The front page of this morning's Boston Globe features images of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady with the header, “At Center Of Storm, No Answers On Ball-Altering.” Yesterday, Brady said of the Deflategate scandal: "When I pick those footballs out, at that point, to me, they're perfect. ... I feel like I have always played within the rules. I would never break the rules." Brady: "I was as surprised as anybody when I heard Monday morning what was happening. I was very shocked to hear it, so I almost laughed it off thinking that was more sour grapes than anything" (Mult., 1/22). The N.Y. tabloids continued to hammer Brady and the Pats. See today's Back Pages.

The broadcast networks continue to treat the issue with extreme gravitas, as the story led all the nightly news programs last night and two of the three morning shows today. ABC, CBS and NBC all had reporters live outside of Gillette Stadium.

ABC’s David Muir said, “On this Thursday night, the breaking news: the scandal before the Super Bowl. The star quarterback, Tom Brady, answering the question: Are you a cheater?” (“World News,” ABC, 1/22). CBS’ Scott Pelley: “Tonight, caught in a pressure cooker: Is Tom Brady a cheater? …The integrity of the most popular sport in America is being called into question just days before its biggest game” (“Evening News,” CBS, 1/22). NBC’s Brian Williams: “Full denial from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and from his coach, as a football inflation scandal remains bigger than the upcoming Super Bowl, as the question remains: Who or what was responsible?” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 1/22).

ABC’s Amy Robach this morning asked, “Did he cheat? Superstar quarterback Tom Brady playing defense” (“GMA,” ABC, 1/22). CBS’ Norah O’Donnell said it was “deflection and denial” from the Patriots in an opening teaser with the headline “Hot Air?” (“CBS This Morning,” 1/23). NBC’s Matt Lauer said, “Pressure rising. The NFL under fire once again as Tom Brady reveals he’s yet to hear from league officials about ‘Deflategate’” (“Today,” NBC, 1/23).

NBC's Al Michaels said, "The government of Yemen has collapsed, we have terror cells in France and all three network news broadcasts tonight were led with ‘Deflategate’" (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 1/22). See Laugh Track for more discussion of the controversy.

Rolex has signed a multiyear extension with Daytona Int'l Speedway that sees it continue as title sponsor of the Rolex 24 and earn naming rights to the track's new frontstretch lounge and suite level being built as part of Daytona Rising. The brand will announce the news today, a day before the IMSA sports car event begins.

At the new lounge and suite level, the company is going to focus its branding on the Rolex 24 name. Track President Joie Chitwood III said that as part of the pact, DIS execs also are looking at adding more Rolex clocks around the property, which already has some Rolex clocks in its infield. Rolex, which has been a track sponsor since '59 and Rolex 24 title sponsor since '92, likely will have some hospitality assets within the lounge level as part of the deal, on top of its current hospitality area at the 500 Club.

adidas today said that it will sell its Rockport shoe business to a "company formed jointly" by New Balance and private equity firm Berkshire Partners in a $280M deal. Rockport "will become part of a new company, which will also include New Balance's Drydock business." adidas also "confirmed that it reached reduced sales and profit targets" for '14, sending its shares up as much as 4.5% (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/23).

Meanwhile, adidas yesterday introduced a new Ultra Burst shoe at an event in N.Y. that featured athlete endorsers such as Bills WR Sammy Watkins and NYC FC F David Villa. The shoe, which goes on sale Feb. 11 for $180, "will likely initially appeal to a narrow category of serious runners" (Portland OREGONIAN, 1/23).

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig enters his last two days in office with a busy schedule, as today he will "meet with those who work in the MLB office in New York." Selig tomorrow night will attend the N.Y. Baseball Writer's Association of America Dinner, where he will be "presented with the William J. Slocum Award for long and meritorious service to baseball." He will then sit on Sunday "for a one-on-one interview with PBS' Charlie Rose to discuss his years as the game's leader." Rob Manfred will officially take over as Commissioner from Selig on Sunday (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/13).

Selig said that he was "leaving office with no regrets." He is looking forward to "teaching at Marquette and Wisconsin, to writing his memoirs, to spending more time at his winter home in Arizona" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/23).

For more on Selig's legacy, see today's issue of THE DAILY.

The NHL today kicks off its All-Star Weekend in Columbus. The three days are highlighted by the All-Star Fantasy Draft tonight at 8:00pm ET, the Skills Competition on Saturday at 7:00pm, and the game on Sunday at 5:00pm. The NHL will hold a BOG meeting Saturday morning, and it is expected the league will formally announce next year’s Winter Classic location following the board’s approval. The NHL may also confirm the locations of next year’s stadium series games. In addition, the league and NHLPA as early as today are expected to announce further details regarding the return of the World Cup of Hockey.

Under Armour unveiled a new line of men's basketball uniforms for seven of its partner schools in Division I: Maryland, Northwestern, Seton Hall, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, St. John's and Temple. The kits combine the brand's HeatGear ArmourVent technology with unique designs specific to the heritage of each team. For instance, the Maryland jerseys feature an '02 National Championship star on the back neck, and the South Carolina gear includes a camouflage pattern with Palmetto trees and crescent moons (Under Armour).

SeaWorld's partnership with the Dolphins "is ending" when the marketing deal expires in March. The agreement "had included a SeaWorld sweepstakes for people registered on the Dolphins website and Florida-resident theme-park deals for the team's fans." SeaWorld has at times marketed itself as the place where "the Dolphins play." This comes as the park has been "hit with declining attendance and controversy over its captive killer whales" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/23).

Jacobus Rentmeester, who took the picture of Michael Jordan's "silhouetted 'Jumpman' leaping toward a dunk," is suing Nike for the "misuse of the copyright for the widely recognized image." The photographer claims Nike is "using it well beyond an agreement reached 30 years ago." Nike has used the image "for more than 30 years on clothing, shoes, basketballs, and other items sold around the world" (PORTLAND TRIBUNE, 1/23). The suit, filed late yesterday in federal court in Portland, "seeks unspecified monetary damages" (Portland OREGONIAN, 1/23).

The NFL has finalized the schedule of the three London games in '15, with all contests beginning at 9:30am ET (NFL).

The Basketball HOF announced plans for the inaugural Hoophall Miami Invitational at AmericanAirlines Arena. The '15 event on Nov. 27 will feature Kentucky-South Florida and Ohio State-Memphis. In addition, Heat President Pat Riley "pledged $50,000" to the HOF (AP, 1/22).

The Mariners today will unveil a new alternate uniform to be worn during Sunday home games during the ’15 season (Mariners).

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships kicked off last night at Greensboro Coliseum. While the opening ceremonies were "beautiful," they "didn't fill up the coliseum as this weekend's championships likely will" (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 1/23).

The cover of today's Charlotte Observer features a story above the fold on Jeff Gordon's retirement: "Gordon Will Leave A Better NASCAR" (THE DAILY).

“He wants to help us in so many ways, but for him to take the time to design a shoe for our program, I think it’s huge. We can sell it in recruiting” – Weber State men’s basketball coach Randy Rahe, on Trail Blazers G and school alumnus Damian Lillard’s "D Lillard 1" line including a Weber State variation (KSL.com, 1/22).

“A commentator asked me to twirl. I wouldn’t ask Rafa [Nadal] or Roger [Federer] to twirl. Whether it’s sexist or not, I don’t know. I can’t answer that” – Serena Williams, on being asked by a TV presenter at the Austrian Open to twirl and talk about her outfit (LONDON TIMES, 1/22).

“It was a lot of time. Your other job didn’t disappear just because you were doing this. … That part was difficult, I guess” – USC AD Pat Haden, on serving on the CFP committee (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 1/23).

“It’s not as easy as just snapping your fingers, putting a plan together and showing up in L.A. He is part of the league, there are other owners, there are other owners that would like to potentially be in L.A.” – Fox’ Joe Buck, on Rams Owner Stan Kroenke’s efforts to build a stadium in an L.A. suburb (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/23).

Last night’s 12:00am ET edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” led with the Patriots Deflategate scandal, followed by Nets-Clippers, Spurs-Bulls and Celtics-Trail Blazers. Last night’s 11:30am ET edition of FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” led with Arizona-Stanford men's basketball, followed by Georgia Tech-Virginia, a college basketball discussion and Deflategate.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out his “world’s worst” persons in sports: The “critics of Canada’s nominee in the Miss Universe pageant” for wearing a dress that included hockey sticks, a maple leaf and the Stanley Cup. Olbermann also derided Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, current Gov. Charlie Baker and the Boston Olympic Organizing Committee because not only is the '14 Games bid being “jammed down the throats of everybody who lives in and around Boston at their expense,” but also “none of those people can criticize it” per IOC rules. Olbermann also commented on golfer Robert Allenby’s story of being kidnapped and beaten possibly being untrue.

The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER goes with the header: "In This Year's Super Bowl, Only Sure Winner Is Comcast." Subsidiary Global Spectrum managers Univ. of Phoenix Stadium, while Comcast-owned NBA will broadcast the game. Viewers will include millions of Xfinity subscribers.

USA TODAY: "The female market has lots of room for growth – the kind of growth the NFL will need as it seeks to increase its annual revenue. ... To get there, the future key could be daily fantasy sports."

Also:

• Gayle Benson suddenly ascends to key figure in sports empire.
• John Fish continues to set the agenda for Boston's '24 Games bid.
• With so many big contracts, does Scott Boras run the Nationals?
• Sheriff's officer Jack Kearney also serves as Steelers' "fixer."

I saw it in a headline, so it is true: "Bouchard Bounced into Twirlgate." TWIRLGATE? TWIRLGATE??? In the name of W. Mark Felt, STOP IT...

— Howard Bryant (@hbryant42) January 23, 2015

When is @TMZ going to find the video of that poor ball boy siphoning air out of those footballs? #DeflateGate

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) January 23, 2015

As mark of respect after death of the Saudi King, Qatar Masters golf event cancels entertainment from UB40

— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) January 23, 2015

Roger Federer loses to an unseeded player,Kobe hurts himself dunking,Peyton Manning can’t throw a football&Tiger loses a tooth #30sSuck

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) January 23, 2015

UConn's William Benton Museum of Art is opening an exhibit titled, "In the Paint: Basketball in Contemporary Art." The exhibit runs through March 29. 

The Morning Buzz offers today's back page sports covers from some of the nation's major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post N.Y. Daily News  Philadelphia Daily News Boston HeraldNewsdayChicago Sun-Times

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Candy.”

“An early TV ad for this candy bar featured a fleur-de-lis flag and a song with the lyrics ‘fun for all.’”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “Sports Shorts 2014.”

For $200: “This nation took home the most Golds at the Sochi Olympics and didn’t have to carry them far.”

For $400: “They won the World Series.”

Sports broadcaster Al Michaels appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night where he addressed the Patriots “Deflategate” scandal. Michaels said, “The government of Yemen has collapsed, we have terror cells in France and all three network news broadcasts tonight were led with ‘Deflategate.’ In fact, somebody sent me something in Vegas now. They already have all the proposition bets for the Super Bowl. You can bet on anything. … There’s a proposition that says how many times will Michaels and Collinsworth say ‘Deflated balls.’ The over/under is 2.5. Bet the over." More Michaels on Deflategate: “I guess it will die down by then but it’s insane right now.” Host Jimmy Kimmel said, “There’s nothing else to talk about right now.” Michaels: “Football has now become a complete national obsession.” Kimmel added, “It really is and it’s partially your fault” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 1/22).

Sports broadcaster Bob Costas appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” last night, with host Jimmy Fallon noting it was Costas' first appearance on the new show. Costas: “Unless you count your premiere week where you got a lot of material out of my pinkeye in Sochi.” Fallon: “I feel so bad for you, man.” Costas: “Yeah, you really did. I could tell.” Fallon said the “fact that you just wanted to keep going and keep broadcasting, it shows how game you are. But you almost ruined the Olympics for everybody.” Costas: “When I realized that it was so ghastly that I was frightening old ladies and small children, I had to leave for a week. Then I came back and I've come to realize that there's only one thing, one condition in all of sports that’s worse than pink eye. Deflated balls” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 1/22).

TBS’ Conan O’Brien noted the Patriots are “mired in a scandal. Everyone’s talking about this. The controversy surrounding the New England Patriots and underinflated balls is now being called Deflategate. That is what the press is calling it, Deflategate, which now means my wife will have to use a different term to describe our honeymoon. … Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gave a press conference today and he said that after equipment managers prepare the footballs he ‘doesn't want anyone touching the balls or rubbing the balls because the balls are perfect.’ Then members of the press took a 45-minute giggle break” (“Conan,” TBS, 1/22).

“What is 3 Musketeers?”

Correct responses to the “Sports Shorts 2014” category:

$200: “What is Russia?”

$400: “Who are the S.F. Giants?”

The $600, $800 and $1000 answers were not revealed.