#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[Boris Badenov]

I've lost whatever respect I had left for ESPN.

Their primary story on this thing, as of right now, leads with this gem:

Under his oversized ski cap, Tom Brady could not hide from the fact he was convicting himself in the court of public opinion. The quarterback of the New England Patriots admitted that footballs pumped up to 12.5 pounds per square inch are "a perfect fit for me," yet swore he did not notice a difference in the AFC Championship Game when the balls weighed two pounds lighter.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12213363/tom-brady-tale-hold-weight

That one got past both the reporter and the editor?

I think the NFL would be more entertaining if the league made them play with a 12.5 pound ball, though.

Those didn't just make it past the editor. They are the first two sentences of the article.

I'm ready for SportsMediaGate. Someone's been falsifying journalism degrees.

[Cman]

Now are we sure the colts balls did not change at all in terms of PSI or that they were still legal?  If they filled at the top of the allowed spectrum, they could dip and still be legal.  To be honest I would find it hard to believe that they were exactly the same.

You aren't the only one who would find it hard to believe, any scientist, anyone who has lived in cold weather, anyone who knows the least bit about physics, and pretty much every rational adult human in the educated world can tell you a ball will deflate as the temperature decreases.

For those unable to do the math, someone already did it and it was 1.2 psi from room temp to game start temp.  That would be assuming the balls were kept in a 72 degree room, which they may or may not have been.

Since Brady likes 12.5 I think you could assume the Patriots submitted balls around 12.5psi.  So at least the balls would be down to 11.3 psi assuming they were properly checked.  Arron Rogers said he tries to slip overinflated balls by the refs because they don't always check well, maybe the Patriots submitted balls between 12 and 13.  Every time you check the balls a little air comes out.  They were checked at least twice.  It isn't the least bit shocking some of the balls might have been close to 10.5 and nothing nefarious was going on.

As for the Colt's balls, I don't know how much air they lost and neither does anyone else posting on here.  Anyone who says, "the Colts balls didn't lose any air" are flat out lying.  Unless they filled their balls outside in the cold, their footballs lost pressure.  Maybe the Colts fill their footballs to 13.5 and ended just below 12.5 or maybe they were never even checked.

I'd believe the above is what happened before I'd believe some ball boy was letting air out of the balls on the sidelines in front of any number of people and cameras minutes before kickoff.

But... then you're saying there's no scandal?
That's scandalous!

[wahz]

Wondering to what extent Seattle will taunt the Pats and Brady -- calling them "cheaters" during the game.  Sounds juvenile and potentially counterproductive but I bet some Seahawks will believe that the word will get under Pats' skin and in their heads -- throwing them off their game.   

It's easy to suggest that this would just burn more fire in the competitive bellies of NE players, but I'm not so sure that it won't hit home -- this controversy potentially cuts deep with regard to the Pats place in NFL history.  This is something that truly can throw a team off.

I guess that is why you are neurotic guy.  The Hawks have their own motivations getting fined for phantom crotch grabs. I doubt the Pats get thrown off much. Seattle will be royally p---ed meanwhile also dealing with the fines and the idea that they were lucky.(They were).

[BitterJim]

I've lost whatever respect I had left for ESPN.

Their primary story on this thing, as of right now, leads with this gem:

Under his oversized ski cap, Tom Brady could not hide from the fact he was convicting himself in the court of public opinion. The quarterback of the New England Patriots admitted that footballs pumped up to 12.5 pounds per square inch are "a perfect fit for me," yet swore he did not notice a difference in the AFC Championship Game when the balls weighed two pounds lighter.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12213363/tom-brady-tale-hold-weight

You made it further than me.  As soon as I saw that the writer was from ESPN New York I stopped reading

[JSD]

Venting:

I'm so angry about all this. I was looking forward to talk about what this game means to Bill and Tom's legacy, recapping the AFC championship, previewing the Super Bowl... Instead it's all about this nonsense. A sensational, blood thirsty media lead by the absolutely shameless ESPN. Can anyone there even call themselves "journalists" or "reporters" anymore? Because it is false advertising. They are click-bait, ratings hungry, entertainers.

[Beat LA]

I love how people are still talking about balls, lol.

[Beat LA]

Venting:

I'm so angry about all this. I was looking forward to talk about what this game means to Bill and Tom's legacy, recapping the AFC championship, previewing the Super Bowl... Instead it's all about this nonsense. A sensational, blood thirsty media lead by the absolutely shameless ESPN. Can anyone there even call themselves "journalists" or "reporters" anymore? Because it is false advertising. They are click-bait, ratings hungry, entertainers.

Dude, you're a Celtics fan.  Shouldn't you already know this, lol?

Sidebar - has all of this left you feeling quite 'deflated,' about the Patriots, lol? (Groan).  I know, I know - these don't even qualify as horrible jokes, haha.  I'm just trying to lighten the mood.

In other news, I loved it when Putin stole Kraft's superbowl ring, ahaha.

[LooseCannon]

Fans of a big-market team with a martyr complex remind me of Laker fans who think the league does everything it can to screw them.

[Boris Badenov]

If this settles down and the Pats win, SNL could probably break its all-time ratings record by having Brady as a guest and just having him work the word "balls" into every skit.

It would be capped off of course by him reprising today's presser, but as quarterback Tom Schweddy.

[kraidstar]

reggie miller and grant hill were talking tonight on TNT about how they used to deflate basketballs before NBA games. marv albert said doc rivers admitted to him to doing the same thing while playing for the hawks.
this whole controversy is a giant joke, and is only important to small-minded football fans who hate the patriots and really have no clue about the sort of things that really go on in sports.
this isn't about honestly, the "integrity of the game", or cheating.
it's a witch hunt by armchair moralists who don't realize that athletes are obsessive and make minor adjustments to equipment when they're technically not supposed to.
it's not a big deal.
and anybody who thinks BB and TFB are the antichrist should not be a celtics fan, red auerbach was 100x worse.

[kraidstar]

one more thing... how do we know for sure the refs ever even really checked the pressure of the balls before the game? i wouldn't be surprised at all if they stamped them without using a gauge, which would explain why aaron rodgers submits them when they're over-inflated, presumably they don't always check.
i wonder if the ref who stamped them would admit if he'd never actually checked them?

another facet of this is that the league rules state that there's a $25,000 fine for this offense, with the possibility of more punishment being levied.
$25,000? that's chump change in this league, and it implies that the league isn't that concerned about it.
but since the commissioner's office botched its handling of the ray rice scandal, and because everyone hates the pats... well, now it's a huge deal?

[Sixth Man]

I viewed the Brady presser performance, and it was excruciating to see someone lie in such an obvious manner.  There is a lot of venting going on here by (mostly) diehard Patriots fans, but even Kraft's own guy, Goodell, is going to have to bring the hammer down on the Pats in the form of rescinding of draft picks. 

Tom Brady must be the world's worst poker player - can anyone get me an invite to his home game? :-)

[Eja117]

Fans of a big-market team with a martyr complex remind me of Laker fans who think the league does everything it can to screw them.

Those exist?

[clover]

I viewed the Brady presser performance, and it was excruciating to see someone lie in such an obvious manner.  There is a lot of venting going on here by (mostly) diehard Patriots fans, but even Kraft's own guy, Goodell, is going to have to bring the hammer down on the Pats in the form of rescinding of draft picks. 

Tom Brady must be the world's worst poker player - can anyone get me an invite to his home game? :-)

Yeah, you could see the corners of his mouth curl up whenever he told an especially big one.

[Eja117]

 FWIW Penn State fans are calling Pats fans hypocrites for portraying Brady as a golden boy that's just too good to cheat. When Dan LeBatard said something to the effect "It's too bad we can just tear down a perfect 15 year career with so little evidence" they were kind of like "Oh really? Not a lot of due process to destroy a perfect career? Tell me about it".