Calm before the storm as league promises to be a blockbuster

A hundred and 40 minutes plus injury time (ah yes, that injury time...) 11 goals and 73 points.

Sunday sunshine and Saturday night lights. Cameras, action, exhilaration and fairytale champions. There was never anything like Croke Park last September and in our lifetime there almost certainly never will be. But hurling does not stand still. The summer that rained blessings from the heavens is history and Clare are no longer this year’s All-Ireland champions.

The passing of 2013 was to be mourned, and not just inside the Banner’s borders. The season granted us the most competitive and entertaining league ever, a precursor to the most competitive and entertaining championship ever. We’re not going to be that lucky again in 2014, common sense tells us so. But common sense should never be allowed to discourage optimism. We live in the hope of seeing greatness and we always will. It is part of the condition of being a sports fan.