Deflate-Gate

[SayOw]

Eleven footballs the New England Patriots brought to Sunday's AFC championship game have now been determined by the NFL to be under-inflated – by 2 full pounds – according to ESPN, which cited the preliminary findings of a league investigation.

Story here.

[yon Beast]

During a game each team uses its own footballs.

wtf?

I had no idea they used different equipment! This is the problem.

IF these teams used the same ball....and the ref changed it when requested or necessary....there would be no issue.

[SiteWolf]

Apparently each team supplies 12 balls...then there are 6 'special' just for placekickers (not sure if that means just field goals or kickoffs, too)

Now...if pressure is measured at room temperature then the balls are stored in cold temps, there will be a drop in pressure...so conceivably balls inflated only to the minimum pressure indoors would be below normal outdoors.....but 2 lbs in a football is a lot...it'd be like running your car's tires at what 25 lbs? In other words, noticeable.

Would this have changed Sunday's outcome? We'd assume no....but what about the week before? Then there's the people saying 'these things only come up because it's the Patriots'....right, because it appears they're the only ones tryin' crap like this.

[yon Beast]

absolutely .....it's because it's the Pats!!

I'm not sure something like that would be done on purpose....where cheating could be detected on just 'their' game balls.

I absolutely love the way Bill B pushes the envelope....but I don't think he had anything to do with this. Brady included!

[rich76]

not true guys.....teams have been doing this for years. There was a story I remember back a ways....Brad Johnson (I think playing for Tampa Bay at the time....playing against the Raiders) paid someone $7500.00 to put the balls back to "normal" pressure.

btw beast.....Brady is the guy that wants them at lower pressure. Easier to throw and easier to catch in the kind of weather there was for that game.

[SayOw]

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs altered before SB 37.

Story here.

[Runt]

Fox News had Dan Marino says it can help you throw the ball a bit more easily.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/400208195...#sp=show-clips

I was willing to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt until I heard it was 11 of 12 balls underinflated. If the ball is easier to throw, it is likely easier to catch. While it was not the only reason the Patriots won, it certainly didn't hurt... Until they got caught.

[SiteWolf]

it doesn't matter if it's been done before or if the Patriots would still have won....if they did it there should be repercussions....if the league thought otherwise, they should never have let this story get legs

Like I said, it's the Ravens not the Colts that should be crying foul more...after all, if the same was done the week before (and why would it not have been) that game was tight to the end

[Runt]

I couldn't agree more strongly. It is improbable to believe this was the first instance of deflating the game balls for cold/ wet weather. The team would never jeopardize Brady's comfort level in such an important game by trying something new.

While we will not likely ever know the whole story, onc can assume this is a regular practice for the Patriots. Heck, many teams may do similar things to gain an edge. But the Patriots got caught and should suffer significant penalty.

I don't think you could overturn the game results. It is probably too late for that kind of action. Had the officials acted immediately, I could see the game ending in a forfeit. I do believe that Belichick should face a suspension, the team should be fined, and the team should lose draft picks.

The problem is that Godell and the NFL are in charge of the investigation. I have little faith that they will conclude the investigation and make a ruling before the Super Bowl. Given the recent (mis)handling of league infractions, I have zero faith they will do any better with this one.

[rich76]

There will be many fines and belichek may not even be on the sidelines for the SB

[SayOw]

IMO

The outrage seems to be more with the fans/media than with the players. Coaches, players and others directly involved with the game are generally fine with what happened and see no wrong doing.

I think the punishment should be minimal. As 99.9% of the world agrees that the air pressure of the footballs shouldn't have factored too much into a 45-7 game.

ALSO:

With all the accounts from players there are a number of things athletes are doing to equipment to try and gain a competitive edge (in all sports). Unless it is outright cheating, most teams/players let the opponents get away with it because it is likely they have a player doing the same on their squad. I kind of am more disappointed in the Colts for ratting the Patriots out. To me, it seems like this might be a little bit of sour grapes.

[rich76]

SayOw........

I 100% agree with your assessment.

[P562045]

Does this even really matter. I have not heard the complaints about the balls during the super bowl being manipulated in order to favor Tom Brady or the Patriots. I do realize we are talking about the game to get to the super bowl but how many people thought the Colts would beat the Patriots in that game. This is what rubs some people the wrong way why would Tom Brady feel the need to mess with the balls in the first place during the AFC championship game. Then there is spygate as well that put the Patriots in a negative light for some people but some of those people would not like the Patriots no matter what they did.

The more interesting part to me is how long will Tom Brady be out to start next season. And the media has been all over the place I have heard 16 games which is not going to happen, 4 games, and even 1 game but she favors Tom Brady and the Patriots. This is all about a person's perspective when it comes right down to it.

[rich76]

4 game suspension for Brady and 1 draft pick.

[SiteWolf]

I don't know what, for sure, the real story is on who ratted them out...but remember, when it DID happen, the game was not yet out of reach. I mean it's not like the Colts waited until the game was over and then cried foul.

I'm also surprised you guys are so quick to use the 'how much would it matter in a blowout' mindset. Yes, it was likely obvious that game would snowball out of Indy's reach regardless, but given it was the Ravens that tipped the Colts off to the possibility of this, the Ravens should be more POd considering the score of their game with the Patriots.

Coaches/players generally fine? Not necessarily true....they just don't want to be the ones to say something out loud...those kind of comments have a way of haunting you down the line.

Now, I'm not suggesting (as I've seen the ridiculous elsewhere on the interwebs) that they should forfeit the game or Belichek should get a year's suspension or something way over the top like that.........but you simply can't catch a team breaking a rule and say 'that's ok, just don't do it again' ...and I don't know that a fine does it either...lose a midround draft pick or something