#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[genoasalami]

 
Refs handle footballs all game long.

 
i do not think so ..they are handled by a ball boy .... not a referee .. question is ..what is the ball boy's relationship to the team...???

 

[E5 Yaz]

Part of the investigation that still needs further vetting is how the 11 footballs became under-inflated. The game balls provided to each team for preparation were required to be inspected and approved by referee Walt Anderson two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff before they were returned to each team. No alteration of footballs is allowed once they are approved, under league rules and regulations.

 
http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/12202450/nfl-says-new-england-patriots-had-inflated-footballs-afc-championship-game

 

[riboflav]

@MarkDanielsPJ: There are a couple options: someone deflated the balls in game or the referees didnt do their jobs.

 
Or the weather? How about the Colts' balls?

 

[Devizier]

To be honest, color me a bit surprised. Seems a little ludicrous at its face, but then again, so much of football is ludicrous.

 

[wiffleballhero]

When were the balls remeasured?

 

[GlenMorangie]

.

 

[RedOctober3829]

i do not think so ..they are handled by a ball boy .... not a referee .. question is ..what is the ball boy's relationship to the team...???

The ball boys throw them to the refs every play. They'd know.

 

[nattysez]

 
i do not think so ..they are handled by a ball boy who is not a referee ..

 
Come on, man.  A referee literally touches the ball every play.   
 
This smells bad, but I really wonder if the issue is that the refs missed that the balls were underinflated on the initial inspection.

 

[BoredViewer]

UNDERINFLATED BY TWO POUNDS - according to WBZ.
 
Umm... 2 ounces maybe?  Does a football even weigh 2 lbs?

 

[riboflav]

Anyway, if the Pats are responsible, the best thing to do would call the Colts game a forfeit. I don't see how the Patriots win the SB and anyone outside of Patriots' fans consider them to be the legitimate champions.

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

@MarkDanielsPJ: There are a couple options: someone deflated the balls in game or the referees didnt do their jobs.

Even if it's the latter and the refs didn't do their jobs, why did the Patriots giving them under inflated balls to check in the first place?

 

[genoasalami]

UNDERINFLATED BY TWO POUNDS - according to WBZ.
 
Umm... 2 ounces maybe?  Does a football even weigh 2 lbs?

 Pounds per square inch ...not actual weight...like pressure in your tires

 

[soxhop411]

Anyway, if the Pats are responsible, the best thing to do would call the Colts game a forfeit. I don't see how the Patriots win the SB and anyone outside of Patriots' fans consider them to be the legitimate champions.

We know that won't happen

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

UNDERINFLATED BY TWO POUNDS - according to WBZ.
 
Umm... 2 ounces maybe?  Does a football even weigh 2 lbs?

2 psi, not two pounds.  Apples, oranges.

 

[riboflav]

Even if it's the latter and the refs didn't do their jobs, why did the Patriots giving them under inflated balls to check in the first place?

 
Maybe they're really never checked which is why Rodgers overinflates them because he knows he can.

 

[wiffleballhero]

Even if it's the latter and the refs didn't do their jobs, why did the Patriots giving them under inflated balls to check in the first place?

Maybe because, until 48 hrs. ago, this was such a non-issue that they inflated the balls based on feel and they never bothered to actually measure because, really, who gives a fuck?

 

[TomTerrific]

Jesus, what a shit show. And I'm sure there isn't even the option of comparing to Indy's balls as a control at this point. Great.

 

[Freddy Linn]

Even if it's the latter and the refs didn't do their jobs, why did the Patriots giving them under inflated balls to check in the first place?

 
Probably for the same reason Rodgers gives them overinflated balls.

 

[soxhop411]

So I assume the NFl will punish GB for having over inflated balls?

 

[mpx42]

Jesus, what a shit show. And I'm sure there isn't even the option of comparing to Indy's balls as a control at this point. Great.

 
How could they only be able to measure NE's balls and not Indy's? 

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

Maybe because, until 48 hrs. ago, this was such a non-issue that they inflated the balls based on feel and they never bothered to actually measure because, really, who gives a fuck?

Yeah, because this organizations long-standing M.O. is to ignore details.  That'll fly.

 

[wiffleballhero]

Anyway, if the Pats are responsible, the best thing to do would call the Colts game a forfeit. I don't see how the Patriots win the SB and anyone outside of Patriots' fans consider them to be the legitimate champions.

This is irony I assume.
 
This is still an idiotic, loserville story.

 

[E5 Yaz]

WilliamsonNFL Matt Williamson
BTW…I’m not sayin’, but just sayin’: Sunday wasn’t exactly the 1st poor weather/rainy game in Foxboro during Belichick regime…1st time?

 

[Hoya81]

This may come down to something silly like the Pats providing the balls and assuming the refs would correct any over or under inflation and the refs only reviewing one ball and passing the rest.

 

[E5 Yaz]

This may come down to something silly like the Pats providing the balls and assuming the refs would correct any over or under inflation and the refs only reviewing one ball and passing the rest.

 
Optimist

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

2 psi, not two pounds.  Apples, oranges.

psi is pounds per square inch, and "pounds" is a common shorthand.

 

[Captaincoop]

The Indy balls were checked today and were at regulation.

 

[kenneycb]

WilliamsonNFL Matt Williamson
BTW…I’m not sayin’, but just sayin’: Sunday wasn’t exactly the 1st poor weather/rainy game in Foxboro during Belichick regime…1st time?

I don't know what that means.  Especially because he's not sayin'

 

[wiffleballhero]

Yeah, because this organizations long-standing M.O. is to ignore details.  That'll fly.

The detail is the feel of the ball. The PSI is the bean-counter number that never actually gets considered because nobody actually cares except when it comes to the kickers.

 

[soxhop411]

WilliamsonNFL Matt Williamson
BTWIm not sayin, but just sayin: Sunday wasnt exactly the 1st poor weather/rainy game in Foxboro during Belichick regime1st time?

What the hell does this mean?

 

[riboflav]

The Indy balls were checked today and were at regulation.

 
For real?

 

[soxhop411]

@DanWetzel: If there is a reasonable explanation for this, might be a good idea for either the Patriots or the NFL to provide it.

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

psi is pounds per square inch, and "pounds" is a common shorthand.

Yeah, I know that.  Apples, oranges.  I was replying to someone who actually thought the footballs weighed two pounds less than they were supposed to.

 

[E5 Yaz]

What the hell does this mean?

 
I suspect he's saying that this is the first time the Pats were "caught" with under-inflated balls, but perhaps not the first time they did it

 

[soxhop411]

@GregABedard: I would hope they also impounded the Colts balls and checked them. We need a comparison

 

[kenneycb]

@DanWetzel: If there is a reasonable explanation for this, might be a good idea for either the Patriots or the NFL to provide it.

The Mrs. Krabappel laugh is an appropriate response to this one.

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

The detail is the feel of the ball. The PSI is the bean-counter number that never actually gets considered because nobody actually cares except when it comes to the kickers.

The detail is what a pressure gauge reads.  The feel of the ball is a spitball "that's about right" metric.  Guess which one the rule book calls for?

 

[Titoschew]

@DanWetzel: If there is a reasonable explanation for this, might be a good idea for either the Patriots or the NFL to provide it.

Bingo. This is going to be "the story", someone needs to be ahead of it. Mort is saying in his report the league is "distraught".

 

[GBrushTWood]

Might as well ignore ESPN, and every other form of media (except SOSH Central) before the game. The mouth breathers will continue to be out in full force as the NFL continues bungling how to run a sports league. The league is an embarrassment with this mickey mouse bullshit coming up literally each week.

 

[genoasalami]

Unfortunately, the only logical explanation is that someone took air out of the balls ....not sure ..when..where...and how...but that someone most likely has ties to the Patriots, and it was done on purpose for a competitive advantage...if you can swing a better alibi I'd like to hear it..

 

[bosox188]

This is un-fucking real.
 
What. The. Fuck.

 

[Mooch]

I'm hoping for a reasonable explanation but fearing that it's another example of Belichick cutting corners to gain an edge, even a small one. Damn it. This sucks.

 

[captain tek]

They checked all game balls for both teams Sunday night at HALFTIME.  That was the delay prior to the Pats first possession in 3rd quarter, the game balls had not yet been returned to the sideline by NFL officials...  So from halftime on, the Pats balls were all up to standard.

 

[wiffleballhero]

The detail is what a pressure gauge reads.  The feel of the ball is a spitball "that's about right" metric.  Guess which one the rule book calls for?

But the feel of the ball is the whole reason the teams get to pick  and prepare 'their' balls.

 

[djbayko]

UNDERINFLATED BY TWO POUNDS - according to WBZ.
 
Umm... 2 ounces maybe?  Does a football even weigh 2 lbs?

Hey everyone: when the media says "pounds", they mean "pounds per square inch". Can we stop with the ridiculous corrections?

 

[amarshal2]

Too bad Belichick can't clone himself, because that's the only way he'd get caught. You can have one Beluchick deflating the balls on the sideline while the other naturally videotapes himself to catch himself.

 

[GlenMorangie]

.

 

[schillzilla]

Well, we have our nobody believes in us, us against the world rallying cry for the SB

 

[E5 Yaz]

They checked all game balls for both teams Sunday night at HALFTIME.  That was the delay prior to the Pats first possession in 3rd quarter, the game balls had not yet been returned to the sideline by NFL officials...  So from halftime on, the Pats balls were all up to standard.

 
link?

 

[Rico Guapo]

The Indy balls were checked today and were at regulation.

Obvious troll is obvious.