#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[D.o.s.]

The legit point, though, is how on Earth the officials could bungle this so much.  They knew ahead of time that this was an issue, and yet they didn't record their measurements, or even which gauge they used?  They let the balls out of their sight?  You might expect that at the high school level, but in a several billion dollar per year organization, it's ridiculous.

Yeah, it's a joke that a league that is so strict when it comes to things like uniforms, socks, etc... acts so lackadaisical on something like the footballs actually being used in their games.   Then they come out and always beat their chests about the "integrity" of the game.

It's an absolute joke.

But, again, this is business as usual. They suspended Sean Payton for knowing as much about BountyGate as my dog did. Everything the NFL does, from being able to keep a billion dollar industry that totally destroys it's participants in various middle of nowhere pockets (Rochester, Jacksonville, etc.) to fining players more than a year of the minimum wage for wearing Under Armor socks comes from a place of unimpeachable power based on a massive fanbase of, at best, people who are indifferent to more or less every impropriety (from dementia to domestic assault to whatever else you choose to bring up) as long as two criteria are met: that it isn't happening to 'their team' and that the games come at the same time each Sunday.

[Eja117]

As you may already know the Pats have written a very large rebuttal and made it public today..


http://wellsreportcontext.com

[D Dub]

I don't follow football, like at all.  Curious about one thing though.

Can someone help me understand why both teams don't use the same balls?

[Donoghus]

I don't follow football, like at all.  Curious about one thing though.

Can someone help me understand why both teams don't use the same balls?

Good question.

[Roy H.]

I don't follow football, like at all.  Curious about one thing though.

Can someone help me understand why both teams don't use the same balls?

I could be wrong on this, but I think that years ago, they did.  QBs lobbied the league to allow them to use their own balls, scuffed to the degree each QB liked them, etc.

Interestingly enough, a former Dolphins QB just mentioned that years ago (early 2000s, I think), he was playing against the Patriots at Foxboro, and the ballboy kept bringing the Dolphins an unscuffed ball (harder to throw), whereas every time Brady took the field, he was given a broken-in ball.  Who knows if that's accurate, but it wouldn't really surprise me.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I don't follow football, like at all.  Curious about one thing though.

Can someone help me understand why both teams don't use the same balls?

Good question.

Or why the league doesn't supply all the balls, and keep them under lock and key until game time, and not let teams have access to them until warmups, and make all teams/all QBs throw the exact same footballs prepared the exact same way? Kinda like how NBA teams all use the same basketballs?

[celticsclay]

I regret having that pizza for lunch, it is really going to set back my deflating.

[kozlodoev]

As you may already know the Pats have written a very large rebuttal and made it public today..


http://wellsreportcontext.com

I find it funny that this was published using the "Big Brother" canned Wordpress team (and yes, I did read all the way to the bottom to see this).

[Atzar]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

[kozlodoev]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

I don't know why it would be silly. It actually gives meaning to one of the texts that has looked completely incomprehensible to me before, namely the one saying "Deflate and give that jacket to someone".

[PhoSita]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

I don't know why it would be silly. It actually gives meaning to one of the texts that has looked completely incomprehensible to me before, namely the one saying "Deflate and give that jacket to someone".

Right.  And though it may seem like a silly explanation, it is a plausible one -- one that the investigators apparently did not consider.

That's valuable for the Patriots because if an independent party is looking at the conclusions that the NFL drew, the NFL will need to show that there were not alternative explanations that were as probable or more probable.

The Patriots will try to demonstrate that the NFL failed to consider a slew of probable alternative explanations that would tip the balance of evidence in favor of the Patriots not intentionally violating the rules.

[kozlodoev]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

I don't know why it would be silly. It actually gives meaning to one of the texts that has looked completely incomprehensible to me before, namely the one saying "Deflate and give that jacket to someone".

Right.  And though it may seem like a silly explanation, it is a plausible one -- one that the investigators apparently did not consider.

That's valuable for the Patriots because if an independent party is looking at the conclusions that the NFL drew, the NFL will need to show that there were not alternative explanations that were as probable or more probable.

The Patriots will try to demonstrate that the NFL failed to consider a slew of probable alternative explanations that would tip the balance of evidence in favor of the Patriots not intentionally violating the rules.

This thing is starting to look less and less like a PR damage control move, and more like a full-fledged war.

[danglertx]

Just finished reading the response.  My first thought is, holy cow does that make the league and Wells look foolish.

Secondly, I LOVE the Patriots pointing out that the League and the Colts broke Rule 2; the Referee is the sole judge of the pressure of the balls and nobody else is allowed to gauge them.  Ouch!  Take that Colts!

Seriously though, they really didn't even attack Exponent as much as I thought they would but it will be interesting to hear how different the morning show takes are tomorrow.  Goddell should just resign.

[knuckleballer]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

It does sound silly.  I mean who would ever use the term deflate when referring to weight loss.

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/tips/advice/get-rid-of-belly-bloat/
8 Simple Ways to Get Rid of Belly Bloat
Surprising reasons your belly can balloon, and how to deflate it fast.

[Eja117]

I was generally on board with the defense until the silly 'deflator' weight loss nickname.  Would have been better off just not mentioning that one, lol.

I don't know why it would be silly. It actually gives meaning to one of the texts that has looked completely incomprehensible to me before, namely the one saying "Deflate and give that jacket to someone".

Right.  And though it may seem like a silly explanation, it is a plausible one -- one that the investigators apparently did not consider.

That's valuable for the Patriots because if an independent party is looking at the conclusions that the NFL drew, the NFL will need to show that there were not alternative explanations that were as probable or more probable.

The Patriots will try to demonstrate that the NFL failed to consider a slew of probable alternative explanations that would tip the balance of evidence in favor of the Patriots not intentionally violating the rules.

This thing is starting to look less and less like a PR damage control move, and more like a full-fledged war.

Yup. This is the Pats saying to Goodell "you fudged us once. You did it again. This time if we go down we're doing our absolute best to take you down with us. You can make this go away for you. Or you can fight us. Your choice. Because we're fighting."