The Sunday Game credits had probably not even rolled on the weekend's show before Pat Spillane put fingers to keyboard to start his newspaper column, deadline still days away.
Spillane surely had his topic for the week: Joe Brolly and Dessie Dolan's laughable censure of his comments regarding Diarmuid Connolly's minor physical interference with linesman Ciaran Branigan three weeks previously.
There was also the matter of why Brolly and Dolan had been asked about it in the first place. After Dublin's crushing of Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final hours earlier, Dublin manager Jim Gavin had highlighted what he called a 'media campaign' against Connolly. Spillane, he suggested, was to the fore.
Dolan said that Spillane's analysis of the Connolly incident had been 'pointed'. Brolly took a few extra steps describing Spillane as looking like 'counsel for the prosecution' and that he had 'everything on but his Kerry blazer and his Kerry tie'. Brolly also added that as soon as the words had left Spillane's lips, he thought the CCCC would have to act regarding the incident.
On Tuesday's edition of Second Captains' World Service, Oisin McConville laughed at the conduct of the two Sunday Game analysts.
I've never seen anything like that before in my life.
I would hate to see those two boys under the spotlight of the Gestapo or somebody because they would sing like birds. In fairness, Spillane was completely thrown under the bus by the two boys.
The pious face that Joe Brolly did just made it even worse.
The Armagh All-Ireland winner also questioned why Brolly and Dolan had not been queried by Des Cahill regarding their thoughts about what Connolly had done.
The GAA disciplinary system comes in for a lot stick but they had no choice on this, their hands were tied.
Whatever Gavin did at the weekend, you can only think that the whole thing has died down, you can only think that there is a premidiated reason for him to do that. The two boys gave him abolute fuel the other night.
How were they not questioned more on the incident and what they thought of the incident? What did they think was the possible outcome of Diarmuid Connolly's actions?
