At this stage, it’s probably a rite of passage for one of Philly McMahon, James McCarthy, Ciarán Kilkenny, Kevin McManamon, or Paddy Andrews to haze new recruits with tales of the bad old days.

Less than two months in and the Dessie Farrell era is providing an array of firsts.

Early last year, after winning the Sigerson Cup with UCD, Con O’Callaghan concluded a remarkable run of 25 games for club, county and college in just over 12 months, winning 24 of them.

To curve or to swerve — that is the question.

We don’t exactly know what’s going to happen on September 14 but we figure there is a better chance of predicting what won’t

I once heard a story about a wily old country school principal who liked to maintain a tight grip of the reins of the schoolyard every lunchtime — absolutely nobody wanted to get brought to his attention.

There was a smile and a handshake for Diarmuid Connolly upon his departure from the field for a black card but Jim Gavin had returned to battle mode by the time he met the press.

Fake football was the order of the day in Omagh as the biggest indictment of a Championship format unfit for purpose was served up.

Diarmuid Connolly’s first Championship start for Dublin in 26 months was marked with a win as Dublin confirmed their All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo this Saturday.

Saturday, in case you didn’t realise, was Groundhog Day in the US, the 133rd installment of a rodent climbing out of a burrow to predict the weather.

The Electric Ireland Leinster MFC began on Saturday with most of the headlines dominated by the plight of the Kilkenny team.