Deflategate and a thumb: How fans reacted to the Tiger-Phil match

A little after 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Brad Holdgreve presumably went to twitter.com, clicked on the “GIF” icon, typed in “excitement” or one of its synonyms, clicked the Jonah Hill one, described his excitement and hit “Tweet.”

“I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS!!!” @findlaybuckeye tweeted.

Holdgreve wasn’t alone.

Confirmation of the Tiger Woods-Peyton Manning vs. Phil Mickekson-Tom Brady match in May saw a majority of happy GIFs, emojis and comments on social media, as the event will mark the first live sporting event in about two months due to the coronavirus.

Social media also brought the jokes – because social media.

A sampling:

References to excitement 

I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS!!! pic.twitter.com/rU8bOUu0Rs

— Brad Holdgreve (@FindlayBuckeye) April 23, 2020

References to the return of sports

I miss live sports so much that I would watch Eli Manning play Greg Brady.

— Gates Grainger (@GatesGrainger) April 22, 2020

References to Brady and Deflategate

Better check that Brady’s balls are regulation.

— MRJ (@muhheakanntuck) April 23, 2020

References to Mickelson’s thumbs-up

You rang?

— Phil Mickelson’s Thumb (@phils_thumb) April 23, 2020

References to Brady’s new teammate in Tampa Bay

Let @RobGronkowski carry the bag.

— Kyle Duffin (@KyleDuffin) April 23, 2020

References to Mickelson’s style

https://twitter.com/AlbertJArd/status/1253116195009593344

References to the prediction of the match

https://twitter.com/fantasychamp82/status/1253114660619980805

And plenty of humor

It would be super embarrassing if Tom and Peyton won https://t.co/OP6981IorJ

— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) April 22, 2020

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