Seriously...why is it taking so long?

rochrist said:

Yeah. There was a 10-15 minute period between his collecting the balls from the officials to when they were delivered to the sideline that he might be confusing, but they have video of all but the 90 seconds he was in the bathroom.

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That's exactly what I am talking about. I'm not "confusing" anything.

Ivan is the one who was confused by the statement. Thanks for clarifying. He sometimes has a problem with context, and only reads bits and pieces prior to responding to comments.

rlcarr said:

It only "pissed off" people who had completely lost any sense of perspective. The "damning article" said that the Patriots should be punished if they intentionally tampered with the balls and that judgement needed to be withheld because there was no actual information out there.

The horror! How dare Reiss publish such an incendiary, witch-hunting article!

The initial headline on the article (which Reiss does not control) was admittedly more inflammatory and in one of his weekly chats Reiss was pretty clear he was not happy about that headline.

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The bottom line is that Reiss hasn't really changed his stance one way or the other, and yes---the headline that was published under his blog did indeed, piss people off.

In other words, how is Reiss' opinion in the past few days (what the poster stated) considered "new?" It's not in the slightest. He had an article at least 3 weeks ago which stated the exact same thing. Reiss believes that we'll receive a fine for an equipment violation.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The game was delayed 20ish minutes due to the NCFCG going to OT, meaning the dude had to attend the balls much longer than he usually had to. He may have been standing in the tunnel for literally a half hour having to kill time. So he decides to take a piss for 60 seconds because hes an older dude and maybe he has prostate issue I don' know. And maybe it's in his job description to NEVER leave the balls unattended so he brings them with him.

supafly said:

That's exactly what I am talking about. I'm not "confusing" anything.

Ivan is the one who was confused by the statement. Thanks for clarifying. He sometimes has a problem with context, and only reads bits and pieces prior to responding to comments.

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My reading comprehension is not the problem, what you wrote is. And you still haven't provided any link to the " locked restroom " comment. Holley said he has used it and it's open to anyone working the game or players and is public. I have written extensively about this and have no problem being very clear about what I'm saying, you on the other hand have been all over the place to the point where it is literally impossible to know where you stand on it. In fact it appears you are simply straddling the fence.

Ivan said:

My reading comprehension is not the problem, what you wrote is.

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How can you possibly be confused with the following (original) statement?

"--the unfortunate 10-15 minute time frame where the ball attendant either chose or was forced by sheer nature, into using the locked and unattended restroom."

Are you even serious right now? Where did I even come close to suggesting the time that he spent in the restroom?

I'm seriously not trying to come off as a ****, and value both your opinion and your posting, but let's be honest....you can sometimes see only what you want to see, which probably occurs from a simple scanning of the post, instead of in-depth reading. I'm certainly not meaning to question your obvious intelligence, and I am being very sincere.

Ivan said:

I have written extensively about this and have no problem being very clear about what I'm saying, you on the other hand have been all over the place to the point where it is literally impossible to know where you stand on it. In fact it appears you are simply straddling the fence.

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How have I been "all over the place?" I simply listed a factual list of what we have on our side, and what we're up against. This isn't an opinion piece in the local newspaper.

I've been very clear since day one that:

A. My personal opinion really doesn't matter....nor does yours. We're Patriot fans. Obviously we're going to be biased. I thought that was a given? We aren't going to be able to give a "true" and fair response on the matter. If that were the case, then we would've found the team innocent months ago, and we'd win the virtual Super Bowl every single year

B. I am very apprehensive of the past incompetency from Goodell, and feel that it's been a witch hunt since day one. That is very clear in my statement from about 80-90 percent of my posts on the matter. Due to that concern, I would lean towards some type of punishment, even if it's simply an equipment violation. I have a difficult time envisioning the NFL making this big of a deal about things and then throwing their hands up and saying "nevermind."

C. Just about all of us believe that nothing occurred other than natural science. This obviously includes myself.

supafly said:

I'm not talking about the 90-100 seconds in the bathroom. C'mon, dude....

Walking with the balls was his sole, primary purpose, and the use of the restroom occurred within a very small 10-15 minute window (maybe even less) where he was in charge of the balls and had to take them onto the field. It probably was much less than the 10-15 minute window I stated. I'm just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

That, combined with the fact that the balls somehow wound up underinflated (or suddenly lost air) is exactly what the concern of the league is. It provides opportunity, and it is a coincidence that the league isn't going to just overlook--hence the investigation.

We all feel that the team is innocent, so that goes without saying. This isn't about someone's worthless opinion (mine), it's about pointing out why the league is concerned in the first place.

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I'm not sure why you're focused on the 10-15 minute time period. That was forced on him by the timing of the game festivities and it isn't really relevant since a) he doesn't choose when the officials give him the balls, and b) he was on video the whole time EXCEPT the brief sojurn into a public restroom. Is it your contention that it's reasonable to think that 90 seconds is sufficient to deflate 12 balls the exact same amount?

Patriots going to the White house next Thursday at 2 so given how the NFL has done it so far, such as releasing the piss report while the Patriots were in flight, they may release the Wells report then if it is bad.

rochrist said:

I'm not sure why you're focused on the 10-15 minute time period. That was forced on him by the timing of the game festivities and it isn't really relevant since a) he doesn't choose when the officials give him the balls, and b) he was on video the whole time EXCEPT the brief sojurn into a public restroom. Is it your contention that it's reasonable to think that 90 seconds is sufficient to deflate 12 balls the exact same amount?

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Again, just to clarify, I am not speaking anything about the 90-100 seconds in the restroom.

I am simply stating the facts which caused the NFL to look deeper into the investigation in the first place, which include the following TWO situations that coincidentally (or we hope) took place:

1. The fact that the balls were underinflated/deflated/lost air via nature---this in and of itself would be considered "bad," but when combined with reason #2, appears much worse in the eyes of those who believe that something funny may be going on. Reason #2 provides the term "opportunity."

2. The fact that the ball guy chose (or was forced...again, by "nature") to use the restroom during the very small and inopportune time which occurred not in the hours prior, not in the hours after, but during a very small 10-15 minute window when his sole purpose was to take the balls from the officials' locker room, and go directly onto the field. Again...I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that a 10-15 minute window even existed. It may have been much less.

You don't have to be a genius to realize that these 2 situations, when COMBINED, have given the league something more to look into, which is all I was stating. As far as whether or not the deflation of balls may have occurred within the small 90-100 seconds in the bathroom--it obviously provides enough doubt to where the NFL is concerned, so that's all that really matters.

supafly said:

Again, just to clarify, I am not speaking anything about the 90-100 seconds in the restroom.

I am simply stating the facts which caused the NFL to look deeper into the investigation in the first place, which include the following TWO situations that coincidentally (or we hope) took place:

1. The fact that the balls were underinflated/deflated/lost air via nature---this in and of itself would be considered "bad," but when combined with reason #2, appears much worse in the eyes of those who believe that something funny may be going on. Reason #2 provides the term "opportunity."

2. The fact that the ball guy chose (or was forced...again, by "nature") to use the restroom during the very small and inopportune time which occurred not in the hours prior, not in the hours after, but during a very small 10-15 minute window when his sole purpose was to take the balls from the officials' locker room, and go directly onto the field. Again...I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that a 10-15 minute window even existed. It may have been much less.

You don't have to be a genius to realize that these 2 situations, when COMBINED, have given the league something more to look into, which is all I was stating. As far as whether or not the deflation of balls may have occurred within the small 90-100 seconds in the bathroom--it obviously provides enough doubt to where the NFL is concerned, so that's all that really matters.

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That's the point. He couldn't go directly on to the field, at least that's my understanding. There's a protocol as to when they're supposed to deliver them and it's somewhat hostage to other game logistics that might happen in a playoff game.

Dr Pain said:

Patriots going to the White house next Thursday at 2 so given how the NFL has done it so far, such as releasing the piss report while the Patriots were in flight, they may release the Wells report then if it is bad.

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Yeah but if they did that it could be embarrassing for the President and I don't think that Goodell would like being droned or audited.

Also the flight from Boston to DC is like 50 minutes. Not exactly like the flight to Arizona which took 5 hours.

rochrist said:

That's the point. He couldn't go directly on to the field, at least that's my understanding. There's a protocol as to when they're supposed to deliver them and it's somewhat hostage to other game logistics that might happen in a playoff game.

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I don't think any of us are going to fault the poor guy for having to use the restroom, but the fact remains that the timing couldn't really have been much worse (unless you're Joe Paterno and you have a "code brown" on the sidelines before halftime).

Again, I don't think it would have mattered had the balls not appeared to be deflated, but the combination of the two makes it really unfortunate, and that was my point.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Yeah but if they did that it could be embarrassing for the President and I don't think that Goodell would like being droned or audited.

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Goodell has droned on for nearly a decade.

I'd love to be wrong, but I agree completely with @Rob0729 - I can't see them releasing the Wells report before the Patriots visit the White House. Hard to imagine the NFL would want that to be a topic.

Next Friday maybe?

VectorPrime said:

Next Friday maybe?

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I'm guessing that either one of the situations are handled before the draft, per my "the NFL will space out the negative attention" P.R. theory, but we'll have to see.

I just think that at the moment, they're going to focus on positive news. That includes the release of the 2015 schedule, which will then be followed by the draft weekend. They are two of the biggest dates in the offseason. I find it unlikely that they'd want to pollute that with any kind of negative attention. They just had the Hernandez verdict, and the re-instating of Adrian Peterson, etc.

Since we can likely conclude the fact that nothing will be released prior to the white house visit, it provides a very small window between that and the draft--particularly if you're looking at actual work days, which only leaves a handful. I just don't see it happening. To take it one step further, I don't see any verdict on the tampering stuff either, but I hope that I'm wrong. They already established the precedent for doling up punishment for the 2016 draft, so I think that provided a hint that these situations may still be up in the air.

VectorPrime said:

Next Friday maybe?

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I am thinking after draft now too

Dr Pain said:

I am thinking after draft now too

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That isn't what he's suggesting. He's suggesting that the news comes out the day after the visit to the white house, or "next Friday."

The draft isn't for almost 2 weeks.

supafly said:

That isn't what he's suggesting. He's suggesting that the news comes out the day after the visit to the white house, or "next Friday."

The draft isn't for almost 2 weeks.

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My guess is it comes out prior to the draft especially if the Pats are exonerated, there might be some blow back from the haters but then the draft would divert their attention away from it shortly thereafter.