Quote:
Originally Posted by steve B
No, it's hardly a joke. It would be if proper equipment and process was used, but we don't know that. Considering the information in this article I'd have to wonder if ANY equipment or process was used before the game.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sup...tballs-n290801
From the above
"I recall them having a pressure gauge in the locker room, but most often they just squeezed the balls, turned them over in their hands a few times each, and inspected the laces. I don't recall them ever rejecting one of our balls," he said.
Yeah, handling the game balls and squeezing them. There's no way anyone gets that right within +- .5 psi.
Then go back to HS science class. Remember the gas laws? You know, the ones that relate temperature to pressure?
http://www.wcsh6.com/story/weather/2...roll/22065861/
"83,244.6 Pa is 11.8 psi, so, according to these calculations, the balls could have been under-inflated by 0.7 psi on the field, just due to the change in temperature from inside to outside."
There's most of the supposed 2 psi difference.
2% error on a decent 0-25psi guage is ---- .5 psi. And on the low end of the range the error is almost always to read low.
Total change+total error = 1.2 psi.
If the guage wasn't 0-25, but 0-100 the error on the end of the range is 3% making the difference more like 1.5 psi.
The claim is 2 psi under. Media rounding? or an actual measurement. And if the gauges the refs used were 0-100 then the markings aren't usually every psi, but every 5. Seeing the difference between 11 and 10.5 isn't easy especially if you're in a hurry - like if all you've got is halftime and you still have your normal work as well.
If they use better stuff? Yeah, there's a problem with 2 psi, and the .7 from the temperature difference should have been added. But we're not hearing about what accuracy they have available. Just the hand wringing over an accusation.
Steve B |
Steve, no offense but I suspect most of your guesses about the gauges used (and whether or not the balls were instead squeezed) is wrong.
Since this is a discussion forum, I'm going to guess that the gauges were accurate and that they were used by the referees. I'm sure that will come out after the Superbowl, but that's my 'guess' for now. This would not be a big deal if it was easily explained away, and according to every other former quarterback who has been questioned, this actually IS a big deal and a violation of the rules that quarterbacks do NOT normally perform.
Roughing up balls is legal, deflating them after they have been approved by the refs, is not legal. Yes, everyone roughs up balls. No, everyone does not deflate them. Perhaps more teams deflate them than just the Patriots, but we haven't yet heard from anyone who knows that to be true.
The ball are created to NOT deflate during games, regardless of weather and temperature conditions. If you were flying them on airplanes, you might have issues, but they are checked just before the game.
Perhaps we will find one of the following occurred, but I'm guessing it will be the last point:
- the Patriots used 11 balls that were flawed and lost air, despite the fact that they were designed not to.
- the referees did not use a guage, but just 'squeezed' the balls
- the referees used a guage that had a margin of error that made any measurements a joke
- the equipment manager knew that Brady liked his balls a bit below 12.5, and so let some air out, hoping no one would notice.