Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

[sieglo]

Deflated balls would generally be an advantage to the Colts, no? After all, they're the ones that have proven time and time again that they can't handle pressure.

 

[Ring 6]

Just out of curiosity, where are you getting this from, because this is what I am looking for on NFL.com, which is where I would go for official stories, and I don't see it there one way or another. If we are the ones responsible for providing correctly inflated balls, investigating the Patriots, not just the ball, seems to be logically implied, so I don't see it outrageous. I understand people are upset, I am too, because we are all tired of this, but if it is the NFL doing this investigation, and have admitted to doing it, I think most of our fan base is currently guilty of trying to shoot the messenger. The media reports on the smallest of issues to get a hit, so something like the NFL admitting they are investigating this isn't the media out to get us, it's the media doing their job, something they have always done.

Personally. I'm just interested in facts at this point. It's definitely something that is possible, at least at the college level, since Lane Kiffin has been caught and fined for it. It's likely possible at the NFL level too, otherwise they wouldn't be investigating it. It's definitely something that could offer some advantage, otherwise there would be no fine and there would be no rule against it.

Now, IMO, more importantly, I think is the listed punishment. If indeed the punishment for deflated or inflated balls was written and known to be only 25,000.....then it doesn't seem like a big deterrent. Unfortunately the cost of perception is much larger, so I still hope this is totally false.

It's not that hard to understand. A ball was removed from the game. The league investigates balls removed from games.
Everything else, including any reason at all to have a hint of suspicion of any culpability by the Patriots is all made up and conjecture.

Your inference that the Patriots are responsible is adding to the confusion. The Patriots provide balls for the referees to test, and the referees tested them.

Here is an example. If there were a story that a Colt fan was accosted outside the stadium, and the police were looking into, and someone reporting that story said that if it was Bill Belichick who accosted the Colt fan, then he could end up in jail and not coach in the SB, how much credence would you give that?
There is an investigation and someone speculated on the investigation, and people have been accosted before.

 

[Darrone]

So your saying the refs have no balls during the game?

They get handed balls by the attendants. Do you think a ref can call a game with a sack of 12 game balls slung on his back?

 

[luuked]

This thread right here is the reason why the entire thing is relevant for all media.

Over 500 posts within less than half a day commenting on irrelevant ********.

Gotta get them clicks..

 

[PatriotSeven]

Nobody cares about the Panthers. They don't have the success that we do.

Well as usual the Panthers are too ****ing incompetent to even cheat right. They lost that game to the Vikings. Even if the Panthers find a way to gain a competitive advantage by doing something against the rules, they don't appear to have the ability to benefit from it.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

And nothing came of it. We should be awarded draft compensation for Woody and tampering and there should come nothing of this "investigation" if Goodell and his league office wish to remain consistancy and integrity.

If Goodell treats teams differently in similar situations where prior precedents have been set, then The Emporer truly has no clothes.

Let us pray this remains a metaphor. None of us want to see Goodell au naturel.

 

[PatriotsReign]

As a New England Patriots fan, I don't give a rat's arse what other NFL fans think of our team.

I actually could not believe some Pats fans have posted that they DO actually care. When a team wins consistently, other fans will hate them. So Patriots fans should take all these accusations as a compliment!

And the person who said they want Belichick gone if this is true....please root for another team....

 

[Patstopia]

My main problem is every time we get to the super bowl, this crap happens. A reporter writes a story and even if proven wrong nobody stops talking about it. It's time for the NFL to step up and dismiss this BS as soon as possible. We were good soldiers for spygate, we sat back for the taping practices stories. And did the NFL have our backs....NO, they hung us out on the limb to die.
Step up NFL and squash this crap NOW! Before it fills 2 weeks of void with the stench of a BS story. And please squash the story's author also. Just to make someone somewhere accountable for these story's they concoct!

 

[TBR]

I can't even describe how cringeworthy it is to see the "cheater" accusations. Not to mention the sore-loser, childish whining and crying. Whether it's about this or spygate.

 

[RayClay]

Hes still trying to understand what a "source" is.

He's confused. He thought it was suggested that he find multiple sauces, so he chose Hollandaise, BBQ, Teriyaki and Blueberry Fudge.


-and then for dessert...

 

[DarrylS]

Retired #54 speaks... from Mike Reiss blog..

Q. Tedy, love your chats! What do you make of the report of the Patriots using under-inflated footballs in last evening's game? To me, it's getting a little bit old. And for a player, it has to be as well that every time you win a big game you're accused of cheating. -- Brandon (Cincinnati)

A. You're exactly right, Brandon. It does get old. Coaches complaining they weren't ready for formations. I've heard it all. There is a long line of people who want to find some excuse for how the Patriots have had success for so long, and the bottom line is that it's good coaching and good players.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I must admit that I haven't read all 29 pages and 560+ posts in this thread (I consider that a mark of sanity...but, I digress).

My thoughts:

1) I don't for a minute think that anyone on the Patriots coaching staff would intentionally try to put underinflated balls in play to gain a competitive advantage. Not because they might not have thought about doing it, but because they know the chances of getting caught are too high and the consequences would be too great. If a team did that intentionally, especially in a Playoff Game, then a whole range of penalties from fines to draft picks to forfeiture of the game could come into play. So, they didn't conspire to do this.

2) However and unfortunately, it's not outside the realm of possibility that any team on any week could accidentally put a couple of slightly underinflated balls in play. Therefore, it's not out of the realm of possibility that that happened yesterday.

3) If 2) occurred yesterday, during a Conference Championship Game and if a test of one or more of the balls, incited by haters, confirms it, the Pats are screwed. After Spygate, they have no margin for error.

4) If 2) did not occur, those who want to believe they did it will continue to believe that they did it, just as many outside of Patriots nation believed that they "taped the Rams walkthrough," even though it never happened.

5) All we can do is hope that the tests don't turn up an underinflated ball. We'll still have to deal with the conspiracy theorists and haters, but there will be no fines or worse.

 

[DarrylS]

He's confused. He thought it was suggested that he find multiple sauces, so he chose Hollandaise, BBQ, Teriyaki and Blueberry Fudge.


-and then for dessert...

Remember when Borges wrote his piece on Hernandez with Belichick suggesting he find a safe house???.. that wasn't corroborated, but many believed it.. journalism has hit the skids big time. Never understood how he had access to Hernandez for that piece of crap writing assignment..

In their quest for social media followers short cuts are the norm, rather than the exception.. all the more reason to be a discerning reader..

 

[PatriotSeven]

It's not that hard to understand. A ball was removed from the game. The league investigates balls removed from games.
Everything else, including any reason at all to have a hint of suspicion of any culpability by the Patriots is all made up and conjecture.

Your inference that the Patriots are responsible is adding to the confusion. The Patriots provide balls for the referees to test, and the referees tested them.

Here is an example. If there were a story that a Colt fan was accosted outside the stadium, and the police were looking into, and someone reporting that story said that if it was Bill Belichick who accosted the Colt fan, then he could end up in jail and not coach in the SB, how much credence would you give that?
There is an investigation and someone speculated on the investigation, and people have been accosted before.

I'm not inferring it. The rule states it doesn't it? We are also responsible for inflating them, to proper pressure, prior to giving them to the referees, yes? The referees only test for the correct pressure or weight. If I'm understanding correctly, unlike the kicking balls, these don't come straight from the manufacturer. We provide them. Each team also plays with their own balls. So if the ball in question, was one of ours, and there is any issue with properly inflated balls, we're the first they are going to question.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

I can't even describe how cringeworthy it is to see the "cheater" accusations. Not to mention the sore-loser, childish whining and crying. Whether it's about this or spygate.

Let em hate. We will win the superbowl and they can talk all they want

 

[Sparetire]

Dean Blandino quite specifically says the ball gets investigated when it gets taken out of circulation.

He also said it isn't uncommon for it to happen.

Bob Kravitz has trolled everyone, exploded it out of all proportion because he can't handle his team getting stomped on (again) and now we have this nothingness to deal with.

Plus, Blandino explained that there are 3 sets of 12 balls, 2 from each team. These balls are examined by officials pre-game so if the officials examined them and they ended being played with - NOT pats problem.

 

[PatriotsReign]

I vote for closing this thread!!!

SERIOUSLY...It's a waste of our time and effort.

And....it will piss off visitors!

 

[kennyb]

Short of an attendant letting air out or a player somehow doing it, it's all on the refs. They inspect the balls.
Maybe the weather the wetness and the general pounding the balls took caused one or two to leak a bit.
That's your only option..a player with a pin to take some air our or an attendant.

 

[dales804]

I'm not inferring it. The rule states it doesn't it? We are also responsible for inflating them, to proper pressure, prior to giving them to the referees, yes? The referees only test for the correct pressure or weight. If I'm understanding correctly, unlike the kicking balls, these don't come straight from the manufacturer. We provide them. Each team also plays with their own balls. So if the ball in question, was one of ours, and there is any issue with properly inflated balls, we're the first they are going to question.

What? The refs are responsible for making sure the balls are inflated to between 12.5 - 13.5 psi. They do this 2.5 hours before a game. Each team gives the ref 12 balls to check. If they're not in that range, the ref inflates them so they are.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

Short of an attendant letting air out or a player somehow doing it, it's all on the refs. They inspect the balls.
Maybe the weather the wetness and the general pounding the balls took caused one or two to leak a bit.
That's your only option..a player with a pin to take some air our or an attendant.

But if this were true, the Pats were winning the game soundly so the only advantage it would have brought would be for the colts.