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#2
01-21-2015, 07:49 AM
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But, you are correct. I was just waiting for someone to blame the weather and I was going to say the same thing. 
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#3
01-21-2015, 09:10 AM
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Im a New England sports fan. To me it is the Red Sox first and everything else is a poor secondary diversion. At any rate I look at the Patriots and their fans, the real die hards, as a bit cultish. They arent particularly likable, but i do get a kick out of how indignant and crybabyish people get about their cheating. Actually watching people cry and gnash teeth about sports issues (outside of the red sox) is probably one of the funniest things going. But yeah, the Pats are pretty unlikable for the most part.
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#4
01-21-2015, 02:47 PM
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I mentioned an article in the other thread, and can't find it. But there's a newer one with more detail.
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...ls_for_af.html The important bit..... "ESPN Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City reported that the Patriots footballs were tested during halftme, re-inflated after when they were found to be under-inflated, then the balls put back in play for the second half and then tested again after the game. " So a 10 point lead with the underinflated balls and 28-0 for the second half using properly inflated balls. Hint, if your team scores a whole 7 points in the game and allows 28 unanswered points in the second half the problem isn't the balls. (Maybe start with an inability to stop the run...) Steve B
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#5
01-21-2015, 03:51 PM
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The argument isn't who was the better team. What balls were used in the 2nd half. The pointy is that the balls were checked pre-game and deemed compliant. So, between that measurement that happens 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to kickoff and half-time, somebody deflated those balls. That is cheating. The argument has nothing to do with the 2nd half at all.
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#7
01-21-2015, 10:25 PM
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Not being a Pats apologist here... but I think it's silly the league and media are making such a big deal about this. I'd be nearly certain that teams have been doing this regularly for decades and no one cared (until now). If one QB liked to throw a slightly deflated ball, he'd do that... if one preferred to throw a fully inflated ball, he'd do that (Aaron Rodgers prefers this). If wet or cold conditions made the ball more slick, you could let some air out.. just like you'd put on longer cleats to play in mud. When I was in HS, it was regular to practice with worn out, highly inflated balls, then play games with nice new, lesser inflated balls (almost as a reward).
To the argument all balls need to be exactly the same-- On every other level, a team choses their game ball, brand, spec, etc, and these balls can vary quite a bit. There used to the fatter Wilson 1001 ball, and a thinner 1005 "passing ball". You'd see both of these being used as game balls in college/HS based on a team's preference. Different brand balls are different too...Nike balls may have a slightly different feel than Rawlings or Wilson... balls with painted white stripes feel different than those with sown in white stripes, which provide better grip. At some point the NFL decided to micromanage this.. I think this is relatively recent, probably around the same time they decided to use the "K" ball for special teams. Meanwhile they've made their ball fatter and fatter over the years (though I'm sure it's probably claimed the spec's the same). I understand that "rules are rules", but that doesn't mean some aren't more chickensh*t than others. To me Deflate-gate is in the same realm as the pine tar incident.
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#8
01-22-2015, 08:10 AM
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On the technical end, I'd like to see what sort of setup they're using to inflate and test. I worked with gauges a lot in hydraulics, and depending on the type their accuracy can be pretty suspect. Most are less accurate at the ends of the range, pretty decent ones are 3% at the top and bottom of the range, and 2% in the middle. So if they're using a decent 0-25 psi guage the readings should all be very accurate. But if they're using a gauge with a bigger range that's cheaper - like a bicycle pump with a built in guage- the reading could easily be off. And if the refs check with the same guage so they don't have to bring their own they'll get the same wrong result. Checking with a proper setup after a complaint will show all the supposedly correct readings to be wrong. The little tire gauges that come from Wal-Mart etc are nowhere near accurate enough. The NFL must be loving the extra publicity. And in the end what I think will happen is a fine, the rules call for 25 thousand, and they'll probably multiply that times 11 to fine for each ball as it's own infraction. They should change the rules to have the league supply the balls, or find a way to add something like a tamper proof sticker over the valve that the refs would apply. A tampered sticker could then be reported by the refs and the fining could be done quickly. Or to get a bit crazy, there's enough technology that it should be possible to make a self inflating ball that would adjust for different temperatures. I can't say I blame the Colts for reporting it. Any rules infraction that you can get your opponent busted for is something to consider especially at playoff time. Right now the Pats are big targets, just like the Yankees have been in baseball. They're good enough that everyone wants an edge, and will report stuff that they wouldn't report another team for. Usually the commonly broken rules are let slide because every team is doing something that's either against the rules or falls into a gray area. And if you report the other team, they just might report what ever you're doing. Steve B
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#9
01-22-2015, 08:17 AM
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Here's the difference with Rodgers and Brady. Rodgers has admitted that he likes over-inflated balls, but when they are brought to the officials and they take some air out of them, he doesn't have someone go back to the balls before kickoff and re-inflate them.
What's being thrown at the Deflatriots is that the balls were checked and were deemed legal, then between that check and half-time, someone deflated 11 out of 12 balls. And to put possible blame on the instruments being used is a joke. If those "bad" instruments were used to measure the Colts balls too, how come those didn't show under-inflation? How do 11 out of 12 balls basically measure exactly the same? Coincidence? No.
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#10
01-22-2015, 08:19 AM
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Fwiw
Brian Billick was just on Mike and Mike and led off his comments by adamantly denying (and being slightly incensed by) the notion that everybody does this. He says that everyone does scuff up the balls to their liking, mostly so as to take off a layer of lacquer that comes with new footballs, but that the inflation rules are there for a reason. Given that the balls are checked by the ref and there is only a limited time for them to be altered, I suspect the league does take it seriously--why have the refs undertake a meaningless act?
__________________
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President.
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#11
01-22-2015, 01:23 PM
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If he lied in today's press conference, he's screwed - someone (former player, equipment manager, etc) will remember some detail from the past that will burn him.
__________________
$co++ Forre$+
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#12
01-22-2015, 02:10 PM
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How did the balls (all 12) deflate without any reasonable explanation? It was 51 degrees at kickoff. It can't be weather because the Colts balls didn't deflate. Obviously they deflated and the only explanation is human intervention.
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