The pressure is on Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary and Galway to produce the thrills that will ignite the 2015 All-Ireland Hurling Championship.
It's a campaign that has simmered for most of the summer but rarely threatened to reach boiling point.
Thankfully, the aforementioned quartet have the ability, drive and application to get us up off our seats in the upcoming semi-finals. Let's hope they will deliver and that the final on 6 September can produce another classic, similar to last year's drawn decider between Kilkenny and Tipperary.
However, being treated to a rip-roaring denouement won't, according to former Wexford star Tom Dempsey, "disguise the fact that we haven't had a great year."
Dempsey's disappointment is two-pronged, with him singling out counties who haven't delivered in this campaign, while also bemoaning the ever-increasing use of tactics in the modern game.
"Clare, Limerick and Wexford won't be happy with their performances and that's a pity because hurling needs the top table to be pretty crowded," he said.
"Clare haven't progressed at all since they won the All-Ireland [in 2013]. Last year, Limerick should have beaten Killkenny to get to an All-Ireland final but they never really turned up this year. The same can be said of Wexford after their championship exit.
There are good underage structures in the three counties to ensure that a sustained run at senior level is likely in the coming years."
Dempsey is clearly a fan of the traditional values of hurling and while he accepts the game has changed, he feels this new approach is not exactly bettering the game.
"Hurling has become very tactical, with a lot of short passing," he adds
"I know many of the pundits like that type of hurling but I'm not a fan of it. A feature of the game over the last five or six years is the lack of ground hurling, overhead striking and the long ball into the full-forward line. This has not done the game any good.
"In fairness to Kilkenny, they still play with the traditional values. If they keep on winning, I suppose there is still hope for the old-style traditional hurling."
For many, the ancient game is seen as sporting spectacle that regularly enthralls, but the 1996 All-Ireland winner believes that such an assertion could now be threatened.
"The more teams become tactically aware and the more they play defensive formations and sweeper systems it is going to limit the level of entertainment.
"People say that football is in danger because of the over reliance on 'systems' but such an approach isn't going to do hurling any good either."
Eddie Brennan's preview of the recent Dublin v Waterford quarter-final said much about the 'new world order'.
"Both counties play very defensively. They have low numbers up front, congest the middle third of the pitch and defend their goal by getting a lot of bodies back. In that regard, it will be an intriguing battle and I think it will be a case of whatever team has more faith in their system will win," he wrote at the time.
Waterford's 'system' prevailed on the day.
