The ebbing tide that has lowered most boats

SOME years ago a wise-guy whose county hasn’t been visited by Sam since 1982 said to me that the enduring appeal of the All-Ireland is not really in discovering who will win; it is more about finding out how long the other counties can avoid losing.

Like all good voyages with a beginning, a middle and an end, there will are going to be strange surprises (Down v Kerry 2010), some savage certainties (Uncle Sam will visit the Faithful county before Sam Maguire will) and some brutal and disfiguring drama (Cork v Dublin 2010) before we reach the conclusion of this year’s championship.

Maybe the man from Offaly is right. Maybe it really is all about the journey and not the destination. Maybe the championship is not so much what happens on the third Sunday in September as what happens along the way in June, July and August.