Robert Blecker's Amicus Curiae Brief on behalf of NFLPA/Brady

[Zeus]

I had a fourth point, but I forget now.

Too bad - I had a very strong hunch that that point was the deal closer.

 

[JJDChE]

Too bad - I had a very strong hunch that that point was the deal closer.

It was. Oh well, time for another beer.

 

[Zeus]

So this is what an honest depiction of the two needles would look like. I adjusted the Wells' report image in photoshop.

First, I made the rulers match the left alignment.

Next, I had to increase the size of the lower image to make the rulers’ size match. It seems to be almost 20% larger than previously.

Last, I slid the top needle to the left so that the needle’s base aligned the the start of the needle.

So, we really think that these needles could be confused with one another? If so, that referee really needs his eyes checked.

The Exponent photographs also aligned the needles to minimize the very large difference in the extent to which one of them was bent.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Our society has degenerated to the point where most people believe what they want, regardless of the source. Many would simply choose not to acknowledge that the accusation was wrong and simply believe crap spewed by the likes of Mort. Far too few strive to break through their programming and see the world genuinely. The realization of this truth would serve you well.

Well of course there are always going to be stupid people who are going to believe crazy stuff.

I'll go out on a limb and say that most normal, well-adjusted people will be offended by the league defaming an innocent man to advance some sleazy agenda.

 

[JJDChE]

Both needles were posed against a ruler to demonstrate scale. The Wells' report made the bottom image smaller in order to further the argument that the needles were easily confused with one another. They are not. One is twice as long as the other. They also misplaced the start of the measurement on the top image by two centimeters in order to make the needles seem to be almost the same.

If the two needles were physically next to one another posed next to rulers with correct alignment, that is what it would look like.

This is the original image. If you look at the two rulers, which are meant to be scale references, the distance in the top image from the left of the ruler to the 1 inch mark is 310 pixels. In the bottom image the distance from the left of the ruler to the 1 inch mark is 262 pixels. That's a difference of 18%. The Wells Report zoomed in on the top image by 18% to the needles seem of similar size. And it shifted where it measured from the base of the need to the bottom of the screw on cap, which added an extra 1.75 cm of length or so. If you were to measure both needles from the base of the needle itself to the end, the top is 7cm and the bottom is 14cm. The report does its best to hide that.

OK, I see what you're going for. It seems that the pics were 'massaged' to prove their point. While you can clearly see from looking at the two images that one needle is 0.7" and the other 1.4", they do seem to make an effort to try to visually distort one image to make them seem more similar to support their argument.

 

[sb1]

If "fraud" really is an accurate depiction of what is going on here, I would hope Kraft - regardless of what he said several months ago- or some other folks in the organization not let the NFL front office get away with this and let the whole thing slide.

 

[Galeb]

Well of course there are always going to be stupid people who are going to believe crazy stuff.

I'll go out on a limb and say that most normal, well-adjusted people will be offended by the league defaming an innocent man to advance some sleazy agenda.

I wouldn't have to climb out on a limb to accurately say that most people you consider normal and well adjusted don't see world even close to genuinely.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

I wouldn't have to climb out on a limb to accurately say that most people you consider normal and well adjusted don't see world even close to genuinely.

Well, here we have Prof. Blecker an educated, credible man with no apparent dog in the fight, spending all this time researching and preparing a brief that analyzes this from a logic perspective supported with facts and science. As far as I know, he has no motives for doing this other than altruism.

Isn't that some evidence that humanity isn't completely hopeless?

 

[Galeb]

Well, here we have Prof. Blecker an educated, credible man with no apparent dog in the fight, spending all this time researching and preparing a brief that analyzes this from a logic perspective supported with facts and science. As far as I know, he has no motives for doing this other than altruism.

Isn't that some evidence that humanity isn't completely hopeless?

There is always hope. Every mind can change and evolve. The real problem is that our culture is designed to sabotage our development for the monetary gain of a few. It is the greatest of all human tragedies, but that doesn't mean that it can't be fixed.

 

[Calhoun44]

There is always hope. Every mind can change and evolve. The real problem is that our culture is designed to sabotage our development for the monetary gain of a few. It is the greatest of all human tragedies, but that doesn't mean that it can't be fixed.

I wonder if the Jets message boards have these types of discussions?

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

If "fraud" really is an accurate depiction of what is going on here, I would hope Kraft - regardless of what he said several months ago- or some other folks in the organization not let the NFL front office get away with this and let the whole thing slide.

"Fraud is a broad term that refers to a variety of offenses involving dishonesty or "fraudulent acts". In essence, fraud is the intentional deception of a person or entity by another made for monetary or personal gain."

Does anyone believe fraud is not an applicable term here?

 

[BTTA]

For one, he wouldn't be suing the other owners. Two, presumably, he wouldn't be looking for damages that would hurt the business operations of the other teams in any way. It would simply be to re-instate draft picks and return a fine levied under false pretenses. Three, I think you're off if you assume the other owners would be against it. Don't you think they want a precedent set that an individual team can hold some power over the league office if they go rouge?

1. Yes, he would be suing the other owners. If the NFL is the target of the suit, that's the other owners, collectively. Who else would he be suing? The NFL isn't some independent body that "does things" to the individual teams.

2. Anything that is taken away from the other owners (in this case, draft position) and given to the Patriots, is value transfered from one party to the other. Without out this transfer of value, there is no purpose to a lawsuit. Plus, the other owner's pay the bill for their legal defense; it comes directly out of their collective profits.

3. The owners are the ones directing the NFL front office on what to do; they are the employer here. Goodell is just their agent. If they didn't want this being done to the Pats, it wouldn't be happening. This is evident in the public comments from some of them.

 

[Galeb]

I wonder if the Jets message boards have these types of discussions?

I would like to see this type of discussion proliferate throughout all types of media until the problem is resolved. How many more generations will blindly plunder the planet and each other before we finally figure it out?

 

[Urgent]

Be careful what you wish for....

One second in - that's Manning, right? God, he's in everything.

 

[bresna]

The Exponent photographs also aligned the needles to minimize the very large difference in the extent to which one of them was bent.

Not only that, they positioned the longer (bent) needle so that the bend is pointing upward. Lay that needle flat, and it's probably at least 1.5" rather than 1.4".

 

[JJDChE]

1. Yes, he would be suing the other owners. If the NFL is the target of the suit, that's the other owners, collectively. Who else would he be suing? The NFL isn't some independent body that "does things" to the individual teams.

2. Anything that is taken away from the other owners (in this case, draft position) and given to the Patriots, is value transfered from one party to the other. Without out this transfer of value, there is no purpose to a lawsuit. Plus, the other owner's pay the bill for their legal defense; it comes directly out of their collective profits.

3. The owners are the ones directing the NFL front office on what to do; they are the employer here. Goodell is just their agent. If they didn't want this being done to the Pats, it wouldn't be happening. This is evident in the public comments from some of them.

I'm not going debate your points, because I'm 95% sure you are misunderstanding how this all works.

As far as the owners losing value. The fines go to charitable causes, so the owners didn't see any of that money. The draft pick was simply forfeited, not distributed among the other teams (obviously). I don't know what you think the other owners stand to lose if the Patriots won a case to reinstate their draft pick and return the fine money.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Not only that, they positioned the longer (bent) needle so that the bend is pointing upward. Lay that needle flat, and it's probably at least 1.5" rather than 1.4".

Yep. Sneaky bastards. Friggan playing with optics and illusions. Doug Henning would be proud.

 

[Joker]

frauding through the snow

with a one legged cracked out 'ho

o'er the streets we go

sniffin' mounds of blow

bells on Bob's tail ring

scaring kids with fright

oh what fun it is to hear

the end is almost 'nigh

Oh, Junkie bells..bums that smell
Santa's stoned on crack
O how sad it is to see
The world is out of whack

NFL Offices Christmas theme...by the Joe Kerr Minstrel Choir

 

[patfanken]

, Just a thought that occurred to me while reading the last couple of pages. I wonder if rather suing the NFL, which I don't think Kraft can do, Kraft sues Kensil, Pash, Irsay, etc as individuals. Clearly it wasn't in the NFL's best interest t0 do what was done. Defamegate was a rouge operation from the get go. Why not go after the INDIVIDUALS that put the entire conspiracy together, rather than an entire league. Again, just a thought.

 

[JJDChE]

To what end? The only item of real value that was lost was the draft picks (you can argue the fine, but a billion dollar org can absorb that pretty easily). Suing individuals really does nothing to get the draft picks back.