#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.

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?

Yeah on rereading I guess there's some wiggle room in "before they were returned to each team".  Could be anywhere between that 2.25 hours pre-game inspection and pretty shortly before kickoff.

[kozlodoev]

The rest of LaCanfora's article is also worth it:

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

[Boris Badenov]

I wonder whether something as simple as a bad pressure gauge would explain this.

I guess we'll see.

[hpantazo]

Sure we cheated, but we didn't need to cheat to beat you so you're the bad sport is a really strange way to talk about this.

Is it as strange as getting the living snot beaten out of you and then accusing the other team of cheating with balls that were checked and then checked again and handled hundreds of times by refs?

Is it as strange as getting beat when you were up by two TDs and then complaining the other team used totally legal formations?

Eja explained my point very well. The balls were checked and approved by officials before the game, both teams played with the same balls, the balls were re-inspected and re-inflated, then the Patriots go on to crush them on fair, even ground. That's when they take the complaint to the league. It's poor sportsmanship on their part and an attempt at defamation.

[D Dub]

maybe the Pats balls were flatter after the game cuz they kept getting spiked in the end zone?

they put up 4 second half touchdowns to Indy's zero.

[kozlodoev]

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2015/01/21/source-patriots-used-backup-balls-in-second-half-of-sundays-game/

[hpantazo]

I wonder whether something as simple as a bad pressure gauge would explain this.

I guess we'll see.

it would be much more reasonable considering all the balls were at about the same pressure and doing that on purpose secretly between referee inspections is almost impossible, and so is the idea that the weather deflated them all equally.

[rondohondo]

Did anyone see Fran Tarkenton on CNN today ?

He went a little nutty . He was screaming how deflating a ball has no effect on a game , but went off yelling that all the teams in the playoffs are there because they are bigger and stronger because of PED use .

He said he has been bringing this up for 5 years but no one wants to report it. The talking head on CNN cut him off before he could finish and went onto the whole " This is not the opinion of CNN" .

It is kind of true though . Rodney Harrison caught back a few years ago, numerous Seahawks players being suspended the last few years .....

[D.o.s.]

People will take any chance they can get to get on television and yell.

[TheFlex]

Did anyone see Fran Tarkenton on CNN today ?

He went a little nutty . He was screaming how deflating a ball has no effect on a game , but went off yelling that all the teams in the playoffs are there because they are bigger and stronger because of PED use .

He said he has been bringing this up for 5 years but no one wants to report it. The talking head on CNN cut him off before he could finish and went onto the whole " This is not the opinion of CNN" .

It is kind of true though . Rodney Harrison caught back a few years ago, numerous Seahawks players being suspended the last few years .....

What's wrong with today's America is that this was legitimately discussed on CNN "world news."

And no, I'm not a 50 year old white dude screaming at neighborhood punks to get off my lawn.

[Smitty77]

This is going to be a BIG deal given the Patriots' sad history (see SpyGate) of cheating or winning at ANY cost!!  This is absolutely humiliating for the NFL and you will see some substantial punishment doled out this time.  There will be NO more slaps on the wrists. 

I could see the Pats losing multiple draft picks over several years and their coach suspended for half of next season.

This will NOT go away.

Smitty77

[Neurotic Guy]

Sure we cheated, but we didn't need to cheat to beat you so you're the bad sport is a really strange way to talk about this.

Is it as strange as getting the living snot beaten out of you and then accusing the other team of cheating with balls that were checked and then checked again and handled hundreds of times by refs?

Is it as strange as getting beat when you were up by two TDs and then complaining the other team used totally legal formations?

Eja explained my point very well. The balls were checked and approved by officials before the game, both teams played with the same balls, the balls were re-inspected and re-inflated, then the Patriots go on to crush them on fair, even ground. That's when they take the complaint to the league. It's poor sportsmanship on their part and an attempt at defamation.

Not sure if I am understanding this the way you intended, but it sounds like you are saying the teams played the game with the same footballs, which is not true.   Indy's offense plays with Indy's balls; Pats offense plays with Pats balls.  So, assuming the Pats balls were deflated and Indy's weren't, the Pats offense had an advantage.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

This is going to be a BIG deal given the Patriots' sad history (see SpyGate) of cheating or winning at ANY cost!!  This is absolutely humiliating for the NFL and you will see some substantial punishment doled out this time.  There will be NO more slaps on the wrists. 

I could see the Pats losing multiple draft picks over several years and their coach suspended for half of next season.

This will NOT go away.

Smitty77

Wouldn't surprise me, but this would also be an unfair overreaction: Unfair because other teams have been filmed—FILMED—doing similar things without getting ANY punishment, and an overreaction because it would be the equivalent of pulling someone's driver's license for going 5 miles over the limit.

[kozlodoev]

This is going to be a BIG deal given the Patriots' sad history (see SpyGate) of cheating or winning at ANY cost!!  This is absolutely humiliating for the NFL and you will see some substantial punishment doled out this time.  There will be NO more slaps on the wrists.

Just out of curiosity, do you know EXACTLY why the Patriots were fined in the so-called SpyGate?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Sure we cheated, but we didn't need to cheat to beat you so you're the bad sport is a really strange way to talk about this.

Is it as strange as getting the living snot beaten out of you and then accusing the other team of cheating with balls that were checked and then checked again and handled hundreds of times by refs?

Is it as strange as getting beat when you were up by two TDs and then complaining the other team used totally legal formations?

Eja explained my point very well. The balls were checked and approved by officials before the game, both teams played with the same balls, the balls were re-inspected and re-inflated, then the Patriots go on to crush them on fair, even ground. That's when they take the complaint to the league. It's poor sportsmanship on their part and an attempt at defamation.

Not sure if I am understanding this the way you intended, but it sounds like you are saying the teams played the game with the same footballs, which is not true.   Indy's offense plays with Indy's balls; Pats offense plays with Pats balls.  So, assuming the Pats balls were deflated and Indy's weren't, the Pats offense had an advantage.

But would this have really been an advantage? If Luck had his footballs at the psi he prefers (even if within the legal limit), then he's not at a disadvantage versus Brady. The NFL already leans towards this principle by allowing a range of psi (without, I might add, giving any reasoning as to why "12.5—13.5 psi" is "proper" and why anything outside that is "improper"; i.e., it all seems arbitrary to me).

In other words, if both QBs are comfortable with the level of inflation in their respective footballs, there is no unfair advantage on either side, regardless of what an arbitrary and meaningless rule states.