Tipperary’s tumble has gifted us a summer of intrigue

Teatime after the Gaelic Grounds on the fourth Sunday of last month.

Not quite like teatime after Semple Stadium on the first Sunday of May five years ago, when Kilkenny had crushed Cork in the National League final and already it seemed obvious who’d be lifting the September silverware — as Brian Cody’s charges duly did even if, like the Three Wise Men, they had to go around the houses to get there.

April 23, 2017. Not quite like 2012. Not like it at all. Galway 3-21 Tipperary 0-14. Tipperary may still end up lifting the September silverware; it’s not such an obvious vision now, though. We may not be facing into what turns out to be a wonderful championship — and so what, given that wonderful hurling championships are few and far between — but we at least have one that hums with an air of unknowability. No longer is it a putative lap of honour for Tipp. They’re far better off for such a development, of course. So are we.