Signposts to the passage of time

I can’t be the only one slightly uneasy about this newly formed Dublin senior football management setup. Not, in any way anything to do with any of the individuals involved. Merely, one is wary of the new regime bounce the two shades of blue are liable to get from coming under the tutelage of Ger Brennan and Dennis Bastick and Stephen Cluxton and Niall Moyna.

A similar situation to that where Meath found themselves 12 months ago. Which leaves one with the impression that Robbie Brennan, his players and assistants will have to up their game again to stay ahead of the two shades of blue. Or, as a certain former Meath manager used to say, you have to be able to pull a rabbit from a hat to beat the Dubs. That is the challenge awaiting Meath as they face into their preparations for the 2026 season.

Elsewhere, there are similar challenges awaited by the majority of the players on the men’s tennis circuit. Due to the fact that, in one of the clearest signposts to the passage of time, where once Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were the triumvirate who needed to be toppled if a soul had any ambitions of grabbing the headlines, now there stands in their way a double axelled machine in the brand of Sinner-Alcaraz which must be negotiated if one had eyes on any of the big gongs in the gruelling fast paced sport.

But here’s the thing, there may actually be a bit of a gap developing between the irrepressible Italian and the sensational Spaniard. Because, if you recall that Jannik Sinner was very close to having his goose cooked in one of the Grand Slam events earlier in the season before getting anywhere near Alcaraz, only to be saved by his opponent retiring injured.

Whether notional or not, from that time, Spain’s Alcaraz has appeared to have edged a bit clear of his great adversary. At Wimbledon and again in Flushing Meadow on Sunday evening.

Now, to break it down a bit further, the fulcrum of the Alcaraz ascendancy was in his serve. Not only the first service,  but his follow up strokes were of such speed and ferocity that even somebody of the obduracy and natural brilliance of Sinner was eventually overwhelmed.

I say eventually because, in fairness to the most un-Italian looking, un-Italian sounding Italian, after being pummeled 6-2 in the first set, he flipped the narrative totally in the second set and pinned Alcaraz in on his own baseline for most of it as he stormed back to parity.

Like the caged lion though, once his surrounds were rattled, the Spaniard settled and reasserted his supremacy. Not only in terms of the contest itself, but in the rivalry itself at this point in time. Because, make no mistake about it, this is now a rivalry for an era. One to stand comparison with the best the sport has seen. McEnroe-Borg, Becker-Edberg, Samprass-Agassi or any other such great clashes of exceptionally gifted sportspeople.

So it’s advantage Alcaraz at the minute in this latest tet-et-tet, but, watch it going to and fro is liable to be the enthralling entertainment for the rest of us for long and many a day to come with the two protagonists 22 and 21 years old respectively. Bring it on!