The human default mechanism for chastising politicians is to grandstand by yelling, well, “grandstanding!” There is good reason. Most politicians can’t speak without unnecessarily summoning trumpets — think Khrushchev banging his shoe or Blumenthal’s face on the local news more than Gerry Brooks — thus making their musings disappointingly short on substance.

Predictably, Gov. Malloy was attacked thusly earlier this week for his decision to ban all state-funded travel to Indiana, following his interpretation of the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which, essentially, gives state sanction to anti-gay discrimination.

Amid all the many other residual effects, there’s no denying that sports — in particular a sporting event — has lended some teeth to Malloy’s edict.

Put it this way: Had Malloy simply harrumphed and banned all state-funded travel to Indiana, he’d have been rightfully accused of grandstanding. How much travel between here and Indy really happens anyway? The steaks are delicious and the horseradish in the cocktail sauce at St. Elmo’s could clear an elephant’s sinuses, but would you travel 800 miles just for dinner?

The Final Four allows Malloy some practical application. Neither UConn coach Kevin Ollie nor his assistant coaches will be attending, per the announcement Tuesday from UConn president Susan Herbst. You may scoff and dismiss the decision as puffed up political prattle. You’d be wrong.

The Final Four, much like the Super Bowl, is the social event of the season, with a few games attached. Coaches in search of jobs network furiously. Coaches with jobs compare notes, look for other (and perhaps better) staff members, trade information about various other subjects. A place to see and be seen. It’s certainly not a program-breaker to be left home. But more and better information never hurts.

Many athletes, coaches and other sports personalities have opined on Indiana’s newest law, none more deftly than former Indiana Fever coach Lin Dunn, who tweeted Wednesday, “Wal-Mart and NASCAR taking a stand for inclusion and gay rights. Never thought I’d see that day.”

Now I’d prefer to stay in the shallow end of the pool on this, at least politically, for two reasons: 1) this is a sports column; and 2) the longer the foray into the deep end, the more likely the underground extremists emerge from their underground extremist caverns.

But holy headlines, Batman. Even Fox News anchor Bret Baier clarified how Indiana’s law differs from the federal “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” signed in 1993 or from 19 other states, including Connecticut:

“Indiana's law deals with a person who can claim religious persecution but that includes corporations, for profit entities and it could also be used as a defense in a civil suit that does not involve the government,” Baier was quoted as saying in a Huffington Post story. “That is broader than the other laws.”

More Baier: Indiana’s law “may embolden individuals and businesses who now feel that their religious liberty is 'burdened' by treating a member of the LGBT community equally and that their 'burden' trumps others' rights to be free from discrimination.”

Hence, it’s pretty clear Malloy is on the right side of the argument. And his edict illustrates another necessary perch for sports in society. In this case, using a national sporting event to send an important message: No, we do not tolerate intolerance. Nobody should.

Again: Without keeping Ollie home, Malloy’s edict is a bunch of words either supported or renounced by all the agenda-mongers on either side. The coach of the defending national champion’s absence from the Final Four will be headline news the rest of this week, at least until the games begin.

Malloy suggested earlier this week a preference that something other than state-generated funds pay for the UConn women, if they were to make the 2016 Final Four in Indianapolis. He’s come under some fire for that, too, from a few skeptics who don’t believe he’d have the guts to keep the Huskies home. Or worse: ruin the Final Four trips of so many of his constituents.

It’s doubtful he’ll have to make that decision. A member of the NCAA women’s basketball committee, in addition to other members of the women’s basketball intelligentsia, said over the weekend that if the Indiana law isn’t repealed — or its language clarified and tempered — that the NCAA will pull the event from the city. It is unclear the event’s relocation. But it would cost the city millions in hotel and restaurant revenues.

Again, another way to use sports to send a message. It’s one thing for Martha Burk to bark about her cause outside Augusta National. It’s quite another to hit Indiana in the wallet.

You might not like our governor. But in the interest of fairness, you should respect what he’s done this week. He stood up for what’s right. And he had sports to amplify the message.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius