Sunday should be a cliffhanger end to the year.
A year when the game never failed to deliver again but we did see some of the quality impacted by the rushed calendar that must be revisited.
Looking back, who will forget Westmeath getting a draw against Wexford, Tony Kelly's line ball at the death moment of a pulsating Munster final or Cian Lynch pointing while on his knees?
What about Luke Shefflin truly realising who his father is during the handshake saga, the magic of Gearóid Hegarty's goal against Clare, Galway's last minute free in Salthill to deny the Cats or the Tipp minors breaking young Faithful hearts with that finishing score in Nowlan Park?
On the other hand, so many teams nosedived. Waterford promised to reach the stars but gravity beat them again, the pilots of Cork and Dublin are gone from their cockpits and the flightless members of the Tipperary county board carelessly pressed the ejector button on their own man yesterday.
The difference is that being good and delivering a performance aren't the same thing. We can have our science, stats and biomechanics but the art of getting a performance out of a team again and again often defies science.
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That's what makes Sunday so full of promise. No two men have been better this hurling century at extracting performances than Brian Cody and John Kiely have been. They don't send out faint-hearts and they don't accept quitting.
There are a few of us begrudgers who might claim that Cody having had the services of some of the greatest players ever to have played the game won 11 fortunate All-Irelands.
But this year, down to his last and maybe most mythical superstar TJ Reid somehow Cody has brought his stripy men to the threshold once more, playing a new style with old steel.
Many didn't like the infamous handshake-come-death-stare incident but without that honest hatred of losing, Cody is not Cody and Kilkenny are not Kilkenny.
Limerick, on the other hand, when looking for new managers the ad used to read, 'Man wanted to mind indisciplined mice at busy crossroads'.
But now they've reached the summit and more impressively, they've managed to stay there.
Who's going to come out on top on Sunday?
A few years ago it was impossible to imagine Limerick being favourites for an All-Ireland final against the Cats. Limerick are going for a three-in-a-row but haven't beaten Kilkenny in a final since 1973. What the Shannonsiders have put together with the help of schools, clubs and state-of-the-art academies with resources and innovative minds at the steering wheel, is a hurling team which has been a progression on the great Kilkenny teams who were the ruling power for so long.
Like those stripy men they have a series of players who'll go straight in to the game's hall of fame when they're done. That Kilkenny have caught up so quickly and now present a clear and dangerous threat to Limerick on Sunday is one of the great achievement of the Cody era. Kilkenny have adapted themselves to the new game without imitating.
So where can they hurt Limerick?
First, they'll believe, they always do. Second, their style of mixing the long and the short will stretch a Limerick team which teams are learning to cope with in recent times. Cian Kenny's running can do damage; the front eight seems settled after a lot of musical chairs. Adrian Mullen at 10 has taken a leap forward and will try to set the template for exposing a Limerick half-back line who like doing things their way.
TJ (Reid) will win ball anyway it comes and will do what he does with frees. Eoin Cody has an eye for goal which is second to none of all the great forwards who'll be on show.
In defence, Huw Lawlor if he takes either Gillane or Flanagan, will be an interesting watch given his pace. Whoever Lawlor doesn't take, Mikey Butler will shepherd. Butler has earned a reputation as a man-marker and the battle in that Limerick inside line will be pivotal.
On the other hand, Clare shot 24 wides against Kilkenny, some were shots they should never have taken. Limerick won't take the wrong shots or miss the right ones. Cian Lynch, by all accounts, has suffered an injury which is more than a rumour. Limerick will be a diminished team without him, no doubt about that. Kyle Hayes will be a different and less complicated challenge for Richie Reid.
A long hot afternoon in Croke Park can take its toll but Limerick's size and physicality can suck the energy as much as the blazing sun. Their stats show more success with short puckouts in comparison to the Cats. Surely Kilkenny will press them and make them go long? Time will tell.
The Treaty won't admit it but motivation wise they'll have held on to the semi-final loss of 2019 like a cudgel. Whoever wins on Sunday will need their best performance of the year. A draw and two additional weeks of the summer would be nice - but Limerick are closer to the finished article. It's Limerick's to win and join the exclusive club of Cork, Tipp and Kilkenny who have achieved the three-in-a-row.
So sit back and look forward to watching outstanding sportspeople being tested to their limits in what promises to be a magnificent occasion for the beautiful game.
Dónal Óg Cusack was speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme
