As OTB AM goes about devising a sporting 'Mt Rushmore' for each of Ireland's 32 counties, Diarmuid O'Sullivan explained to Off The Ball why Jimmy Barry-Murphy would feature in his Cork selection.
It was only while speaking to Diarmuid O'Sullivan the morning after he had re-watched the 1999 Champions League final that he allowed his mind to wander back to other events in an everlasting summer.
As a 19-year-old Manchester United fan, watching Alex Ferguson's side defeat Bayern Munich in such staggering circumstances had been the stuff of dreams. Yet, as he knows now with over 20 years hindsight, the good times were only really getting started.
"For a young fella to watch your team winning the treble," he recalled to Off The Ball, "and then pick up your first Munster and All-Ireland medals later that year, sure I thought this would go on forever.
"I was still there shouting at the television the other night, 'Come on, United!', knowing the result in my heart. But as I watched it there for about the 15th time, I could just remember how I felt watching it back then."
The indulgence of nostalgia is serving as a substitute for live sport in many more households than O'Sullivan's alone. Looking exclusively at sporting achievements and the significance they can have in a broader context, OTB AM has been constructing a series of sporting 'Mt Rushmores' for each of Ireland's 32 counties.
After Mayo's four defining figures were confirmed first, then came Cork's turn.
"I was following it ya and I was disappointed that I didn't even get a mention," revealed Diarmuid O'Sullivan with a laugh, "so you can tell Colm I wasn't happy."
Off The Ball's resident Cork native, it fell on Colm Boohig to select four names from a rich selection sporting talents: Sonia O'Sullivan, Roy Keane, Ronan O'Gara and Christy Ring were his four picks.
An All-Ireland winner with Cork's hurlers on three occasions, it was with the sole GAA selection that O'Sullivan took some issue. Without questioning Ring's legacy, throughout O'Sullivan's own lifetime there has been a man who he believes is perhaps more deserving.
"Christy Ring was before my era, so I wouldn't necessarily be looking at him," he reasoned. "I think I might have had Jimmy Barry-Murphy in there."
The manager of Cork's hurlers as they won that All-Ireland final in '99, between his time playing with the county's footballers and hurlers, Barry-Murphy won six All-Ireland medals (5 hurling; 1 football).
"When Jimmy is seen walking down the street in Cork," explained O'Sullivan, "people will just go after him. All they want to do is just say hello to him, but anywhere he goes in Cork, people just follow him.
"I watched the '99 final back there again recently and the whole thing was just incredible and like, he came so, so close again in 2013. I'd say if he'd have managed Cork to another All-Ireland then, they'd have had wanted to rename Páirc Uí Chaoimh after him."
Picture credit; Damien Eagers/SPORTSFILEA commanding figure around the county to this day, O'Sullivan, who made his senior breakthrough under Jimmy Barry-Murphy, outlined the Cork icon's rare ability to both play and coach hurling with immense precision.
"Jimmy just knew how to get a reaction out of guys," he recalled, "though it didn't take much because those guys were willing to do anything for him anyway. His coaching was very much based on the fundamentals of Cork hurling and that suited the players who were there.
"Jimmy kept great guys around him too with the likes of Tom Cashman, Seánie O'Leary, Fred Sheedy and Ted Owens. Jimmy was always the good cop and he'd use Ted then as the bad cop.
"This all created a great atmosphere and that was fundamental to our success."
Although Diarmuid O'Sullivan would go on to win All-Ireland medals under Dónal O'Grady and John Allen, there is the lingering sense that the first under Jimmy Barry-Murphy was the sweetest.
"Maybe it is just a generational thing," he admitted, "but Jimmy would make it for me.
"And Jimmy is no spring chicken now, as I'd say to him, but he'll still walk through Cork and be followed by people wanting to say hello to him."
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