Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

lol.. that is one involved, complex investigation of a ball.

Let's face it: Patriots probably are guilty of the same thing they did with Spygate, which is getting a minimal- if any- advantage at the cost of their fans suffering and their reputations tarnished all in the name of Belichick's unending risk-reward model which also includes risks and rewards of breaking rules. Sad, but true.

It is possible that at least this time there will be no smoking gun, and the question is whether the commissioner will still come down on them despite having no true evidence that they in fact were responsible for doctoring the balls.

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PatriotSeven said:

I mean my argument is what it is. We're being investigated for it.

Now you are saying the act of deflating balls is impossible. Ok. How did Lane Kiffin do it?

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Ice_Ice_Brady said:

lol.. that is one involved, complex investigation of a ball.

Let's face it: Patriots probably are guilty of the same thing they did with Spygate, which is getting a minimal- if any- advantage at the cost of their fans suffering and their reputations tarnished all in the name of Belichick's unending risk-reward model which also includes risks and rewards of breaking rules. Sad, but true.

It is possible that at least this time there will be no smoking gun, and the question is whether the commissioner will still come down on them despite having no true evidence that they in fact were responsible for doctoring the balls.

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flasox27 said:

I would like the POS commissioner to explain why he burnt the tapes after leaking one to his wife's TV station. I think we have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a fair shake from the Jet's stooge. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't a ploy to take the heat of the Jets tampering.

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PatriotSeven said:

Yep. To take it further, it's not just possible, it could even be considered the logical thing to do.

Look the way I see it, there's isn't a more cold blooded, logical, and calculated coach in the NFL. And I don't believe Bill's goal is to win with honor or fairly. Obviously we already know that. It's simply to win. He likes to manipulate rules any way he can to give his team an advantage. A player is taught to commit a PI to save a touchdown. Coaches teach them how to hold without getting caught, and also teach them it's worth getting caught if it saves a touchdown. A coach like him would believe it's worth losing a draft pick, or picks, if they believed it would ensure a Superbowl appearance or win.

If Bill knows the worst case scenario, is a fine and a couple of draft picks, and he believes that he can cheat his way to a Superbowl, it's perfectly logical to do it. There is no way in hell any team can guarantee a trip to the Superbowl, by having a couple of extra draft picks.

If you know you're not going to get kicked out of the tournament, and if you know you're not going to have your trophies taken away, and the worst case scenario, is losing some draft picks and a fine...then it's just a good business decision. Makes perfect sense. The repercussions are not enough of a deterrent from doing it. Spygate didn't take away the trophies and neither did Bounty Gate.

Of course it actually means accepting that our goal is simply winning, not winning with honor or fairness. And that can sting, for me too as much as a lot of other fans.

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AndyJohnson said:

I think more likely Kravitz, who surely has sources throughout the league asked one what was going on with the delay. He told him that the ball was irregular, so they replaced it and Kravitz decided that meant the Cheatriots must have done something, so he assumed they deflated the ball because it was raining.

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AndyJohnson said:

Wow. You really do hate the Patriots.

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PatriotSeven said:

Yep. To take it further, it's not just possible, it could even be considered the logical thing to do.

Look the way I see it, there's isn't a more cold blooded, logical, and calculated coach in the NFL. And I don't believe Bill's goal is to win with honor or fairly. Obviously we already know that. It's simply to win. He likes to manipulate rules any way he can to give his team an advantage. A player is taught to commit a PI to save a touchdown. Coaches teach them how to hold without getting caught, and also teach them it's worth getting caught if it saves a touchdown. A coach like him would believe it's worth losing a draft pick, or picks, if they believed it would ensure a Superbowl appearance or win.

If Bill knows the worst case scenario, is a fine and a couple of draft picks, and he believes that he can cheat his way to a Superbowl, it's perfectly logical to do it. There is no way in hell any team can guarantee a trip to the Superbowl, by having a couple of extra draft picks.

If you know you're not going to get kicked out of the tournament, and if you know you're not going to have your trophies taken away, and the worst case scenario, is losing some draft picks and a fine...then it's just a good business decision. Makes perfect sense. The repercussions are not enough of a deterrent from doing it. Spygate didn't take away the trophies and neither did Bounty Gate.

Of course it actually means accepting that our goal is simply winning, not winning with honor or fairness. And that can sting, for me too as much as a lot of other fans.

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PatriotSeven said:

Look the way I see it, there's isn't a more cold blooded, logical, and calculated coach in the NFL. And I don't believe Bill's goal is to win with honor or fairly. Obviously we already know that. It's simply to win. He likes to manipulate rules any way he can to give his team an advantage. A player is taught to commit a PI to save a touchdown. Coaches teach them how to hold without getting caught, and also teach them it's worth getting caught if it saves a touchdown. A coach like him would believe it's worth losing a draft pick, or picks, if they believed it would ensure a Superbowl appearance or win.

If Bill knows the worst case scenario, is a fine and a couple of draft picks, and he believes that he can cheat his way to a Superbowl, it's perfectly logical to do it. There is no way in hell any team can guarantee a trip to the Superbowl, by having a couple of extra draft picks.

If you know you're not going to get kicked out of the tournament, and if you know you're not going to have your trophies taken away, and the worst case scenario, is losing some draft picks and a fine...then it's just a good business decision. Makes perfect sense. The repercussions are not enough of a deterrent from doing it. Spygate didn't take away the trophies and neither did Bounty Gate.

Of course it actually means accepting that our goal is simply winning, not winning with honor or fairness. And that can sting, for me too as much as a lot of other fans.

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luuked said:

So why would the League remain silent on the entire charade and not just give a short press release to clear things up ? What are they gaining from all of that except negatively connotated (i.e. cheating) talk ?

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PatriotSeven said:

I love the Pats and I can continue loving the Pats even if they are shown to be full blown cheaters. Seems to me you do. I think this is why you have a hard time fathoming it.

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PatriotSeven said:

Yep. To take it further, it's not just possible, it could even be considered the logical thing to do.

Look the way I see it, there's isn't a more cold blooded, logical, and calculated coach in the NFL. And I don't believe Bill's goal is to win with honor or fairly. Obviously we already know that. It's simply to win. He likes to manipulate rules any way he can to give his team an advantage. A player is taught to commit a PI to save a touchdown. Coaches teach them how to hold without getting caught, and also teach them it's worth getting caught if it saves a touchdown. A coach like him would believe it's worth losing a draft pick, or picks, if they believed it would ensure a Superbowl appearance or win.

If Bill knows the worst case scenario, is a fine and a couple of draft picks, and he believes that he can cheat his way to a Superbowl, it's perfectly logical to do it. There is no way in hell any team can guarantee a trip to the Superbowl, by having a couple of extra draft picks.

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Per a league source, the Patriots officially have been informed of the investigation, and the investigation will be thorough and transparent. Consequences, if any, will come in the offseason, with a full explanation from the NFL as to what happened and why punishment was (or wasn’t) imposed.

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AndyJohnson said:

It is asinine to 'conclude' they are guilty. No one has even said they are suspected.
In order for them to be guilty BB would have had to instruct the ball boy to clandestinely stick a needle in the ball when no one was looking in between when the ref checked the ball and when it was used. Further he would have had to train the ball boy on how much air to remove, and then done it in practice, so that his team could practice how to use an under inflated ball for the time that it was in use before they switched back to the fully inflated one, all instead of gameplanning and practicing in order to beat the Colts.

anyone assuming this actually happened is a moron.

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AndyJohnson said:

This is exactly the point.
The league investigates the balls taken out of play as a routine procedure.
Some Indy writer asked about the ball being taken out of play, and was told the league would investigate, as they always do.
He turned this into: The league is investigating that the Patriots deflated the ball and they could lose draft picks.
The league said they are investigating the matter, which would mean they are investigating the ball as they always do, and anything more than that is total speculation.
No credible source with direct knowledge has said there is any reason to suspect the Patriot were involved.
The media and social media has run with a deflated ball and turned it into the Patriots being involved in it.
No one has given any evidence of wrong doing, or in fact, even any evidence that the league suspects or will look into it.

You are propagating the Patriot hater rhetoric, and should be ashamed of yourself.

BTW, have you posted anything positive about yesterdays game yet?

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AndyJohnson said:

Who knows.
My assumption is that they haven't investigated the balls yet, as it was originally stated that it happens sometime in the week following the game, and its been less than 24 hours and today is actually a Holiday recognized by the league.
I don't think the league worries about what people say on message boards while they are reviewing a situation.
What is there for them to say?

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sb1 said:

First of all, you are assuming that if anything nefarious happened it came as an order directly from Bill. There is no evidence at this time of that.

I have a very hard time seeing a first ballot HOF lock, hopefully 4-time SB champion head coach, known as one of the best of all time, a man who is very aware of legacy and the history of the game - would be willing to put all of those accolades in jeopardy by resorting to those tactics and blatantly cheating....

And not just cheating, doing it after taking a lot of grief for Spygate.

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AndyJohnson said:

Who knows.
My assumption is that they haven't investigated the balls yet, as it was originally stated that it happens sometime in the week following the game, and its been less than 24 hours and today is actually a Holiday recognized by the league.
I don't think the league worries about what people say on message boards while they are reviewing a situation.
What is there for them to say?

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Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

I don't think we did anything.

It would be theoretically possible for the ball attendant watching the bag of balls on the sideline to reach in with a inflating needle and take a little air out of a couple of balls, one at a time. Very unlikely though. You'd want them all to be the same, and equal to what they had practiced with

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