#DFG: Canceling the Noise
- Thread starter nattysez
- Start date
Here's an old ESPN story that explains the origins of this rule. Essentially teams were thought to be doctoring the balls to go further.Tito's Pullover said:
http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=2726072&src=desktop
How exactly did the Patriots ensure that Brady would be using good balls and Luck would not? Or, is it presumed that the Patriots (who threw more passes than the trailing Colts) wanted to run and the Colts wanted to pass so therefore they risked it and deflated all 36 balls. And Luck and no one else on the Colts noticed?
During those TV intros, I want Stork to announce his alma mater as "Ball So Soft University". Would be epic trolling.
I would assume that a deflated ball helps the passing game more than the running game. Makes the ball easier to throw and catch, whereas rushers are simply wrapping their hands around it.riboflav said:
Rule 2 The BallNightslyr said:
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.
The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.
Section 2
BALL SUPPLY
Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. The home team will also make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums. In addition, the visitors, at their discretion, may bring 12 backup balls to be tested by the Referee for games held in outdoor stadiums. For all games, eight new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked by the Referee and used exclusively for the kicking game.
In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. Any such circumstances must be reported to the Commissioner.
In case of rain or a wet, muddy, or slippery field, a playable ball shall be used at the request of the offensive teams center. The Game Clock shall not stop for such action (unless undue delay occurs).
Note: It is the responsibility of the home team to furnish playable balls at all times by attendants from either side of the playing field...
You know what? I hope the Patriots did fucking cheat and I hope they always fucking cheat. Because I want my team to fucking win and I am sick of trying to defend them or explain the nuances of Spygate and all the other BS fans try to throw in our faces. So, ya, BB cheats! HAHHAHHHHAHAHA! And you keep watching your team lose to this cheater year after year hoping somehow your team will overcome the big fucking cheater this year, you fucking loser.
Awesome, thanks.
Seems like the kind of thing that happens across the league throughout the season that never usually gets mentioned. Except with this team, of course.
Okay, so this clarifies everything. A single ball was wrong, and replaced. It didn't meet the specs, so it will be reported to the Commissioner's Office as part of the SOP of ball handling (tee hee). It will be examined to determine why it was wrong.sime said:
Seems like the kind of thing that happens across the league throughout the season that never usually gets mentioned. Except with this team, of course.
BornToRun said:
Not to nitpick, but (to the extent that it allegedly happened literally rather than clearly happened symbolically) didn't we deflate our own balls?
This is precisely what's wrong with just finding any tweet(s) from a media type, where there is no secondary media outlet also reporting the story, and starting a thread like it's some sort of fucking news story.
It is not fucking "Breaking," as the clueless thread-starter declared. It is one Indy reporter based off one anonymous source.
Jesus Fuck, there should be a fucking rule that you can't start a fucking thread unless you have a certain level of intelligence. Like those signs at Disneyworld where you can't go on the ride unless you're a certain height
It is not fucking "Breaking," as the clueless thread-starter declared. It is one Indy reporter based off one anonymous source.
Jesus Fuck, there should be a fucking rule that you can't start a fucking thread unless you have a certain level of intelligence. Like those signs at Disneyworld where you can't go on the ride unless you're a certain height
yahoo is reporting it now, though there report seems to be entirely based on that guys tweetsE5 Yaz said:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/deflate-gate--report--patriots-being-investigated-for-deflated-footballs-062844133.html
Yeah it's a story in a number of media outlets, even if it's all sourced to Kravitz. Would be stupid not to have a thread for it.
So, the Patriots had the ball to start the third. And what? They complained to the refs that the ball was under inflated because they were cheating and so could they get a new one from the ball boy? Wouldn't it make more sense if that awkward exchange of balls had occurred when the Colts had the ball?
I know. It's a meta story that every sports news outlet is talking about, if only to report on this one guy's claims. I think those are worth having threads about. I would have titled the thread "Reporter claims NFL investigating deflated footballs" rather than the current title, but it would seem odd to me to not even discuss the topic even if the premise of the claims seems (as my snarky posts in this thread might indicate) entirely ridiculous.E5 Yaz said:
riboflav said:
Simms thought the kickoff ball was kept in field of play. Kicking balls are different than those used for offense, apparently.
Let's say Kravitz wondered what happened at that awkward moment and asks some guy with the NFL. And the NFL guy says maybe the ball was deflated and so on and so on and so on ...
Meanwhile, game officials, who handled properly inflated footballs all year, somehow didn't notice this?
singaporesoxfan said:
There are certain posters who will start threads if they hear someone fart.
Something like this should have been dumped into the post-game thread and only broken out if it actually turns into anything. Instead, we get an over-dramatic thread title, and a bunch of posts (mine included) that keep this going forward.
I'm sorry to have even bitched about it; but it hit the wrong buttons for me.
Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJhttps://twitter.com/MarkDanielsPJ · 56m56 minutes ago
Balls are under the supervision of the ref until the ref gives the ball to the ball attendant. Lot of rules are in place to avoid this stuff
Balls are under the supervision of the ref until the ref gives the ball to the ball attendant. Lot of rules are in place to avoid this stuff
My feeling is if SI, ESPN, etc are repeating these allegations, even though they are sourced to one single reporter, that unfortunately means the story has already turned into something. I don't like that this is even a story, but it is. All I can hope for is that some stupid reporter asks Belichick about it and gets an epic Belichickian response.
To turn this into a more productive discussion, does anyone know whether the fact that the kicking ball is different (and supposedly harder to throw) make it harder to execute fake plays?
To turn this into a more productive discussion, does anyone know whether the fact that the kicking ball is different (and supposedly harder to throw) make it harder to execute fake plays?
Remember when USC was caught with deflated balls against Oregon and the general response was "LOL, Matt Barkley and his small-ass hands"? Now that there is one Indy homer saying it may have happened in the Pats game, they are abominable cheaters and people are fucking outraged. It's a joke.
Also, here's an article detailing the process the Giants (and likely every other organization) go through to ensure game day balls are to Eli's liking.
Also, here's an article detailing the process the Giants (and likely every other organization) go through to ensure game day balls are to Eli's liking.
Yep an SI.com headline and references in the article to Spygate, the organization and BB's punishment, and Harbaugh-gate from last week. Unreal. Based on one Indy writer's allegation.
For gods sake can even ONE outlet confirm with THE EFFING NFL that they're even looking into this unsourced allegation before running this story?
For gods sake can even ONE outlet confirm with THE EFFING NFL that they're even looking into this unsourced allegation before running this story?
Also, how does this warrant an "investigation"? Isn't it a simple matter of weighing the ball and determining if it was below the the number established in the rule? What could this "investigation" possibly entail?
Another thing. Apparently the weight of the air in the ball is about 1 gram (2-4 grams in a basketball) -- which is a very small fraction of the entire weight of the ball. There's probably more variation in the weight of different footballs by the same manufacturer than that, so the weight itself wouldn't be an issue. Plus, it seems the referee is in charge of making sure the ball is reasonably firm, according to the rulebook, so I can't see that this would actually make any difference. The only thing I could think of that could give them an advantage is if they reduced the weight of the balls somehow -- perhaps by scraping away leather from the inside of the ball -- then practiced all week with the underwight balls so they were used to them.
drleather2001 said:
It certainly will, air has mass. Every cubic foot of air (STP) you pump into the ball is going to increase its weight by about 1.3 oz.
If I did my math right, that means every 1 PSI you're underinflated will make the ball about 5 grams lighter; that's easily measured with a kitchen scale or the like.
EDIT: Except I botched the PSI to atmospheres comparison. It's more like .35 grams per PSI, about 5 grams total air in the inflated football. That's much more difficult to measure accurately, though not impossible.
It would be very easy to measure that accurately, but the results likely wouldn't be meaningful. Each ball itself will have variability, according to wiki the standard football weighs between 400 and 430 grams, so 5 grams gets swept up into the noise of typical ball to ball variability. You would need many (dozens?) of under inflated balls before you could statistically say they were different.SumnerH said:
wilked said:
That's what I meant, but "accurately" was the wrong word. If you're underflating by 4 PSI, it might be possible to pick that out with a 20g difference (my original miscalculation), especially assuming the real-world balls don't vary to the maximum extent allowed by rule. It'd be incredibly difficult to pick that out with the actual difference.
Not to mention that in the driving rain you'd have to think that the leather balls could all be different degrees of soaked which would add to the noise factor.
86spike said:
Because Bill Belichick is an evil mastermind, of course.
I wonder if he could make Katy Perry have a wardrobe malfunction in 2 weeks.
I guess nobody ever told this writer that fat drunk and John Tomase is no way to go through life.
Are we sure he didn't mean to say they are investigating whether or not the Pats were secretly deflating the Colts, like some Twilight Zone alien scheme?
It's a shame that a single second will be devoted to this when the Super Bowl matchup is so good. Oh well, I'm usually on media blackout anyway. Though don't be shocked if Francesa, for one, squashes this story entirely because it's so inconsequential to how different those two teams were last night.
Are we sure he didn't mean to say they are investigating whether or not the Pats were secretly deflating the Colts, like some Twilight Zone alien scheme?
It's a shame that a single second will be devoted to this when the Super Bowl matchup is so good. Oh well, I'm usually on media blackout anyway. Though don't be shocked if Francesa, for one, squashes this story entirely because it's so inconsequential to how different those two teams were last night.
