Not content with getting down with the kids by offering tickets for Oxegen (because he was worried they'd miss "great groups like the Killers!"), the Fianna Failer marked the Deise's NHL triumph by calling for the construction of an all-seater 40,000capacity stadium in Waterford.

"Over the past number of months I've been in close contact with my Fianna Fail colleague, John O'Donoghue, the Minister for Sport, about the possibility of building a new GAA stadium in Waterford, " Ollie announced. (Of course you have, Ollie. Well, it is election year. ) "It's unfortunate that a game as signi"cant as Waterford-Kilkenny had to be played in Semple Stadium because we haven't got the capacity here." (Unfortunate? Why? Obviously Ollie has something against Thurles.

Has he informed his party colleague Michael Smith of his reservations? ) Outlining "my vision" of a stadium co-founded by the government and the GAA, our hero then urged "all the stakeholders" . . . whoever they are . . . to examine "suitable sites" for a project that would be "a satisfying tribute to the achievements of the past". Ample reason in itself for building a 40,000seater stadium in Waterford, naturally. Let's hope Ollie Wilkinson is re-elected to the Dail. For sheer chutzpah, he deserves to be.

BBC GET A HEAD START ON THEIR RIVALS The competition isn't just confined to the field this championship . . . there's some elbow-swinging on the box too.

See, Jerome Quinn, Martin McHugh and Jarlath Burns on BBC1 have adopted the George Hook-Newstalk strategy by starting their highlights show half an hour earlier than their rivals, beginning at nine o'clock tonight.

What latest innovation they've come up with this year will be worth keeping an eye on, and whether Pat and the lads can trump it on RTE.