Paul Rouse: Winning ain't what it used to be in this championship

CHAMPIONSHIP: We are now down to the last 12 teams in the contest for the Sam Maguire and none of those 12 teams left in it have won all of the ‘championship’ matches that they have played

In the new normal of the All-Ireland Football Championships, winning matches is not nearly as important as it used to be. This is – by any standards – an extraordinary change to the meaning of championship football.

It is clearly fitting that the GAA has taken to calling it the All-Ireland Series, rather than the All-Ireland championship.