It really shouldn't be called DEFLATEGATE anymore. It should be called INFLATEGATE, in honor of how ROGER GOODELL and the NFL blew up a complaint about the air pressure in a football into an eight-month-long saga that, with an appeal of the appeal, probably has many more months to go. The league used that time, according to yesterday's decision by JUDGE RICHARD M. BERMAN, to botch the case in pretty much every way a case can be botched. If the PATRIOTS had been assessed a 15-yard penalty in the AFC CHAMPIONSHIP game against the COLTS, which seems more or less the correct penalty for the offense the PATRIOTS were accused of committing, no one would have complained too loudly -- and if they had, it could have been resolved in a two-minute on-field review. Instead of in federal court. After eight months. And eight million thinkpieces. The first four million of which said BRADY obviously did it. And the last four million of which asked, where's the evidence and why are we even bothering with this? We've collected the final (for now) batch in the SPORTSREDEF set "DEFLATE GATE: BRADY WINS (FOR NOW)." Or, as perhaps we should have titled it: BRADY 45, GOODELL 7... As a PATRIOTS fan, I'd happily trade the four starts BRADY won on appeal yesterday for the two draft picks the PATRIOTS had already surrendered. The draft picks are a much bigger deal... A reminder of last year's most infamously botched ROGER GOODELL investigation... SPORTSREDEF is taking LABOR DAY off. Have a great weekend and see you TUESDAY... I'll leave you with this guide to watching college football this weekend, and this woman surfing in high heels, because why not.