It does not get much stranger than this.
When they last met in the American Football Conference Championship Game in January with a Super Bowl berth on the line, the New England Patriots thumped the Indianapolis Colts 45-7.
Yet their rematch on Sunday is being touted as a long-awaited chance for revenge by the Patriots. Such is the fascination with ‘Deflategate’.
Its shadow is eclipsing one of the most humiliating defeats in recent post-season memory. It was the Colts, of course, who collected footballs used by the Patriots offence in the first half of that AFC title game, and it was general manager Ryan Grigson who insisted the balls be tested for air pressure at half time.
Months later, an NFL investigation concluded that Brady was “generally aware” his team deliberately under-inflated game balls. The league hit the Patriots with a US$1 million (Dh3.6m) fine and took away first and fourth round draft picks.
Brady also was suspended for four games, but he later had that punishment tossed out by a judge. He has led the team to a 4-0 start.
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The assumption among media is that the Patriots, who deny they tampered with the footballs, cannot wait to make the Colts pay for snitching to the authorities.
Getting the Patriots to say it is about revenge, though, is a whole different thing. Extra motivation this week, Tom Brady?
“I’m always pretty motivated,” Brady told reporters at his weekly media session, going on to say how good the Colts were, how every game is important and how hard he works every week etc.
The Colts have not been any more forthcoming.
“It is the defending Super Bowl champs,” Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said when asked about the extra attention the game is receiving.
“We’re trying to get a win. It’s a conference game, at home, on Sunday night. Certainly there’s some excitement.”
Yes, there is. The rivalry does not need a whole lot of extra energy pills. The teams have been getting in each other’s way ever since Brady arrived as a starter in 2001 and former quarterback Peyton Manning was the Colts established superstar.
Manning clinched one Super Bowl and won a few key match-ups with the Pats. But the Patriots (and their four titles) have dominated in the Brady Era, going 13-5, including 4-1 in the post-season against the Colts.
Indianapolis have never gone quietly, also accusing the Patriots of videotaping Manning’s hand-signals during the Patriots’ other brush with the NFL law — the Spygate scandal of the mid-2000s.
Lately, it has not been any better for the Colts. Luck has lost all four of his starts against New England. Even though the game is at Indianapolis, the unbeaten, high-scoring Pats (37 points per game) are favourites. The Colts are 3-2, but they have not been very impressive.
Luck is expected to play after missing the last two games, a pair of narrow victories piloted by 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck.
If Deflategate is not something the Colts want to talk about, they do acknowledge the lopsided AFC title game. “It was an embarrassing defeat,” Luck said. “You don’t want to be associated with those type losses.”
Coach Chuck Pagano is taking the amnesia route. “We’ve moved on. We got beat. They outplayed us. That’s the end of that,” he said.
Maybe not quite.
Rice can’t have it both ways over cheating
We will concede that Jerry Rice put together the finest career of any American football-catching player in the history of the National Football League.
How much of that was helped by the illegal sticky substance he said he sprayed on his gloves is hard to say.
But we will go out on a limb and say that his remarkable 20 years — those NFL record 1,549 catches, 22,895 receiving yards and 208 receiving touchdowns — did not have much to do with “stickum”.
That doesn’t mean Rice gets a free pass out of Cheatertown.
Happily, fans are having a field day with Rice’s giggling admission last January on a national broadcast that he sprayed tacky help on his gloved hands.
It was the same week that, when asked about the New England Patriots’ alleged use of under-inflated balls, Rice said it was “cheating” and said their victories needed to come with an asterisk.
Rice reportedly spends time these days live-tweeting at NFL games. At the New Orleans Saints-Atlanta Falcons game last week he criticised Falcons players for “mistakes”.
You can guess the response from Twitter Nation. “They need that stickum huh haha!” “Probably should use stickum … stay classy.” Etcetera.
Rice’s response? “Never used Stickum … my work speaks for itself.”
That’s a faster back-pedal than any cornerback who ever played against him. Sorry Jerry, can’t have it both ways.
If you cheat, don’t call out cheaters. And if you tell the truth and it comes back to haunt, don’t lie. Roll with it. It’s funny, remember?
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Company%C2%A0profile
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
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