Whether you’re a rabid or casual sports fan, chances are you will be watching the Super Bowl, and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know all about the controversy leading up to it. Yes, #DeflateGate, the latest hashtag hullabaloo from which you cannot escape.

It’s the top story on every major news channel. It’s being lampooned on SNL. It’s in White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest’s talking points. And it’s completely meaningless.

A media-fueled nontroversy, concocted from a mix of national Patriots-hatred and desire to inject storylines into Super Bowl Sunday. Alleging that there’s some kind of New England conspiracy in which the team purposely under-inflated footballs that led to a 45-7 shellacking of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game is not only paranoid—it’s outright ridiculous.

“They could have played with soap for balls and beat us” – Dwayne Allen, Colts Tight End

“It had nothing to do with anything. I don’t think the integrity of the game is under assault or whatever you want to say.” – Russell Wilson, Seahawks Quarterback

And possibly most demonstrative of this overblown outrage (there are far too many puns connected with this story), consider Phil Simms reporting that Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers once told him he likes to “push the limit of how much air [the Packers] can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the refs take air out of it.”

Bottom-line: this appears to be gamesmanship that all franchises engage in to attempt to gain an edge. Against equipment regulations? Yes. Worthy of punishment? Yes—but the Patriots should not be condemned as outright cheaters when it appears this behavior occurs throughout the NFL. Unfortunately the Pats do not receive the benefit of the doubt, given their cheating history, but for the media and court of public opinion to crucify Belichick and Brady is pretty ludicrous.

An under-inflated football is not points-shaving or throwing a fight. It’s the NFL equivalent of infielders purposely scuffing a baseball during warmups prior to handing tossing it to their pitcher (something widely admitted to in baseball.) It’s a non-issue—yet the media will not let you believe it to be so. They needed a villain.

Villains create “good guys,” and the Seattle Seahawks are now a team full of Captain Americas. #DeflateGate has provided all of the salacious detail and intrigue to separate the northeast from the rest of the country, and as a result, created a swath of fair-weather Seahawks fanatics. When the next seemingly innocuous controversy bubbles to the surface, it’s important to remember that drama will always drive ratings.

Tonight is the definitive political dog-and-pony show: the State of the Union Address. An evening where essentially warring factions of state and federal government pile into a room and attempt to play nice for an hour-or-so, the degree of dissent coming mainly in the form of rigid-smirks and applause-refusal.

It often appears to the American public as an obsolete formality—a relic of our government history continued for the sake of tradition, with little impact on the political landscape. A campaign speech for a sitting-President, if you will. Promises are made, dividing-lines are drawn, bad puns are made for levity’s sake, and nothing really changes for John Q. Public.

As procedural as the State of the Union seems, the speech is still considered an important rhetorical tool for the policy-shaping practices of the executive branch. The setting itself—an audience comprised of government officials, an international broadcast audience—means that each and every word will be scrutinized ad-nauseam, and The President will be held accountable and taken to task for any misrepresentation of facts, figures or intent.

A carefully vetted speech draws a line in the sand regarding policy and sets the starting point at the negotiating table. By using this forum to announce priorities; allies, adversaries and the American people are made aware of what’s in the pipeline for the coming year.

President Obama has experienced a surge in approval-ratings in recent weeks, so it will be interesting to see what issues are presented this evening. The State of the Union Address may seem a vacuous exercise in political theater to many, but in the governmental trenches, it is still an important aspect of crafting law.

The tributes and eulogies and remembrances on this blog seem to be more frequent than the fun and lighthearted these days. Such is the world we live in, I suppose.

Last week another major city was paralyzed by yet another terror attack, this time it was Paris, and the target the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. As we all saw, two gunmen stormed the publication’s offices and opened fire, leaving 12 dead and 11 wounded. Charlie Hebdo has long lampooned religion, and they were previously attacked in 2011 for their criticism of Islam.

Both suspects escaped the Charlie Hebdo offices, and a massive manhunt began which culminated in two separate—but apparently coordinated—hostage situations in France. After a day-long siege of both locations, 4 hostages lost their lives, and 3 terrorists were killed by police. One female accomplice appears to have escaped to Syria.

Coming on the heels of the Sony hacking controversy and terror threats surrounding the release of The Interview, the Charlie Hebdo attack is another assault on our freedom of speech and expression. Our right to speak our minds without fear of reprisal is one of the bedrocks of global democracy—one that many have fought and died to protect.

The Charlie Hebdo attackers devised their plan to instill fear and foment discord about freedom of speech throughout the world, and on Sunday in France nearly 4 million responded with a resounding “We are not afraid.” The largest protest in national history, individuals from all walks of life took to the streets to avow their fight against terrorism and attempts to limit free speech. The rallying call has been “Je Suis Charlie,” one that unites us all against these senseless acts of violence.

When we alter our way of life or begin to limit liberties in response to fear, everyone loses. The people of France have responded strongly that they will not retreat in the face of terror, and the world has joined them in their resolution. We all became Charlie last week, and will continue to stand-up to those who would attempt to silence us through acts of terror.

The world of sports broadcasting (and sports itself) lost one of its pioneers on Sunday. Sadly, Stuart Scott passed away after his lengthy battle with cancer, one that he stirringly detailed in his speech at this past July’s ESPYs. It was a moving moment that highlighted the “never give in, never give up” attitude that he brought to the broadcast booth; and according to his peers and contemporaries, lived each and every day.

Prior to gaining national notoriety and acclaim, Scott was an anchor at WESH, right here in Orlando. He spent three-years covering local sports in town, before ascending to ESPN to change the face—and personality—of the network forever. He brought with him a gregarious broadcast style, his infectious smile and a unique set of vernacular and catch-phrases, previously absent in the lexicon of the tight-collared talking-heads that populate national sports desks.

“Cooler than the other side of the pillow” was one of them, and that phrase he heaped onto so many athletes over the years might be best reserved to describe him. A man comprised of equal parts hip-hop swagger, sports knowledge and undeniable charisma, he, as former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick put it, “Didn’t just push the envelope, he bulldozed it.”

Stuart’s star shined brightest when he was being himself—embracing his inner-nature that many a program director attempted to limit—and sports fans everywhere were beneficiaries of the character that he refused to hide, and instead chose to share.

Before his tragic and untimely passing, he wanted to ensure that the world knew that those who died from cancer did not lose their battles, but in his words, “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”

Two days after Stuart Scott’s death, we mourn the passing of one of the media’s biggest luminaries—a trailblazer, an innovator, and the man who truly made sports broadcasting cool.

Happy New Year! With a new year come new opportunities for success. New opportunities for professional growth, rekindling interpersonal relationships—a clean slate to refocus all of your efforts to make the next twelve months the best that they can be. From PR/PR, we wish you a safe, prosperous and happy 2015.