Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

supafly said:

Oh, I think that's the BEST case scenario that we're looking at.

Click to expand...

Agreed, we're definitely getting hit with something. Even if they have zero evidence at all and it's obviously just the weather at work, the NFL will still have to fine the Pats to keep up appearances and make it seem like they didn't blow a bunch of money and spend weeks investigating literally nothing. I would be happy with just a fine for "failing to keep the balls at regulation conditions", and then a change in the rules to take the game balls out of the team's hands entirely.

Which, if you're convinced that any of this **** matters (and they wouldn't be hiring a ****ing forensic team if they weren't), is how it should be in the first place.

karguy85 said:

I just don't like the precedent set saying, we don't have any evidence you did anything wrong, but we are going to punish you anyway because that's the popular sentiment and you just must have done something.

If that happens, there is as much evidence that poltergeist deflated the balls as any member of the Patriots' organization.

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be setting a precedent, that's exactly what Goodell did to Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita. Had no evidence, suspended them anyway, and their suspensions were overturned in arbitration once Tagliabue stepped in. Turned out that Goodell has absolutely nothing on them. Guess we can only hope he learned something from that, although... come on, we all know he didn't.

I think the Broncos balls should be investigated. I have a strong feeling the Broncos switched their balls with Goodyear Blimps.

supafly said:

This whole thing could've been put to rest within the first 24-48 hrs if they had just stated that they were going to review the process in the offseason, and explained that they've simply been doing a visual inspection for years unless something seemed way off.

Click to expand...

Agreed. The problem is that the NFL takes itself so frakking seriously. Their defensiveness is actually kinda curious. They give the vibe that they're desperately worried that if they don't take every little thing even more seriously then the President takes ISIS that the public will suddenly think everything's rigged and stop watching games. (Hmmm....)

So they can never say "well, we do have to have some limits, because otherwise it might get silly. But really, unless it gets deflated to the point where the people on the field notice, it doesn't really matter." Because being that unserious might cause the fall of the republic or something.

I don't know how you can keep a football at regulation throughout a game in sub 30 temps? Is it not physically impossible to do so without pumping it up a second time, unless you had pumped them out in the cold in the first place?

BradyFTW! said:

Agreed, we're definitely getting hit with something. Even if they have zero evidence at all and it's obviously just the weather at work, the NFL will still have to fine the Pats to keep up appearances and make it seem like they didn't blow a bunch of money and spend weeks investigating literally nothing. I would be happy with just a fine for "failing to keep the balls at regulation conditions", and then a change in the rules to take the game balls out of the team's hands entirely.

Which, if you're convinced that any of this **** matters, is how it should be in the first place.

Click to expand...

Agreed. They aren't going to suddenly stand up and cry "we were wrong all along and just stood back and watched it unfold."

They are going to at least fine them for playing with the underinflated balls one way or another in my opinion. The current investigation is about something much, much more. It's about all out cheating and trying to catch someone physically tampering with the football.

Once they aren't able to prove that, they'll simply go back to the original problem and address that. It's a lose-lose for Patriot fans.

mosi said:

But any game in sub freezing temps is breaking the rules - unless the continually are monitoring ball pressure and adjusting it - and the balls are below specs. The NFL states the pressure at the start and not messing with it. It does not say they should not change. Also, I still wonder why the Indy balls did not change. I find that suspicious. I don't believe they pumped up the balls outside, brought them inside to measure the pressure (which would go up!) and brought them back outside.

Click to expand...

It would not surprise me if they pumped their balls up outside, or even checked them outside. I really don't think teams put that much thought into something that's not that big of a deal. Obviously temp will have a huge effect. The fact that these balls fluctuation around a few PSI everyday, and no standard is given for temp during inflation is tacit approval to not waste time on them IMO. Equip guys probably aren't going around checking a ball is in a 1psi range when it it would require them to check and change it several times a day, and will depend on when and where ref does his check.

Imagine you prepare your balls to a perfect 13.0 cuz you're the rockstar of equipment managers. Then the ref comes in grabs the balls and takes them to the field and checks them 20 minutes later. Why waste your time on precision you can't achieve.

I'll bet the dirty little secret is they all know it's a silly standard that can't be checked and don't get wrapped around the axle about it.

rlcarr said:

Agreed. The problem is that the NFL takes itself so frakking seriously. Their defensiveness is actually kinda curious. They give the vibe that they're desperately worried that if they don't take every little thing even more seriously then the President takes ISIS that the public will suddenly think everything's rigged and stop watching games. (Hmmm....)

So they can never say "well, we do have to have some limits, because then it might get silly. But really, unless it gets deflated to the point where the people on the field notice, it doesn't really matter." Because being that unserious might cause the fall of the republic or something.

Click to expand...

Like I said, the old Commissioners Rozelle and Tagliabue would've simply picked up the phone to stop any further problems.

This guy is a complete nutjob. He continues to ruin the brand of NFL football by allowing so much controversy to take place.

"We have no evidence and even though there is strong evidence out there that natural causes may be behind this but we're still going to bring the hammer down on you"

Yeah, that'll hold up well on appeal...

Watch it come to the point where after every play the pressure is tested. Meanwhile, as the pressure is tested enjoy this commercial by Snickers.

Ross12 said:

I don't know how you can keep a football at regulation throughout a game in sub 30 temps? Is it not physically impossible to do so without pumping it up a second time, unless you had pumped them out in the cold in the first place?

Click to expand...

It's possible if you fill the ball up in sub 30 temperatures. Deflation becomes an issue when you fill the ball in a warmer temperature than you're playing in.

Big-T said:

"We have no evidence and even though there is strong evidence out there that natural causes may be behind this but we're still going to bring the hammer down on you"

Yeah, that'll hold up well on appeal...

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree that in that circumstance the Pats should appeal the hell out of any fine and litigate if necessary, if only in the interest of clearing their name (and granted, this is assuming that ball tampering was not going on) but that's a separate issue.

karguy85 said:

I just don't like the precedent set saying, we don't have any evidence you did anything wrong, but we are going to punish you anyway because that's the popular sentiment and you just must have done something.

If that happens, there is as much evidence that poltergeist deflated the balls as any member of the Patriots' organization.

Click to expand...

In my opinion, the NFL is still going to hold the team responsible for the underinflated balls at the very least.

As Belichick already noted yesterday, he's going to change the way they do things with the 12.5 pressure by raising the standard around here and putting more air in the balls to prevent this from happening in the future.

I agree that it's total ********.

supafly said:

I was just thinking of that aspect the other day. At least most of you guys can band together as the majority and keep rooting for the team.

It sucks if you live outside the area, and even worse if you're in the middle of a rival fanbase. They are absolute vultures. They seriously think that something's wrong with me for supporting such a team.

Click to expand...

Supafly, I live in the Wash DC area...and must contend with Redskin, Raven, Steeler, and even Eagle fans. Think about it...you already know what the last 3 think about us. And the Redskins thought we ran up the score on them last year.

It'd be an easy win on appeal, get the guy from BC to go to the hearing with a Football, a small sealed box that has a regulated temperature (i.e. a mini fridge) and a PSI gauge...watch the suits heads explode at the wonders of Science.

ChesBay said:

Supafly, I live in the Wash DC area...and must contend with Redskin, Raven, Steeler, and even Eagle fans. Think about it...you already know what the last 3 think about us. And the Redskins thought we ran up the score on them last year.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure it's bad for anyone outside of N.England.

There's something special about certain fanbases and areas though, and Pittsburgh certainly falls into that category. They were still crying about spygate every day. This has taken things to a new height for them.

That's not even bringing up the fact that most of the people are total hardasses to begin with. If my wife didn't like her job I'd move.

Living in Philadelphia is unbearable. All the talk is about how the Patriots are repeat offenders and the general consensus is that spygate was "swept under the rug". Yeah, $500,000 and a first round draft pick is definitely nothing.

They had some asshat NFL exec come on the radio stating that Brady is an older quarterback, and was placed on the injury report as "questionable - right shoulder" earlier this season. He said that lowering the weight by "two pounds" was clearly cheating in an effort to ease the strain on Brady's throwing shoulder. Any Pats fan knows the running joke on Brady and the injury report, not to mention that it's two PSI, not simply two pounds. You know the whole sports science clip, the actual weight difference was that of a dollar bill. Callers are eating this up, talking about the great point and how Brady's injured shoulder was clearly an issue.

They're literally calling it a joke that the Patriots won't be punished this season and that Brady shoulder be suspended from the superbowl. BB should be suspended for multiple games next season.

Oh yeah, and "everyone cheats but that's fine because the others aren't dumb enough to get caught"

Mikey Miss saying that "rules are rules and no one is above them" but then admitting to breaking arbitrary traffic laws that they don't agree with. The amount of hypocrisy is unreal. Rodgers likes his balls over inflated but that's fine because the Packers aren't repeat offenders and don't deserve the same level of criticism.

I need to move.

supafly said:

Yeah, I'm sure it's bad for anyone outside of N.England.

There's something special about certain fanbases and areas though, and Pittsburgh certainly falls into that category. They were still crying about spygate every day. This has taken things to a new height for them.

Click to expand...

Bay area fans have actually been pretty level headed. Maybe because the 49ers hate the Seahawks as for the Raiders they just care about the tuck rule more. Everyone else seems to think it's an overblown story that has gotten ridiculous

supafly said:

In my opinion, the NFL is still going to hold the team responsible for the underinflated balls at the very least.

Click to expand...

This'll be unpopular, but they do have a hook to hang that on that isn't completely ludicrous.

Official NFL Rulebook said:

Rule 2 - The Ball
Section 1
BALL DIMENSIONS

The Ball must be a “Wilson,” hand selected, bearing the signature of the Commissioner of the League, Roger Goodell.

The ball shall be made up of an inflated (12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds) urethane bladder enclosed in a pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind. It shall have the form of a prolate spheroid and the size and weight shall be: long axis, 11 to 11 1/4 inches; long circumference, 28 to 28 1/2 inches; short circumference, 21 to 21 1/4 inches; weight, 14 to 15 ounces.

Click to expand...

In the abstract, one could make a reasonable argument that an under-inflated ball (no matter what the reason) violates the rule and so a fine like those for equipment violations (or maybe a bit more since this is the ball!) is called for. (Now, we'll leave aside the double-standards -- that's a different story.)

Besides Simms and Nantz commenting on Rodgers joking about getting away with overinflating balls, no one here or in the media has ever heard of football PSI issues before. Did anyone here actually know what the rule for PSI rating was when they went to bed Sunday Night? No. And neither did a single soul in the media.

What a bunch of self-righteous grandstanding soap-box spewing assholes we have masking as "journalists". Sickening.