We really, really hope this is satire, but …
The Super Bowl hoopla is just a few days old, and the big game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons still is more than a week away. There’s plenty to talk about on the field, but that only goes so far, especially when a polarizing team like the Patriots is involved and especially considering New England’s “controversial” past.
That’s where The Atlanta Journal-Constitution enters the conversation. The AJC on Wednesday published a story titled “What to tell your kids about Deflategate,” a primer on the Patriots’ much-ballyhooed controversy surrounding air levels in footballs which dates back to January 2015.
Among the highlights:
— (It’s important to note that mired in allegations, the Patriots won the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks immediately after.)
— For your kid: NFL footballs have to be a certain size. The Patriots won a game (and maybe more) with footballs that weren’t regulation size and that is not fair.
— What’s the bigger picture?
The general conclusion is the team cheated and won, and they can’t escape the label. This is why two years later we’re still talking about Deflategate.
And some other stuff. But you get the picture.
Conspicuously absent, though: “What to tell your kids about the Ideal Gas Law.”
Again, there’s a chance this is both tongue-in-cheek and a way for the AJC to get some extra clicks (especially from a certain six-state region in the Northeast), but this probably won’t be the last jab from either region leading up to the Feb. 5 showdown in Houston.
For instance, perhaps The Boston Globe or Boston Herald are next up with “What to tell your kids about the time the Falcons got caught pumping in fake crowd noise at the Georgia Dome and were punished by the NFL.”
That might be a little wordy, though.
Thumbnail photo via Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports Images
