Before delving into the latest GAA Book this year, it’s worth noting that our national broadcaster is looking after its citizens in the area of transmitting what remaining important matches there are left to play this season.

The national club championships are a strange sort of end to the year, I have always thought.  I’ve wondered about how motivation can be kept going at this late hour of the year, when so many people have deserted the trail of adventure that the summer brought and when the weather is even more awful than it is in summer.

Ballygunner - Waterford's representatives take on Cratloe next Sunday

From the comfort of your home, you can follow most of the action live by tuning in to one of the most worthwhile uses of tax euros – TG4: as creative and energetic a channel as you’re likely to find anywhere.  So many people in this country of ours pay out a subscription to a nasty half-wit megalomaniac to watch overpaid clowns cheat and feign injury on the circus that is the English professional soccer league.

See some real people playing real sport for real reasons on TG4 every weekend with the All-Ireland hurling and football championships.  Once they’re over, then get back to your GAA books.

“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.  Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.