Deflategate

If they can prove this was deliberate, the NFL should...


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backslashbaby

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I get the feeling it's very common? I'd have to know that sort of thing and whether they really did it before figuring out what punishment I think is right. Just a fine if everyone does it when they want to, imho.

But could it have been the cold? I said maybe they cranked up the heat in the room they inflated them in ;) I'd totally do that if it made a nice loophole in the rules :D I like my sports dirty!
 

cornflake

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Everyone, apparently, except the guy the leaks have all said reported the problem in the first place. And the Colts coach. etc.

For those interested, looks like it may have been an NFL sting after the Ravens informed the Colts the Patriots may have been under-inflating balls.

If the NFL knew about the possibility ahead of time and let a championship game go ahead anyway, they've got some 'splainin to do too, IMO.

Some more 'splainin. Again.

They measured them pre-game and they were apparently regulation though.

I don't know what NFL rules are about equipment - in the NHL the other team has to call the violation for the refs to measure whatever it is. Then if you were wrong, you get a penalty; if you're right, they're in trouble.

I get the feeling it's very common? I'd have to know that sort of thing and whether they really did it before figuring out what punishment I think is right. Just a fine if everyone does it when they want to, imho.

But could it have been the cold? I said maybe they cranked up the heat in the room they inflated them in ;) I'd totally do that if it made a nice loophole in the rules :D I like my sports dirty!

If it was the cold, it shouldn't have only affected one team's balls. Everyone suffers shrinkage.

I dunno about cranking up the heat, but it's a near 20% loss - that seems too high for that to me, but I dunno anything about the physics of that or anything.
 

BenPanced

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My response is, "STOP NAMING A SCANDAL BY CREATING A PORTMANTEAU USING '-GATE' AT THE END OF THE SUBJECT OF THE SCANDAL".
 

blacbird

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There's one absolute certainty: No way is the NFL going to kick the Patriots out of the SuperBowl. The financial fallout from that would be incomprehensible.

caw
 

backslashbaby

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If it was the cold, it shouldn't have only affected one team's balls. Everyone suffers shrinkage.

I dunno about cranking up the heat, but it's a near 20% loss - that seems too high for that to me, but I dunno anything about the physics of that or anything.

That does sound like too much, I think, yeah. If someone feels ambitious, we could estimate the physics, but I only do the details of physics questions grudgingly, lol ;) Drives my dad batty :D
 

benbradley

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and still no one is talking about flatulence. Well, I'm duly bored and going to another thread.
Hey, this is P&CE, where we have only POLITE and NICE conversation...
My response is, "STOP NAMING A SCANDAL BY CREATING A PORTMANTEAU USING '-GATE' AT THE END OF THE SUBJECT OF THE SCANDAL".
Gategate? Portamenteaugate?
 

frimble3

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My response is, "STOP NAMING A SCANDAL BY CREATING A PORTMANTEAU USING '-GATE' AT THE END OF THE SUBJECT OF THE SCANDAL".
If '-gate' isn't added, how will those of us who know nothing about a subject know that there is a scandal?
 

regdog

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SRSLY, can't we focus on more important issues. Like the size of KK's azz?


No, it broke the interwebz and we refuse to fix it so we never have to hear about or see her azz again,

The NFL isn't that distraught - it's 'investigating.'

Tuesday morning news ticker here in MA.
The NFL said it is "disappointed and distraught over deflated footballs"

I had to watch the stupid thing twice to make sure it really said that.

My response is, "STOP NAMING A SCANDAL BY CREATING A PORTMANTEAU USING '-GATE' AT THE END OF THE SUBJECT OF THE SCANDAL".

Indeed
 

ULTRAGOTHA

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Well, I think it only makes sense that if your balls feel better you'll play better.

Haggis, why do you have Cray in your mouth?


Put. The. Moderator. Down.
 

benbradley

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If '-gate' isn't added, how will those of us who know nothing about a subject know that there is a scandal?
I wondered about this, so I looked up the hotel where all this started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_complex
I thought the last sentence (conveniently bolded by me below) was rather amusing:
The ensuing Watergate Scandal, named for the complex, led to the resignation of Nixon on August 9, 1974.[8][9] The name "Watergate" and the suffix "-gate" have since become synonymous with political scandals in the United States[10] and in other English- and non-English-speaking nations as well.[11]
I had no clue it had become an international phenomenon!
 

Magdalen

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I don't see what the fuss is about! It's obvious that a team of Clydesdales stepped on a dozen Patriot balls that were adjusted by half-time (keep your pants on) & whose eventual psi will likely spawn at least a couple of sooprbwl ads, no doubt!!

Mags
surprised she posted in this thread
 

Williebee

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Let's throw some math at this.

Somebody took a look at the Patriots fumble record for the last decade or so. It shows a bit of a change since 2007.

Based on the assumption that plays per fumble follow a normal distribution, you’d expect to see, according to random fluctuation, the results that the Patriots have gotten since 2007 once in 5842 instances.

Which in layman’s terms means that this result only being a coincidence, is like winning a raffle where you have a 0.0001711874 probability to win. In other words, it’s very unlikely that results this abnormal are only due to the endogenous nature of the game.

And this (which I haven't looked for a second source on yet, so take it with a grain, maybe):

In 2006, Tom Brady (and Peyton Manning) lobbied in favor of changing a NFL rule, and as a result, the NFL agreed to change policies. Brady wanted the NFL to let EVERY team provide its OWN footballs to use on offense, even when that team was playing on the road. Prior to that year, the HOME team provided ALL the footballs, meaning the home quarterback selected the footballs the ROAD quarterback would play with on offense.

Brady’s quote at the time, when pushing for the change was: “The thing is, every quarterback likes it a little bit different. Some like them blown up a little bit more, some like them a little more thin, some like them a little more new, some like them really broken in.”
 

Publius

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I just wish everybody would use the full term "footballs," when discussing this topic.

The twelve year old in me hasn't stopped laughing since Belicheck said, and I quote, "I've handled dozens of balls over the past week."
 

backslashbaby

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A few someones have now done the math I brought up before. I knew that waiting a bit always leads to the smart guys jumping to do the tedious part of math problems for everyone ;) :D

One guru goofed his, though. Oops. But that got noticed, of course:

'Neil DeGrasse Tyson bungles science of Deflate-gate scandal (UPDATED)'

http://www.avclub.com/article/neil-degrasse-tyson-bungles-science-deflate-gate-s-214373

It's not controversial or difficult physics or anything, just a little something he forgot to do.

So, in the end, the temperature could have caused the change, but the Patriots starting temperature would have to be pretty warm. Like, warmer than a warm room, but not completely unheard of. Plausible deniability, lol?

We'd have to know what the other balls clocked in at to know whether the temperature explains them as well. Given the range of temperatures and pressure, it's possible that they make sense under that explanation, too.

But the Patriots would have to have had things pretty toasty! I think they did, personally ;)
 
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LittlePinto

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It seems to me the problem is that they're playing with their own balls instead of neutral balls. If the League provided the balls and the refs checked that they were inflated to a standard pressure before the game then it would be harder for problems like this to pop up.
 

Publius

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What are "neutral" balls. Does being married disqualify me from having them?
 

ShaunHorton

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RedRajah

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Lyv

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Well, with the season now over, and the Patriots winning the superbowl, everything gets swept under the rug or passes the buck.

So apparently there was never actually an issue with the footballs, it was a coordinated slander campaign by the Ravens and the Colts.

Well, cheaters apparently prosper in the NFL. But I think we all knew that.

Before the Super Bowl that info about only one football being deflated hit my Facebook feed, but other than my local Pats fan friends, no one wanted to hear about it. It was all vitriol all the time. I don't like football, but it always seemed fishy to me. Not that I don't think the Pats wouldn't cheat, but because I didn't think they'd do it so stupidly and for that game. It didn't make sense to me on several levels.