Questions I want answers to...

1. Why does Wells accept Walt Anderson's memory that he made sure the balls measured the proper amount (13.0 or 13.1 for the Colts) but then *dismisses* Anderson's memory when it comes to which gauge he used? This matters because if you accept Anderson's memory on using the logo gauge, then the Pats' footballs at halftime are right within what the laws of physics would suggest they should be.

2. Why were only four Colts' footballs measured at halftime? When one of the gauges showed three of the four to be under inflated, why did they stop measuring them? Why not measure all four?

3. When Anderson realized that the footballs were missing (McNally had taken them at that point), why didn't he just go with the backup footballs, to make sure that the Patriots were playing with regulation footballs? How could he - having been tipped off before the game that something might be up - have allowed the first half of the AFCCG to be played with footballs that he thus had reason to suspect were not legal?

4. Why did Wells say that the Patriots refused to make McNally available for a fifth interview (a key part of their case against the Pats), when it turns out (as Florio reports) that the Patriots DID make him available by phone?

5. If tampering with footballs is such a big deal, why did the NFL choose to punish the Chargers in 2012 only $20,000 for tampering with footballs using a sticky substance, and to not punish the Panthers AT ALL for heating up footballs on the sidelines of their game with the Vikings this year? Both those teams were actually caught red-handed breaking this very same rule, and between the two teams received a warning and a $20,000 fine. The Patriots aren't even caught doing anything for sure, but are given the harshest punishment in NFL history. Why?

6. Why is Brady being suspended for not "cooperating" with the league? Brett Favre, while playing for the Jets, similarly did not "cooperate" with the league during their investigation of his little texting incident with Jenn Sterger, and all Favre got was a small fine ($50,000).

7. If the Patriots are being punished more harshly for being repeat offenders, why weren't the Jets punished more harshly when they were found guilty of tampering with Darrelle Revis? That was their third confirmed violation of league rules since 2009. In 2010, they were fined for faking injury reports ($125,000 total). Also in 2010, they were fined for the Sal Alosi tripping incident ($125,000 total). So the Revis situation was their third league violation in 5 seasons. Yet their penalty ($100,000) was *LESS* than the previous two. How can the league honestly say that the Patriots - who would have incurred their second violation in 8 seasons - were being punished more harshly because of being repeat offenders, when they punished the Jets LESS even though the tampering was their third violation in 5 years?

Very GOOD questions that will NEVER be answered honestly.

To question #1, here are the words of the Wells report - all from the same *page*, no less (page 51, to be exact):

"Although Anderson's best recollection is that he used the Logo Gauge, he said that it is certainly possible that he used the Non-Logo Gauge."

"We credit Anderson's recollection of the pre-game measurements taken on the day of the AFC Championship Game based on both the level of confidence Anderson expressed in his recollection and the consistency of his recollection"

"For the reasons described in Section VII.B, we believe it is more probable that Anderson used the Non-Logo Gauge for his pre-game measurements."

So they have confidence in Anderson's recollection, so even though he didn't write down what the actual pre-game measurements were, they wholly and completely trust his memory.

Anderson recalls using the Logo gauge.

But they don't believe him when it comes to the gauge. Why? Because those numbers using the Logo gauge would have shown that the footballs tested at halftime were absolutely explainable using the Ideal Gas Law.

But no, we can't have THAT. So when it DOES fit their narrative, trust Anderson's memory. But when it DOESN'T fit their narrative, don't trust his memory.

If this report were in a court of law, or subject to cross-examination, this entire case would have been thrown out long ago.

Which makes it so obvious that it's a total railroad job. Wells doesn't publish ANYTHING that looks favorable to the Patriots, even though obviously there's tons there that IS favorable to them.

I have been banging the drum on #'s 1, 2 and 3 for a while now.. and would add to #3...

If Anderson had been warned the balls might be tampered with and he lost chain of custody, whey didn't he recheck the balls prior to the beginning of the game to insure compliance?? If anything he receives praise in the report for what he did not do.

Why would the report go out of its way to praise Anderson?? That was completely unnecessary.. he receives high praise, even though he did not do his job.. smells like a whitewash to this fan.

I think that only measuring 4 Indianapolis balls is also egregious as it indicates they did not provide a baseline for all of the balls, another minute or two would not have made a difference in this crusade to monitor the integrity of the game..and indicates it may have been a sting.

It is alleged that Mike Kensil, the NFL’s VP of game operations, walked up to Patriots equipment manager Dave Schoenfeld on the sideline after halftime and said, “We weighed the balls. You are in big f------ trouble.” This really pisses me off..

The report should have included and addendum of all of the interviews and communications that the grand inquisitors were privy to.. it would have been long, but complete.

In terms of #2 I am almost happy that the refs didn't get to check all balls of the Colts. It goes to show that it actually requires some time to handle footballs and the 100 seconds that McNally had in the bathroom are most probably not enough.

How can Wells and Exponent have any confidence in an experiment that uses the Colts balls as a control group when the following flaws exist?

just 4 of 12 balls were used vs 11 of 12 balls for the Pats footballs
The 4 balls had varying measurements themselves
The pregame measurements were not recorded
It is just assumed that gauges used for the measurements were recorded incorrectly and thus flip flopped.
The exposure to the weather conditions or use in the game is unknown
The exact time of the measurements of these four is not known meanwhile timing is very sensitive to the experiment's results.
There is no margin of error allowed for any of these flaws