurling,just goes to show how much us Jackeens know eh! so Thurles is devoid of shops is it,and gardens,pity.As regards a wake been disrupted, Thurles sounds like a pretty DEAD place to me.Hopefully the few police that are in attendance will take note of the registrations of these lads as they arrive in the ground,they can then compere notes outside the DOLE office the next day,when these WEALTHY men turn up to sign on in their 4x4s .

I was NOT mocking the GAA.I was seriously thinking of going to see a game of hurling,I played the Heritage golf club last week with some friends from Tipp,they were very downhearted over the defeat by Cork and as the conversation progressed I found their passion for the game rubbing off on me,to the extent that it would be a good idea to go and watch a game.You started out as if you were going to be helpful,then your hatred of all things LOI showed its ugly face again,and I had to ask myself would I really liked to be sitting beside 82,000 Jimeens,to be honest I started to shudder.Sitting among that kind of hatred would not be good for me or anyone else for that matter.

Best thing is to go to a local senior club Championship game.

Get close and personal, see the cuts and bruises, the pace, the commitment,the skill levels.

Then get down to Nolan park for Kilkenny training sessions.

You will appreciate the game much better than just sitting in a stand somewhere listening to some fella with a cheese and ham sandwich and a can of Lilt shouting gwon Tommy Willie Joe schtick it in to em....

For what its worth, Kilkenny are a great bet at around 1/3 I feel, there are levels to this sh!t and a half-decent league campaignn doesn't change that.

Apparently there are some very good hurlers gone through the schools system in Kilkenny in recent years & this hasn't been reflected in their underage results. there are also supposed to be a few Cody held back last year that we might see now. Either way, if Reid or Hogan clicks, Wexford can hold neither.

For those not comfortable playing that short, back KK on the cap.

PS....Have some 6s Waterford as cover..........

I'm going to back Tipp for the hurling, think they just need a kick in the arse & their top gear is a ways ahead of the rest. The forwards they have cannot be held when right and the half-back line will never be so bad again I feel.

Dubs are just about value I agree. They could possibly do with some freshening, the likes of Schutte or Cormac Costello, I think the latter is top-class. The Dubs are great to hold onto the ball & exert control in a game. the all singing all dancing team of two years ago is probably gone now, but still have massive pace and a few top forwards plus McCaffrey is back.

I'm a massive Connolly fan, but he isn't playing great football for a while now & I don't think he is much of a miss at the minute.

i thnk dubs are on the way down.they have a lot of it played..hard see tipp coming back from what happened but agree they got some forward line when on song.  ive galway hurlers and kerry footballers backed ..i abandoned mayo after backing them every year snce 1987!!

just a magic night in wexford park , whats rare is indeed beautiful !

I can have absolutely no complaints anyway, Toby, Wexford were great value for the win, should've been more, even. That Lee Chin is some man to lead an attack, would start centre-forward for any team in Ireland.

He is indeed, I saw that programme him and Michael Murphy did, they were two lads that were such good athletes, they could've made professional Rugby or soccer or whatever players easily.

Its great for hurling anyway, if not my bank balance, any teams keeping KK and Tipp off top after so many recent final appearances is good. The 2014 final was some game, but don't really think the public bought into it as they had met so often around that time.

4 Leinster U21s recently makes it no fluke, either. Wexford seem to have a lot of size about them as well to go with their hurling. Should be a cracker with Galway.

Wouldnt be so sure about that Kavvie. Wexford still have about 4 starters to come back from injury. A lot more to come from them.

I will have a little top up on Kilkenny at 9/1 for sure........

Still with the cover on Waterford....

Galway now 6/4, should be odds on

jimeen seems to have a memory lapse about the times GAA fans invaded pitches and attacked the ref, players, rival supporters.
And the players who interfered with linesmen, players who sneak attack players.

Great little clip.So many memories there.Was at the game.........

All Ireland Senior Football Championship

Dublin 6/4
Kerry 12/5
Tyrone 6
Mayo 9

Donegal 33
Roscommon 33
Monaghan 50
Kildare 50
Galway 50
Down 66