Hurling is a lot of things, but ultimately it isn't a romantic game.
Occasionally there are uprisings of the oppressed and this decade has seen flares sent up by Clare, Galway and Limerick, winning their first All-Irelands in 16, 29 and 45 years respectively.
But the empire always strikes back, just as they did at the weekend.
The empire in hurling’s case has three heads of state – Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary. Of the 131 All-Irelands contested, they have won 93 of them and at least one of the three has been in 111 finals.
Hurling deals in cold, hard facts and those facts state that this game belongs to the Cats, the Rebels and the Premier.
The nineties, which is heralded as the game’s golden era, did feature a run of three years where none of the old firm made an All-Ireland final, something that hasn’t happened before or since. It’s also worth noting that the decade was bookended by Liam MacCarthy Cup wins for Cork in '90 and '99.
Last Friday the romantics were dreaming of a Limerick-Wexford final, a game the whole country would take an interest in, yet here we are on Monday looking at another Kilkenny-Tipperary decider as the establishment crushed that fantasy.
This will be the fifth final, sixth if you count the 2014 drawn game, between these two heavyweights in the current decade. It will be the sixth between them since 2009, proving that the small ball game is far from a democracy.
One of them will add another All-Ireland to their long list of honours; Kilkenny currently have 36, Tipperary 27 and in between them is Cork on 30, though the Rebels are currently in a barren spell stretching back to 2005.
Next on the roll of honour is Limerick with eight and then it’s Dublin and Wexford on six apiece. The Dubs haven’t lifted Liam MacCarthy since 1938 and the Yellow Bellies have only one since the sixties and haven’t been in a final since 1996.
Saturday and Sunday provided epic games, but at the end it was a case of the natural order being restored. Don’t bet against the house because the house always wins eventually.
The rivalry between the big three is intense and their influence has ebbed and flowed over the decades.
Kilkenny are currently the strongest, having won 11 All-Irelands since 2000. Before Brian Cody, who has just guided his team to a 16th All-Ireland final, took over the Cats were two behind Cork in the roll of honour and now they are six ahead.
Cork knocked off titles at a consistent rate through the decades, though the 2010-19 stretch has become the first when they didn’t manage to win an All-Ireland. Tipp’s strike-rate is roughly one All-Ireland per decade from the seventies.
Kilkenny under Cody are cold-blooded killers and they weren't about to let romance get in their way against Limerick on Saturday. Tipp don’t deal in fairytales either, they deal in winning, and they weren't going to let Wexford stand in their way on Sunday either.
