Post game measurement

I found this little nugget in the Wells report: Refer to page 72 to verify.

D. Post-Game Testing of Game Balls

At the two minute warning in the second half, Johnny Grier contacted alternate officials Blakeman and Prioleau by radio, and asked them to gather both teams‟ game balls at the end of the game and bring them to the Officials Locker Room. Blakeman and Prioleau coordinated the collection of the game balls with the ball boys, who they then escorted toward the locker room. Once the game balls were brought into the dressing room area, four Colts and four Patriots game balls were randomly selected for testing. Using the same gauges used at halftime (which were retrieved from Anderson‟s locker, where Blakeman had left them), Blakeman and Prioleau measured the game balls in the same manner as at halftime. Blakeman recorded the measurements, and the officials signed a document with the recorded measurements once the testing was complete.

The post-game measurements were recorded as follows:

Patriots Ball Recorded
1 13.50 13.15
2 13.35 12.95
3 13.35 12.95
4 13.65 13.25

Colts Ball Recorded
1 12.90 12.50
2 12.45 12.10
3 12.80 12.45
4 12.70 12.35

These were post game balls. It means they were out in the cold weather for the entire 2nd half. Yet even after being out in the cold Patriots balls were measured at the low end of 12.95 and a high of 13.65 which is illegal. What the heck did they pump the psi up to for the Patriots balls at halftime!

The Colts balls look at least as if they under went some deflation in the cold.

That's crazy!! I posted in the other forum that the Wells refused to acknowledge the after game testing over dubious reasons. These numbers make no sense - supposedly the balls were set to 12.5 at halftime. At this point any logic says throw all the numbers out from the game. The gauges were either way off (it's not you can calibrate them - they are only very cheap OTC gauges) or somebody does not know how to inflate a ball.

This actualy makes perfect sense. The refs didn't know anything about the ideal gas law or how much it effected the balls or how fast the psi changes. You really can't blame the refs. The Patriots balls were pumped up to 13 at half time. Technicially, they were likey slightly over the regulation limit for the second half. A frustrating thing with this is the psi of footballs after being moved from one temp to another is very sensitive to time. It only takes about 15 minutes for the balls to change 1 psi after a 20F change. That's another reason to throw out the Exponent report. They are only basing the half time measurement timing on the referees' memory. Just two or three minutes changes the results of their calculations entirely. They did not even account for a margin of error which is absolutely poor use of stats, science, and is just pure garbage.

NashuaPats said:

This actualy makes perfect sense. The refs didn't know anything about the ideal gas law or how much it effected the balls or how fast the psi changes. You really can't blame the refs. The Patriots balls were pumped up to 13 at half time. Technicially, they were likey slightly over the regulation limit for the second half. A frustrating thing with this is the psi of footballs after being moved from one temp to another is very sensitive to time. It only takes about 15 minutes for the balls to change 1 psi after a 20F change. That's another reason to throw out the Exponent report. They are only basing the half time measurement timing on the referees' memory. Just two or three minutes changes the results of their calculations entirely. They did not even account for a margin of error which is absolutely poor use of stats, science, and is just pure garbage.

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The graphs on page 55? of the Exponent report account for the margin of the footballs and generate a curve of possible measurements for every possible half-time measurement timing. I'm not saying there aren't other flaws, but you are wrong about that specific flaw.

colts played most of the game with deflated footballs

NSPF said:

The graphs on page 55? of the Exponent report account for the margin of the footballs and generate a curve of possible measurements for every possible half-time measurement timing. I'm not saying there aren't other flaws, but you are wrong about that specific flaw.

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No, those graphs show the psi readings of the Colts balls throughout the 13.5 minute half time assuming the measurements of the balls were taken at the 7 minute mark. We know they ran out of time measuring them which is why they only measured 4 balls. If those measurements were taken a couple minutes later than that, they would have to shift the two Colts curves to the right.

NashuaPats said:

No, those graphs show the psi readings of the Colts balls throughout the 13.5 minute half time assuming the measurements of the balls were taken at the 7 minute mark. We know they ran out of time measuring them which is why they only measured 4 balls. If those measurements were taken a couple minutes later than that, they would have to shift the two Colts curves to the right.

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They didn't "assume" when the balls were measured, that was literally the entire point of those graphs.

NashuaPats said:

No, those graphs show the psi readings of the Colts balls throughout the 13.5 minute half time assuming the measurements of the balls were taken at the 7 minute mark. We know they ran out of time measuring them which is why they only measured 4 balls. If those measurements were taken a couple minutes later than that, they would have to shift the two Colts curves to the right.

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Never mind that they only measured four balls; someone brought up a great point yesterday, isn't it entirely possible they grabbed Colts balls that were dry, easier to measure? If that were the case they may have inadvertently measured the balls that had not been exposed to the elements--a drier football wouldn't have expanded like the others and wouldn't be wet and, thus, slower to regain equilibrium indoors. Even going by the low gauge--the one Exponent used to say the Pats balls were lower than expected--if you take the four highest measurements, even just a few of the 6 or 7 highest measurements--the Pats balls fall in the expected range.

They pumped the Patriots footballs to 13.0 psi near the end of halftime. They were probably not yet a equilibrium, and were cold, though not longer at 48 degrees. 60 degrees or so would be a good guess.

The Colts footballs would have been unchanged since they were pumped up to 13.0 psi, but at 72 degrees.

So when tested at the same temperature, any temperature really, at any time in the future, the Patriots footballs are going to be higher in pressure.

It just speaks to the continued ignorance of the basic fact that prescribing a legal pressure range for an football is completely meaningless unless you also define a temperature at which you do the measurements.