At this time of the year it is standard practice among us cynics to review the football year and confirm that little has changed in the world of the GAA. At a glance you might be inclined to agree; after all, the old reliables of the football world sit satisfied on their throne - Sam Maguire, despite much noise from out west, resides where he is most comfortable. Throw in Cork, now the leading county in the hurling roll of honour, and for sure, it is like old times. In the interests of research I opened the PC in search of my end of year review for 2003. I read it with a mixture of amusement and frustration because the leading matters of the day have more or less been parked and one gets the feeling they must by now be clamped. Essentially, you can argue there has been little or no progress in the intervening twelve months. Consider this list of cribs from last year: . The unsatisfactory measurement of injury/stoppage time-can we not use another official or a stadium clock? . Recourse to the courts when our internal committees behave as if blind or carefree to actual wrongs . A suspension system that needs a phone call to your council secretary every time a player is sent off . The carrying forward of yellow cards into extra time but the anomaly of allowing a player sent off to be replaced! The majority want a cumulative points system for yellow cards/red cards but that might remove the chance of a stroke when one of our lads gets the line . Last minute calendar changes to major matches to completely frustrate long term planners from home and abroad . Croke Park promoting the compromise rules series against our Australian friends in a manner the native game never enjoys . Indiscipline still tolerated at the lower levels of the GAA . Croke Park and Rule 42 top of the agenda After a while people must begin to feel a negative force and it has long been a contention of mine that the GAA is an organisation perfectly capable of breaking you by the sheer paralysis of progress (it sounds like a contradiction but you know what I mean). Good men and women walk away eventually, back to their families, back to their careers or back to the golf course. And the loss of this corps seems to matter little, as if we are better off without these agitators, stronger for their absence and good riddance to them-nothing but trouble since the first day they joined our great club - The Common Low Class Gael. It was a decent year on the football front with the best team in the country winning the final and the second best team getting caught at the quarters. The third best squad lost to Mayo at the same stage. Not a great vintage but plenty to be getting on with in terms of excitement, crowds, controversies, good refs and bad refs, good pitches and slippery ones, some new stars and of course the year of the breakthrough for both Fermanagh and Westmeath. No better and probably no worse than usual; as often stated, each championship year weaves its own pattern, tells its own story. And sometimes, somewhere along the journey we arrive at moments of great sadness: the tragic passing of the lovely Cormac McAnallan, a great loss to his family and the wider sporting community. Yet life went on as it has to do and his team battled bravely to honour his time among them. They ended up a taxi ride short of Croke Park on September Road - hijacked by an unheralded Mayo team. Little sense of sentiment then in this cruel footballing world. I met Cormac a few times and members of his family once. When I read back the 2003 list of 'Things Yet to Do' I contrasted this stalemate with the attitude Cormac might have had to the problems we still face. An intelligent, sensible man he might examine the list and wonder why the authorities just will not sort things out. He was one of the most sporting players I ever witnessed play the game - what would he make of our rules on yellow and red cards, on our off the ball jawbreakers and ankle kickers? There is still a serious chance of criminal activity when one plays at club or on the inter county fried chicken challenge circuit. There are clubs out there willing to protect players who cross the line regularly to disfigure and strike down. Worse, there are counties who will attempt to protect these clubs/players when the investigations begin. Look around you, hear the noise. I have a simple solution - ban them for life. Slán, bye bye. In the long run you have an easier time and much more fun. The recent court case involving a star Down player of yesteryear is a moment in time. Nobody but the injured party, a small group in Westmeath and the judge should be allowed take a bow. Croke Park, Down and many of the players present took the road more travelled. And quit this old rubbish about our hands being tied, legal constraints. A young man was attacked and most stood idly by. I know a bit about these things. I once had my own jaw dislocated, off the ball, in a Connaught championship match. I missed out on a Dublin county championship medal as a result. He got three months (during the off season) and I have a permanent click and pain as a result. Broken teeth, broken noses, broken bones-it is being tidied up but I often get the feeling our authorities are not willing soldiers in the search for the truth. We'll leave it that for now and instead move on to the sexiest game in town - Compromise Rules. Big crowds, huge hype and all, supposedly, in the name of an international outlet for our stars. I find it impossible to reason why Croke Park is so in love with this game. Is it the finance, the stadium in use for an extra two dates every second year or the trip Down Under for the rays? Comparing it Gaelic football is just about the daftest comparison I've ever heard - any skill our game displays has long since been abandoned in the search for compromise. It is dumbed down to a degree where we no pick up, no solo run, the tackle is an assault and if you attempt a feint or sidestep you are hospital bound. However you can run for close on twenty or thirty metres, kick the ball a gates width either side of the goalposts and still get a score. And now, sacrilege. The club finals of early October and the provincial championships that follow are blown apart to ensure we get our best players to line out for Ireland. What is the refrain we always hear? The GAA is built on the foundation of the clubs! PS: The Gooch did not make the Irish team; not good enough it seems, does not have the necessary skills to live at this level. Will you leave me alone to my winter of discontent? PPS: Croke Park and Rule 42 is still there, still breathing. It is beginning to resemble those subjects you hear every day on the drive time radio. Will somebody just open it up, fleece the opposition for the shillings and send them poverty stricken back to their revamped HQ. Hey, I'm sorry - it's just business . Tweet

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