The decision to locate the Sunday Game studios at the venues of our live matches has provided a welcome bonus for the football analysts - we get to see live hurling! This year I ventured as far south as Cork and experienced my first ever Munster hurling championship game. Obviously I had heard and read about the unique atmosphere of championship hurling days and I was not disappointed. I choose well - Tipp faced Waterford in a crunch encounter. Though we are all Irish and all mad GAH followers, hurling people are simply different to football people. They love their game that bit more, are more passionate about their game and the players tend to want to play it because they are born to play it. The noise thirty thousand hurling fans make will compare favourably to a full house in Croke Park; their roars are more guttural, their reaction to incidents different, their joy at victory more animated. I wanted Waterford to win, as they are a mirror image of my own beloved county. On this particular scorcher in Cork they did but only just. They went on to take the provincial title but HQ found them a taxi ride short of September Road. Alas, the last half-century has been a lot of 'all hat and no cattle' for us both; perhaps this year we can show our Waterford brothers the way for once. Next up was the Leinster final and again it was a compelling, if different, type of match. Not content to assume total knowledge I took in the 'B' All Ireland final between Kildare and Mayo a few weeks later; is that dedication or what? I suspect there are not too many of my hurling colleagues can claim such a viewing list, look out Farrell, Mulcahy and Finnerty, men who would pull the curtains if a football game was played on their front lawns. They keep telling us it is a 'man's game'; just throw in the ball, sorry, sliothar, and get on with it. I'm not so sure as the dominance of Kilkenny over the past few years has led to many of the opposition managers thinking outside the box when it comes to match day application. Wexford won Leinster with the use of judicious puck outs to pacy wingers. To me that is a no brainer, essentially it is the football equivalent of the quick kick out. But of course it needs a highly skilled practitioner to execute as one poor delivery can have negative effects on the scoreboard. Clare jumped in with the extra defender stratagem but this, a poor copy of the blanket defence, is surely flawed as he ends up clearing to the man he sold the early dummy to. By replay time it had died a death. The 2004 final is coming into view and Cork are making use of a running game, modelled somewhat on the successful Newtownshandrum style. I'm certain I've encountered this before. Galway, under Cyril Farrell, used the 'solo-run' to good advantage and refined their game by employing the short hand pass out of tight corners and as the assist for match winning goals and points. Cooney, Naughton et al had this mastered nearly two decades ago. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. At any rate, if hurling is the fastest field sport in the world then ground hurling has to be 'yer' only man. Even a football man can spot that no matter the tactics used, the determination on show or the passion for the contest, Kilkenny surmounted, by circuitous route admittedly, all comers. The brightest and best of coaches have tried but the champions survived. It appears they have a great desire to win a 'three-in-a-row' and beat Cork to the magic number 29. It will clinch their place in the history of the game. And the enduring truth is one all field games follow: when matters of fitness, focus and fight are more or less equal, skill wins out. It seems to me the two great powers of the game never lose sight of that principle and thus here we have them, once again, hurling for the title. I started following hurling when Galway emerged in the late 70s, early 80s. The excitement of their breakthrough hooked me; we in Mayo understand our position in the scheme of things and I jumped on the bandwagon. At school in St. Jarlath's College I used to see the great Michael Coleman, literally, pucking against the tide of a football mad nursery. But he persevered and was rewarded with a wonderful career laden with honours. Here in the Defence Forces, hurling continues its proud tradition and our year is rounded off with the Representative Series, in football and hurling, against Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland, our annual highlight. I get to see and meet some of the great players of the day: Shefflin, Deane, Lohan, O'hAilpin and others. Before them we had English and Duignan. To watch then perform without serious marking or pressure is to witness unbelievable touches, flicks and tricks. When the summer action kicks in I attempt to watch all the hurling championship action from the sofa. The action is fast and furious, the scores come every few minutes and hardly a game passes by without some amazing feat of skill accomplished. My favourite player these days is DJ but Joe Cooney remains at the top of the sheet. To steal a description from another time, Cooney always looked good being great. And to continue the theft, they both demonstrate that genius does what it must, talent what it can. Different strokes but pure class all the same. Carey continues to perform at the highest level, and mirroring the last days of George Best, just a touch or two of brilliance will keep us coming back for more. I listen to the hurling gurus talk about his vision, first touch, his devastating ability to hand pass at speed but I sit up when those short baby steps flag the beginning of his F1 acceleration. The crowd are awake as he clears the traffic and heads for open country, everything is now possible. He may be getting older but those twitchy speed muscles still work! It is much too early to call the winner in the race for Sam Maguire but it is decision time for the hurling equivalent. Cork, unlucky to lose last year, will be every bit as driven as the Cats, surely the match will be decided by moments of brilliance and moments of bravery? Or perhaps, the decision (s) of the referee? Close finals inevitably end up as a random collection of bounces, breaks and bad luck. So, these great finals are very often balanced on the edge waiting for the gentlest touch to sway the argument. However else might we argue until Christmas about the near miss and the one that got away? Sans O'hAilpin The Younger, Kilkenny may have the edge. My main interest will reside in the minor curtain raiser. Do Kilkenny ever lose underage matches? It appears there is some history between the contestants with the good folk of Galway (i.e. Mattie Murphy) feigning umbrage over comments the opposition manager made. The Kilkenny supremo is a man of the cloth and if Don King had his way the promo might be 'Mattie v Big Brother'. Reality TV? Bring it on! Down here in Mayo we will have to watch this one on the telly; we have swapped our hurling tickets with the promise of a return spring for the football final. Too busy to journey east anyway. We have our own reality TV Show to get ready for. Kevin McStay is a former Mayo footballer and All Star. He currently works as an analyst with The Sunday Game programme for RTE television. He also writes a weekly column for the 'Mayo News' newspaper. Tweet

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