- The Sunday Game
Infobox Television
bgcolor = #D6D6FF
show_name = The Sunday Game
caption = This logo, used for the 2004 season, was replaced with the RTÉ Sport corporate style logo in 2005
format = Sports
camera =
picture_format =
audio_format =
runtime = Variable
creator =
developer =
executive_producer =
starring = Presenters:Michael Lyster Pat Spillane
Commentators:Ger Canning Marty Morrissey Dara Moloney Mícheál Ó Sé
Reporters:Evanne Ní Chuilinn Joanne Cantwell
Hurling analysts:
Anthony DalyTomás Mulcahy Cyril Farrell Donal O'Grady Michael Duignan Pete Finnerty Declan Ruth
Football analysts:Joe Brolly Colm O'Rourke Martin Carney Tommy Lyons Tony Davis Coman Goggins Anthony Tohill Dara Ó Cinnéide Kevin McStay
narrated =
opentheme =
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country =Republic of Ireland
network =RTÉ Two
first_run =
first_aired =1979
last_aired = present
num_episodes =
website = http://www.rte.ie/tv/thesundaygame/
imdb_id = 0481925
tv_com_id ="The Sunday Game" is
Radio Telefís Éireann 's mainGaelic games television programme. It is shown onRTÉ Two every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one ofRTÉ Two ’s longest-running shows, having been on air since1979 , one year after the channel first began broadcasting. The programme is currently celebrating its 30th season. [cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0501/championship.html?gaa|title=RTÉ launches Championship coverage|publisher=RTÉ |date=2008-05-01|accessdate=2008-05-12]History
The
Gaelic games ofGaelic football andhurling have always been at the heart of broadcasting inIreland from its earliest days. OnAugust 29 ,1926 , the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway became the first radio commentary of a field game outside of theUnited States . WhenTelefís Éireann first began broadcasting in1961 theGaelic Athletic Association restricted annual coverage of its games to the two All-Ireland finals, the two All-Ireland football semi-finals and the twoRailway Cup finals.1962 was the first occasion that Gaelic games were seen live on Irish television while the All-Ireland hurling final of1971 was the first colour broadcast of a GAA game.The original version of "the Sunday Game" programme began broadcasting on Sunday nights in
1979 . The programme generally featured one full championship game and discussion about it. The show soon expanded featuring coverage of one or more of the day’s main championship games, followed by extended highlights of the other games. This format still continues.For the entire 1980s RTÉ was still restricted to just showing live coverage of the All-Ireland finals and semi-finals in both hurling and football. This changed in
1992 when the Munster Hurling Final was broadcast live for the first time. Since then RTÉ has gained the rights to show all of the provincial hurling and football finals live as well as many other earlier provincial and qualifier games. The station broadcasts these and many other games under "The Sunday Game Live" banner. This programme usually contains live coverage of two games. In2007 "The Sunday Game" broadcast 50 live championship games. [cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/about/pressreleases/2007/0404//tvsportapril2007.html|title=RTÉ Television Announces Record Coverage of Live GAA Matches|publisher=RTÉ |date=2007-04-04|accessdate=2008-05-12] In2008 the programme will broadcast 40 live championship games due to the fact that rival broadcaster, TV3, has been granted the rights to show live championship games for the first time ever. [cite web|url=http://www.tv3.ie/media.php?action=news&id=150|title=TV3 ANNOUNCES LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES|publisher=TV3|date=2008-04-16|accessdate=2008-05-12]"The Sunday Game" programme only covers the championship season from May to September. All of the GAA’s National League games are screened on
TG4 and Setanta Sports, while "Sunday Sport" on RTÉ Two provides highlights of some of these games. When a hurling or football game is shown on Saturday or Monday - the latter becoming more common during Summer Bank Holiday weekends - the appropriately customised title "The Saturday Game" or "The Monday Game" is used. Previously "The Game on Monday", a second selection of highlights, had also been aired. If Setanta Sports 2 show a match being broadcast onRTÉ then they will use the coverage from The Sunday Game.Aside from the two senior championships, "The Sunday Game Live" also covers the finals of four other championships: the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship, the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship, and the senior and junior All-Ireland
Camogie Championship finals. For the minor (under-18) matches, the commentary is traditionally in theIrish language and performed byMicheal O Sé . The All-Ireland Ladies Football Championship senior and junior finals were also formerly covered, but are now shown onTG4 as part of a title sponsorship deal.Presenters, pundits and commentators
"The Sunday Game" was first presented in
1979 by the popularGalway -based journalistJim Carney . Former Dublin hurler, footballer, referee and sports journalistSeán Óg Ó Ceallacháin took over in1980 . He remained at the helm as presenter for two years before being replaced by Carney once again. He was eventually replaced byMichael Lyster , who became the main anchor of the programme in the GAA’s centenary year in1984 . Lyster continues to present "The Sunday Game Live", whilePat Spillane took over in2004 as the main anchor of the Sunday night highlights show. [cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/top-of-its-game-for-30-years-1364234.html|title=Top of its game for 30 years
publisher=Irish Independent |date=2008-05-02|accessdate=2008-05-12]In the early years, the programme's most regular commentators were
Michael O'Hehir ,Jimmy Magee and Jim Carney.Ger Canning joined the team in1980 , becoming the programmes chief commentator following O’Hehir’s retirement in1985 . The most recent additions to the commentary team includeMarty Morrissey andDara Moloney ."The Sunday Game" has always shown an innovative approach in its use of match analysts. In its very first season the makers of the programme made the brave decision to include
Liz Howard as one of their main analysts. Howard was an All-Irelandcamogie winner who was the daughter ofGarrett Howard , one of Limerick’s all-time hurling greats. Other analysts during the programme’s first season includedEnda Colleran , a former Galway footballer, andDave Weldrick , trainer of theThomond College team that won the All-Ireland club football title.Throughout the years "The Sunday Game" has featured many of hurling and football’s greatest players as analysts and pundits. These include:
Hurling
D.J. Carey ,Éamonn Cregan , Anthony Daly, John Doyle,Cyril Farrell ,Pete Finnerty ,Pat Hartigan Pat Henderson ,Liam Griffin ,Eddie Keher ,Phil 'Fan' Larkin ,Ger Loughnane ,Tomás Mulcahy ,Jimmy Barry-Murphy ,Larry O'Gorman ,Donal O'Grady Football
Kevin Armstrong ,Joe Brolly ,Enda Colleran , Tony Davis,Seán Flanagan , Kevin Heffernan,Joe Lennon ,Jim McDonnell ,Kevin McStay ,Mick O'Connell ,Mick O'Dwyer ,Seán O'Neill ,Anthony Tohill ,Dave Weldrick ,Eamon Young , Paul Curran,Coman Goggins ,Tommy Lyons Theme music
For the
2004 season of the programme, RTÉ replaced the long-standing theme tune of "The Sunday Game", "Jagariarten", composed byJames Last , with a completely different composition. This was met with much comment (RTÉ had previously re-arranged the theme, then reverted back to the original), and was likened to the famous "Match of the Day " or "Grandstand" themes being replaced. The new theme was used through to2006 and was then replaced by another different theme in2007 . On10 May 2008 RTÉ announced that the original theme would return, with a new arrangement, for the2008 season. [cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0510/sundaygame.html?gaa|title=The Sunday Game re-instate old tune
publisher=RTÉ |date=2008-05-10|accessdate=2008-05-12]References
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