#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[fairweatherfan]

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

The stories I've read (ESPN, I assume they'd've fixed it by now if it was wrong) state that the ref check is 2 hours 15 minutes before kickoff, and they're returned to the teams at that point.  Where are you hearing differently?

League sources have confirmed that the footballs were properly inspected and approved by referee Walt Anderson 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, before they were returned to each team.

[mkogav]

[kozlodoev]

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

The stories I've read (ESPN, I assume they'd've fixed it by now if it was wrong) state that the ref check is 2 hours 15 minutes before kickoff, and they're returned to the teams at that point.  Where are you hearing differently?

League sources have confirmed that the footballs were properly inspected and approved by referee Walt Anderson 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, before they were returned to each team.

No-one is really elaborating on the timing of this, though. It's worth noting that the rulebook states that approved 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.”

So this pretty much means there is an equipment guy with a needle sitting in the middle of Gillette with all sort of players, personnel, and league guys walking around -- letting air out of the balls. Really?

[BleedGreen1989]

Im bummed.

Patriots didn't even need to do this and never have needed to, but its an ugly stain right now as people love to hate the Patriots and beat the "cheaters" drum.

[Fafnir]

So its zero evidence because the reports are off the record?

There is zero evidence because there is zero evidence, I don't know how to explain it better. "The balls were irregular at halftime therefore the Patriots tampered with them" is not evidence, it is conjecture.

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

The balls being underinflated is evidence that someone deflated them. I don't see how they aren't evidence, maybe you could up the "sacrasm" and "condescension" a notch and I'll get it?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Part of the issue here is that fans know the NFL is a control freak league. You can watch it for your whole life and then after a dominant win your team is supposedly in trouble for something nobody even knew is a thing and that other teams routinely do.

What next? Do we now have to be on the lookout for the Pats not using regulation teeth guards? Maybe their socks aren't pulled up high enough? Maybe after another dominant with the other team can complain about possibly use of voodoo dolls? Perhaps the eye black was too long?

Precisely. This is one of those rules that makes no sense to begin with. If the league would just let teams inflate their footballs to whatever level they want, then every QB will be perfectly comfortable and no team will have an "unfair competitive advantage." This is not like putting grease on a baseball and thereby leaving hitters at a great disadvantage. This is about QBs being comfortable with the primary tool of their trade.

In fact, the rule, as currently written, is creating a disadvantage for some QBs; case in point: Aaron Rodgers is forced to use footballs that are softer than he'd prefer. That's giving Green Bay's opponents an unfair advantage. And how is Eli Manning filing the laces on his footballs NOT unfair under this same kind of thinking?

Firmness of the football has little bearing on the overall outcome of a football game. It seems to me that many people are being pharisaic on this issue, nitpicking about every letter of the law instead of just letting people play football—as everyone else besides the Patriots (Rodgers, E. Manning, Brad Johnson, Vikings and Panthers) has been allowed to do.

[Rondo2287]

So its zero evidence because the reports are off the record?

There is zero evidence because there is zero evidence, I don't know how to explain it better. "The balls were irregular at halftime therefore the Patriots tampered with them" is not evidence, it is conjecture.

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

agreed this appears to be more inference than evidence for the most part. 

Finally, it is the refs responsibility to take balls unfit for play out of play.  They were tested before the game, the refs saw them fit for play during the first half as evidenced by the fact that no balls were removed during the first half.  Saw them unfit for play during halftime, balls were removed, patriots proceeded to roll the colts in the second half. 

[Fafnir]

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

The stories I've read (ESPN, I assume they'd've fixed it by now if it was wrong) state that the ref check is 2 hours 15 minutes before kickoff, and they're returned to the teams at that point.  Where are you hearing differently?

League sources have confirmed that the footballs were properly inspected and approved by referee Walt Anderson 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, before they were returned to each team.

A former Ref they interviewed said the ballboys get them when the refs leave their room for the final time and head out to the field for the game. So that'd be prior to the coin toss and all that. So 15-20 minutes minimum given the TV breaks?

[kozlodoev]

So its zero evidence because the reports are off the record?

There is zero evidence because there is zero evidence, I don't know how to explain it better. "The balls were irregular at halftime therefore the Patriots tampered with them" is not evidence, it is conjecture.

Also, the part where the officiating crew is supposed to be in charge of the balls pretty much until the whole thing goes live on national TV is somehow not receiving a lot of emphasis.

The balls being underinflated is evidence that someone deflated them. I don't see how they aren't evidence, maybe you could up the "sacrasm" and "condescension" a notch and I'll get it?

No, it isn't. Perhaps stick your nose in a couple of articles out there to see the lengths to which teams would go to make sure the ball is "pre-processed" to their QB's liking.

There are ways to make a ball lose pressure before inspection and kickoff without having to tamper with the ball. Just talk to your local tire retailer. Or try this:

A good estimate to use when comparing tire pressure to air temperature is for every 10 degrees F, tire pressure will adjust by 1 psi. For example, if the outside air temperature increases 10 degrees, the tire pressure will increase by 1 psi. Conversely, if the air temperature falls 10 degrees, the tire pressure will decrease by 1 psi.

http://www.tirebuyer.com/education/tire-inflation-pressure-and-temperature

Judging by what's out there, the league allows all sorts of malarkey prior to inspection, as long as the officiating crew deems the balls conforming. Inflating the balls in an 80F laundry room, soaking a ball in water and running it through a commercial dryer to improve grip, you name it.

It's not the great conspiracy that a dozen of loud hacks are making it out to be. Most former players and officials tend to think that this is a big deal just because it's the Patriots. Which makes sense, because the refs can swap any ball they feel isn't conforming at just about any time.

[Rondo2287]

Peter King ?@SI_PeterKing  · 6m6 minutes ago 
RT @whichever99: Who has custody of the balls between the ref's testing and the refs giving the balls to the ball boys? … The officials.

[kozlodoev]

What next? Do we now have to be on the lookout for the Pats not using regulation teeth guards? Maybe their socks aren't pulled up high enough? Maybe after another dominant with the other team can complain about possibly use of voodoo dolls? Perhaps the eye black was too long?

File under odd things I learned because of Deflategate:

The NFL does random uniform checks before and at the half-time of playoff games because apparently some DLs started spraying silicone on their jerseys. I kid you not -- it's supposed to make it harder for blockers to get a grip on the body.

[Fafnir]

Peter King ?@SI_PeterKing  · 6m6 minutes ago 
RT @whichever99: Who has custody of the balls between the ref's testing and the refs giving the balls to the ball boys? … The officials.

Indeed either the officials deflated them or the ballboys did (or someone the ballboys allowed access to).

Or we could go with the immaculate deflation caused by temperatures that only effected one teams footballs. Given that they were reinflated at halftime I'd imagine the NFL would know pretty well if the immaculate deflation was true given that they'd likely be similarly deflated after the second half as well.

[colincb]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2015/01/21/new-england-patriots-deflating-footballs-may-not-as-easy-as-it-sounds/22113343/

A person with intimate knowledge of the process told USA TODAY Sports the ball attendant is a uniformed official – generally the same person each week at a given stadium – who comes to the locker room to pick up the balls and takes them to the officials' locker room for testing.

The ball attendant delivers the balls to the ball boys – usually four provided by the home team and two traveling with the visiting team – who make sure their quarterback's preferred balls get into the game, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

At halftime, the balls return to the officials' locker room, the person said. So, if proper protocol is followed, the only opportunity to manipulate the balls is minutes before kickoff or during the game on the sideline, where there's a risk of anyone in the stadium and dozens of TV cameras seeing it.

...

Asked how long it takes to change and measure the pressure of a football, the person said, "Ten seconds. But if they were all exactly 2 pounds under? It would be almost impossible to get them exactly all the same weight or the same psi.

"That, or you'd have to be really good at knowing exactly where to pull the needle. And then what if you take too much out? How are you going to pump it back up on the field? You can't. You need a ball pump to do it. That's what's even more weird about it. Too many moving parts."

[Donoghus]

Peter King ?@SI_PeterKing  · 6m6 minutes ago 
RT @whichever99: Who has custody of the balls between the ref's testing and the refs giving the balls to the ball boys? … The officials.

When do they actually give them to the ball boys?  How prior to kickoff?

[Rondo2287]

Peter King ?@SI_PeterKing  · 6m6 minutes ago 
RT @whichever99: Who has custody of the balls between the ref's testing and the refs giving the balls to the ball boys? … The officials.

Indeed either the officials deflated them or the ballboys did (or someone the ballboys allowed access to).

Or we could go with the immaculate deflation caused by temperatures that only effected one teams footballs. Given that they were reinflated at halftime I'd imagine the NFL would know pretty well if the immaculate deflation was true given that they'd likely be similarly deflated after the second half as well.

La canfora's source believes it was not deliberate

spoke to someone who is very familiar with the Pats practice and game-day handling of their game balls -- someone no longer a member of the organization who has no stake in the outcome of this investigation one way or another -- who was adamant that there had never been any sort of protocol about deflating balls in the rain or certain conditions.

"We would practice in the rain, Bill would throw water on dry balls during practice and there was never anything done to deflate them because of it being wet," the former Patriot said. "That doesn't even make any sense. As anal as Tom is about the balls, there's no way he'd let some ball boy or whatever try to deflate it to a certain PSI.

"Tom knows a football, and the way he wants it, like you or I would know a kid. But there was never anything deflating or doctoring balls during a game. He knows how he wants the ball going into a game and he's not going to take any chances of someone else messing around with a ball to get it right. As anal as he is about the way he wants the balls to be, he's not going to able to tell the difference of 1psi or whatever."