This early winter-time period is actually an anniversary of sorts of elite inter-county referee David Gough.
For it was 10 years ago, in late 2007 that the 34 year old began refereeing.
The Meath native is also the first openly gay referee in GAA and his career is something he discussed with our own Shane Stapleton.
One point discussed was the issue of Conor McGregor using the homophobic slur "f*****" recently and his own reaction to that incident.
"I don't know the man so to say I'd be offended by it would be a bit rich," he said.
"It was an unfortunate choice of words. He should know better as a role model in Irish society and more than Irish society but worldwide society to so many young people and fans in his own code. He shouldn't use language like that. I wasn't offended by it but I certainly felt a little bit let down that he felt comfortable in himself to use language like that."
Referee David Gough ©INPHO/James Crombie
And he feels it does make it harder for LGBT people to hear language like that used in the mainstream: "Every time you hear it, it just chips away at you that little bit more. And certainly when I was in that stage of 5-6 years of trying to decide to come out. Every time there was a joke told in the pub or every time a comment was made or a derogatory term was made towards someone in the LGBT community, it grated on me that little bit more and it just made me doubt whether I wanted to take that step."
Gough, who also found the initial idea of coming out to his club team-mates a "difficult thing" that even led him to temporarily stopping playing, but found them "so supportive".
He also discussed the stresses that took place during that period as he grappled with the idea of opening up about his identity.
"Driving was the one time when I felt that I had time to think and sitting on the drive home from my house in Dublin down to Slane was about 45 minutes to an hour and it was the worst hour every week," he said.
"It was like someone had a belt around my chest and they were tightening the belt. The stress was huge and I just couldn't bear it anymore. January 2011, I just decided this had to be the end of it. I couldn't live with myself anymore and once I took that step, the weight lifted and my life just moved on around me."
He added that before coming out, "It was much easier to live the lie than face up to the truth at that time."
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