The Diarmuid Connolly saga is both strange and potentially sad

I can still remember the linesman's name, that's how much coverage Diarmuid Connolly's push on Ciaran Branagan received last summer.

As soon as Connolly's left hand touched Branagan's right shoulder in Dublin's 12-point win over Carlow, the GAA world had something to talk about for the next month as we watched Dublin walk their way through yet another Leinster Senior Football Championship. Everyone from Pat Spillane to Bernard Flynn to Mattie Forde weighed in on the incident, as one of Dublin's most volatile footballers had his 'good name' allegedly attacked by a post-match television show. Who would have thought that a sports television show would have reviewed an incident from a match that they had just watched earlier that day. Who would have thought that they'd do such a thing? Jim Gavin did, albeit under different circumstances. The Dublin manager thought a lot about Connolly's push and maybe not enough about how to handle the analysis of his indiscretion. https://twitter.com/eirSport/status/871091238480609280 Gavin decided that the best course of action would be to engage in a broadcast media ban with both RTE and Sky Sports for how they analysed the incident. He cited pre-determined statements, the rulebook being read out against Connolly and the subtle differences in freedom of expression rights in the Republic, but whatever you think of Gavin's media ban, whether it was justified or whether it was absurd, he did it because he wanted to stick up for one of his players. At least that's what you'd like to think. Otherwise, maybe he just wanted to use Connolly's push as an opportunity to stick it to Pat Spillane, RTE, Sky Sports and whoever else thought they could question  the Roman Empire  Dublin or their players' behaviour. But let's just say, he engaged in the broadcast ban to protect Connolly. That's an extraordinary leap to make for a player that should have always been suspended given the lettering of the law. Gavin put his reputation on the line to try help clear the name of one of his players, and whatever his reasoning may have been, you'd like to believe that his media ban came from a place where he looked to protect his player. Fast forward three months and Connolly had served his ban, trained on his own and returned for Dublin's All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone. However, he didn't return as he was expected to: he came on in the 69th minute in a 12-point walkover as Dublin stormed their way to a third consecutive All-Ireland final. In that final, Connolly was a half time substitute for Eoghan O'Gara and immediately brought a sense of calm and experience to proceedings as Dublin edged their way past Mayo for the second consecutive year to win their third consecutive title. Connolly had paid the price for his push with the GAA but was seemingly still on the outside with Dublin where he's remained ever since. He's played just over 210 minutes between last year's league and championship, including just 26 minutes in the league against Mayo this year, completing just one full match against Carlow, the game in which he was suspended. Reports have been linking him with a reunion with former Dublin football manager Pat Gilroy who has reportedly been looking to bring Connolly over to the Dublin hurlers. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/979644658233069568 Connolly is an accomplished club hurler with St. Vincent's but Gavin insists his lack of gametime in the league stems from Dublin's desire to rest a player that has played 210 minutes since the start of last year's league campaign: