Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

Brady'sArmy said:

another controversy tainted superbowl? perception is reality unfortunately. The fact that league is "investigating" will be evidence enough for fans of other team

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Yup. And like it or not, the media controls the perception by what, and how they cover something.

The media was all over Spygate and Deflategate, but are giving short shrift to Tampergate.

BradyManny said:

No, reality is reality. I don't worry about what stupid people perceive anymore, and most of the sports viewing world is rather stupid.

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it's also stupid to act like those chatter don't exist. Narratives define reality and the fact that Brady and Belichick's storied career will be littered with these charges is irksome to say the least.

The Gr8est said:

Yup. And like it or not, the media controls the perception by what, and how they cover something.

The media was all over Spygate and Deflategate, but are giving short shrift to Tampergate.

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we will always have a magnifying glass on us until the day we aren't rolling over the AFC for a decade.

RayClay said:

So your saying the refs have no balls during the game?

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yes,they're ball less. you can tell by how they call a game sometimes. especially when mannings playing, they don't want to rub his balls the wrong way.

You guys are the biggest nancies I've ever seen lol.

"Ohhh my god this is gonna taint our LEGACY"

The only people that make a big deal out of spygate are haters. It's not a big deal guys. No one even cares about spygate other than internet trolls. You guys must spend wayyy too much time on the internet, I haven't heard the mainstream media mention spygate in years.

Bobsyouruncle said:

The truth will likely never come out. Sports media is just not very good. Remember post spy-gate they didn't even ask any questions. What about the Jets cameraman getting tossed the year before? What about the fact that you see team camera guys on the sideline almost every game to this day? What about the fact that the NFL rules didn't forbid it, and the commissioner cannot make rules by memo? What about the fact that the Patriots cameraman was wearing blue and holding a camera the size of a Winnebago in plain view of the world? Hardly seems like the act of someone who thought they were being sneaky. And if the NFL was so against it, why didn't they say something before the Jets mentioned it? It could not have been more obvious. Seems the officials didn't find it unusual or illegal until a top down order came through.

The obvious questions here are: How often are balls removed? Is there always an investigation? If the ref is in charge of checking the ball, and the NFL controls the ball then doesn't an under inflated ball implicate the officials as either incompetent or corrupt? These are questions that will be answered on blogs by amateurs, because the national media is garbage and always has been.

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Well, of course you're forgetting that they TAPED ALL TEH PRACTICES!!!!

BradyToAmendola said:

You guys are the biggest nancies I've ever seen lol.

"Ohhh my god this is gonna taint our LEGACY"

The only people that make a big deal out of spygate are haters. It's not a big deal guys. No one even cares about spygate other than internet trolls. You guys must spend wayyy too much time on the internet, I haven't heard the mainstream media mention spygate in years.

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umm, maybe you don't interact with fans from outside New England as much. Fans tend to just flat out say that Pats are cheaters, in real life. Media people tend to refer to it obliquely in circumspect ways.

"That is the reply of losers"

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- Bucko Kilroy

Deus Irae said:

Well, let me do the honors:



http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-v...of-game-ball-incident-during-panthers-vikings

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So how many draft picks did they lose?

rochrist said:

Well, of course you're forgetting that they TAPED ALL TEH PRACTICES!!!!

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Yeah, they just reported that on ESPN from Kravitz or whatever his name is. No doubt, they know it's false, but letting it run unchallenged is good TV.

Now I'm confused as to who hires the ball attendants. It seems pretty stupid that the refs would do all of that ball inspecting prior to the game and then just hand them back and say, "I trust you now!"

flasox27 said:

I wonder if the NFL is doing a comparison check of the Indy balls.

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They can't find them.

As Bobsyouruncle implied, it's very likely that the referees are the ones who screwed up here. The NFL very well might be investigating them and not us. But don't expect the media to realize this. They'll run with the inane #Belicheat narrative that gets them the page views and retweets.

If this is the case, Kraft should fight to get a referee or two or more from that crew suspended—to clear the Patriots name. But hopefully it just goes away, either way.

Brady'sArmy said:

umm, maybe you don't interact with fans from outside New England as much. Fans tend to just flat out say that Pats are cheaters, in real life. Media people tend to refer to it obliquely in circumspect ways.

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Nah I live in Massachusetts so mostly interact with just Pats fans. My response to you would be those fans are probably just jealous and haters. Not sure why you would take them seriously.

6 SB appearances in 14 years, on the brink of taking home their 4th lombardi trophy.. I'd be pretty jealous of us too.

So when the NFL holds the balls for examination, who does the coughing?

AndyJohnson said:

The Patriots have not even be ACCUSED of anything by anyone with any knowledge of the actual events and facts. The league investigates balls that are taken out of play. Some idiot reporter takes that to mean the Patriots did something ridiculous, stupid and illegal. The league is investigating the football, not the Patriots.
No true Patriot fan would respond with "I'm sure we did it" so I conclude you are just a troll.

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Just out of curiosity, where are you getting this from, because this is what I am looking for on NFL.com, which is where I would go for official stories, and I don't see it there one way or another. If we are the ones responsible for providing correctly inflated balls, investigating the Patriots, not just the ball, seems to be logically implied, so I don't see it outrageous. I understand people are upset, I am too, because we are all tired of this, but if it is the NFL doing this investigation, and have admitted to doing it, I think most of our fan base is currently guilty of trying to shoot the messenger. The media reports on the smallest of issues to get a hit, so something like the NFL admitting they are investigating this isn't the media out to get us, it's the media doing their job, something they have always done.

Personally. I'm just interested in facts at this point. It's definitely something that is possible, at least at the college level, since Lane Kiffin has been caught and fined for it. It's likely possible at the NFL level too, otherwise they wouldn't be investigating it. It's definitely something that could offer some advantage, otherwise there would be no fine and there would be no rule against it.

Now, IMO, more importantly, I think is the listed punishment. If indeed the punishment for deflated or inflated balls was written and known to be only 25,000.....then it doesn't seem like a big deterrent. Unfortunately the cost of perception is much larger, so I still hope this is totally false.

rochrist said:

I'm sure Tomase is all over this story, now that he writes about football again. Only opinion pieces though, pretty sure he's been permanently banned from setting foot in Foxboro ever again.

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Hes still trying to understand what a "source" is.

PatriotSeven said:

Just out of curiosity, where are you getting this from

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Dean Blandino quite specifically says the ball gets investigated when it gets taken out of circulation.

He also said it isn't uncommon for it to happen.

Bob Kravitz has trolled everyone, exploded it out of all proportion because he can't handle his team getting stomped on (again) and now we have this nothingness to deal with.

Deus Irae said:

Well, let me do the honors:



http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-v...of-game-ball-incident-during-panthers-vikings

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And nothing came of it. We should be awarded draft compensation for Woody and tampering and there should come nothing of this "investigation" if Goodell and his league office wish to remain consistancy and integrity.

If Goodell treats teams differently in similar situations where prior precedents have been set, then The Emporer truly has no clothes.