Ted Wells' Assistant: Doesn't Matter Which Gauge Was Used

[Ring 6]

One thing they do not address in the Exponent report, was where were the balls in the two minutes before testing and as the testing was going on.

The test seems to assume the balls were perfectly exposed to the warmer air of the locker room the whole time.
However, the balls were brought into the locker room in a zipped up duffle bag which does have some insulation. If they remained in that zipped up bag for the first two minutes, the bag would have kept them cool. If they tested each ball as it was retrieved from the bag, the rest of the balls would still be bunched up against each other in the bag which would slow the warming process thus making Exponent's transient curve incorrect and would falsely push the Patriots' balls below the expected range.

If I had done the testing as a referee at half time, I would have taken each ball out one by one as I tested them. It seems like the most logical way to do it.

I don't know what the referees did, but the fact that Exponent did not address this seems rather suspicious to me and even nefarious as does many of the factors they ignored or misled on such as the rain simulation.

And there is the larger issue of what condition (in relation to temparture/pressure equilibrium) the balls were at when they were tested.

If the Colts footballs stayed on the team bus overnight (why would you bring them into the hotel?) and were brought to the field, then brought into the referee's room just before measuring, were they adjusted yet to the 67 degree temperature that they based original measures on?
If the IGL estimates a loss of about 1 to 1.2 psi due to the temperature difference then the Colts balls were actually started at higher than 13.0 psi (at 67 degree eq) and that also explains the differences.

 

[Rawky77]

They were measured within a minute or two of going into the room. BUT, given the impossibilities of knowing exactly what happened, to me this caveat is meaningless.

How can they have been measured within a min or two of getting into the room if there was not time in a 20 min half to measure all the Pats balls but only 4 of the Colts balls. SOMETHING IS WRONG!

 

[upstater1]

How can they have been measured within a min or two of getting into the room if there was not time in a 20 min half to measure all the Pats balls but only 4 of the Colts balls. SOMETHING IS WRONG!

I meant when they began the measurements. The whole process took only 4 minutes, according to the report.

But you're right. WTF were they doing with the Colts balls if they finished doing the Patriots balls 6 minutes into halftime?

They said they ran out of time to do the Colts balls.

Really?

They had 14 minutes left to do the Colts balls after they finished with the Patriots.

 

[hwc]

If I had done the testing as a referee at half time, I would have taken each ball out one by one as I tested them. It seems like the most logical way to do it.

Or, better yet... the Three Stooges should have just used the backup balls for the second half. Don't pump up the primary balls and measure them after the game when they have fully returned to the temp of the locker room. Or even a day later if they need to fully dry. Then, they wouldn't have all this mickey mouse "transient curve" nonsense.

But, even that is irrelevant since they don't know what gauge was used to check the balls pregame and hence don't know the starting point.