Each province has a different relationship with their pre-season competitions. Well, that's not strictly true. The O'Byrne Cup, the Walsh Cup, the McGrath Cup, the Munster Hurling League and the FBD League enjoy roughly the same profile in their respective provinces.
The McKenna Cup, meanwhile, is widely cherished. The Irish News releases a supplement of about 1,000 pages celebrating its arrival every year. Yet more compelling evidence that Gaelic football is taken more seriously in Ulster.
Indeed, during one of those tedious discussions about the provincial championships and their possible abolition, it was tentatively suggested in this office that the Ulster championship might perhaps be given a dignified funeral as that the McKenna Cup was so vibrant. This would clear the way for a more radical proposals to revitalise the All-Ireland championship.
An Ulster colleague - who may or may not be from Cavan - pondered this awhile but rejected it. His alternative solution was to keep the McKenna Cup and the Ulster championship and just get rid of the All-Ireland championship. We await this proposal coming before Congress.
The O'Byrne Cup, which begins this weekend, doesn't attract anything like the same interest. But last year's O'Byrne Cup provided us with two seminal moments. One was Gary Walsh of Laois and Ballylinan and his resuscitation of the previously underused ambulance emoji.
And secondly was the unlikeliest of unlikely results. Yes, Dublin suffered their one and only defeat of 2016 in the O'Byrne Cup. They lost to the same team who they had beaten by 25 points in the previous year's Leinster championship. Yes, Longford exacted sweet revenge on the smallest stage of them all. A stage nonetheless.
Dublin arrived into Pearse Park, a rare experience for any team given that the 12-year old Main Stand is currently sinking into the ground, and were beaten by the hosts by six points, 1-12 to 0-9.
The mathematically gifted among you will have worked out that this represents a 31-point turnaround. Cynics will carp - as they do, who else "carps" but a cynic? - and say that the Dubs surely didn't try a leg in the encounter and clearly couldn't be arsed about the O'Byrne Cup.
May we direct you to the Dubs team-sheet. Stephen Cluxton, Jonny Cooper, Philly McMahon, James McCarthy, John Small, Denis Bastick, Cormac Costello, Dean Rock, and Paddy Andrews - all present and correct.
This was no "Manchester United in the Worth-nothing Cup" effort.
Longford led narrowly for much of the game and their advantage was 0-9 entering the closing stages. The critical moment came with Liam Connerton's 64th minute goal.
This writer says this with no bias but the 2016 O'Byrne Cup semi-final was the most significant game of the year. The evidence from the rest of 2016 indicates that Jim Gavin likely read the riot act that day in the dressing room, and essentially frightened his charges into going unbeaten for the rest of the year. This is a rock solid interpretation of events.
Notwithstanding their excellence for the remaining eleven and a half months of 2016, the reverberations of that defeat in Longford were still being felt by year's end... We assume.
Defeat to Longford in the O'Byrne cup costing Dublin in team of the year award.... #rtesportawards
— GMcKeown (@GerMcK1976) December 17, 2016
