Peter Crowley (Kerry) v Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone)

When I think about this Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Tyrone and Kerry, it gives me the tingles. 

Love conquers all. And so can pride and ego.

My first big defeat was the most traumatic. It was the first round of the South Derry U12 Championship. I was the 10-year-old left corner-back.

Futility (noun): Uselessness, meaninglessness, pointlessness, worthlessness, emptiness, aimlessness.

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." — Muhammad Ali

Anyone with the faintest sliver of attachment to the GAA would readily appreciate the two most significant results to have emerged from Sunday’s list of football fixtures.

The bewildering incompetence of county boards, the staggering uselessness of the Official Guide, and the utter insanity of the GAA is always thrown into sharp focus at this time of the year.

After a recent game in Markievicz Park, I was introduced to one of those footballing gurus that you meet from time to time.

Before a table quiz at our club got underway last year, quizmaster John Otterson kept everyone entertained with some archive footage.