(Post Edit): Breaking: NFL Ref's Press Conference Just Blew Deflategate To Pieces!!!!!!

turkeyneck said:

He still does not understand what the problem is.

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No, in other words, they may actually change the rule so the inflation range is larger and none of this is even an issue.

4thRing-Hunt said:

I heard Florio say that the NFL might just fine the pats even if there is no proof of wrongdoing. He said they will fine the pats solely because the ball was deflated. If that happens then Kraft should come out and ask "what's the point of cooperating with the NFL with their investigations if that's the case?" I mean the pats gave the NFL all the videos to prove their innocence. If the NFL doesn't find any evidence then basically they are admitting that their investigations are solely to find guilt, not the truth. There would be no incentive to cooperate with the NFL if the teams aren't allowed to prove their innocence

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Florio's reaching. He knows that he's heard nothing to indicate that this is the league's stance.

obgod3 said:

So Blandino also said Solder's TD was an illegal play and should have been penalized?

Listening to WEEI, yeh I know, they said Blandino confirmed that Anderson gauged the balls?

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That is what Blandino said according to the twitter reports.

turkeyneck said:

What the hell is it that Blandino does besides just take up space?

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Lifetime member on the Cowboys Party Bus?

NFL is an absoulte joke since that slime ball took over

BSR said:

No, in other words, they may actually change the rule so the inflation range is larger and none of this is even an issue.

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No. That still does not address the issue. Make the inflation range from [PSI_high] to [PSI_low], whatever you want those figures to be. It will be legal to set the pressure to [PSI_low] before the game. It will still drop below that in cold weather. Problem not solved.

turkeyneck said:

No. That still does not address the issue. Make the inflation range from [PSI_high] to [PSI_low], whatever you want those figures to be. It will be legal to set the pressure to [PSI_low] before the game. It will still drop below that in cold weather. Problem not solved.

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Here's my idea (hold on, it's crazy): "Hey, you guys have to play with them, so fill them up however you like."

Refs not logging the pre-game PSI doesn't really matter. What matters is whether or not they measured the PSI pre-game. If Walt Anderson tells Goodell that all the NE balls were 12.5 PSI or higher, that's all Goodell is going to care about.

(And even in real courts that would be valid evidence and the jury (or judge, if a bench trial) would have to decide how much to believe Anderson. So it's not like not having logged the PSI is some magic thing that means NE gets off the hook. It wouldn't be true in real court and it certainly won't be true in front of Goodell.)

Bella*chick said:

See this is where I just slowly walk around in a daze.

They don't have the numbers? Yet there were leaks about drops of 1 or 2 psi? HOW IN THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW THAT WITHOUT THE NUMBERS.

Yet our HOF coach had to spend hours running experiments, calling press conferences and dealing with the fallout. BEfore the Superbowl.

Every single person involved in this debacle in the league office should be removed immediately. And then flayed, but that's just my own personal fantasy.

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The upside: that revelation is the point where I realized that this whole thing just MIGHT be stupid enough to create backlash in the media that vindicates the Pats. Since the only target as unpopular as the Pats as the league office, I could plausibly see this gaining traction.

And the Pats coming out pissed off, with something to prove and killing Seattle.

turkeyneck said:

No. That still does not address the issue. Make the inflation range from [PSI_high] to [PSI_low], whatever you want those figures to be. It will be legal to set the pressure to [PSI_low] before the game. It will still drop below that in cold weather. Problem not solved.

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What they should do is create an acceptable range at the beginning of game, an acceptable range at any point during the game (which is wider, to account for environmental factors), and then both inflate and measure balls in the same conditions where the game will be played. It is pretty simple.

Or they could just have the refs control the balls at all points in the game so there's no opportunity to tamper.

Sadly no espn,pft will report this story

BradyFTW! said:

What they should do is create an acceptable range at the beginning of game, an acceptable range at any point during the game (which is wider, to account for environmental factors), and then both inflate and measure balls in the same conditions where the game will be played. It is pretty simple.

Or they could just have the refs control the balls at all points in the game so there's no opportunity to tamper.

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I like Fixit's solution better. Since each team uses their own balls, just set 'em where you like 'em and leave it at that.

shmessy said:

This press conference just blew the NFL out of the water on the whole Deflategate.

The Pats are getting blamed for the problems of Goodell and it just became obvious to the world today.

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You think. ? They will say it was X PSI but we didnt write it down. They have to save face somehow. In all honesty, I wont doubt if walt anderson hates this as much as us .

Funny...PFT has NO article on this now....go figure...frauds

Triumph said:

Goodell worked for the Jets.

That should say everything.

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In his defense, he quit after a year.

Hits Just Keep On Comin'! In time Pats will be cleared.

turkeyneck said:

I like Fixit's solution better. Since each team uses their own balls, just set 'em where you like 'em and leave it at that.

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Me too, but that = tacit acknowledgement that none of this **** matters in the first place. Which makes it a no-go, since the NFL has spent the last week trying to convince everyone that this is somehow important to the integrity of the game.

BradyManny said:

Something's amiss. No one has ever tested a ball mid-game. Why would the refs start know if they couldn't feel the difference?

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See my post. There were two rumors: one that officials decided (ahead of the game) to test the balls at half-time. The other leak, disproven by the Colts defense, that they requested the officials to look at the ball. Both defenders who intercepted Tom Brady laughed and denied being able to tell the difference, and only had the ball for 10 seconds before giving it to a Colts ball boy to hold for them.

Either way, it's a good idea to check the ball conditions in a very close Championship game (14-7 at half-time) where it's raining hard the entire time. The officials helped Tom Brady by inflating his footballs to manufacturer's recommendations (12.5 to 13.5). Following the rules to the letter, they also had to report to the NFL they found a discrepancy with footballs, per the rule, for tracking purposes (must always be done.) In this case, they found the balls had lost some air pressure and fixed it. They didn't write down the before-after numbers because that wasn't the point of the measurement. The cheating suspicion was media's invention.

Officials expected Colts fans to complain that officials helped the Patriots via InflateGate, but officials had no choice but to add air once they found the difference in a pre-planned measurement. (On the other hand, coaching the Ravens by telling them not to cover a player before the snap? That was the referee's own choice, not a rule. He really shouldn't have helped the Ravens like that.)

Officials expected Colts to complain, but officials wanted to go out of their way to score high marks. They never expected the media to call it DeflateGate, blaming the Patriots for a situation that probably never happened in the NFL, where the referees decide to measure the balls at half-time.

rlcarr said:

Refs not logging the pre-game PSI doesn't really matter.

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Of course it matters. It's a huge problem, in terms of proof.