The tide is turning...

supafly said:

Here's something for all of the people who were desperately clinging to the hope of Sharks Of Vegas, with their page long defenses telling the rest of us how "they've nailed everything from day one."

He has now gone totally in the opposite direction, thus solidifying what we already knew in regards to him being a total moron:

@SharksOfVegas: @jcathcart78 my source had everything right except for the fact that Brady had bboys working for him.

I still can't believe this idiot is trying to claim that they were right about....anything! The stuff which was actually correct had been info that was already previously reported, as has been shown repeatedly by such posters as @BradyManny. The opinionated stuff they've come out with hasn't been right in the slightest. Not one bit. None of it.

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Who is clinging to that guy? People are going off of the enormous holes in the report that you could drive a fleet of 18 wheelers through.

ctpatsfan77 said:

Sorry, didn't see that.

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No problem. I figured either you didn't see it, or simply didn't know.

I tagged you, Deus, and Miguel--as I trust all of your opinions and extensive knowledge regarding areas of the CBA + situations like this.

JMC00 said:

Who is clinging to that guy? People are going off of the enormous holes in the report that you could drive a fleet of 18 wheelers through.

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supafly said:

Here's something for all of the people who were desperately clinging to the hope of Sharks Of Vegas, with their page long defenses telling the rest of us how "they've nailed everything from day one."

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It was written in past tense (were), and yes--there were plenty of people who treated that idiot as gospel for whatever reason. The point was that he turned on the idea of the team being innocent very quickly.

I'd have had more respect for him if he just stated how much he disagreed with the findings, but he proved to be a hack even more by tweeting his latest.

supafly said:

Just out of curiosity, did any of the other past cases (Peterson, Vilma) drum up any personal communication trail from Roger Goodell? I'm not sure what grounds they'd be introduced, particularly since he'll simply claim that he hired a "third party" firm to handle everything, thus washing his hands of the situation. Of course, we all know this to be false.

While I'd love to buy into the outright fantasy that Goodell, Kensil, and Grigson will all be punished and we'll be fully exonerated, I have a very difficult time imagining that anything "good" comes from any of this. At best, maybe we'll get to see a (potential) suspension reduced or thrown out via a third party arbitrator, should that be granted in federal court.

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Take this for what it's worth: I didn't read the Mueller report, but I did read a Deadspin article about the remarkably poor job one of the NFL investigators did in trying to obtain information (police report and hotel surveillance footage) about the Ray Rice domestic violence incident.

In that article, the author mentioned that there was not one email from Goodell in the Mueller report, despite the unfettered access the investigators were supposed to have. I'm not saying they suppressed some bombshell, but it's hard to believe there wasn't even a "How's it going with this/Can you give me a status?" email from Goodell.

ViperGTS said:

True and I agree with you. I trust Florio and King as far as I can throw them.

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For the record, you could throw Florio much, much farther than you can King.

supafly said:

So, would this still apply if the appeals process has been exhausted and third party arbitration has been sought in federal court, but the date has not yet occurred? This is why I tagged you in my thread asking for your opinion on whether or not we could use the past cases of Peterson and Vilma as any sort of reasonable timeline for this (potential) process.

It would explain both why Goodell was "technically" able to suspend Vilma twice, and how Vilma was still able to play in 11 games that season, even though he was suspended for the entirety of the season.

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If it looked like the Federal case would be delayed until after Brady had been suspended for a while, I bet he could get an injunction. Either that or an order from the judge to speed the case along. I believe that the main tests for an injunction are:

• Formally, the judge has to believe that if you win the case after a delay, you will have suffered "irreparable harm". For starters, that means you have to have suffered harm that can't be "cured" by monetary damages. That's not a slam dunk, but I'd hope he could show that.
• Informally, the judge has to take your case seriously.

During this I vision we were in a battle in the medival settings.

Ambushed and outnumbered by a massive but unorganized barbaric army (goodell, wells, and 31 other teams).

It looked bad for us at the start but we've stuck together and fought back, and the tide of battle is changing in our favour.

We are the patriots!!!

Koma said:

In that article, the author mentioned that there was not one email from Goodell in the Mueller report, despite the unfettered access the investigators were supposed to have. I'm not saying they suppressed some bombshell, but it's hard to believe there wasn't even a "How's it going with this/Can you give me a status?" email from Goodell.

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Or he was advised by people to stay away from the entire thing / use alternative means of communication that don't leave a papertrail (e.g. burners).

The twitter replies to King are hilarious. The mob has formed their opinion and any deviation from the ESPN gospel - regardless that those deviations are rooted in fact, facts easily gleaned from the contrived Wells report - is blasphemy. It's at once infuriating and depressing. We live in a scary world where reality is so easily dismissed.

Florio faces a huge conflict, he is an attorney first and a sports commentator second, from his first life he understands how flawed this report is... as a sports commentator he needs to write something to appeal to the masses...

All the while the court of public opinion has weighed in with their deliberations, Brady is guilty.. unfortunately this is not a very big deal, Goodell et al has made it into a big deal.. a simple warning to the Patriots or if "Super Ref Walt Anderson" had recorded the pressure, not lost track of the balls or retested them after he found them, this would be a non story..

Mr. Plow said:

I think the fact that Florio is not a Pats fan makes this mean more to me.

Say what you will about him, this is good stuff.

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I arose this A.M. happy to find that Tom has not been executed yet and hoping that fate awaits Snotty Bogus.

I don't know why anyone even bothered.

If the Commish is involved, you know it's complete ****ing ********. Forget the science, the report, the weather, whatever. The minute that ****ing moron Goodell thinks it matters, you know it's worthless and stupid and wrong.

I am not advocating harm to the commissioner and I would never wish harm upon anyone, but you honestly cannot say the world is better off because he was born. He has done nothing good in his life and continues to **** up everything he touches. He's basically a waste of air and resources. I could find millions of people who could do a better job for 1/10 his pay.

DarrylS said:

Florio faces a huge conflict, he is an attorney first and a sports commentator second, from his first life he understands how flawed this report is... as a sports commentator he needs to write something to appeal to the masses...

All the while the court of public opinion has weighed in with their deliberations, Brady is guilty.. unfortunately this is not a very big deal, Goodell et al has made it into a big deal.. a simple warning to the Patriots or if "Super Ref Walt Anderson" had recorded the pressure, not lost track of the balls or retested them after he found them, this would be a non story..

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Agreed, Darryl, but I'd take it even further. This is what a good boss/CEO would have done at the receipt of the first sniff of a concern about deflated footballs from another team: called NE and said, "Hey, this is what we've been told, what can you tell me about it?" Then the good boss/CEO would have said, " If there's nothing to it, there's nothing to it. If there is something to it, just knock it off." End of story.

Holy crap, Peter King on MMQB is even starting to come around:

Officials used two gauges at halftime of the AFC Championship Game to measure the air pressure in 11 New England footballs and four Indianapolis footballs. On page 113 of the Wells report, after a description of the scientific Ideal Gas Law (eyes glaze over), Wells says the Patriots footballs should have measured between 11.32 psi and 11.52 psi. The average of one gauge for the 11 balls was 11.49 psi, on the upper range of what the balls should measure. The average of the other gauge was 11.11 psi, clearly lower than what the balls should have measured. Average all 22 readings, and you get 11.30 … two-one-hundredths lower what the Ideal Gas Law would have allowed for balls that started the day at 12.5 psi. You’re going to suspend someone—never mind a franchise quarterback, never mind without a smoking gun—for an air-pressure measurement of 11.30 when the allowable measurement would have been 11.32?

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/11/dante-fowler-jaguars-tom-brady-deflategate-nfl-peter-king/5/

But...

then he backs off a bit

I continue to feel this way: I feel strongly that a suspension for Brady is coming this week, because of the time and energy and “more probable than not” evidence in the Wells report. But I keep coming back to the fact that there’s just too much gray area here, and too much doubt. I’d slap the Patriots with something, but not a potential season-altering suspension for the franchise quarterback.

My call: I’d give Brady one game, two tops, for failing to turn over his cell phone and the evidence within. This is too important to rely on half-truths and maybes. Goodell, who I believe will come down harshly, can’t listen to the noise. He has to listen to the truth, and the proof.

It's "very probable" that Goodell lied when he said he first found out about the investigation after the AFCCG. Seriously?? Everybody else in NFL HQ on Park Ave knew about concerns of deflated balls except the commissioner????
Tagliabue said it best when asked. He said he would have called the Pats up and let them know there were concerns and the balls would be examined more carefully to ensure no hanky panky. Problem solved without a cluster*%&k of a joke investigation...

karguy85 said:

I agree. I'm a lawyer (litigation background) and the report reads more like a brief advocating for one side than an independent investigation. Believe me, I have worked on both.

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Of course it does. The only "independent" thing about the investigation is that Goodell wasn't standing over Wells's shoulder, telling him what to write. But Wells knows where his bread is buttered (in 2012 the NFL paid Wells's firm $9 million).

King plays both sides of the fence in his MMQB column. He loses all credibility in his notes section in my book:

Ted Wells had no preconceived notions about whether to find the Patriots guilty or innocent when he started his investigation. Though it took way too long, there’s no evidence, anywhere, that he knew which way the investigation was going at the start and made it head that way. Silly stuff.

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That is BS! Even Florio has admitted that Don Yee was right that Wells came into this assuming the Pats were guilty and trying to find evidence to fit that belief even if it means twisting data like ignoring Walt Anderson's belief that he used a gauge that would prove the Pats' balls were deflated by the weather rather than deflated by a human.

Anybody that listened to AM national news reports would certainly not gree that the tide is turning.

I heard the usual, cheating must be punished or else the wrong message is sent to the parents of today's children (it's ok to abuse, rape and murderthough).

And of course the usual, what will poor roger do? Is he in krafts pocket or can he " protect the shield".

Sorry to be Debbie downer this AM, but, I don't see the real truth getting out at all, at least not yet.

Jackson 2 said:

Agreed, Darryl, but I'd take it even further. This is what a good boss/CEO would have done at the receipt of the first sniff of a concern about deflated footballs from another team: called NE and said, "Hey, this is what we've been told, what can you tell me about it?" Then the good boss/CEO would have said, " If there's nothing to it, there's nothing to it. If there is something to it, just knock it off." End of story.

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^^ this all day long. I cant stop coming back to that, why would you set up one of your own when you could just have made a call, "knock it off" if it was happening. This is fully being driven by the fact that, at least in the national media, Tom Bradys ball pressure is far more diabolical than ISIS.