There have been plenty of talking points in GAA in the last few days, though God knows, the provincial football finals didn't provide us with many.
Ten minutes into the second game, I looked across at poor David Tubridy and he had his head in his hands. He knew it was going to be a long day. The whistle couldn't have come early enough for Clare.
I'm sure Colm Collins and his team will feel they didn't give the best account of themselves. But it was a sobering reminder of the gap between a relatively good team and an elite team.
It was more or less a similar story in Castlebar. Sligo kicked some nice scores but they are still very much a team in a developmental stage and it was all too easy for Galway after the opening 20 minutes.
First thing to say is that Clifford brothers handled themselves so admirably on a tough weekend. You only get one mother and they are rightfully getting all the plaudits for how they conducted themselves.
Of the two All-Ireland contenders we watched last Sunday, I was probably more impressed by Kerry.
Partly because we didn't know what to expect from them as much. Unlike Galway, they've had a fairly low-key 2023 until now.
I was so impressed with their attacking play. From our makeshift studio behind the goal, we were watching the Kerry full-forward line closely. Their movement off the ball was so good and it is so difficult to defend against. They were really slick, their patterns of play were wonderful.
Watching Clare, from a defensive point of view, at some stage corner-backs are going to have to be better at anticipating the 'backdoor cut'. That's possibly the difference between a top team and a good team. That fourth goal was beautifully finished by Clifford but as a defender, you should be reading that situation better.
Defensively there might be some tidying up for Kerry to do on the basis of the second half - Podge Collins had a great goal chance late on - though that probably has to be seen in the context of the game being effectively over at that point.
From Galway's point of view, they were on a hiding to nothing, as Padraic Joyce said afterwards.
I know myself and Gooch were critical of Shane Walsh in the post-match analysis and Joyce came out later on and said he had been sick.
Was there a need to play him in that case? I don't think so.
He mentioned that Paul Conroy was out and so he had to play Walsh. He didn't need to play either guy, in my view. They would have won the game handy enough regardless of whether the lads played.
I know he had a bug but when he was subbed on 40 minutes, I did think there was an element of 'hey, you're not doing your stuff' and 'we need to get more out of you the next day.'
We thought he looked disinterested the last day - and he did look that. But then, in his favour, we were nearly disinterested watching it!
Consistency is probably Walsh's biggest challenge. He's so gifted, only he and Clifford can do some of the stuff he can do.
But he makes mad decisions on the ball at times. There are some fairly notable examples, in the last minute against Armagh last year and against Roscommon again this year, he hit a crossfield ball which did not need to be hit.
You wonder does the simple stuff bore him? I think he has a Diarmuid Connolly-esque vibe about him. The structure of the game might be a bit tedious for him.
But I feel with a player like Shane, you have to take the rough with the smooth because he's so good - last year's All-Ireland final was just a sensational individual display.
As Peter Canavan noted during the week, the biggest task for Galway is to get Comer, Walsh and Burke firing together. How you do that, I don't know. Sometimes, I feel it's very individualistic up there.
Their defence is so sound. We saw snippets from Comer the last day - although he didn't score himself, he looked sharp and laid on two goals. Peter Cooke had a brilliant game. Mattie Tierney, after a fantastic league campaign, had a quiet league final and was fairly subdued against Roscommon, but he answered the questions the last day. The caveat is he won't get the same space against Tyrone.
Onto this weekend. Leinster has been written off as a dead duck for a long time now and for good reasons. But Dublin lumbered past Kildare in the semi-final, playing uninspired, low-risk football. They didn't resemble the invincible outfit that has mowed down all comers in the province for a decade.
Louth have had a fairy-tale campaign, performing so strongly in league and championship, but I still think this game hinges on what attitude Dublin bring.
If they hit the peaks we know they can, they could absolutely blow Louth out of the water at the weekend. But if they go in with the same laboured, slow-attacking approach we saw against Kildare, I think Louth can give them a right good game.
Ulster remains the saving grace for provincial football. The standard has been really good up there, we've had some cracking games and great storylines. On Sunday, we have the two best teams in the province going head to head and it's a fitting end to what has been the best provincial championship - again.
I know the ticket hunt has been a nightmare. Demand is so strong that they haven't gone on general sale and we're looking at a sellout. Steven McDonnell did call for the game to be switched to Croke Park - which held a number of Ulster deciders in the mid-2000s, as well as the 2021 Connacht final in which we beat Galway.
I don't agree. Croke Park is overused. Clones is obviously a disaster in terms of location and congestion, and I guarantee there'll be delays on Sunday. But it's a stadium that brings an atmosphere that you would not get in Croker. It's going to be electric. Why take that away from the Ulster championship?
The game is probably more important for Armagh - trying to bridge a 15-year gap - but I fancy Derry.
I think Armagh will throw everything at it. But I just think Derry, reigning champions, have the edge.
They've tweaked their gameplan this year. Their attacking game has a bit more potency and flamboyance about it. They all defend together and they all attack together.
There are chinks in their armour, where they can be got at. In terms of the goals they're conceding, primarily.
Armagh, after being very defensive minded in the league, having been playing heads up football in Ulster, focused on getting quick ball into Andrew Murnin and co.
But Derry have fully established themselves as an elite side who are just that bit further ahead in the pecking order.
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