Investigators to consult Columbia Univ physicist

NY Times reports that the investigators will consult a physicist, which is good news. Perhaps our local physicists can send them some data.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/s...patriots-deflated-footballs.html?ref=football

This shows you how stupid this has become.

I hope whoever it is is more on the ball than NdGT.

mosi said:

This shows you how stupid this has become.

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The real story is the leak to Mort. We know the why (mission accomplished there.)
If Wells is any good, they will find the who and put 2 and 2 together.

I was typing my post while you posted. What is troubling is "
William Zajc, another Columbia physicist who was aware of the request by Reisner, said that he was tempted to field the questions because of all the flawed physics discussions he had seen in news media reports.

“I’m amused,” Zajc said of the query. But in the end, he said, “I didn’t do it.”

Zajc said he believed there was little chance that atmospheric effects alone could account for the discrepancies in the football pressure.

“I think it’s more likely than not that they were manipulated,” Zajc said."

Nothing like going into this without preconceptions

I wonder if it will be peer reviewed.

Dr Pain said:

I was typing my post while you posted. What is troubling is "
William Zajc, another Columbia physicist who was aware of the request by Reisner, said that he was tempted to field the questions because of all the flawed physics discussions he had seen in news media reports.

“I’m amused,” Zajc said of the query. But in the end, he said, “I didn’t do it.”

Zajc said he believed there was little chance that atmospheric effects alone could account for the discrepancies in the football pressure.

“I think it’s more likely than not that they were manipulated,” Zajc said."

Nothing like going into this without preconceptions

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Yep. I'm sure we'll be getting a fair shake out of this.

It sounds like good news, since I am 100% convinced that this was a natural phenomenon. But if you read the article it sounds like these guys are saying they doubt Bill's explanation. I hope they don't have any preconcieved notions, or only use incomplete calculations to come to a wrong conclusion (see Tyson, Nye) rather than conduct actual experiments.

Anyone who has the internet can see proof that weather is the cause, but nobody but Pats fans seem to want to see it.

Dr Pain said:

Zajc said he believed there was little chance that atmospheric effects alone could account for the discrepancies in the football pressure.

“I think it’s more likely than not that they were manipulated,” Zajc said."

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I need a head banging on the desk smiley.

This is the guy who flapped his gums without looking at it or doing an experiment http://physics.columbia.edu/people/profile/383

If they really want to be thorough, they should consult with 2 independent physicists on this, to see if the results are consistent.

I know that Zajc fellow isn't participating, but if whoever does work on it has the same pre-conceived notions, it's not going to be handled fairly.

Blackluck said:

The real story is the leak to Mort. We know the why (mission accomplished there.)
If Wells is any good, they will find the who and put 2 and 2 together.

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Actually I'd take it back a step from there: the leak to Kravitz. There are dozens of league investigations into rules violations every season. Teams report a grievance to the league, the league investigates in-house and rules based on their findings. The Sunday night leak to Kravitz that generated this media sh*tstorm is what should be looked into.

And frankly, the league should penalize media leaks on investigations--if they don't already. Hell, a team could take any minor grievance, leak it to their local media sources as a way to drum up controversy and force the league into not only conducting a major, costly investigation but also pressure them into cowing to public pressure and the sheer enormity of outrage by ruling even when the evidence doesn't suggest any wrong-doing.

We saw during cameragate (and again this week) just how insane the media reaction can be, and how costly it can be when the NFL bows to public pressure, compounding what should have been a minor rules violation. The league should want to avoid these media sh*tshows at all cost, it's damaging to 'the shield' and damaging to one of the thirty-two owners.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...letter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nfl

I'm reading this as a good sign.

A law firm hired by the N.F.L. to investigate footballs used by the New England Patriots has formally asked the Columbia University physics department for help in understanding how weather and temperature could affect the pressure in footballs, according to a summary of the communication obtained by The New York Times.

Lorin L. Reisner, a partner in the litigation department of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, called the physics department on Monday, according to notes taken by an administrative manager.

'He would like to consult with a physicist on matters relating to gas physics,' the notes said.

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That was a steaming pile of snark. No prejudging going on there.

Can anyone make heads or tails from that article exactly who at Columbia is going to do this?

I'm not happy that they are talking to cosmologists (NdGT redux). They need someone with a PhD in Fluid Mechanics, which is the field that this problem belongs to.

A university from NY?

dannydyn said:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...letter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=nfl

I'm reading this as a good sign.

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A university from NY? Not a good sign for me.

Still this proves they have zero evidence of the Pats cheating. No need to go this route if they did.

TommyBrady12 said:

A university from NY?
A university from NY? Not a good sign for me.

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Robert Kraft's alma mater, although that was a long time ago. And when I think of the Columbia professors I know, I have trouble imagining them being biased anti-Pats partisans.

Besides, all three that I know went to grad school in Cambridge, although that's a biased sample in itself given that it has a lot to do with how I met two of them.

It'll be interesting to see when they contacted them.

If they contacted them at the start of the investigation, then it doesn't change much.

If they contacted them recently (aka after the weekend), it shows that they have no evidence of illegal tampering and a witch hunt to find a rogue ball boy is probably over so they are trying to find the reason the balls deflated.

If its the latter, its makes the investigation a mockery as they were too busy trying to get something on the Patriots rather than trying to actually finding the truth.

Despite if we are guilty or not the NFL needs to be to explain it. I see this as a step toward that.

Mr. Kraft needs to hire the most respected individual in this field to offer a fair review of the science. If they don't mesh then let the conspiracy theorist take it from there! Seems a little fishy you would use someone from that university with an individual in the group with an opinion already formed?