Eventually there’s a towel thrown, or one jumps for joy as the other hits the floor. Then reality hits with an embrace or a handshake between heavy, sweaty limbs.
Congratulations. Commiserations. I’m at the top of my game, you’re at the top of yours. There’s a winner, there’s a loser, and there’s mutual respect.
The GAA doesn’t have an Eddie Hearn. The McKenna Cup ain’t bound for Saudi Arabia just yet.
The stage is set for days that are numbered. The remaining sand is slowly trickling, Clones and the Ulster final.
Jim McGuinness, Kieran McGeeney. They’ve had their part to play in that sandtimer.
A wintery Croke Park saw tensions spill over as a clash of two figureheads always does. Rumble in the concrete jungle. Jim 1-0 Kieran.
We know it’ll be tight. The Division 2 showpiece reminded us of that.
How relevant is the league? Well, just as every zebra has different stripes, this clash promises the unknown.
Claustrophobic is the word they like to use on this day of days. 70 minutes of hair splitting. Maybe 90, just don’t say the -p word…
Since McGuinness graced this stage as a player, Adidas Predators have gone from stylish to out of style and now they’re all the rage again. You’re not old Jim, you’re just retro.
A win at the weekend sees him join the late, great Art McRory and one Joe Kernan on four Anglo-Celts as manager. Nice company, better known as legendary status.
McGeeney all the while has hardly been away. The Ulster Championship final doesn’t change. The Predators back in ‘99 left imprints on the toes of Diarmuid Marsden just as it will Duffy and Campbell and the rest in ‘24. Claustrophobic they say.
Try The Hill on for size. Childhood memories to be made up on Daddy’s shoulders, or as a teen one growth spurt short of the finest view that Sunday May 12, 2024 has on offer on this ball we call Earth.
There’s no caveat here of guaranteed promotion, or the big games yet to come. There’s no grand day out for a loser on Ulster final day.
Jim and Kieran, two heavyweights, tasked with tipping the see-saw in their favour. Sparks will fly, if the sizzling sun of St Tiernach’s can find her way, or even if she can’t.
The Ulster final isn’t do-or-die.
It’s a whole lot more than that.