We have unofficially reached the limit on news about the under-inflated balls used by the New England Patriots in their game against the Indianapolis Colts. By unofficially, I mean we can’t stand hearing any more about it.

The morning and evening television news shows have led with the story since it broke. Yes, it’s a big deal, with all the elements. The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl. Coach Bill Belichick is a suspicious character. Quarterback Tom Brady is a great player, plus he’s married to a supermodel.

But once you figure out the number of balls that are used in a game, and that each team contributes an equal number, and that the balls were tested before and after the game — but we don’t know who took the air out — there is only so much you can say about the story, which might be why everyone is repeating the same thing over and over, with no conclusion.

How to handle a public relations situation like this? To their credit, the Patriot PR team made both Belichick and Brady available to the media, although presumably the PR folks knew their men weren’t going to admit to anything. And apparently the operation of an NFL team is so complex that no one can figure out who had access to or control of the balls during the game.

If only you could get coverage like this on a good-news story. Now that I think of it, could there be a way to intentionally attract that kind of attention in a positive way?

As we know, there are common elements to a big story: It always involves something unexpected (which usually means something bad) and in the case of Deflate Gate we have the Patriots, a famous/beloved/hated participant. Add in the Super Bowl and Gisele Bundchen, and you have a story that no reporter will ignore.

So, no. There is no good-news story that will get this play.

Because it’s the Super Bowl, I’ll suggest this: Could it be that someone concocted this controversy with the intent of attracting attention? Someone, for instance, who didn’t want to see any more pre-Super Bowl stories about NFL players who beat their wives and children? I’m not normally a conspiracy nut, but in the world of big-time American sports, can it be ruled out?

I’d really like to know what Giselle thinks.