Almost all of Tipperary’s 2018 hard luck stories disappeared into the ether last Sunday.

The lads and lasses in the modern media industry use Freedom Of Information requests to obtain those rationed-out facts and figures which our politicians and civil servants above in Leinster House know well will do them no harm at all in the eyes of the electorate.

Given that much of the focus on last Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC final revolved around Richie Hogan’s sending off, arguably the most important moment of the match has almost gone underappreciated.

Richie Hogan has questioned James Owens’ decision to send him off in Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC final, insisting his elbow didn’t catch Cathal Barrett.

Richie Hogan has questioned James Owens’ decision to send him off in Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC final, insisting his elbow didn’t catch Cathal Barrett.

Seven years on, Sunday finally put a seal on the anguish for Tommy Dunne.

Thirty years on from Tipperary beating Antrim in the All-Ireland final, there was a strong Saffron influence running through the team for Sunday’s All-Ireland win over Kilkenny.

Brian Cody has insisted that to “scapegoat” Richie Hogan for Kilkenny’s All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary would be an “outrageous” thing to do.

Last week, we brought you the management life and times of Brian Cody and Kilkenny in the words of Bruce Springsteen.

It wasn’t a Jordan Belfort-esque declaration but that wouldn’t be Liam Sheedy’s style.

Tens of thousands of Tipperary supporters turned out at Semple Stadium tonight, to welcome home the Tipperary Senior Hurling team who won the All-Ireland Championship yesterday, after defeating Kilkenny in the decider at Croke Park.

Cathal Barrett says former Kilkenny players are "clutching at straws" by highlighting an incident in yesterday’s All-Ireland final where he caught Richie Hogan in the face with his hurley.

Tipperary's victorious hurlers have visited Children's Health Ireland in Crumlin to start off the traditional All-Ireland winning celebrations.

Ken Hogan, Derek McGrath and Ger Cunningham review Tipp's All-Ireland triumph with Anthony Daly.

The team includes six players from All-Ireland champions Tipperary and four from beaten finalists Kilkenny.

Kilkenny were leading Tipperary by a point when Hogan made contact with the head of Cathal Barrett with a stray elbow along the Hogan Stand touchline.

Victorious Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy accepts Richie Hogan’s sending-off had “a huge bearing” on the All-Ireland final, but says he didn’t see the foul on Cathal Barrett that led to the red card.

As a gauge of how competitive the All-Ireland final was, the free-taking sequence for both sides tells an interesting story.

As rain and hail drenched the first half, it wasn’t an afternoon for ‘playing through the lines’

Tipperary’s 28th All-Ireland title came easier than expected as Richie Hogan’s first-half sending off helped to pave the way for their third Championship crown this decade.

The Liam McCarthy cup is therefore heading back to Tipp!

In the end, history was achieved with the minimum of fuss by Galway who cruised to a three-in-a-row of Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor hurling titles at Croke Park.

Fans travelling to Croke Park for tomorrow's All-Ireland hurling final are being warned of possible traffic disruption.

Hurling fans supporting the men in blue and gold have been advised that morning rail services this Sunday from Limerick/Limerick Junction and Cork to Dublin are sold out

Jerome Cahill’s pinch-me moment? Easy, the Tipp dressing room on the evening of Saturday, January 26.

Chasing silverware, yes. Chasing records, not so much, but it’s impossible to get away from the latter, such are the impressive tallies he’s been posting of late.

Former All-Ireland winning captain Michael Fennelly has advised Kilkenny’s players to tap into the tears and emotion of 2016 as they prepare to face Tipperary once more.

Richard Stakelum spent the Tipperary-Wexford semi-final next to his brother, Pat.

It was the autumn of 1887. The warm summer was a distant memory. The hurlers of Tipperary and Kilkenny were about to meet for the first time in championship hurling. This rivalry — later to become one of the most vibrant in Gaelic games — got off to a start that was truly remarkable.

Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird has always acted as a sounding board for my thoughts on management and life in general.

“I am very ordinary, to be honest. Abnormal or normal, whichever it is. I just don’t do anything fantastic or anything that is major.

The decade’s hurling sails off same as the decade’s hurling sailed in, Kilkenny and Tipperary about a broadside.

And so, the inter-county GAA season ends with the most traditional of finals in both codes.

Almost 30 years ago, the Reids were the first family in Ballyhale to get miniature goalposts.

Inspired by his 18th All-Ireland final as senior manager of Kilkenny and the recently-released movie Blinded By The Light which features Springsteen’s music prominently, John Fogarty relates 18 lyrics by The Boss about the real boss:

Ger Cunningham, Derek McGrath and Kyle Hayes preview Tipperary v Kilkenny with Anthony Daly.

Learning you’re about to make your inter-county debut is a big moment in any player’s life.

Being a Clonmel man and a dual player, the natural assumption to make about Seamus Kennedy was that football would be his priority.

“I am training to be an accountant and am actually serving my time down in Kilkenny at the moment, with O’Neill Foley Chartered Accountants.

The worth of Richie Hogan in his current patched-up incarnation? Former Kilkenny goalkeeper Michael Walsh offers a succinct appraisal.

“Do you reckon this will be Cody’s last year, Enda?”

Brian Cody and Winston Churchill might not seem to have that much in common, apart from a shared disdain for appeasement.

There are match-ups all over the field that will be key. That’s the great thing about Tipperary-Kilkenny matches — both sides tend to go orthodox and are 15-on-15.

A couple of months off turning 32, TJ Reid may privately accept winning three more All-Ireland medals to catch Henry Shefflin’s record of 10 isn’t going to happen.

On the eve of the 2018 Championship, Eoin Kelly complained about knowing so little about what was happening inside Michael Ryan’s camp.

Will this Sunday’s All-Ireland decide the decade in Kilkenny or Tipperary’s favour?

Comparisons of teams and players across generations need to be conditional, mindful of changes in a sport and in the science of sport.

Liam Sheedy admits Tipperary’s Championship preparations this year were greatly helped by taking a dimmer approach to April’s club month.

Quite frankly, only the most dogged of souls will survive. And even then, the bodies will be sore for days afterwards, you would imagine.