It's usually around this time of year when someone like Willie Joe Padden will tell an RTE reporter that "we're keeping it low-key this time, people aren't going too wild, there's more an air of quiet confidence around Mayo", seemingly oblivious to the fact that he's standing in front of a red and green painted sheep.
(*Balls can recall a former Mayo great saying more or less those words in advance of the 2013 All-Ireland final when it was plain to everyone with a pair of eyes and ears that the county was tempting fate in a big way before that decider.)
The native passion for slathering everything in green and red in the fortnight before a Mayo appearance in an All-Ireland final has taken a distressing turn this year. One Mayo fan has repainted his flashy supercar in honour of the XV that go forth to break the curse next week.
Back in the innocent days of 1989, Mayo fans had to make do with painting livestock, pubs and gable walls in the county colours. No one in Mayo was rich enough to own a Ferrari in 1989 and weren't we a better country for it?*
This isn't what the association is about at all. Glenn Whelan may have two of them in the driveway (allegedly) but they have no place in the Gaelic Athletic Association.
* With the possible exception of Padraig Flynn.
