In pregame show, Jon Stewart tackles 'deflategate,' Marshawn Lynch flap, John Hodgman

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

published 30 January 2015

Sunday is the Super Bowl, and Jon Stewart took Thursday night's Daily Show to tackle the twin controversies surrounding this year's match-up between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Stewart wasn't overly nonplussed about "Deflategate," or "Ballghazi," but he did mockingly wonder if those were "appropriate nicknames for something this serious." His alternative: "I'm gonna go with the Ballocaust."

Also, Stewart had one good question about who's to blame for New England's under-inflated footballs: "If it's not Belichick or Brady — and it's both — then how did only the Patriots' balls become deflated?" After a too-brief interlude with John Hodgman, Stewart turned to the NFL's forced media appearances of Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.

Not only did the league threaten to fine Lynch $500,000 for not meeting the press, but they may penalize him for wearing the wrong brand of hat. "You know, it's just classic NFL to be more worried about what's happening on top of the player's head than the damage that's going on inside it," Stewart deadpanned. "It explains their slogan: 'The National Football League, Worrying About the Wrong S#@t Since 1920.'" —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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