Really?! Another controversy surrounding the New England Patriots? What are the odds?

And this one hits particularly close to home for us. A real “Water” gate, if you will.

Last Sunday, some Patriots fans were charged a lot of money for water straight from the tap. Apparently, unusually warm weather during the game produced a run on bottled water. When the supply ran dry, some people were actually charged nearly $5 a cup for tap water. One fan reported paying $45! Looks like New Englanders learned first-hand about the value of water.

To be fair, the Patriots organization immediately apologized and are looking into what went wrong. It’s a shame the Pats didn’t call us. We could have sent our water trailer to help. Ok, maybe the 4,000 mile round trip to Foxborough would be a bit daunting, but we can’t let the hard-working citizens of Patriot Nation pay that much for tap water.

Consider that Denver Water customers pay about $3 for 1,000 gallons of water. For a cup? We’re talking about fractions of a penny. And we’re proud to provide the tap water at the Denver Broncos’ stadium (whatever they’re calling it these days). We’re assuming if a similar situation occurred here in Denver, Broncos fans could simply go to one of dozens of drinking fountains at the stadium and drink our great tasting water to their heart’s content — for free! Is Gillette Stadium lacking in the basic amenities?

Hopefully, the Patriots are more prepared for their next home game, though with those New England winters right around the corner, Patriots fans won’t be worried about beating the heat for long. But here’s a promise: When the Patriots visit Denver for their game against the Broncos in November, there will be plenty of tap water waiting for their fans at the push of a button — free of charge. (The Broncos always pay their water bills.)

There will be plenty of air in the footballs, too.

(C’mon! You have five Super Bowl championships. We have to give you grief about something.)