A question.

Which was longer: the monstrous pregame show heading into this year’s Super Bowl game, or the appeal hearing yesterday for star quarterback and scapegoat Tom Brady’s suspension for his involvement in the so-called Deflate-gate scandal?

Answer: windbags with law degrees beat windbags with TV microphones every day of the week.

Now we await the real fate of Tom Brady, who as of this moment faces a four-game suspension for his involvement for the underinflation (is that a word?) of footballs preceding the 2015 AFC Championship Game. Brady is appealing his suspension as all scrappy victims do.

What the hell kind of topsy-turvy world am I living in that Tom Brady–football hero married to supermodel–is an underdog? Add him to the 2015 lovable long shot list with LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, and Tiger Woods. I suppose you can throw Pete Rose and the Confederate flag in there too, but let’s face it, the Confederates have been underdogs since 1860. And for the first time in a century in a half, ain’t nobody rooting for them these days.

But Brady? Well, first time in a decade and a half for me this season, because you know I love an underdog.