cmasspatsfan
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Hey fellow Pats fans:
I seldom post but I need someplace to vent frustration and seek a port of clarity in this ****storm of media madness.
One thing that's been really bothering me, I've read that the actual weight difference between 12.5 psi and 11 psi is about 1/3 to 1/4 of an ounce (weight of a few sheets of paper). I've also read that a football doesn't really get to that "hmmmm, feels like it needs some air" stage until about 7 psi. If this is true, it sounds pretty fishy that either Jackson or the equipment manager just happened to pick up on this "deflation" problem when they handled the intercepting ball.
I know facts are sketchy now and the long wait and tidbits of leaked info are creating wild narratives and I'm taking care to reserve any judgment until all the facts are in.
The thing with the weight of the ball and the story of Jackson picking up on it when he intercepted it really has me suspicious. . . Is it possible the Pats are being set up? I don't mean to sound like some crazy Illuminati conspiracy type but this just seems too weird.
Thoughts?
Is it like Spygate, and deserves an increase in fine as a "repeat offender" - maybe $1.5m and TWO first-rounders? Or should they just get a 15-yd penalty on the next kickoff?
You're right, it doesn't matter much what other players or teams have admitted to or been warned about. You get caught, you get punished. I'm okay with that. As long as the punishment fits the finding of the investigation, I'm not gonna freak out. But context does matter, especially when it's all we have to discuss.
I think part of the delay may be the NFL trying to make the molehill that turned into a mountain back into a molehill.
If anything, unless they change the rules to allow preferred balls to make everyone happy, officials pre game inspection should now be required to be recorded to prove they aren't just feeling them, like the ball boy from the Bears in 03 states.
This whole thing is tainting the NFL as much as the Patriots' with all of the guilty parties stepping up in support of the Patriots' who may have been caught red handed.
The only thing that can help us is if Goodell just comes out and flat out says it's a league wide thing and that the nfl needs to do a better job at cracking down on it
The NFL would be very wise to simply admit that they need to do a better job of measuring the pressure. No one would really give a damn, and the story would pretty much be forgotten in a matter of a week or two. Who's going to hold resentment for the referees for not scientifically measuring the PSI of the football? No one in my opinion.
Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen, as they aren't going to admit their possible mistake. If the reports are true, they've already leaked this info out (the fact that they did properly test the balls) anyway, making them immune to any scrutiny.
We're naive and kidding ourselves if we think the NFL is a clean, morally upstanding league of integrity. It's not. It's a cutthroat, competitive environment where everyone and anyone will do anything and everything to gain an edge. It's the nature of the beast -- success is at a premium and winning is so valued, so ingrained in the culture that folks are naturally going to go to all possibles lengths to have success and win. These actions and thoughts are almost subconscious.
Yes, rules are rules, and this doesn't excuse what our Patriots did (on principle), but viewing the situation practically and in context, I don't see how anyone could be outraged, let alone upset. Anything beyond minor annoyance would shock me.
You're right, it doesn't matter much what other players or teams have admitted to or been warned about. You get caught, you get punished. I'm okay with that. As long as the punishment fits the finding of the investigation, I'm not gonna freak out. But context does matter, especially when it's all we have to discuss.
The implication of your first sentence for me was that other teams in the league would go to unethical lengths to defraud the Pats of draft picks, paint them in a bad light, etc.
That second sentence might be the best summation I've read on how people should be feeling. The cream of the crop of the "they're all mad over underinflated footballs!" sentiment.
This is what competent leadership would do. Unfortunately the NFL doesn't have that.I actually think it's less of a black eye to the league if they say the had poor controls in place because psi isn't deemed to affect the competitive balance of games and will re look at the process in the off season vs having a convicted cheater hoist the Lombardi.
What about it? The league hasn't actually said anything yet. It's a disgusting display that they've now allowed 3 full days before any official comment on the whole thing, and it now appears BB will speak before the NFL itself, which will likely set the scene to full atomic whether he says anything or (more likely) nothing at all. What other teams have done doesn't matter, just as it didn't in 2007, in terms of the punishment. The Pats are the Lightning rod and as much as I believe other teams or QBs may not like the situation the Colts complaint has put NE in, they're probably not going to fall in their own sword either. I wish they would, it would be what's best for the league in the sense of exposing the hypocrisy of their discipline.But what about the malicious prosecution aspect to all this?