Did the New England Patriots knowingly deflate footballs prior to a playoff game that they ultimately won by more than five touchdowns over the Indianapolis Colts? You don’t want the truth. Actually, you don’t care about the truth because you know it’s pretty meaningless. And that, it turns out, is one of the elements that can take a story from a niche readership to a mainstream audience. DeflateGate has that and more. You’ve got the hoodie-wearing coach everyone loves to hate. You’ve got the handsome, talented, successful, above-reproach quarterback who absolutely no one believes. And you’ve got a story we can all joke about on social media at a time when we’re desperate to be torn from our usual digitally driven, politically motivated, self-righteous silos of homogeneity. Add all that to the fact that everyone (aside from the Colts) wins. Sports journalists who have almost no access to players during the lead-up to the Super Bowl have a topic to write about and discuss on radio shows. The NFL gets to avoid the litany of think-pieces on concussions and domestic abuse that might have filled the news vacuum. The corporate brands geared up to begin their Super Bowl marketing no longer have to wait for game day. It’s a combination too perfect to be invented, but still worth paying attention to. As media brands have less control over what becomes a big story, we all need to get a better handle on how some seem to get big all on their own.

+ I still think one of yesterday’s press conferences provided a key clue in this case.

+ While I am intrigued by the appeal of this story, I do look forward to getting the focus back to what Super Bowl weekend is really all about. The consumption of 1.25 billion chicken wings. Hopefully, once it’s all over, someone will deflate us too.