Big Cats

THIS YEAR’S must-see blockbuster movie is 300, a stirring tale of battle set in ancient Greece featuring a tiny band of Spartans taking on a vast, unstoppable force coming out of the east.

Analogies between Kilkenny and the Persian army would, by extension, depict Brian Cody as a tattooed Xerxes, with nose, cheek and eyebrow piercings, so perhaps we’ll smother this metaphor right here before it gets out of hand.

The black and amber cast a long shadow all the same. Are other hurling counties intimidated? Depends, of course. There are more variables at work than an awareness of Kilkenny’s ability to score goals early and often.