Super Bowl 2015: Biggest Storylines
By Bryce Olin
Deflate-Gate
It’s impossible to even start talking about the Super Bowl without first mentioning the elephant in the room.
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of talk about footballs over the past two weeks, but here we go again!
At halftime of the AFC Championship, the New England Patriots were caught for using under-inflated footballs. In fact, 11 of 12 balls used in the first half by the New England Patriots were found to have been below the league rules for ball pressure.
Basically, people are assuming the Patriots deliberately deflated balls to gain a competitive advantage. Under-inflated footballs are easier to grip, it’s believed softer balls would give Patriots ball-carriers an advantage in the cold, rainy conditions during the game in Massachusetts.
In an unsurprising twist, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have denied any involvement in the flattening of the balls and haven’t discussed the issue since they landed in Arizona for the Super Bowl.
In another unsurprising twist, the NFL is dragging their feet in the investigation, but they have reportedly found a locker room attendant to pin the whole story on.
I’m sure he was acting alone too and was just trying to sabotage the Patriots or something. (I’m being sarcastic… I think we all know what really happened.)
As much as people want to talk about who knew about the balls, who flattened the balls, how much of an impact will it have on the game and all that jazz, it is a non-issue for the Super Bowl.
It will have no impact on the game whatsoever, other than giving the announcers a few extra talking points to reference throughout the game.
This whole “Deflate-Gate” drama is all much ado about nothing. It makes a very compelling story and is click-bait for plenty of news sites, but it’s not a scandal. It’s not Watergate.
It’s the equivalent of a speeding ticket in the real world.
Can we start talking about the actual storylines, please? Thanks…
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