#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[SumnerH]

And if they don't have that, they're lacking anything that would call for any kind of discipline at all in this case.

That's not true. If they have someone on video, or reliable witness testimony, or a confession, or whatever other evidence of someone tampering with the balls then they can discipline the Pats whether or not they have documentation of the actual PSIs. Tampering's forbidden on its face.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

 
All of this has become so absurd that I'm just laughing at it now. These are real headlines I just saw on Google News
 

How a devious Bill Belichick fooled us all in Deflategate press conferenceUSA TODAY


Ballghazi Matters: Hard Questions about Belichick, Brady and Their Soft BallsNewsweek
Throw the Patriots out of the Super BowlCNN

 

 
The last opinion piece is written by Roxanne Jones, "founding editor of ESPN Magazine" (explains a lot) and former VP of ESPN. She spews:
 

At a minimum, the commissioner should:
-- Disqualify the Patriots from the Super Bowl
 
-- Strip the team's AFC Championship title
 
-- Fine, or suspend Belichick, who despite his claims to the contrary should have known about the deflated balls -- and even if he didn't, he's ultimately responsible for everything that happens on the field.

 
I say Roxanne gets stripped of all her public titles and forced to repay for all the labor, postage, and wasted hours that I (and millions of others) had to go through in trying to cancel ESPN magazine for the 12th time. Talk about a repeat offender. 

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

Once again, Godell is on the record as saying that the burden of proof in these matters shouldn't be what you'd expect to find in a court of law.  If it's walking and talking like a duck, Rog doesn't feel like he needs a DNA test to settle the matter.

Totally agree with this, which is partially why I'm still skeptical about the pre-game check. If they checked the pressure before the game (as opposed to a visual inspection or a check of one or two balls) and then checked at halftime and found that they were significantly deflated, you've got some pretty compelling evidence of tampering. So why the need to reconvene the Warren Commission?

 

[Tito's Pullover]

Once again, Godell is on the record as saying that the burden of proof in these matters shouldn't be what you'd expect to find in a court of law.  If it's walking and talking like a duck, Rog doesn't feel like he needs a DNA test to settle the matter.

 
If Roger really wants to drag this out, and he really wants to punish the Patriots even though he can't prove they did anything wrong, well... he already has.  Letting the media dwell on this for over five days and counting, roping Brady into farcical press conferences when he should be preparing for the Seahawks, dragging the Patriot legacy through the mud with every passing minute of inaction - this more than makes up for a couple PSI of air pressure missing from a dozen footballs.
 
The punishment on this has already exceeded the crime.

 

[pappymojo]

 
link
 
 
Yes, "should have" would have been better phrasing. Though I still think this has become a showdown and someone needs to back down. The original issue was minor. The more you lie the worse it becomes.

 
That link is weak.  It's unclear if, when referring to a league source, the writer is simply referring to the league letter that we all read and interpreting it, or if the writer has their own anonymous source separate from the letter. 

 

[Doctor G]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

 

[Corsi]

To all the people who fantasize about the Pats kicking the Seahawks butts on the superbowl. I just had this thought dawn on me.
 
What if the refs just butchered the game in favor of the hawks so that the Pats don't win?

But ok, let's say this is a farfetched conspiracy theory that probably doesn't come true. Let's ask another question:
 
If it's a close game, does this whole deflategate thing make it more or less likely that close calls are gonna go NE's way?

 
I think both Belichick and Brady were very careful to never once pin this on the referees.

 

[Tito's Pullover]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

Why would they only do the backup balls?  Honest question.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

Do we know whether the refs were aware, or just someone in the league?

 

[86spike]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

 
They mark the balls they inspected and then look for those marks when the ball gets thrown in for game play.

 

[OnWisc]

 
The last opinion piece is written by Roxanne Jones, "founding editor of ESPN Magazine" (explains a lot) and former VP of ESPN. She spews:
 
 
I say Roxanne gets stripped of all her public titles and forced to repay for all the labor, postage, and wasted hours that I (and millions of others) had to go through in trying to cancel ESPN magazine for the 12th time. Talk about a repeat offender. 

And she probably used four pages, six font colors, and include a lot of lines, arrows, circles and unneeded graphs and charts to make those three points. You have to be a cryptologist to process half the shit in that magazine.

 

[Byrdbrain]

 
 
The last opinion piece is written by Roxanne Jones, "founding editor of ESPN Magazine" (explains a lot) and former VP of ESPN. She spews:
 
 
I say Roxanne gets stripped of all her public titles and forced to repay for all the labor, postage, and wasted hours that I (and millions of others) had to go through in trying to cancel ESPN magazine for the 12th time. Talk about a repeat offender. 
 

God ain't that the truth, I gave up. Got my copy today and it went straight into the recycling bin, never made it in the house.

 

[WoburnDiaspora]

Here in the hinterlands away from the endless storm of crap on this hideous topic the local Raleigh sports station gave this story 10 minutes today.  
 
Steve Logan, who coached at ECU, BC and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said "Belichick definitely would not have known what the process was regarding the balls and their inflation.  He would not care or have time for that".  
 
But the more important thing is that they gave it 10 minutes and finished with "This is an incredible non-story, let's move on to the Senior Bowl and the local products playing in it".  The moral of that story is that this silliness isn't as big nationally as the ESPN's of the world are making it out to be.  

 

[SumnerH]

False.  They have 3 groups of 12 nearly identical balls that were subjected to the same conditions.

What 3? Obviously #1 is the Pats' game balls. The only one I can think of that was in similar game conditions was the Indy game balls, but we don't know what starting PSI they were inflated to, nor whether they were filled indoors or out, or in Indy or Foxborough.

I'm at a loss for a third possibility; we've heard several times that the backup balls (both sets) were not outside in the same conditions but were held inside in the refs' locker until being brought into play at halftime.

 

[lexrageorge]

 
 
This is absolutely not true.  It's plain as day that they said the balls met the specifications with the previous sentence saying that the specifications were 12.5 psi to 13.5 psi.  It could not be more blatantly obvious that they gave the psi of the balls before the start of the game.  
 
What the majority of posters are clinging to is that they don't explicitly say how the balls were deemed to have met the specifications before the game began.  It's a hugely important piece of information that everyone here would like confirmed.  However, it's also likely a hail marry.
 
If what you are looking for is a catalog of each of the 36 balls and how their psi changed over time then you're setting up an impossible scenario for proof.
 

I guess we need to reiterate the following:
 
- We know Aaron Rodgers has stated that he likes his balls overinflated, and that he hopes they get through the official checks.  Which means the official checks may not be all that stringent as shown in Peter King's video.  
 
- We also know that officiating crews for the playoffs are assembled from the pool of NFL officials that grade highly, which is different from how the crews are assembled during the regular season.  So, there is reason to believe the amount of time the officials want to spend checking footballs is limited.  Instead, the officials may want to spend more time figuring out how they will work as a team for the first time.  
 
- The refs have motive to lie when asked if they checked the pressure.  
 
- The NFL has motive to word their press release in a way that makes it appear that the pre-game checks were stringent.  
 
- Goodell may have motive to nail Belichick.    
 
- The tweets from journalists citing "league sources" are evidence, but not conclusive proof. Those league sources may have motivation to lie. 
 
Put all that together, and the possibility of an improper pre-game check is not all that farfetched.  
 
It is also possible that someone on the Pats tampered with the balls after the inspection.  It's not impossible.  But it's not yet proven either, at least to the level it should be if one is talking a suspension or the surrender of draft picks (I'll agree that the circumstantial evidence so far is likely sufficient to levy a fine). 

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

This whole thing is just surreal. People calling for the Pats to be removed from the Super Bowl? 
 
I mean, people "cheat" every single game, and we give them penalties for it. You can't leg whip, and yet sometimes people leg whip, and therefore we give them 15 yard penalties. You can't hold. If you hold, you're cheating, and so we therefore penalize you 10 yards. Etc. There are lots and lots of things you can't do that teams do all the fucking time, and then they get appropriate penalties. 
 
In the rule book, it says the penalty is $25k, or whatever is appropriate. So, even if the Pats did this, there's your guide. If you decide it's a super egregious version of deflating footballs, well then maybe you kick it up to $50k. Maybe it's a seventh-round pick, I guess (which seems WAY more than $25k). 
 
But why would the penalty be something completely and totally unprecedented in the history of the game. No team has ever had a win vacated and then been removed from a subsequent game. That's insanity. Sure, MAYBE I can see suspending BB. But strip them of their AFC title?
 
What would make anyone who's ever covered football say that out loud. 
 
It's like being in the Matrix. 

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

This idea deserves to be shredded by Occam's Razor.  

 

[soxfan80000001]

Given that the refs were aware of the questions about pressure before the game, what if the Patriots submitted 24 balls at 11 PSI for inspection and the refs only increased the pressure on the back up balls. seems unlikely but it is a possible explanation.

Apologies if someone has already suggested this.

 
No, it hasn't been suggested yet.  Somehow after 121 pages of stupidity, you've managed to come up with something new, but still equally stupid.  You might have even raised the bar here.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

And she probably used four pages, six font colors, and include a lot of lines, arrows, circles and unneeded graphs and charts to make those three points. You have to be a cryptologist to process half the shit in that magazine.

 
You have to give her a break though. She really doesn't watch football:

 

[phrenile]

We might be playing against a reffing crew with instructions to make a certain outcome happen....

To all the people who fantasize about the Pats kicking the Seahawks butts on the superbowl. I just had this thought dawn on me.
 
What if the refs just butchered the game in favor of the hawks so that the Pats don't win?

But ok, let's say this is a farfetched conspiracy theory that probably doesn't come true. Let's ask another question:
 
If it's a close game, does this whole deflategate thing make it more or less likely that close calls are gonna go NE's way?

Also, just waking up...has a warrant been issued for Belichick's arrest yet?

Nope. But this thread has suggested there will be a ref conspiracy to call the game in favor of Seattle before the game has played.

 

[IdiotKicker]

You have to give her a break though. She really doesn't watch football:

Or that was printed before Manning somehow lost track of the conspiracy and lost his game when he wasn't supposed to. Just one more loose end to tie up. I wouldn't be surprised to see him knocked off sometime this offseason. Not sure who the fall guy will be with Hernandez in jail, but Ray Lewis is probably building an alibi that he was "in Bristol" at the time of the killings, so he's a likely suspect. Especially with Davos going on right now, we're likely about to see something imminently. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. Don't say I didn't warn you. Trust no one.

 

[OnWisc]

You have to give her a break though. She really doesn't watch football:

Wow. Between that and Ian O'Connor's earnest claim that ball weighed two pounds less that it was supposed to, there are some journalists out there who should be very glad that they're not held to anything close to the standards they are demanding Brady and Belichick be held to.

 

[Leather]

Welp, it's about that time again.
 
I just have to say:  this was among the least enjoyable weeks of football I've ever experienced.  What a fucking cluster fuck. 

 

[soxfanSJCA]

The ESPN sports science thing showed the 13 PSI to 11 PSI decline made the ball slower to target and not fly as far (by tiny amounts), and very slightly grippier.

I'm not sure there's an objective way to balance "doesn't go as fast or far" vs. "has more/less grip" to say that X PSI is an advantage. Obviously either Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady is wrong about what's best, or the number varies from person to person.

Any performance impact assessment would need to football flight characteristics throughout the range of inflation pressures based on empirical testing. Also for compression/indentation, and yes, even grip/friction could be tested at discreet pressures.
 
Other critical variables would also need to be quantified, such as:
 
1. QB grip contact area (QB hand & finger & glove dimensions vs load)
2. Ball conditions (scuffed? contaminated? asymmetric?)
3. Football manufacturing variations (inner liner thickness variation/leak rate of football valve/stitch variation and integrity,Wax & other football   coating uniformity)
4. Environmental contributions
5. Within-QB and between QB-performance differences- (throwing angle/grip location)
 
More than likely, by a considerable margin, this impact is negligible when compared with the above 1-5 other variables.
With out having a checklist stating the pressure measured, the serial # of the football (do they even have individual ID's?), and the time and date this is simply a lesson in poor quality assurance.
To assume malfeasance in the absence of actual Quality Assurance only amplifies the incompetence we are dealing with, and does more to tarnish the NFL than 0.1 PSI 0.2 PSI or 10 PSI difference.
 
The NFL got caught having ridiculously poor quality assurance practices, and is now trying to nail the Patriots for it, or is at the very least hiding behind an investigation while the Patriots are skewered 24/7 by almost everyone.
The reason they did not have better control? they more than likely felt it was not important...

 

[Doctor G]

No, it hasn't been suggested yet.  Somehow after 121 pages of stupidity, you've managed to come up with something new, but still equally stupid.  You might have even raised the bar here.

Not implausible if they had previously told the Patriots to stop submitting under pressure balls for inspection.

 

[AbbyNoho]

I'm getting so sick of hearing "illegally deflated" bandied about by people as a fact. iIlegally inflated maybe, but there is no actual evidence that they deflated it. That's pure speculation, but it's being treated like an accepted fact in these "reports."
 

 
You have to give her a break though. She really doesn't watch football:

 

[JohnnyK]

The weirdest thing about this whole ordeal is that "Ballghazi" still isn't defined on Urban Dictionary.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

Welp, it's about that time again.
 
I just have to say:  this was among the least enjoyable weeks of football I've ever experienced.  What a fucking cluster fuck. 

 
It's been that kind of year for the NFL, no? Lots of sour tastes.

 

[Leather]

 
It's been that kind of year for the NFL, no? Lots of sour tastes.

 
Yeah, and now they are trying to cleanse the nation's pallet by letting it eat the Patriots' entrails.
 
Wonderful. 

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

 
Yeah, and now they are trying to cleanse the nation's pallet by letting it eat the Patriots' entrails.
 
Wonderful. 

The Patriots are the hero the NFL deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Oooh oooh -- I've got two more tracks to the Ballghazi The Greatest Hits CD:
 
#1: Under Pressure by Queen
#2: Bus Stop by the Hollies
 
#3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDLykurJIMA
 
#4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyv905Q2omU

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

The Glob with the SMOKING GUN:
 
https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en
 
 

 

[shepard50]

 
That link is weak.  It's unclear if, when referring to a league source, the writer is simply referring to the league letter that we all read and interpreting it, or if the writer has their own anonymous source separate from the letter. 

 
Look, Brady is a a god, I get it. The Patriots have been epic since he and BB have been around. I love them. I love Brady, in a slightly inappropriate way even.
 
That doesn't mean that the standard of proof for every element in this minor infraction of the NFL rules has to be at Capital Crime level. I am pretty sure at this point that if we had a film of Brady deflating footballs on the sidelines with used heroin needles from three angles most of this board would demand retinal verification.

 

[Leather]

Christ.  OH OK GLOB

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

The Glob with the SMOKING GUN:
 

https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en

https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en

link to tweet

Well, that seals it. I'm out for the weekend. Peace be with you, y'all!

 

[brandonchristensen]

The Glob with the SMOKING GUN:
 
https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en
 
 
And for those who can't see: Picture of Brady holding football on sideline with the tweet text of: PHOTO: Tom Brady handled the football during the 3rd quarter against the Colts. More coverage:
http://bit.ly/1xLd7DB 

IT WAS THE ONE ARMED MAN

 

[Norm loves Vera]

What is Albert saying here.. he knows the PSI #s for the Patriot game balls that have not been released?
 
Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer 26m26 minutes ago  I now know it wasn't like that. RT @KelseaHanks: @AlbertBreer Unless Pats started at 12.5 ->11.5 and Colts were 13.5 -> 12.5

 

[Leather]

Roger Goodell will now ban Brady from the Superbowl for LYING ABOUT WHETHER HE GRABBED HIS BALLS TIGHTLY OR NOT.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Shit, anyone have any contacts at the Globe who can take that down before Ted Wells gets a chance to see it?

 

[Ferm Sheller]

C'mon, we know the theme song should be Something in the Air Tonight - Phil Collins

 

[CaptainLaddie]

Welp, it's about that time again.
 
I just have to say:  this was among the least enjoyable weeks of football I've ever experienced.  What a fucking cluster fuck. 

 

Still ranks behind losing to the Giants twice (especially the first time) and that first week after we found out that Aaron Hernandez was killing a lot of people and chewing on meth.

 

[Leather]

How about "Don't Be Light" by the band Air.

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

The NFL is now turning its attention from Ballghazi to #squeezegate 

 

[OnWisc]

The Glob with the SMOKING GUN:
 
https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en
 
 
And for those who can't see: Picture of Brady holding football on sideline with the tweet text of: PHOTO: Tom Brady handled the football during the 3rd quarter against the Colts. More coverage:[/size]
http://bit.ly/1xLd7DB 

This could be bad. It looks to me in the second picture that Brady is exerting probably 115-120 PSI on the ball with that grip. I may be off, but I think we can all agree it's at least 110. Now seeing as 105 PSI is pretty much universally regarded as the minimum pressure that needs to be applied to an object to accurately gauge a 2 PSI shift in the gripped object itself, then Brady knew those balls were below spec.

The NFL wanted a smoking gun, this is it. It's as Ann as the nose on plain's face.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

The Glob with the SMOKING GUN:
 
https://twitter.com/BGlobeSports/status/558738026395103232?lang=en
 
 

 

WHAT IN BLUE FUCK
 
Holy fucking shit.

 

[Moosey]

The NFL is now turning its attention from Ballghazi to #squeezegate 

 
That's cool for cats.

 

[E5 Yaz]

The third quarter? But the balls in the second half were properly inflated

 

[Leather]

How do we know he's applying maximum torquage
 

 
That's cool for cats.

 
Tempted by the Balls of Another.

 

[Tito's Pullover]

I am now just as DISTRAUGHT as the league was Monday.

 

[SumnerH]

How about "Don't Be Light" by the band Air.

Or:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBKnpyoFEBo