Hurling rules - a few small suggestions for improvement.

From: DP Musters
Sent: 10 September 2012 13:35
To: enquiries@gaa.ie
Subject: Hurling rules - a few small suggestions for improvement.

My own name is DP Musters and I have been living as a Scotch protestant man in the Wesht of Ireland for over ten years. Yesterday, I watched my first hurling match.

This was, of course, the All Ireland final contested between Galway and Kilkenny. It is to my great shame that it has taken ten years to watch a match and I wish to make a sincere unequivocal apology for that. It is my great loss.

To the match itself. What a wonderful sport. With hits and flicks and catches out of the sky these brave warriors battled like Trojan warriors. After a single game I am fully converted to the sport and I have a great admiration for its history and unique place in our island culture. It has been developed greatly from its humble roots in the protestant North East of Scotland. Off the top of my head it’s scarcely possible to think how the game could be improved and I can think of only five minor tweaks you may wish to consider.

I mentioned these to a few colleagues in the kitchen this morning and they were unable to comment on my suggestions. I believe the technical insight eluded them. Instead they suggested I contact the GAA directly.

Here is my five point plan:

1. The points system is clearly skewed. My beloved Tribesmen scored two goals to nil yesterday but still drew. It’s obvious to me that a goal is more difficult to score than a try (in English rugby football) so I therefore suggest 7.5 points per goal. This amount may be enhanced, refer to point 4., below.
2. To reflect how obviously easy it is to score a point (when they hit the puck above the netting area) I propose that the merit awarded for this be reduced to 0.75 points. This amount may be enhanced, refer to point 4., below.
3. Offside. Implement offside in precisely the same way as English association football. This way we stop attackers “cheating” by standing way up the field and defenders hurling the puck 100 metres towards the end line.
4. Connected to the above point I believe there too much reliance on the long ball in today’s game. I propose a system where an extra 0.25 of a point is added on to the “end merits” (you may use this term to replace the rather obsolete “points”) for each midfield pass made in the build up play. This would encourage the midfielders to splay passes around the centre field area in the style of a Glenn Hoddle, say.
5. Shorts. They’re too short. This is not nineteen seventy two. For the love of goodness make them longer.

I do hope you will consider these small adjustments and I feel they will improve the replay in three weeks time. If you require any technical guidance on my proposals please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards,

DP Musters