Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

[festy1986]

You, Kyle and Stan

Just watched butters beat the **** out Dr Oz.

Goodell vs belechick in a ppv fight.

 

[Todd Bradley]

You are being very naive with how much the average sports fan hates the Patriots. In the average fan's mind, the hatred of the Patriots goes well beyond concern for domestic violence. This hatred is rationalized with "they cheat" and "Belichick is evil." Punishing BB severely would be a tremendous PR move by Roger Goodell. It doesn't hurt that he and BB despise one another.

Again, again... the question is whether Kraft is letting BB twist in the wind this time.

The Ray Rice story was supposed to be a black eye that, to some, would tear down the fabric of the NFL and explode the core of it's very being. Half a season latter and the story is out of sight.

I get that people despise the Pats. But the league harboring a second-time "cheater" in the Super Bowl, who can WIN the damn Super Bowl in a weeks time, is much more of a PR hit, then saying there is no evidence of tampering with the game balls and ending the fiasco.

 

[FrodoBagginz]

Top 10 threads here are about deflategate....after we just won the AFC championship and going to our 6th Super Bowl. So sad.

 

[sambam94]

With these two thoughts, I have to say, what's in the best interest for the league here? Because we all know, with the Ray Rice situation, that the truth, if it hurts the NFL, will get buried for what makes the league look not guilty.

So what's best? (1) To put blame on the Patriots over a popcorn fart and soil not only the league but a team in the freakin' Super Bowl? Or (2) Say there was no wrong done by the Pats, sweep this under the rug as quick as possible and move on to talk about the game?

I have to believe option 2 is in their best interest, whether this fiasco is true or not.

well, quick as possible would have been before now...looking like goodell is trying to figure out what punishment will satisfy the most people.

 

[Aßßynormal]

One thing about Kraft here. Spygate backfird spectacularly in his face, in a way he never imagined. He's been living Spygate hell for 7 years. He may only have another 10 years on this earth. Hopefully, he learned a lesson about what happens to people who don't stand up for themselves.

I hope so. He can't be a Sucker a second time can he?

 

[BradyManny]

I honestly can't think of anything that would make more people APPLAUD the league and Roger Goodell than the complete annihilation of Bill Belichick.

"Yeah, he bungled a lot, he even pretended not to know Ray Rice beat up his wife... but man, he finally nailed Belichick. I gotta give him that."

Goodell wins big time in the press if he takes down BB here.

 

[Wrath Mania]

The Ray Rice story was supposed to be a black eye that, to some, would tear down the fabric of the NFL and explode the core of it's very being. Half a season latter and the story is out of sight.

I get that people despise the Pats. But the league harboring a second-time "cheater" in the Super Bowl, who can WIN the damn Super Bowl in a weeks time, is much more of a PR hit, then saying there is no evidence of tampering with the game balls and ending the fiasco.

The thing is no one outside New England would buy a word of that. Belichick's innocent? No way. The hot takes would be tremendous. Goodell's image would plummet even further; he let BB off for a second time?

Much easier to make an example here.

 

[Patriots1364life]

I remember brady laughing at the notion.It just boggles my mind that that these officials didnt notice the difference unless the weather played a part

 

[festy1986]

This all feels like a storm brewing, like the Clippers and Donald sterling.

Literally 2 minutes before he was banned for life a story broke he'd only be suspended for a year.

Can you ****ing imagine if Goodell pulls a stunt like that for belechick on Friday and bans him for life.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

This is really going to hurt us resigning players like Revis and getting free agents to sign with us. We are F#CKED!! I am still a Patriots fan and I am never going to give up on our team!! We will get through this!!

 

[karguy85]

Goodell has $40 million reasons to bring down Belichick and the Patriots right now. Survival of the fittest. Darwinism is alive and well in the NFL and the commissioner has all the power. There is no reason for the punishment to fit the crime when the angry mob is circling.

 

[Kdo5]

This is really going to hurt us resigning players like Revis and getting free agents to sign with us. We are F#CKED!! I am still a Patriots fan and I am never going to give up on our team!! We will get through this!!

God bless your perseverance. There are a few scenarios that could lead to me ditching the franchise.

 

[BradyManny]

The super bowl story is how the patriots are cheaters.

Yes, they were disobeying a rule so important that the NFL apparently waited over two months to do something about it. Big time cheaters.

 

[Sfpat]

As posted in the other thread that got locked, BB should respond as follows:


"I want to thank the NFL for discovering the issue with the deflated balls. I and the Patriots don't know how the balls got deflated but am glad the issue was corrected. I was concerned about Tom Brady's less than desirable performance in the first half which resulted in a score closer than it should have been, but once the officials discovered and corrected the problem, Tom and our offense was unstoppable and we won the game easily. I believe we would have been at risk of losing the game had we been forced to continue to play with the underinflated balls. And furthermore, thanks to the Colts management if they were the ones to bring this to the NFL's attention. Were on to Seattle."

 

[flasox27]

I hope so. He can't be a Sucker a second time can he?

I wouldn't bet on it. I believe he thinks he is first and foremost a member of the owners fraternity not the owner of the Pats. After that he is thinking about his grand daughter aged girlfriend.

 

[Gronk]

Goodell wins big time in the press if he takes down BB here.

True, but he works for the owners so his real constituency is just those 32 people. And I don't think handing out a death penalty for a two-buck crime is what those guys want hanging over the heads.

Fine them a small amount to minimize the perception of the infraction on competitive balance (i.e. to put it in the proper context as not a "serious" thing), say you're adding it to the offseason rules committee agenda to re-evaluate game ball procedures, make it clear that regardless of how big a media storm this has created you're not going to put any franchise, coach, or player to the fire based solely on circumstancial evidence, call it a day.

Unless they have some smoking gun, then fine them more. Either way they don't want this can of worms opened for everyone to start accusing everyone else of ****.

 

[Kdo5]

I wouldn't bet on it. I believe he thinks he is first and foremost a member of the owners fraternity not the owner of the Pats. After that he is thinking about his grand daughter aged girlfriend.

Ouch. But I agree.

 

[Todd Bradley]

The thing is no one outside New England would buy a word of that. Belichick's innocent? No way. The hot takes would be tremendous. Goodell's image would plummet even further; he let BB off for a second time?

Much easier to make an example here.

He docked them a first round draft pick and the largest fine handed out by the league. He didn't let Belichick off, at all.

That may be perception, but it's not the truth.

And does it really matter what people outside of New England really think? This is the second most profitable franchise on the NFL and one that draws the biggest TV ratings.

It seems to me your justifying that the Pats should get a harsh punishment just because the Ray Rice suspension was condemned by the media and that the NFL would get poopy pants if they did it again.

Difference is, Bill Belichick didn't viciously beat his wife in an elevator, then have a video of it exposed to the media a month later, which then got people in an uproar and angry.

Balls being under-inflated is the joke of an issue here, something that, if anything, hurt the Patriots instead of helped.

If it was done purposely as some sort of rule breaking gamesmenship, then okay, punish the man. If it was a simple mistake or oversight, then call it what it is and let's get on hyping the big game.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Here's another thought I had.

Ref's grab the Pats bag o' balls at half time
They bring them to the refs locker room and get the ref stuff done quick. Pee ect...
They only have 10 minutes so they need to multitask
They start testing the balls
Someone says...."We should get the Colts balls"
They are right over there in another part of the locker room.
Pats balls are tested and are all under 12.5 but surprisingly the last ball tested is legal
Colts balls are all within spec
The main question I see is: How long does it take for a ball to warm up to room temp?
This of course assumes that with a rise in temp pressure is increased.

Blount threw one ball into the stands after a TD, so the general thought is that it is 11 out 12 that were under-inflated because they no longer had the 12th.

 

[Wrath Mania]

He docked them a first round draft pick and the largest fine handed out by the league. He didn't let Belichick off, at all.

That may be perception, but it's not the truth.

And does it matter what outside of New England really thinks? This is the second most profitable franchises in the NFL and one that draws the biggest TV ratings.

It seems to me your justifying that the Pats should get a harsh punishment just because the Ray Rice suspension was condemned by the media and that the NFL would get poopy pants if they did it again.

Difference is, Bill Belichick didn't viciously beat his wife in an elevator, then have a video of it exposed to the media a month later, which then got people in an uproar and angry.

Balls being under-inflated is the joke of an issue here, something that, if anything hurt the Patriots instead of helped. If it was done purposely, okay, punish the man. If it was or was a simple mistake or oversight, then call it what it is and let's get on hyping the big game.

Don't you get it? First of all, this isn't about what I think "should" happen lol. It's about what I think is likely to happen. It also has nothing, nothing, to do with what logically makes sense. Perception is everything for the league, especially after said Ray Rice/Adrian Peterson fiascos. You are, in essence, correct; the league put out some lame anti-abuse campaigns, and moreover people wanted to watch football so it was fine. But everyone still hates Goodell. Just look at Deadspin or any fan blog ever; he is loathed. The owners in general are no longer trusted.

What you have here is the perfect opportunity to restore that trust. What matters is that there is a frenzy right now demanding for Belichick's hanging, and if Goodell doesn't deliver, on the eve of the Super Bowl, he will lose even more credibility. No one is going to buy a complete denial (which, given you are proposing it as a whitewash to begin with, suggests we all know the truth is that there is very little chance the Patriots emerge totally clean from this).

It doesn't matter that Belichick allegedly deflating footballs is trivial compared to domestic violence lol. What matters is that Goodell proving his moral worth by punishing the Patriots harshly would probably do wonders for his credibility in the eyes of typical fandom/popular pundits.

EDIT: Also, again, read what I said: to most people outside of New England, getting docked a first-round pick and getting fined half-a-million was getting off lightly.