It was men against boys today in the Leinster hurling championship as the Cats gave Offaly the sort of beating which wouldn't be allowed in a boxing ring.
I wrote yesterday that it would be a matter of how long Offaly could hang in there with the All-Ireland champions in what clearly was a mismatch.
As it turned out it took the Cats half an hour to get their ass in gear and when Henry Shefflin found Martin Comerford for the first goal it was goodnight Irene.
After that the game was torture for Offaly and nuetral fans alike.
It was training ground stuff for the Cats but this annual lap of honour through Leinster can't be allowed to continue.
It's not fair on the rest of the country, well Munster anyway that the Cats are able to train for the All-Ireland semis as only a tragedy on the scale of the Munich Air Disaster could stop the Cats in Leinster.
The crowds are poor and after today's game it can only get worse next year.
Either we scrub the provincials, bring in Antrim and Galway or we move to a format involving the Munster five, the Cats, Galway and one out of Dublin, Wexford, Offaly and Antrim and the rest play in an Intermediate championship a step up from the Christy Ring.
We do this up and down the country in all our county championships as it's recognised that there is a competition needed to bridge the gap between junior and senior.
There are too many meaningless games being played at the moment where teams are having their confidence destroyed, crowds are bored senseless, there only because their county is playing and where the ref should stop the fight.
Unfortunately the provincial councils will wait until more people are at a bus stop than at a Leinster championship game before they act!
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