Is anyone gripped by another Kilkenny-Tipperary final?

“Sunday’s eagerly awaited All-Ireland hurling final is not yet sold out,” according to a headline yesterday. 

Look no further for the 10-length winner of the Most Oxymoronic Line of the Year competition.  Habemus papam. Whatever about this decider being eagerly awaited or otherwise it comes as no surprise to discover it’s not sold out.

This will be the sixth September encounter of Kilkenny and Tipperary since 2009. They’ve met in three National League finals in the same period of time. There was a July championship encounter and an August championship encounter in there too. The dominant colour scheme of this championship era is brindled in black and amber and blue and gold. When the smoke clears after the next nuclear holocaust there may be no spectators (bar possibly Pat Hickey), but Kilkenny and Tipp will still be getting wired into one another.