Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

[mosi]

Is it true that Kravitz beat his mistress?

I think so. I heard that he took Irsay to Uranus.

 

[Darrone]

Theory I have.

Colts cried, league is forced to investigate, Irsay leaks it to his media stooge creating this uproar.

League now has to handle this while public is watching, after having royally screwed up the Ray Rice situation. So to appear as though the investigation is thorough the weighing of a ball and talking to a handful of people is dragged out for 4 days.

League has already told Kraft that nothing is going to come of it, he agrees not to publicly castrate them, and now the league can act as though they are doing a thorough job and take this seriously.

Super Bowl gets hyped because of this controversy, League gets to show its "seriousness", Patriots don't get in trouble.

Everyone wins except us fans being miserable for a week.

Edit: this is also why Gronk has not taken down his twitter picture mocking the scenario, if this was an "ongoing" investigation and there was any chance we get burned, Belichick would have made Gronk take down the tweet as we have seen other tweets get taken down. Also why Brady burst out laughing. They know the results of the investigation already.

This is ridiculous. The story clearly starts "Jim Irsay took 14 pain killers"

THEN cried. The rest is probably pretty accurate.

 

[OhExaulted1]

I'm not too confident in your theory. If there was nothing to see then this :

“We’re hoping to wrap that up in the next two or three days,” Vincent said. “The team is in place in New England now interviewing staff members.”

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...vestigation-to-be-concluded-in-next-2-3-days/

Probably wouldn't be happening. I think it's safe to say, unfortunately, that the ball they took was below the required level. Otherwise I'm not sure why they'd be in NE talking to staff members. I'm not trying to be a downer, it's just how my logic sees it.

Florio is in full Patriot-hatred mode and praying for us to get whacked....

"Anything that impacts the integrity of the game is important, even if it seems trivial or meaningless, especially in a game that was destined to be a blowout. That’s why the NFL is investigating — and that’s why harsh consequences will be meted out if the league determines that a violation occurred."

These are Florios words, not Vincent. He wrote the article as if those were the words of the exec VP of the NFL. They are not. Tell me he's not writing with an agenda, just like Kravitz and Rosenberg.

 

[TBR]

I'm not too confident in your theory. If there was nothing to see then this :

“We’re hoping to wrap that up in the next two or three days,” Vincent said. “The team is in place in New England now interviewing staff members.”

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...vestigation-to-be-concluded-in-next-2-3-days/

probably wouldn't be happening. I think it's safe to say, unfortunately, that the ball they took was below the required level. Otherwise I'm not sure why they'd be in NE talking to staff members. I'm not trying to be a downer, it's just how my logic sees it. I get all the "physics" arguments, again, them being in NE leaves me lacking in confidence over this.

I don't get how just 1 ball, slightly deflated, can be enough to warrant a fine or penalty though. That 1 ball could've easily be accidentally filled with less air, no?

 

[BelichickFan]

Well to appear as though you're seriously investiagting something you need to actually send people to investigate. The ball probably was below official requirements due to them inflating to the minimum in a hot room and then letting the ball naturally deflate due to weather, simple gamesmanship.

Imagine if the NFL clears this in 3 days, and a "source" leaks that no one even interviewed anyone in New England about this? The uproar would be thunderous.

Reasonable.

As long as no-one's admitting to doing anything illegal after the ref's check there should be no issue. I'm still not sure how they could be deflated to a consistent level without being seen. I guess we'll find out.

 

[Brady2Moss]

THEN cried. The rest is probably pretty accurate.

If you look at Bob Kravitz phone records you will probably find a call from the Walgreen's in Norwood around 1:20 am

 

[Sicilian]

Spygate was not cheating. It was breaking a rule of where the completely legal action they were doing was supposed to be done from due to misunderstanding the application of the rule.

Agreed, which is why I put it in quotes.

 

[Brady2Moss]

I disagree that Kraft is leaving the fans out to dry.

No one is asking the fans to defend the Patriots against what is, at this point, a media fabricated scandal. The only stress right now is created by folks who go on NFL messageboards and get wigged out when trolls from other fan bases trot out things like "Spygate" just for the reaction.

The NFL is looking into the whole thing, and while that process is ongoing there's no reason for Kraft to acknowledge anything about it. He's not going to issue a public statement just so the fans don't have to be insecure about "allegations". The players aren't wringing their hands about it, and neither should the fans. If you can't ignore the trolls and media pundits looking to fill a two week space with Super Bowl coverage, that's not Kraft's problem.

I disagree man, the haters are out in FULL force. I can't tell you how many people have come out of the wood work that I had no clue knew what a football was, asking me what I think about MY team cheating.

The hate is STRONG, I've heard people already go as far as saying if we win the Super Bowl it is tainted. A potential title already tainted because of this festering. It is BS and we're being left out to dry here.

 

[BelichickFan]

I don't get how just 1 ball, slightly deflated, can be enough to warrant a fine or penalty though. That 1 ball could've easily be accidentally filled with less air, no?

I don't think it would. What would be a problem if the investigation leads to one of the "Ball Attendants" admitting to an ongoing ball deflating plan. If no-one admits to that we should be fine. If someone does, we have a problem. And I'm certainly not saying I think we do, it's just the pessimist in me.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm not too confident in your theory. If there was nothing to see then this :

“We’re hoping to wrap that up in the next two or three days,” Vincent said. “The team is in place in New England now interviewing staff members.”

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...vestigation-to-be-concluded-in-next-2-3-days/

probably wouldn't be happening. I think it's safe to say, unfortunately, that the ball they took was below the required level. Otherwise I'm not sure why they'd be in NE talking to staff members. I'm not trying to be a downer, it's just how my logic sees it. I get all the "physics" arguments, again, them being in NE leaves me lacking in confidence over this.

Again, there are two distinct issues here, only one of which truly matters.

The issue that doesn't matter: were there one or more improperly inflated footballs on the field?

The issue that does matter: if such balls were present, were they there because of intentional malfeasance by the Patriots? That seems, based on all available evidence, exceedingly unlikely.

 

[chasa]

The NFL should be investigating the Ref team that touched all of the balls the entire game and never noticed anything might have been off with the balls.

 

[IllegalContact]

my prediction is the league will come up with some 'we found no evidence of tampering and the matter is closed' before the weekend.

the hardest part will be formulating the right combo words that will stop all the verbal menstruation.

 

[DarrylS]

Here are some questions:

Were all the balls in the Pats Bag underinflated?? Or was it one ball??... Would make no sense to have balls of differing pressure...

Could the underinflated ball cause the underthrow by Brady and subsequent interception??

What is the "chain of custody" after the interception, to a coach and then to an official?? Was there a time delay or could someone else have touched it prior to it getting to the official...

 

[Jlaff]

Yes, apparently Brady was able to grip an under-inflated ball so well he threw a bueatiful spiral right to his intended target D'qwell Jackson. Read back a few pages in this short thread. Shouldn't take to long to find it.

I'm thinking it was the fact Jackson made the INT that got him thinking something was up. I'm sure the entire Colts secondary was looking at each other wondering how on earth their pathetic defense actually made a play, especially in that game.

 

[IntentionalSafety]

I disagree man, the haters are out in FULL force. I can't tell you how many people have come out of the wood work that I had no clue knew what a football was, asking me what I think about MY team cheating.

The hate is STRONG, I've heard people already go as far as saying if we win the Super Bowl it is tainted. A potential title already tainted because of this festering. It is BS and we're being left out to dry here.

Being left out to dry with what, exactly? Because people are accusing the team of cheating? Who cares what they say? There are just as many people writing and talking about how this is all a bunch of nonsense.

That's all this is. It's talk. If and when the league comes out and says that the Patriots actually did do this, or the investigation pans out with nothing, then perhaps Kraft will say something. If you think the haters that you're talking about are going to stop just because Kraft stepped out and said something, then you don't understand the people you're complaining about. They're not complaining and accusing from a place of authority or logic.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Being left out to dry with what, exactly? Because people are accusing the team of cheating? Who cares what they say? There are just as many people writing and talking about how this is all a bunch of nonsense.

That's all this is. It's talk. If and when the league comes out and says that the Patriots actually did do this, or the investigation pans out with nothing, then perhaps Kraft will say something. If you think the haters that you're talking about are going to stop just because Kraft stepped out and said something, then you don't understand the people you're complaining about. They're not complaining and accusing from a place of authority or logic.

The point is letting the team get smeared without any response makes things that are untrue become fact in the minds of the public.

Yes in the end who cares what anyone thinks, but also who cares about who wins a piece of metal at the end of a game where people tackle each other for an hour.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Here are some questions:

Were all the balls in the Pats Bag underinflated?? Or was it one ball??... Would make no sense to have balls of differing pressure...

I'd expect them all to be underinflated. (Because I'm going with the theory that they were inflated to the legal minimum at indoor temperaturs and then basic physics and outside air temperature did the rest.)

But like ctpatsfan77 said above, it doesn't matter if there were any underinflated balls. It only matters if NE did something to the balls after they were checked in with the refs.

 

[The Gr8est]

Check


check


Reasonable


check


I think you are probably spot on.

Bob Kraft is an unwitting accomplice to the further tarnishing of the Pats' brand.

Check!

 

[SVN]

Feels like 2007 all over again with the media ****storm....just hate this

 

[BradyFTW!]

The NFL should be investigating the Ref team that touched all of the balls the entire game and never noticed anything might have been off with the balls.

Seriously, this is where it begins and ends with me. If the umpire doesn't feel that anything is off with the ball--which he would know, since he handles every ball that goes into play over the course of the game, and between every play no less--then that's the beginning and the end of it. Even if several balls were at insufficient pressure, then the umpire should be marked down accordingly and all refs should be told to look for this going forward.

If nobody cared when Aaron Rodgers openly admitted to sneaking overinflated balls past the refs, then it shouldn't matter now. The NFL has to investigate, since the Colts have never lost a playoff game without complaining that their opponent cheated somehow, but beyond that I'm fine with the facts coming to light. Three different players/teams have admitted to doctoring balls this year just that I know of (Vikings, Titans, Packers/Rodgers), so I'm sure this happens and I'm equally sure that I don't care. It's the refs' jobs to police this ****, not the Pats.