Sunday's truly emotional final shows the importance of sports human touch

Should we really have been so surprised that last Sunday’s All-Ireland final and its aftermath were so emotional?

The gap between titles had nothing to do with it. Go back to 1988, and the last time Galway collected the Liam MacCarthy. Footage surfaced on the internet last week from The Sunday Game which covered their win that day over Tipperary — it showed Joe Connolly minutes after the final whistle, clearly overcome by the emotion of the victory.

Last weekend was raw enough too, though. When time was up between Galway and Waterford, RTÉ co-commentator Michael Duignan was emotional when referring to the late Tony Keady.