Some other observations. Deciding the Munster final by way of a penalty shootout was not some monstrous insult inflicted on the honest horny-handed sons of the soil by the faceless powers, unelected bureaucrats etc in Croke Park. 

Sooner or later Micheál Donoghue’s new-model Galway will surprise us, and simultaneously not surprise us in the slightest, by flooring the favourites in a big match.

Nicky English once stressed the importance for a Tipp manager of having at his disposal a bunch of guys imbued with “the values of the Old Stand in Thurles”.

While Cork have become green-flag maniacs, Limerick remain bloodless and calculated. 

Sometimes it’s okay to stop and smell the roses and last weekend was great.

The Rebels are, inarguably, approaching the summit. Limerick scaled the summit a long time ago. The past was yours but the future’s mine?

Cork have to win. Defeat would not be a disaster but it would be an undeniable setback.

It has been an indifferent Allianz Hurling League, but not one without high points.

Here’s a tale of two Tipp trips to Nowlan Park 20 years apart.

A combined 30 years without a single MacCarthy Cup triumph, it’s as though Shelley’s traveller from an antique land encountered not one but two massive dilapidated monuments.