#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[Granite Sox]

Tom's Big Balls AC/DC parody
http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/onair/sports-radio-kjr-55035/toms-big-balls-13172153/

 
That's really well done.  Excellent turn-around time from the guys in the Pacific Northwest.
 
I'm here in Indy, and it's aggravating as hell.  No-win on all fronts, so I'm going about my day despite harassment from several people.
 
As others have said repeatedly, if the Patriots messed with the game balls, then they deserve what they get.
 
I just can't believe that Irsay/Gregson/Pagano turned narc on the Patriots with all the skeletons in Indy's closet.  So naive.
 
You get ONE chance to narc like this; ask Mangini how that turned out for him and the NYJ.
 
The Patriots are in deep yogurt.  
 
The Colts have a different kind of response coming...

 

[Corsi]

The Skibas explained the Giants’ procedure.
 
■ The new ball is rubbed vigorously for 45 minutes with a dark brush, which removes the wax and darkens the leather.
 
■ Next, a wet towel is used to scour the ball until the ball’s outer surface is soaked through.
 
“You’re not done until the ball is waterlogged and water will no longer bead on it,” Ed Skiba said.
 
■ While the ball is wet, it is brushed again.
 
■ Then the ball is taken over to an electric spin wheel, where it undergoes another high-speed scrubbing.
 
At this point, the ball is put aside overnight. Then the process is repeated twice over the next couple of days.
 

This kind of treatment costs a pretty penny in some establishments

 

[Leather]

 

This kind of treatment costs a pretty penny in some establishments

 

 
At least Eli got a happy ending.
 

 

[Return of the Dewey]

Hilarious video from Craig Carton (of Boomer & Carton show), an mad-avid Jets fan, about the DeflateGate:

• BB is a genius for pushing the boundaries & figures out shit way ahead of anyone else
• Laments why Jets and other NY teams don't have a coach like BB
• Hates & loves BB

BTW, I listen to the B&C show daily and it's a hoot -- believe me Carton absolutely hates the Pats, perhaps as much as I hate the Jets:
 
http://news.yahoo.com/video/boomer-carton-patriots-face-deflate-153036589-cbs.html

 
Carton summarizes my feeling as a Jets fan, precisely.  Which brings me back to my earlier post saying that I have no clue why Pats fans are so upset about the allegations.  Jets fans would KILL to have Pats' success in exchange for the quasi-controversies.

 

[DJnVa]

 
Depending on next Sunday's outcome, it might be more relevant to the Patriots' future than last Sunday's game.  
 
Which is insane.  But I am exactly on the same page as Shelterdog.  I think Goodell "deals with this" by being blindingly self-interested and capricious. 

 
There's an argument to be made that it's in Goodell's best interest not to piss off Kraft by going above and beyond.
 

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

@adbrandt For those wanting a quick penalty if wrongdoing is found, would doubt it. As players have appeals, team would "be heard."  #deflated

 
Longer than a game thread, Rev? How about 2-3 separate mega-threads ala Herb?

 

[GregHarris]

Apparently it's perfectly legal to alter the texture and feel of the ball by scuffing it up or waxing it down or whatever even the hell Eli does.  10.5 lbs. though, holy shit lets disband the club. 
 
Ok so one is within the rule and the other is not, yet does either give a competitive edge?  If one but not the other, why?

 

[WayBackVazquez]

This kind of treatment costs a pretty penny in some establishments

Just ask Jerry Rice.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Apparently it's perfectly legal to alter the texture and feel of the ball by scuffing it up or waxing it down or whatever even the hell Eli does.  10.5 lbs. though, holy shit lets disband the club. 
 
Ok so one is within the rule and the other is not, yet does either give a competitive edge?  If one but not the other, why?

I'll go back to this: if it's legal for the QB to wear a glove with tact to enhance the grip why is it bad for the PSI to be where they were?  It doesn't make any sense as the same thing is going on which is gaining an advantage.

 

[Leather]

Apparently it's perfectly legal to alter the texture and feel of the ball by scuffing it up or waxing it down to videotape from the press box or team suites or whatever even the hell Eli every other team does.  10.5 lbs. though  from the stands, though, holy shit lets disband the club. 
 
Ok so one is within the rule and the other is not, yet does either give a competitive edge?  If one but not the other, why?

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

This kind of treatment costs a pretty penny in some establishments

 

Just ask Jerry Rice.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

Apparently it's perfectly legal to alter the texture and feel of the ball by scuffing it up or waxing it down or whatever even the hell Eli does.  10.5 lbs. though, holy shit lets disband the club. 
 
Ok so one is within the rule and the other is not, yet does either give a competitive edge?  If one but not the other, why?

 
Because no one cared about this before this so no one spent 10 seconds thinking about whether any of it made sense.

 

[Tito's Pullover]

 
Carton summarizes my feeling as a Jets fan, precisely.  Which brings me back to my earlier post saying that I have no clue why Pats fans are so upset about the allegations.  Jets fans would KILL to have Pats' success in exchange for the quasi-controversies.

Because the Jets (and nearly every team around the league, for that matter) DO seem to engage in practices like this without controversy, quasi- or otherwise.  Can you imagine what would happen if a Patriots' assistant coach interfered with a punt return? Or if Kraft said the same things Woody said a few weeks ago back when Revis was a Jet?

 

[RedOctober3829]

Brandon Browner ‏@bbrowner27 5m5 minutes ago
For my 2cents Blount scored 3 rushing touchdowns. He could've carried a beach ball. Also doesn't hurt we only gave up 7 points #inflatethis
 

 

[tims4wins]

Because the Jets (and nearly every team around the league, for that matter) DO seem to engage in practices like this without controversy, quasi- or otherwise.  Can you imagine what would happen if a Patriots' assistant coach interfered with a punt return? Or if Kraft said the same things Woody said a few weeks ago back when Revis was a Jet?

 
Or if BB pulled a Tomlin

 

[Corsi]

La Canfora:

 

The more quarterbacks I talk to, and the more you read past stories and interviews that reference, however casually, the various degrees of inflation or distress many quarterbacks prefer from their game balls, the more it appears to me as a somewhat accepted part of the subculture.
 
 

"Ask any quarterback, and this is a non-issue," said onetime NFL MVP QB Rich Gannon, now a CBS in-booth analyst. "Everybody does something, to them. It's like a pitcher, he wants the ball a certain way. Take Tiger Woods, you wouldn't tell him after he's been hitting a 10.5 degree loft all week with a certain ball that, 'Hey, now we're going to switch your ball out.' That's his thing, and it's that specific feel that you want. That football is how we make our living and it sounds crazy, but it's a sacred thing. It's got to be a certain way."
 

tt really does seem totally ridiculous that this story has been blown so far out of proportion," Esiason said. "If you look at the footballs that the quarterbacks are playing with and throwing for the last six or seven years, just realize that everybody is doing the same thing."
 

"And I remember having a conversation with Brad Johnson the Monday before that Super Bowl, and hey, we were both worried about the balls coming out of that box and the brushes they used made it even worse. I didn't know about him paying $7,500 to get them how he wanted them, but at the end of the day I could [not] care less. It didn't have anything to do with the outcome of the game and this kind of stuff has been going on forever. I talked to Brad Johnson this morning after all this stuff came out and I said, 'Brad, don't worry about it. I've got your back. It's not a big deal. Everybody does it.' "
 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24982082/as-deflategate-unfolds-we-find-doctoring-nfl-footballs-is-nothing-new

 

[wiffleballhero]

If they were reinflated before the game started and then checked at the half and if the ball boy was letting air out throughout the first half, wouldn't CBS have broken the story by now with their footage?
 
How is there no visual on this? Also, 70,000 people in the crowd, 69,990 with phones taking photos and not one of them has a photo of the act? 

 

[tims4wins]

 

Brandon Browner ‏@bbrowner27 5m5 minutes ago
For my 2cents Blount scored 3 rushing touchdowns. He could've carried a beach ball. Also doesn't hurt we only gave up 7 points #inflatethis
 

 

 
Is anyone here concerned that this will be a harmful distraction for the Pats? I'm currently of the mindset that it will band them together even more, but there is a part of me that is worried about the distraction.
 
That being said, Seattle will probably have to answer stupid questions about it too, so maybe the distraction cuts both ways. I dunno.

 

[Nick Kaufman]

 
I speak fluent Rip, allow me to translate:
 

 
To be fair, when I left the thread yesterday, it was 15 pages long and when I came back today, it was 45 pages long. I read the last 4-5 pages to get the gist of it, but I m still not sure I didn't miss an important fact. Also, it's not that I can't be bothered or that I am too spoiled, but it's literally more than an hour's time to read the whole thing and I don't have that time.

What could help with those megathreads is if the OP posted a cliffs version on the first post, so everyone could get the most pertinent facts that have come out so far. Let's put Corsi in charge or something.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

La Canfora:
 
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/24982082/as-deflategate-unfolds-we-find-doctoring-nfl-footballs-is-nothing-new

 
All good points, but of course at this point the larger public doesn't care about any of it. They want the hammer brought down and brought down hard.

 

[tims4wins]

 

[Return of the Dewey]

Because the Jets (and nearly every team around the league, for that matter) DO seem to engage in practices like this without controversy, quasi- or otherwise.  Can you imagine what would happen if a Patriots' assistant coach interfered with a punt return? Or if Kraft said the same things Woody said a few weeks ago back when Revis was a Jet?

 
If Jets went to 6 Super Bowls in the last 14 years, winning 3 of them, along with something like 9 AFC championship games, I wouldn't care what would happen!  Until the league started taking away championships and wins, I'd be laughing my ass off at all of the hoopla as I rode around town in my Super Bowl Champions gear.
 
Off topic, but I think the tampering rules are about as BS as "spying" and deflated ball rules.

 

[OCST]

 
 
Live by the evil genius creed, die by the evil genius creed.  It looks worse -- even if basically innocent -- because the Pats are known to be thinking strategically around the rules.   Of course, so is Aaron Rodgers and everyone else.  They just aren't as good about it where it counts.  But the Pats are getting killed on this one where it didn't really matter (as evidenced by the asskicking in the second half).

 
agreed.
 
If it were some lovable rogue- Red Auerbach, Gaylord Perry, Bill Veeck etc.- who always had an element of wink-wink-nudge-nudge, or showmanship - this would be perceived differently.
 
It occurs to me that you don't find guys like that in sports now - I guess the money is too big now.

 

[Leather]

 
 
 
Off topic, but I think the tampering rules are about as BS as "spying" and deflated ball rules.

 
I don't think they are BS, but I think the issue is that the tampering charge will likely result in a minor fine or, at worst, a 6th round draft pick, while the ball deflation issue could result in something much, much, larger.
 
It's like: two guys get pulled over; one for a broken taillight, and one for going 62 in a 55.  The guy with the taillight gets a warning, and the guy "speeding" gets thrown in jail for 6 months and his license taken away.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Love the thread title change.  I hope #inflatethis becomes a meme, the team bands together around this and crushes Seattle, and after every touchdown we do a faux "Pumping the ball up" celebration.

 

[Pxer]

<script async src="//platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I cannot stop watching that. Haha.

 

[wibi]

 
I don't think they are BS, but I think the issue is that the tampering charge will likely result in a minor fine or, at worst, a 6th round draft pick, while the ball deflation issue could result in something much, much, larger.
 
It's like: two guys get pulled over; one for a broken taillight, and one for going 62 in a 55.  The guy with the taillight gets a warning, and the guy "speeding" gets thrown in jail for 6 months and his license taken away.

 
Except the guy with a broken taillight has nothing on his record and the guy speeding is a perceived repeat offender.

 

[E5 Yaz]

 
Except the guy with a broken taillight has nothing on his record and the guy speeding is a perceived repeat offender.

 
Well, except for that Parcells business that cost the Jets draft picks

 

[dynomite]

 
Is anyone here concerned that this will be a harmful distraction for the Pats? I'm currently of the mindset that it will band them together even more, but there is a part of me that is worried about the distraction.
 
That being said, Seattle will probably have to answer stupid questions about it too, so maybe the distraction cuts both ways. I dunno.

Not really.

Rodney Harrison said this may actually help the Patriots, because as a player these kind of stories -- questioning his achievements -- would infuriate and motivate him.

Bruschi has said the same about 2007 -- after SpyGate, that team came out of the gate frothing at the mouth, wanting not just to win but to humiliate their opponents. He suggested it wasn't an accident that the smallest margin of victory in their first 7 games was 17 points.

The only way this becomes a real distraction is if coaches/personnel are suspended for the Super Bowl.

 

[Return of the Dewey]

 
I don't think they are BS, but I think the issue is that the tampering charge will likely result in a minor fine or, at worst, a 6th round draft pick, while the ball deflation issue could result in something much, much, larger.
 
It's like: two guys get pulled over; one for a broken taillight, and one for going 62 in a 55.  The guy with the taillight gets a warning, and the guy "speeding" gets thrown in jail for 6 months and his license taken away.

 
Except that, in this case, the guy who was speeding was the Bandit from "Smokey and the Bandit" who has been speeding for days cross-country, only got caught this once, but made it cross country in time to get $100k from some rich southern guy and his son, while also picking up some cute girl along the way.  The guy with the broken light is just some schmuck driving a beaten up Datsun who works for minimum wage at McDonald's.  I'll be the Bandit every time.

 

[TheoShmeo]

Make what you will of this but I have heard from two connected people in the last 30 minutes or so who don't know each other that BB is going to be suspended for the game.

 

[alydar]

 
Is anyone here concerned that this will be a harmful distraction for the Pats? I'm currently of the mindset that it will band them together even more, but there is a part of me that is worried about the distraction.
 
That being said, Seattle will probably have to answer stupid questions about it too, so maybe the distraction cuts both ways. I dunno.

This is my worry.

 

[pappymojo]

 
Except the guy with a broken taillight has nothing on his record and the guy speeding is a perceived repeat offender.

If the Jets are the guy with the clean record, I would point out that they had that whole stupid incident where their strength coach was standing in a spot where he shouldn't have been (as defined by the rules) and then initiated contact with a player from the opposing team.  Of course, there was no penalty even though it was a clear violation of the rules.

 

[Stitch01]

Id feel better about the whole motivation/band together thing if this wasn't already the Super Bowl.  I don't think it will be a distraction unless they lose coaches/players, might help keep players focused on the game rather than the Super Bowl circus, but pretty sure they were coming into this one fired up and ready to play regardless.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Make what you will of this but I have heard from two connected people in the last 30 minutes or so who don't know each other that BB is going to be suspended for the game.

 
Well that would be some bullshit. And it would allow McDaniels to throw the ball 600 times.

 

[soxhop411]

Make what you will of this but I have heard from two connected people in the last 30 minutes or so who don't know each other that BB is going to be suspended for the game.

Thats a joke.

 

[Stitch01]

Think the SB would be my last game of NFL football for awhile if they suspended BB for the game and there wasn't some super bombshell we don't know about.

 

[KiltedFool]

 
agreed.
 
If it were some lovable rogue- Red Auerbach, Gaylord Perry, Bill Veeck etc.- who always had an element of wink-wink-nudge-nudge, or showmanship - this would be perceived differently.
 
It occurs to me that you don't find guys like that in sports now - I guess the money is too big now.

Al Davis had that, before he turned into the Crypt Keeper and became a punchline.  He had charisma.
 
Belichick does not have that.  He's a Nixon instead of a Clinton.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if NASCAR still seems to have some of that spirit, guys try to get away with stuff and get caught and don't complain about getting caught and no one thinks ill of them for trying to get away with shit.

 

[Leather]

Thats a joke.

 
Yes, and it would possibly make ratings decline.

 

[soxhop411]

If he gets suspended for the SB I may be done with the NFL

 

[The Social Chair]

Make what you will of this but I have heard from two connected people in the last 30 minutes or so who don't know each other that BB is going to be suspended for the game.

 
This is bullshit. And it'll suck for Belichick, the team, and the fans. But fuck Bob Kraft. He helped keep that dope in charge. 

 

[TheoShmeo]

I would not have posted that if both of these individuals were not extremely credible.  I have known both for over 15 years and both are very senior and very connected.
 
I hope to hell they wrong.
 
That said, I admit to have been worried about THE doomsday penalty, as much as it seems far fetched, and two, I could see such a penalty causing the Pats players to rally in a "win it for Bill" type fashion.
 
Like I said, make what you will of it and I hope it's just coincidental nonsense.

 

[HomeBrew1901]

Think the SB would be my last game of NFL football for awhile if they suspended BB for the game and there wasn't some super bombshell we don't know about.

Considering it's the last game of the season... that makes sense.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

So, Belichick messed with all the balls...and McDaniels was oblivious?

 
If the balls were tampered with it was undoubtedly done by some underling or the ball boy. If the league really suspends Belichick for this it would be for being the head man in charge.

 

[Stitch01]

So, Belichick messed with all the balls...and McDaniels was oblivious?

The whole thing with this is its pretty easy to conclude that by far the most likely person to know about this on the Patriots is Brady, so I dont get why BB would get the full brunt of punishment

 

[Hoya81]

I would not have posted that if both of these individuals was not extremely credible.  I have known both for over 15 years and both are very senior and very connected.
 
I hope to hell they wrong.
 
That said, I admit to have been worried about THE doomsday penalty, as much as it seems far fetched, and two, I could see such a penalty causing the Pats players to rally in a "win it for Bill" type fashion.
 
Like I said, make what you will of it and I hope it's just coincidental nonsense.

It would have to go through some sort of appeals process, which only give this more legs and not make the issue go away.

 

[Leather]

No, I believe it. I've believed something this stupid was going to happen since midnight on Sunday.
 
Because that's what the fucking masses want, and Goodell runs the NFL like he's Joaquin Phoenix in "Gladiator".

 

[tims4wins]

Doesn't jive with reports that decisions won't be made until the offseason

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Well that would be some bullshit. And it would allow McDaniels to throw the ball 600 times.

 
And that'd spin the entire SB into complete chaos and a huge black mark on Goodell. 
 
It's like throwing your Ivy-league son out of your will because he got a speeding ticket.
 
For Buddha's sake, it's reaching the surreal status. 

 

[Devizier]

 
Is anyone here concerned that this will be a harmful distraction for the Pats? I'm currently of the mindset that it will band them together even more, but there is a part of me that is worried about the distraction.
 
That being said, Seattle will probably have to answer stupid questions about it too, so maybe the distraction cuts both ways. I dunno.

 
Seattle had the even more ridiculous distraction surrounding Richard Sherman last year and it didn't seem to affect them at all.