The Munster and Leinster hurling championship round-robin stages draw to a conclusion this weekend while the All-Ireland football series at Sam Maguire level throws in.
Between those competitions, there are 10 games down for decision across Saturday and Sunday and of the 20 teams involved, only two teams enter with their seasons on the line.
In hurling, Offaly or Kilkenny will see their journey come to an end for the year, although Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Clare are still not sure of a provincial final spot just yet.
In the football world, with the provincials now all concluded, everyone still has a second chance card to play.
Rarely – perhaps never – at this stage of the season have we had so many games, and so little season-ending jeopardy.
And the 'J' word has firmly entered the GAA lexicon over the last few years, although it’s always been lurking quietly ever since the football qualifier system was first introduced in 2001 and the ending of straight knock-out hurling four years before that.
Back then, the idea of second chances in the championship turned many-a-stomach and led to some unexpected decision-making.
In 1998, Offaly lost the Leinster SHC final but took advantage of the backdoor to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup. A few weeks later, at congress, the Faithful County submitted a special motion to return to straight knock-out.
Reaction to the football backdoor in 2001 brought plenty of opposition too.
Prior to its acceptance at a special congress in 2000 where Galway, who’d win Sam through the backdoor in Year 1, were the only county to oppose, then Leinster chairperson Séamus Aldridge stated "asking a player does he want a second chance is like asking a child does he want two plates of jelly or one".
GAA President Jarlath Burns was a firm proponent of the ‘jeopardy' term in a media tour two years ago when selling the current All-Ireland system. Interestingly at that special congress 25 years ago, on behalf of the players’ advisory group, Burns argued hard for the knock-out system to be abolished. It should also be noted, he was the only then current player to show up at the CityWest for the event.
Detractors aplenty, but the passage of time changes outlooks and second chances are a given now, and technically, during the football group stages of recent seasons, third chances were available too.
The majority of sides still alive know they will have a while before they have to cash in those low-stack chips. They can 'check' for now.
So, the psyche of how teams approach this weekend’s action will be telling.
Would an injury-ravaged Cork hurling squad be devastated if they miss out on the Munster final – and another war with Limerick – with their eyes undoubtedly focused on the Liam MacCarthy this season?
And what of Kerry-Donegal? Whatever the outcome, they’ll not be able to meet again until an All-Ireland semi-final at the earliest, so while shadow boxing seems out of the question, maybe the padding won’t be removed from the gloves.
The weekend past provided two very interesting, somewhat contrasting, quotes on how different managerial teams view the current structures.
"It’s really unusual to play a game in a competition when it doesn't have a huge bearing on the outcome (of the Leinster final)...while that was really pleasing in a number of ways, it has absolutely no bearing on next weekend and being in a Leinster final or not," said Dublin hurling boss Niall Ó Ceallacháin after their win in Galway.
Up in Clones after annexing a first Ulster title as manager, Kieran McGeeney took issue with the "narrative" - aka journalist musings - surrounding provincial championships and other current football structures.
"You want to win every cup that you’re in. As a manager, when I read people saying the same as the round-robin competition, the Super 16s, people don’t want to win it (Ulster) bad enough.
"I just think it’s horses**t. None of those people have ever stood in a changing room and said that because it’s just pure nonsense. The boys definitely want to win."
Those last six words ring true; it’s hard to imagine any team not wanting to win any game they play in - it’s more that the scar tissue can be healed quicker in some losing circumstances.
Westmeath, off the back of their famous Leinster SFC win, have sold out Mullingar for their All-Ireland opener against Cavan; Parnell Park and Paírc Uí Chaoimh should be rocking with provincial hurling final spots on the line and what a weekend potentially in store for Offaly hurling.
Yet this weekend, jelly still trumps jeopardy. To a degree, at least.
For very few, the season is on the line – but with less than two months to the All-Ireland hurling final, and just over two months to the football equivalent, keeping the gears in low may no longer be an option.
Watch Galway v Kildare in the All-Ireland Football Championship first round on Saturday from 7.20pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch a provincial hurling double-header, Dublin v Kilkenny (2pm) and Cork v Clare (4pm), on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport
