The late Dermot Morgan loved all football. Tim Ryan in his book Mara, PJ, interviewed him. "Tipp are the Manchester United of hurling. If they're going well, then the championship is always interesting. But without them, it's like the League without Liverpool," he said.
The son of a Thurles man, Morgan was so overjoyed when the Tipp hurlers won the All-Ireland in 1989 after 17 years in the wilderness that he decided the team was ripe for a documentary to be called Tipp Tipp Hurray!. So in June 1992 he sent a film crew to the first match of the championship against Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The plan was to interview the players and follow them all the way to Croke Park. But Tipp were beaten and that was the end of that.
Ryan recounts that Morgan's first title for Scrap Saturday was Angelus Rehearsal, but RTE would have none of it. In one sketch from the wonderful series, printed in Mara, PJ, the following exchange occurs:
Haughey: Stop sobbing. Here, wipe your eyes with this . . . it's another of those Programmes for National Recovery. Be rational man, who do you think can challenge me?
Mara: Albert, I suppose, has the troops with him.
Haughey: Self-made man. A fortune indeed. No mystery about making a fortune from grinding up knackered horses to keep Rover's coat shiny. The punters can see the trick, they see that's up his sleeve, how he made his fortune. They could never fathom how I made mine. That is why I have an air of mystery, charisma. But I will make pet food of Albert. New Pal or should that be Old Chum with added liver, lily-liver and strong hint of chicken!