May 1960 – Elvis Presley would have the hit of the year with "It's Now or Never"; an architect named Michael Scott was hired to design a new television studio in Donnybrook, and in May of that year Tipperary played Cork in the old Cork Athletic grounds.
A lot has happened in the world over the past 65 years, a lot has changed for good or bad but one thing has remained the same - Tipp and Cork are still rivals on the hurling pitch.
Before any ball was thrown in this year, to foresee Tipp getting to the final would have been a far stretch to be fair but they have answered nearly every question that has been asked in the league and deservedly have made it to the decider.
Liam Cahill has found a really strong spine to his team and has continually rewarded those who have taken their chances when offered.
We all knew Cork were good, very good, but they have come at this league, especially the latter games, with all guns blazing.
Perhaps some Rebel supporters will hope that as good as they are now, that they are still holding something in reserve for the championship.
Maybe not something, but someone. That someone could be Diarmuid Healy.
For many, this guy was the answer to the conundrum as to who could take over that mantle of Seamus Harnedy when he steps away from that half forward line.
I think he has surprised everyone not with his ability but rather with the speed with which he has adapted to life at top level inter-county hurling and how he has so gracefully blended into this Cork squad and the style of play they have now.
So why wait for him to take over from Harnedy and just let the two play together, with Shane Barrett at 11 in between them? That’s a scary prospect for most half-back lines - they boast power, pace and aerial ability.
If Cork are holding something in reserve it could be in the form of their puck-outs.
They went short a lot against Galway and it worked for them, in particular, the short ball to Mark Coleman, which yielded a few scores in the first half.
If teams decide to push up in anticipation of the short puck-out, they will leave extra space in front of the Cork forwards. Further to that, if the opposing half-back line find themselves sucked towards midfield, Patrick Collins will rain a long bomb on top of the powerhouse that is Brian Hayes (once he returns from injury), or seek to hit space in front of Alan Connolly or Patrick Horgan.
The tradionalist would love to see Cork continue to play three inside all the time. The rest of the country tried hard to ape Limerick for a few years, deploying two inside.
The reality was there is only one Aaron Gillane, who is the master of playing inside, especially when you had the likes of Darragh O’Donovan putting it on a plate for him, with angled balls.
It made this even harder to defend and it was a fantasy to think all teams could use this as their prototype for success at both county and club level.
Cork have decided that they have serious forwards, serious goal threats and need to keep as many of these as possible near the goal to maximise this threat. In the last two games, they've created 15 goal chances and scored 10 goals.
And therein lies the worry I would have for Tipp on Sunday.
If this turns into a 'you-score-we-score' type of game, with little or no contact, then the Rebels will be lifting the league trophy for the first time since 1998.
They are the masters of the shoot-out and now boast a greater goal threat than we have seen for some time.
However, if Tipp continue to bring that fight and honesty that we have seen all league then I do give them a great chance.
Tipp have been close to championship selection for the last few league games now and so this is a serious test to see where they are really at as the Munster round robin nears.
It's looming fast and the prospect of Limerick, buzzing after a training camp in Portugal I have no doubt, are getting ready to land in Thurles in three weeks' time.
Personally, I would rather see Tipp beat Limerick than win this league but who knows what a victory on Sunday could do for the group.
The last time Tipp won the league was 2008. It was several years since we had put any silverware on the table and the victory really kick-started things for our group.
The big difference then was we had five weeks to championship, probably two rounds of club championship in between, and then another four weeks between the games in Munster.
We had time. They do not have such a luxury in today’s championship structure.
Pros and cons for this of course - not too much time to dwell on mistakes but not too much time to try and solve these issues either.
The Munster Championship has probably never been harder to win. To think that one team is going for seven-in-a-row is a real testament to their group.
So will Tipp and Cork be going for this?
100% they will. It’s a national title at stake and only a handful of Tipperary players have a senior national title, while not a single Cork player has a national title at senior inter-county level.
A loss is not the end of the world but a performance is essential.
Forced to call it, I'd anticipate a Tipp performance of spirit, hard work and tactical shrewdness. And I'd be confident that they'll be going back up the road with their first league title in 17 years
But I still fear what might happen if Cork move through the gears and start creating goal chances at will. They had six earlier this year against Tipp, only taking one of them. Their execution issues on front seem to have been remedied. Tipp need to prevent those green flags being raised in the first half to remain in contention. And I think they will.
The curtain raiser to all this is the showdown of Waterford and Offaly.
This has been nicely teed up following on from the battle last week in Walsh Park. The yellows that could have been reds and the red that probably wasn’t even a yellow.
Like Tipp, I don’t think too many outside the Offaly camp would have predicted a final appearance. Most would have assumed it'd be a Dublin-Waterford final.
After Waterford's early loss to Carlow, some might have feared for them.
But they only had a fraction of their top performers for those early round games. Had they been in 1A, they would have most certainly been relegated before any chance of a revival was possible.
But they are coming good at just the right time and they have developed a really solid spine to their team. The Man-of-the-Match performance of the returning Tadhg de Burca is a major boost.
Offaly have made blistering progress and their return to the top in both league and championship is richly deserved for all those involved. We've witnessed the maturing of their golden generation of minor and Under-20 winning teams.
Both groups will most likely be without some star men. For the Déise, it is unlikely we will see the return of Austin Gleeson, while Adam Screeney is still sidelined with a groin injury.
Sticking my neck out, Offaly have great belief and momentum and they will not fear Waterford. I cannot imagine they will be hitting as much ball down on top of De Burca this time around. That should be their biggest learning from Walsh Park.
I give Offaly the nod slightly in what should be a cracking contest.
The stadium will be full, the atmosphere will be mighty, it’s not often you get calls or texts for tickets for a league final.
But I feel this has been one of the best league campaigns for some time and has whetted the appetites of hurling supporters this year.
Naturally, I would love to hear the echo of horns beeping through the Jack Lynch tunnel from Tipp cars once again, it’s been a long time since that has happened.
And while the need for a victory on Sunday is not a case of "now or never" it would tee up the winners nicely for a tilt at the summer.
Watch The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates from around the country on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio
