Open the curtains, matters are brightening up in the football championship

Hey, it’s actually got quite interesting the last few weeks, hasn’t it? In fact, it’s been rather decent, don’t you agree? You weren’t exactly expecting us or anyone else to be saying that about the 2016 football championship, were you?

We can hardly blame you. In recent years following the football championship has been a bit like being stuck on an Irish holiday when it’s done nothing but rain, or being a jaded Phil Connors at his lowest point in Groundhog Day, depressingly outlining to Rita in the diner how every day is February 2.

Just like he knows there’s going to be a grease fire in the kitchen and Larry the cameraman is going to walk right through the door, you could set your clock to the football championship. Dublin stroll to another provincial title in Leinster. Mayo likewise in Connacht. Cork end up either second-best or best in Munster, Monaghan or Donegal claim the Anglo-Celt Cup up north, while the qualifiers are a damp squib compared to the wild fun they were in the noughties or the never-to-be-repeated miracle season that was 2010.