And on the Seventh Day...

By Declan Bogue

WHAT'S seven days anyway?

A long time in politics? A natural pause from the adrenalin-filled weekends? A catchy chorus of some classic Dexy's Midnight Runners? A handy time-measuring tool of the Gregorian calendar?

Or a period filled with dread for the footballers of Tyrone, Monaghan and Galway?

It's a curious situation all three find themselves in, and distinctly different from that of Dublin, who make up the fourth side in this weekend's All-Ireland semi-finals. For Dublin, they will have found the livin' easy over the last fortnight. They were able to give a few fringe players the pleasure of playing in the first-ever dead rubber football Championship game, in front of an adoring crowd that turned up in party mode to watch exhibition stuff by the boys in sky blue.

So the media turned a blind eye to Croke Park. The real juice was in Salthill and Ballybofey, with a little voyeurism urging us to take in the most surreal of sights down in Killarney.

Almost as soon as those games were complete, there was an urge, a need, to move on. Eamonn Fitzmaurice brought the curtain down on six seasons with Kerry but for Dublin, Galway, Monaghan and Tyrone, the season really shot off into the stars.

Is seven days adequate for teams to come down off the sugar rush as experienced by Monaghan and Tyrone?

It's a question that can be approached from several angles. From a spectator's point of view, this season has been like no other with the introduction of the Super 8s. It has created scenarios such as last weekend where provincial grounds were packed out, with never more at stake in intimate venues. The spectators of each county cannot get enough. Sure, there will be quibbles. There are those that will complain about the price of things and even more depressingly, others that will give them the time of the day.

In the meantime, the Championship has produced some elements of the ordinary - the one-sidedness of Leinster and Munster, depressing examples of time-wasting and 'game-management' that is rewarded, and way too much play-acting.

But it has featured plenty of the extraordinary; Carlow from Division Four beating Kildare of the  top flight, Fermanagh toppling Monaghan, Kerry in Clones, Dublin in Omagh. All great days. So yeah, the fans are alright, they enjoy it laid on thick.

Managers are another scenario altogether. Some thrive when they have plenty of time to prepare for games, while others find they work better on the hoof. It would be a stretch to say Mickey Harte favours one way or the other as the four All-Ireland semi-final defeats over the last decade have been preceded by both a backdoor run or provincial champions. 

There can be little doubt though that in forcing to dip through their reserves, both Tyrone and Monaghan have found out a lot about themselves. They have become sides and managements that now think their way through various scenarios as presented on the pitch, and react accordingly. You will not hear it said in too many places, but Harte in particular and O'Rourke are operating at the peak of their managerial powers. Having games week on week has unquestionably sharpened them.

Finally, we come to that most under-appreciated commodity - the players.

On Sunday afternoon, journalists had already formed a conspiratorial ring outside the MacCumhaill Pairc dressing rooms awaiting their prey for quotes, insight, or just an off-beat line to stitch into their copy. The Tyrone players and management had been detained by the floods of supporters on the pitch, savouring their first Championship win there since 1973. They emerged from the dressing rooms with recovery trousers and protein shakes, already focussed on the following Sunday and an All-Ireland semi-final.

"The big thing is, we have to get our feet back on the ground because players have no control over what happened at the end of the match today," said Mickey Harte afterwards.  

"The supporters just flowed on to that field and were so euphoric and we wouldn't want to get caught up in that euphoria because there are no cups handed out today, not titles won, no medals."

It was almost a carbon copy of Monaghan the previous night, with the excitement of Salthill and the long journey, they only reached Monaghan town at 1am on Sunday.

It's a mad summer. And about to get even madder.