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Time will tell if it's a good or bad thing.  Hard to know what to make of this now.

I enjoy the GAA social but it's gone too social and not enough GAA. 

It's quite rare to see 2 of your 3 scoring forwards perform so well at that age.  That was one of the big reasons people were tipping Kerry to beat Mayo.  I can't think of too many other teams in the recent past who had two teenagers in the full forward line.

They have to do something like that or else the provincials are a dead duck.

Armagh won't be bursting a gut to win Ulster next year.

[will anyone with designs on Sam put much effort into Provincials in future?]

In 1933 Cavan won their first Sam
Over the next 20 years they won 5 , Mayo won 3 and Roscommon won 2.Then it stopped.

Didn't Galway win 2 as well?

Seeing as Mayowestros and Tyrone were the 2 most improved teams this Summer will anyone with designs on Sam put much effort into Provincials in future?
Could we end up with 2 "slow bike races" -- NFL D1 and Provincials?

Only if they want the satisfaction of winning it because of a drought or a series of near misses (like Armagh).  There is very little benefit for the AI series and if anything being dumped out early on allows teams the chance to learn, lie low for a while and refocus.

Bunker - there was ridicule of Mayo in certain quarters for the AI final losses and it would have hurt deeply. But if the past week has shown us anything then Mayo's story now and in the years ahead will be more likely framed as one of resilience than failure.  To keep coming back every year and going at it again will be the thing that will stick with a lot of people.  Lesser counties would not have dealt with it and responded in the way Mayo did. 

Lads who think an armband makes you a captain, that's the problem right there!

Liverpool really centre centre backs or they will end up raiding Preston again if Big Virg has a knock. It's mad how massive clubs leave themselves so stuck.

Haven't bought an experienced senior centre back since Virgil in 2018. It's an odd scenario.  Centre back perhaps the most important position in the team.

There's far too much chitter chatter about fitness levels.

I'm not saying fitness isn't important. Of course it is.

But top tier county teams only have two levels; they are either super fit or look super super fit.

The difference between those levels has very little to do with actual fitness, and has a lot more to do with tactics and momentum.

One of the key things continually overlooked since Sunday is that Mayo's gameplan didn't ask anyone to burst their balls by trying playing in multiple positions. Their fullback line played in full back positions. Their full forward line played in full forward positions. Callinan, Hession, Flynn, DOC and Tuohy played between the 45s. The only ones with no fixed position were McBrien, who had a really smart game but mostly ambled forward rather than attacked lines, Carney who had an unbelievable game but never carried the ball, and ROD who played the same role every CHF of the 90s and 00s played.

They looked fitter because they weren't running an endless series of 80m runs in support of now obsolete footballing principles. They gained momentum because when they went to tackle and went to press, they could do so because they weren't bucked from running an endless series of 80m runs in support of now obsolete footballing principles.

Not fitness. Gameplan and momentum.

Agree with a lot of this.  It's sometimes a mistake to read too much into how a team won an All Ireland, and overstate it as a sea change in how football should be played, but would agree that the running game must take its toll.  Would all teams be able to press with the same intensity for as long as Mayo did? Hunger is a key intangible in gaelic football.  Mayo were obviously very hungry. We don't always see that easily repeated.  Would expect teams to take some learning from the final and adapt as part of their ongoing development, but not to the extent they turn into full-on pressing machines.

Not a good look for Jones under a new manager. 

Given their size and pick, Cork must be the biggest underachievers in football.  Maybe the focus is more on hurling.

Down's in 91 was more significant for everyone else other than Down I think in terms of giving belief to others and changing landscape. Armagh in 02 and Tyrone in 03 were more significant for the respective counties than for anyone else.

Down's win in 91 was huge.  They came from nowhere to win that year (although they had top top players - they're weren't on anyone's radar).  Their win gave huge hope and belief to other Ulster teams.  There was a mental block before that.

If Roscommon believe in themselves and put the work in there's no reason why they can't give it a serious go in the next couple of years.
 

Two All-Irelands is no bad return for most counties, but given it's Kerry and with all the underage success they had for a few years there, the likes of David Clifford and Seanie O'Shea might have hoped for another AI or two by this point.

Delighted for Mayo people. Don't think it's an exaggeration to say this is life changing, in terms of how they feel about themselves and the injection of pride it will give.  It is Mayo's 4th All-Ireland but it might as well be the first for the vast majority of their support.  Like many others I'd given up on Mayo after 2021, and to put it bluntly didn't want to see them back in a final again. Easy to understand how any of their older supporters lost the will in recent years - there's just so many losses anyone can take. I remember being at the final against Donegal and thinking how passive and resigned the supporters seemed to be to defeat from early on.  But the resilience of the players and the supporters to bounce back was always admirable. It could have been the undoing of many counties, setting them back a generation or two.  To keep coming back and back and to get to so many AI finals over the past 20-30 years is remarkable really.  Only Kerry or Dublin were in more? They will know they should have won a few of those. Mindset and poor decision making rather than lack of ability was probably a factor in a few of those finals (maybe the 'curse' got into players' heads after a while). A lack of enough top tier clinical forwards cost them too.  But on Sunday it was plain to be seen that this batch of players were going to grab their chance and go for it with no regrets.  Croke Park on AI final day is built for teams that play with no fear.  Mayo typified this by their willingness to take players on.  There were times when the obvious simple pop pass to the man running off the shoulder was on, but the man in possession drove on to create more danger, which would have unsettled Kerry (and any team) greatly. This was exemplified even in the very last play when the natural instinct would have been to just play the safe handpass to the nearest man, recycling the ball to eat down the clock.  A Mayo player had the ball, the pass was on but checked back and moved it forward to Kobe, who again drove at the Kerry defence to set up the final score.  Awesome stuff.  Any supporter in any county would love their team to play like this.

Looks like the team is at the start of a journey rather than the end.  It's usually the case that a team with such a young age profile will be at the business end of things for the next few years if they want it.  Mayo abu! 
   

Would love to see Mayo finally win it but Kerry by 10 points and Mayo's main attacking stars snuffed out. Can see Kerry going for the jugular from the throw in.

Couldn't believe England's tactics after they scored. Crazy to sit that deep with no out ball. Really poor from Tuchel and the players themselves who should have pushed up. Poor tactics and lack of confidence cost them. They needed to go for the jugular when they went a goal up rather than giving Argentina the freedom of the pitch. But they always come up short in tournaments. For a country their size they have consistently underperformed.