Kilkenny have a clean bill of health ahead of the All-Ireland SHC final replay, according to manager Brian Cody, who was circumspect about Henry Shefflin’s chances of starting the game against Tipperary.

As we loitered in the catacombs under the Hogan Stand last Sunday evening, a colleague from an outlet in the North brought up the All-Ireland football final this Sunday coming.

Was Sunday the ultimate All-Ireland hurling final? Now that pulse rates are back to normal, we asked Michael Moynihan to be as objective as only he can be.

Is it too late to offer a thought or two on the football semi-finals last week? No? Thanks for indulging me.

Seamus Hickey has seen Tipperary and Kilkenny up close and personal this summer.

The discussion at the Tipperary press night was wandering here and there and eventually stuck on the notion of full-back play.

Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher has recovered from the rib injury he picked up in the semi-final win over Cork and will be available for next month’s All-Ireland SHC final against Kilkenny.

During the week Larry Tompkins seemed to annoy a few people in Mayo with some observations about the western footballers and their quest for an All-Ireland.

I spent a chunk of last Saturday afternoon on the M8 heading south, and one thing impressed me more than the BMW jeep that went past me at a speed of — give it a rough guess — about 700 miles per hour.

Damn you, internet! Sometimes I don’t know whether what you’re giving me is real or whether it’s being dreamed up by two stoned teenagers chained to a PC in someone’s basement, wondering whether to get the Domino’s deep-dish spectacular or not...