There is a conspiracy theory abroad which postulates the GAA insisted on a closed playing season so that GAA officials, the real stars of the association, might take centre stage during the players lock down. As a result the inter-county men are placed in cold storage and their hibernation period must include the months of November and December. There might be a grain of truth in the theory for there is strong evidence to prove the blazers have dominated the final quarter of 2009. And good luck to them too as they lead and drive us into the new decade screaming and kicking but at least facing the ball! Once referee Marty Duffy sounded the long whistle to end this year's final we had announcements, launches, Special 125 Anniversary celebrations, championship draws, brief inquiries, mergers, special congress, county and provincial conventions, coaching conferences, feeling the temperature of the grassroots tours, and whatever other administrative outcome you could ask for, all rolled into the closed season. The work of the GAA official is never finished and their energy legendary. Despite Kerry's Tadgh Kennelly telling us he planned and executed the opening minute hit on Cork's Nicholas Murphy, on the biggest day of the football season, the CCCC and all the lads in HQ found otherwise and indeed went further: they announced the year under review was most satisfactory from a disciplinary point of view! Now there's a hostage to fortune if ever I read one. The GPA was embraced and outline planning approved by GHQ. Within hours the lobby groups were out in force, led as usual by the rebels from Cork. In an about turn that Sgt Bilco would be proud of, they want the clubs to make the decision about full membership for the GPA. Which is more or less in direct contrast to the time the vote to open Croker was proposed and the board kept that decision to themselves. Ah, it's great stuff all the same. The championship draws came and went and bar the RTE studio, the provincial officers, Michael, Marty and the pundits explode, it is almost impossible to add excitement to this annual festival of drums and draws. The big football news to emerge? Galway and Mayo will meet early if they jump the opening fences and so a final between the two is impossible. Sligo will have a big say one way or the other but the county laughing (sorry, smiling) must be Roscommon. If they beat Leitrim they are home and hosed in the final two and one game away from an All Ireland quarter-final. Likewise down south, the news was, well, more of the same. Once again Cork and Kerry are scheduled to meet in a semi-final. On paper, where a game has yet to be won of course, it looks like good news there for Limerick. Wicklow are in a nice spot in Leinster and Ulster is, well, Ulster. Put the nine names into a hat, pull one and I assure you that county has as good a chance of winning through to a final as a county that you pick using any other alternative method. The inter county management merry-go-round got its customary fill of diesel in late September and off it went twirling. Paul Grimley headed of to Monaghan to complete the dream team ticket there and his departure from Kildare witnessed a slump in their share price. Going forward! David Hickey, the Dublin star of the 70s has arrived as part of the Blues set up and this appointment is bound to shake things up. Hickey has an alternative angle on most matters and his view of the Dublin GAA landscape will ensure any YES men in the camp will have a short future. Joe Kernan has landed in the west and all of Galway is braced for the New Year and the new approach. Galway has long been associated with days of total football and the beautiful game but the Armagh man will demand a harder edge. Will the supporters warm to a change in style? Of course they will if it proves a winning style. It was always ever so in any sport. So, much to look forward to as the clock ticks towards January and the lads begin to emerge from under the duvets. The officials will take a step to the rear, tiptoe forward again around annual congress and then get all the ducks lined up for an assault on the championship. And that's the beauty of it all. We all have our season - you can set your watch to the rhythm. What is the penalty? Finally, a little teaser to finish with before I sign off for the year. Are the rules surrounding the award and taking of penalties in Gaelic football unfair? When you compare the requirement to that in soccer, it seems downright wrong and the statistics prove it. Gaelic football penalties are just too difficult and fail to punish the team that concedes them. The rectangle in which the foul must occur is too small, the goals too narrow and the ball placed too far away. The goalkeeper advances even though it is against rule and most of the players in the immediate vicinity of a penalty kick break every other rule in the book to gain advantage. The underlining issue is the conversion rate and the question of whether it is clever to foul and take your chances. This year's All Ireland football final programme carried some tidy analysis in this regard and proves beyond all doubt that fouling pays. Not only that, you will have noticed that referees, once they have awarded the penalty, rarely if ever sanction the man who committed the foul, no matter how savage the tackle. The evidence then: 14 penalties were awarded in the 2009 championship and 9 goals were scored (total of 27 points) giving a return of 1.93 points per kick when the expectation should be much closer to 3 points. The previous year was worse: in 2008 referees blew for 16 penalties but they yielded 9 goals and 1 point (28 points in total) for an average of 1.75 points per kick. Irrefutable evidence then that it does pay to foul. Have a think about solutions to this problem over the Christmas and I promise to return in early 2010 with some considered alternatives. The New Year is divisible by the number 5 and so, rule changes are allowed! So, get drafting. Tweet

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