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Online Petitions Thread


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I closed my other thread (A "Mock" Congressional Hearing against the League....) because as much fun as I had "interrogating" Roger Goodell, I needed to keep our discussion more pointed and straightforward.

So here's the deal: @ViperGTS and I are making a Facebook page. We're trying to push forward our own petition, to urge elected officials to look more closely into the League and its disturbing practices. To do that, we have to bring to light key evidence and facts that are not being mentioned in the media. We need your help in compiling the 10 or more questions that cover the most important aspects of Deflategate.

that includes:
  • questions that are being overlooked in the media frenzy and national disdain towards Brady and the Patriots
  • questions that journalists are not seriously taking, or are not willing to ask
  • questions that the NFL has managed to avoid (because nobody wants to ask them!)
  • questions that are not adequately answered in the Wells Report
  • questions that point to the concerning behavior of those responsible for instigating this scandal (Kensil, The Colts, Kravitz, Mortensen, and others)
  • questions that may indicate possible corruption, questionable ties and affiliations
  • questions about the negligence and manipulation of science to justify assumptions
  • questions about the mishandling of information by the League
  • questions about a flawed and improperly conducted investigation
  • questions concerning the arbatrariness of disciplinary rulings towards teams and players
You've spent months weighing all this, and now it's time to raise the questions that need to be asked, while relying on the FACTS!

Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated!!!!
 
Why did no one speak to the ex backup QB's of the Patriots during the Brady era to discuss whether or not they knew anything about this??

Why did the Wells report go out of their way to praise Anderson, but not call into question the leaks of the Commissioners office??

Why was there no clarification of the false information released by Mort?? Why didn't Mort Retract??

Why weren't other elite quarterbacks polled privately to discuss this whole subject of preparing footballs??

Why weren't the insignificant difference of statistics of Brady between his home and away games presented??

Why was there such a brouhaha about Brady's phone, when they had the phones of the two recipients of the texts from Brady?? What did they hope to find out as they had all the related texts regarding the allegations??

What was the chain of evidence for the footballs?? Anderson lost track of them on the way to the field, and if there was a warning about this why couldn't he take 1:40 to retest them?? Why wasn't he held accountable for lack of documentation of the numbers??

Why didn't they complete the testing of the Colts Balls??

etc. etc. etc.
 
Change to

"Petitioning the United States Congress and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, Congressional Representatives and Attorney General Maura Healey"

FYI I will be on travel in Europe and Asia for 3 weeks in a few days to quite a few places with extremely limited internet so I will be missing most of the time. Very impressive so far. On Monday assuming no crazy sports stories or world events, I recommend a full blown twitter offensive from every Patsfan you can get on it.

I have been dealing with the press for decades and what you basically have to do with 95% is hand them the story on the silver platter, do as much of the thinking and research for them as is practical. I am impressed with Florio as he seems to have seen the light based on looking at things himself.

Look what the NFL did with the Wells report. Most of the press never read past the summary. Keep the focus on tampering with the Patriots SB prep, perhaps someone bet big at the beginning of the year on Seattle repeating. It could explain what happened until the NFL gives a compelling alternate explanation. How can anyone allow false information like that to be provided when any reasonable person would see it would interfere with Patriots SB prep. Hit them with the petition and follow up with the Florio interview which was brilliant. On any facebook page I would have the Florio interview front and center.

At this point I think I am comfortable sharing the thing I heard before the Brady hearing but held back. A list was compiled from Wells' law firm public web site of every email address for every lawyer at the firm, not by me but by the firm itself, http://www.paulweiss.com/professionalsearchresult.aspx?all=all and there are almost 800 of them. It is rumored that a reporter contacted them all or some significant portion the night before the Brady appeal and asked them questions having to do with the Wells report and if anyone or firm was consulted prior to and besides Exponent for the science and if their analysis, opinion or review was not put in the Wells report. I would imagine that it is just a matter of time until more info on what went on inside the creation of the Wells Report comes out slowly. With a staff that large it is inevitable that someone will have an axe to grind etc.. One can only imagine how Mr Wells would have reacted to this inquiry on the eve of the Brady appeal though I am certain he is fully capable of dealing with press and was not the least flustered by it.

It would certainly be interesting if it came to pass that sources other than Exponent were consulted and/or utilized but their data and findings were not used in the final Wells report for some reason. I for one could not help but note that Appendix 1, the Exponent report starting on page 146 of the Wells report, was dated on May 6, the same date as the Wells report itself. If I were writing a final report based on reports submitted to me, I would expect them to have different dates. I guess these folks are just so good they could digest the Exponent report and write the 145 page Wells report on the same day. I would have needed far more time to put this together.

Are we to believe that the Wells report was written the same day they received the Exponent report? I am sure it is nothing and they are just that good and there were no other scientific sources consulted prior to Exponent and that no contradictory scientific findings were withheld from the Wells report which could have come in in the MONTHS before May 6th. I am certain that these folks would never have discarded information contradicting their theory and then gone and hired a scientific hired gun to deliver what they wanted but failed to obtain from previous sources. That would be as unethical as giving the accused false information and in court, you can be sure that the question on who else they used would be asked :)

Oh just ignore this story http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/s...st-over-patriots-deflated-footballs.html?_r=0
"A law firm hired by the N.F.L. to investigate footballs used by the New England Patriots has formally asked the Columbia University physics department for help in understanding how weather and temperature could affect the pressure in footballs, according to a summary of the communication obtained by The New York Times." The NFL never received info from any other source than Exponent I am sure.

Thanks for giving us the scoop on Ted Wells and his investigation. Try to put this information in the form of a question and post it in my thread. This is exactly what people need to think about!
 
After reading @ViperGTS 's mission statement, I propose we call our group, Fans United For Accountability (FUA) and try to include a promotional hashtag #BiggerThanJustFootballs #TeamTruth.
 
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I lean to groups of questions, not single questions. Given that preference:

At least one should be about the contradictory league statements as to whether it investigated itself -- Goodell's quotes, the one paragraph in the Wells Report, what the Patriots disclosed on the "context" site, etc.

At least one should be about everything to do with the bad numbers. What was the chain of events getting to the false Mort report? What was the chain of events getting to the false Gardi letter? Why did the league insist on leaving the public with a seriously wrong impression.

At least one should be about Exponent. Why was a firm with such a terrible reputation for independence hired? Why did the league accept their results when everybody independent who's seen the same numbers (which only has happened since the Wells Report came out, of course) disagrees?

One should simply be -- what is the total direct evidence of any case of Patriots footballs being illegally deflated? I think the answer is a single measurement taken illegally by the Colts at an (indoor/climate controlled) home game with no checks on its veracity.

Another should simply be -- what is the total direct evidence of Tom Brady conspiring to have footballs illegally tampered with? I think the answer is "none".

Another should be -- what's the clearest evidence, direct or indirect, of any plan or conspiracy to tamper with footballs? I think the answer is "a few jokes".

Another should start by stating the punishment for known tampering cases, and the ask what the Patriots are supposed to have done that is vastly worse, and what the evidence for them having done that is.

Another could be whether there is any pattern of cheating behavior by Brady in the past. (There isn't.) But that's double-edged, because the same can't be said of Belichick.

Another of course should be to list NFL folks with known biases, e.g. from various social media accounts. Start by giving the known biases, then ask whether there's more of the same (perhaps not as well documented) among people who make their career out of football and live in NYC.
 
I guess I have a few that come to mind that I THINK I know the answer to, but if we were to implement some kind of CIA/KGB/Gestapo-based interrogation techniques, this is what I WANT to know.

These aren't really questions re: The Wells Report but more about the whole clusterf#ck of a situation.

1) As a matter of courtesy, why did the NFL choose not to bring the Colts' concerns/allegations to the Patriots' attention? We were told that the NFL did not take them seriously.

2) Why did the NFL not come out and say publicly that the original readings it had included in a letter to the Patriots were inaccurate?

3) Why aren't the Colts being punished for messing with Patriots game-day footballs during the AFCCG?

4) Why has no one heard from McNally and Jaz?

5) How did the balls used by the Patriots vs the Jets wind up at 16psi? What happened?

6) Colts player Mike Adams says the two balls he intercepted had a "sticky"substance on them. What was it?
 
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Why has the league not apologized to the Patriots and given them compensatory draft picks (I'm serious) for text message evidence that the Refs inflated the Patriots balls prior to the Jets game to "almost 16" ?

Why is it that the only mention is the Wells Report about Brady directing the equipment guys to a specific PSI is Brady wanting the equipment guys to show the refs the rule book after the inflation to "almost 16".

The obvious, big one : Why did the NFL LIE in a letter to the Patriots about a ball being at 10.1 when the NFL knew that was a blatant falsehood and had to put the Patriots on the defensive.
 
Why did Wells feel he was entitled to Brady's phone in this case? What reason was there to believe it had any relevant evidence? Would he also claimed he was entitled to his computer? What about his bank records -- maybe Brady paid a guy off? What is the limit here? Can he just say Brady wasn't uncooperative if Brady doesn't refuse to turn over everything asked for?
 
What processes are in place to ensure referees make accurate measurements in the first place?

What processes are hypothesized for illegal ball deflation? The league is very unclear.
  • McNally is supposedly involved, but ...
  • ... the whole thing supposedly started with a soft ball being noticed at a Colts road game.
  • The AFCC supposedly involved McNally in the bathroom ...
  • ... but the report says that at other games he was never alone with the balls post-check, except in the referees' locker room itself.
 
Walt Anderson's statement that in his experience as a referee this is the first time an attendant took the balls to the field without being accompanied by an official because of the chaos from the conclusion of the NFC championship. Why would there be a conspiracy to tamper with the footballs when, under ordinary circumstances, there would not be an opportunity to do so?
 
@Dr Pain and @ViperGTS Gentlemen, in addition to the links, there's another revision I've made:

We petition so and so....."To determine if the NFL commited a deliberate act of deception, in order to influence the outcome of the Super Bowl"
 
Why were the Patriots punished?
The easy answer is that based on the Wells Report, Goody and the NFL EO felt that there was enough evidence to determine that the Patriots (employees of the club) and Brady were part of a scheme to manipulate footballs after Anderson officially deemed them as game-ready. The league believed that demonstrates a pattern of behavior by the team to disobey NFL gameday rules that go back to the Spygate scandal.

The real answer is that in order to execute on a scheme/sting designed to embarrass the Patriots because they had embarrassed the Colts earlier on the field and the Baltimore Ravens (who owner Steve Biscotti is adored by Goody and Pagano is loyal to Harbaugh), the NFL and Colts jumped the gun on proving that balls were deflated because it didn't understand the Ideal Gas Law. Because of this lack of understanding, the league's attempt at covering up their own ineptitude was to spend $5m+ on an "independent" investigation that was predetermined to prove some kind of tangible, believable justification that warrants the ridiculous, sinister, conspiracy-laden activity that took place before, during and after the AFCCG conducted by the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts.

Does that help? ;)
 
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Change I recommend

Replace "No gameball was measured below 10.5 and most were in the 11s, which is within an acceptable range of natural deflation."

with

" No gameball measured below 10.85 and all Patriots balls fell within the estimated range of natural deflation which would not have been the case with the NFL reported 10.1psi ball."

I like all the links
 
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Walt Anderson's statement that in his experience as a referee this is the first time an attendant took the balls to the field without being accompanied by an official because of the chaos from the conclusion of the NFC championship. Why would there be a conspiracy to tamper with the footballs when, under ordinary circumstances, there would not be an opportunity to do so?
Brilliant, another great point I hadn't come across before. Of course I think it's a bunch of BS that this has never happened before, but use the NFL's own concocted due diligence defence against them.

And the 10 questions thing is also a great idea, much easier for short attention spans to digest. What truly amazes me at this point is that it would still be difficult to limit it to 10.
 
Is it true that the Wells investigation contacted sources other than Exponent for the science and that these other sources opinions, results and conclusions were not included in the final Wells report and these other sources cannot speak because of non disclosure agreements?

On what date was an order placed with Exponent for the scientific analysis? (one would expect this no later than Jan 28 if Exponent were the primary scientific reviewer)

Why is Appendix 1, the Exponent report starting on page 146 of the Wells report, dated on May 6, the same date as the Wells report itself? Did the Wells team digest the Exponent report and write the 145 page Wells report on the same day?

It was reported by the NY Times on January 26 that the Wells investigation contacted Columbia University to do the scientific analysis, what did Columbia say, who else was contacted and what were their responses and analysis and why is this information not included in the Wells report?
 
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How did the Patriots tamper with the footballs on the road when the home team always has access to them prior to kickoff? Especially since "the deflator" doesn't travel with the team and wasn't there.
 
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