#DFG: Canceling the Noise
- Thread starter nattysez
- Start date
"The Patriots used 12 backup footballs for the second half of Sunday’s AFC championship game after issues were found with most of the original 12 balls used by the offense in the first half, an organizational source told WEEI.com.
Team spokesman Stacey James confirmed to WEEI.com that the team had 24 footballs available, 12 of which were tested by the officials pregame and another dozen stored inside as backups.
After the officials found that the majority of the balls used in the first half were below the acceptable PSI as mandated by the NFL, the backup balls were brought in. According to the source, the backup balls were tested and found to be at the correct levels, and subsequently put into play — just barely in time, as the second half already had started by the time the testing was completed. This is why the officials stopped play and swapped out the kicking ball on the first play from scrimmage of the second half."
http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/01/21/source-patriots-used-backup-balls-in-second-half-of-sundays-game/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Team spokesman Stacey James confirmed to WEEI.com that the team had 24 footballs available, 12 of which were tested by the officials pregame and another dozen stored inside as backups.
After the officials found that the majority of the balls used in the first half were below the acceptable PSI as mandated by the NFL, the backup balls were brought in. According to the source, the backup balls were tested and found to be at the correct levels, and subsequently put into play — just barely in time, as the second half already had started by the time the testing was completed. This is why the officials stopped play and swapped out the kicking ball on the first play from scrimmage of the second half."
http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/01/21/source-patriots-used-backup-balls-in-second-half-of-sundays-game/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Our boy Peter King weighs in:
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/21/patriots-tom-brady-bill-belichick-deflategate-ball-controversy/
DrewDawg said:
Or could he of misunderstood, or his sources miss-communicated: IF Belichick is found to have ordered the code-pigskin, THEN he will be suspended for the super bowl. As opposed to he will be suspended for the super bowl, which implies that decision is already made.
Even in this day and age, none of the major NFL media types are going to tweet such a story unless they have solid confirmation from a number of sources. It's not a story to be taken lightly at all.HomeBrew1901 said:
Also, not sure if Theo's sources would be the ones to know if such a decision has been reached. Nothing against Theo or his sources, but this would be a major story of epic proportions, and it's not something that would all that easily leak outside of Goodell's inner circle until the time came.
Awesome, so no ruling means that this will hang over the entire Superbowl. That should be fun, the NFL is run by complete idiots.Corsi said:
Interesting. If the backups were stored inside, then the pressure decrease might very well be attributable to the temperature difference.
"So maybe we mishandled that silly little wifebeating issue, but we NAILED IT on the slightly deflated ball controversy! Cue the pink towels and shoes! #NoMore"Corsi said:
It's plausible that Belichick's attorneys, The Patriots' attorneys and the NFL's attorneys are discussing punishment, in which it's already been agreed that part of the punishment will include a BB suspension, and Theo is connected to the two of the many attorneys involved.
norm from cheers said:
Wow, this gives more credence to the weather as culprit theory. Of course the balls that have been outside will register at a lower pressure while those stored inside.
BTW - Here is an article publicizing the math SumnerH has provided. My hope continues to be that there was some rounding in the original report and the temperature difference can account for the change in pressure. It might just be taking a while for the NFL dolts to catch up with the science.
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/2015/01/21/how-the-patriots-could-have-cheated-without-letting-air-out-the-ball/Eocm5m29nIlh0HRBjFWsYO/story.html
Marciano490 said:
-2. -125?!?! LOL. That is insanity.
My site is -1, -110
http://www.betus.com.pa/sportsbook/nfl-football-game-lines.aspx
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nfl/odds/las-vegas/
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nfl/odds/offshore/
Forget Vegas.glennhoffmania said:
The line hasn't moved that much: http://www.sportsbookreview.com/betting-odds/nfl-football/ Essentially from a PK to Pats -1.
glennhoffmania said:
At least. I'm not saying the line hasn't moved in NE's direction; just that it's not -2 anywhere I've seen.
Yeah, Bovada has -2. But BETONLINE has -1, 5dimes has -1.5, SportsBetting has -1 and Fantasy911 has -1.5.
HomeBrew1901 said:
Or if they have Belichik saying "I know nothing" (which he did say publicly) and a ball attendant who says BB himself ordered the code red and so they're torching him for lying the way they torched Payton in bountygate.
H78 said:
What's "yikes" about that report? We'd already heard that the balls used in the second half were re-inflated, now we're hearing they used the backups. Not seeing anything harmful in that report that wasn't already out there.
Now, had they pulled out the backups and some of them were under-inflated then I would start to worry more.
We're talking about slightly deflated footballs and we have to breathe sigh of relief that the Head Coach isn't getting suspended for the Super Bowl. Seriously, just think about this shit.
bowiac said:
It's 100% clear to me that Theo's sources told him that BB is getting suspended and that they're both real serious credible folks, it's just that connected rich NY people pass along bad information by accident just like the rest of us.
CaptainLaddie said:
Maybe they think NE can get away with doctoring balls again and that's worth 2 or 2.5 points.
This still beats Brady or Gronk in a walking boot...or Revis in an arm sling a la Richard Sherman.
Corsi said:
Then the NFL should announce that the investigation is ongoing and that steps have been taken to ensure that all footballs used in the Super Bowl will meet all guidelines.
The idea that it's a risk for the league to potentially present Belichick with the Lombardi trophy is ridiculous - if the Patriots win a game that was played with fully-compliant game balls, then it is proof that the fears of the league's competitive integrity being at risk were overblown.
norm from cheers said:
This doesn't tell me anything. All it says is that all 24 balls the Pats used were of standard PSI before the game started.
Why the first 12 changed is still no where closer to being solved (weather, or undercover ball boy).
rodderick said:
Yeah this is insane. The Rockies were once suspected to have used non-humidifier balls when they were down a few runs and needed a big hit and it was a non-story.
DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
The only thing more must-watch would be if they suspended him for the first half. Imagine the narrative of him running out for the second half after the Pats kept it close at 17-7 or thereabouts. Drama.
WayBackVazquez said:
Yeah, I always check Bovada because their lines are frequently out of whack and you can get a good middle in every once in awhile.
Ferm Sheller said:
Then they'd be mind-numbingly stupid.
It would be interesting to know if those backups were later weighed / tested to see if they went down as the original 12...would give credence to the conspiracy / thought that the balls were inflated with hot air or in a "hot" room.MarcSullivaFan said:
nattysez said:
A couple things:
1. If that's the case, wouldn't Indy's balls have deflated as well?
2. It leaves the possibility they were tampered with after the pre-game inflating.
3. If Belichick did this by storing the balls in extreme heat pregame, that's kind of amazing and I think the proper reaction is to give the Patriots an additional first round draft pick.
LeoCarrillo said:
If they do this, they should put him in an isolation chamber for the first half and then have one of their extra feeds, accessible through a pay cable channel, just stay on his face the entire time.
Is there this much bullshit going around when pitchers are caught by TV cameras with suncreen on their arms/gloves? It's prohibited by the rules, but people just assume it's for better grip and no one gives a shit. In the rare example the guy is way too obvious about it (i.e. Pineda), he's thrown out of the game and life goes on as usual. I have absolutely no clue why such a stink is being made about this inane bullshit, even if Belichick himself deflated those footballs.
