Enda McEvoy: How come Tipp haven’t won the MacCarthy Cup in successive seasons since 1964-65?

The last time Kilkenny retained the All Ireland, Enda Kenny was Taoiseach. The last time Cork retained the All Ireland, Bertie Ahern was Taoiseach. The last time Galway retained the All Ireland, CJ Haughey was Taoiseach. The last time Tipperary retained the All- Ireland, Brian Boru was Taoiseach.

Right, that’s today’s gag done. Still, before readers from Bansha to Ballingarry get themselves into a lather they might try responding to a simple question. (The answer is not a simple one, admittedly.) How come Tipp haven’t won the MacCarthy Cup in successive seasons since 1964-65?

There’s a chap out there who thinks he knows. It’s the “complacency they suffer from in Tipperary”, he says. The “typical Tipperary softness that creeps in over the winter months and that’s very hard to arrest”. Their tendency to “celebrate too long and too hard”.