Ben Roethlisberger has never heard of Brian O’Driscoll. Or Jonathan Sexton, Ronan O’Gara or Robbie Keane for that matter.

It was 10 minutes before 8am yesterday when Rory McIlroy glanced warily at Kildare’s greying skies, stepped forward onto the 10th tee and smacked his dimpled Nike straight down the throat of his first hole of the day.

Declaration: this is NOT a column about championship structures.

Some counties organise regular media events but the overall quilt is patchwork. The GAA is failing to punch its weight in this particular ring.

It’s Drogheda this Sunday. Louth v Wexford in the Leinster SFC.

It is easy to imagine the sense of awe that must have gripped the 1888 Lions as they embarked on what was essentially a voyage into the unknown.

It may only be late May, but the howls of anguish over the ticket drought in Donegal ahead of Sunday’s Ulster SFC game with Tyrone have decorated the All-Ireland’s earlier stages with a soundtrack that has rarely, if ever, been heard before the kids trudge back to school in September.

It was Andy Williams who first recorded the song about Christmas, claiming that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”, but then the GAA and its unique fascinations probably weren’t all that big a deal around Wall Lake, Iowa where the famous old crooner was born.

Two days ago, a beaming Davy Russell clambered onto the podium in the winners’ enclosure at Punchestown and had his snap taken as he pretended to take a great, big glug out of the oversized tankard that comes with victory in the Gold Cup.

Maths wasn’t exactly a strong suit in the old school days, but one glance around Croke Park last Sunday afternoon seemed to offer fairly definitive evidence that the numbers just didn’t add up for what proved to be two perfectly enjoyable Allianz League Division 1 semi-finals.