Importance of Provincial Finals - Bit of a Rant
All I've seen over the past few weeks is the provincial championships don't mean anything anymore because you don't get an easier route in the All-Ireland and I'm sorry but I believe that belief is complete bullshit.
Why do soccer teams want to win domestic cups? (FA Cup, Copa Del Rey, DFB Pokal, etc) They go in to win because they want to win a domestic cup. Yes European football is a bonus to sides who win but don't finish high in the table, but is that the main thing on their mind? Not a hope.
You see the celebrations afterwards. Roscommon town was hopping after last week, Louth was the same last year. Either Armagh or Monaghan will be by Sunday evening. They clearly mean something still. You talk about the reward for winning these finals? The reward is you win a trophy.
On top of this, I also think people saying the new format has no jeopardy is bullshit too. People saying teams could benefit more from losing first game than winning. What utter nonsense. The loser of Donegal and Kerry could very easily be put out, what if Donegal lose to Kerry and in the backdoor Tyrone hit form against them?