Deflate - Gate

[Danno]

It's all about the money.

How about penalize the Patriots by letting them play the Super Bowl but any and ALL winnings ($) go directly to charities selected by the OTHER NFL teams (none for the Pats' favorite charities). Thus, they can play . . . they can claim the prestige of however the game goes . . . but they cannot profit.

THAT would be a significant penalty, not the customary 'pocket change' symbolic penalties that no one (especially the offender) cares about.

[Sixties Sam]

The refs handle the ball between all the plays. Wouldn't they notice if they were underinflated? And what was the temperature that day? Cold weather will reduce pressure.

[madhorseman]

I'm not really a rabid Football fan...... However...... In light of the recent findings that the New England Patriots were using game balls that were underinflated by about 2 pounds, instead of, or, maybe in addition to, whatever penalties they incur, IMHO I feel that they should be DISQUALIFIED from winning the Playoff game against the Colts. Besides that, who knows how many of their game balls were underinflated during the regular season? I find it hard to believe that it could have been "an honest mistake" that no one on the team knew about. Every game ball..? Come on now..!! Just sayin......

While this is NOT a political or religious topic, I respectfully ask that ANYONE who posts a response to this, please keep it civil, and NOT let it descend into chaos. I also respectfully ask that the Moderators of this Forum please allow the discussion to continue, as long as it remains civil. Thank you.

I like football, but I'm not a fanatic either, it's funny...i was thinking the same thing. Like in drag racing, red light start; you lose. That simple

[Dirt Demon]

Go Patriots! :lol:

[Harry P.]

The refs handle the ball between all the plays. Wouldn't they notice if they were underinflated? And what was the temperature that day? Cold weather will reduce pressure.

Why didn't it affect any of the Colts' balls?

Obviously the Pats cheated, that's beyond a doubt. The only remaining question is who did it,

[Ju Ju]

Does weather affect footballs like it can car tires?

When I play with my balls outside when it's cold they always seem to get under inflated .

[cobraman]

Maybe during the Superbowl they should just let the other team play with under inflated balls.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Maybe during the Superbowl they should just let the other team play with under inflated balls.

Oh, that's too fair. They won't go for it.

[madhorseman]

Oh BTW,

I loved Jimmy Fallon's monologue where he stated "it's the first time in sports we've talked about deflated balls that didn't involve steroids"

Edited January 24, 2015 by madhorseman

[Dirt Demon]

I love all these people blowing this so far out of proportion.....I hope the Patriots win the Super Bowl..... Then everyone can say they cheated in that game too.... Haters are gonna hate...... Go Pats!

Edited January 29, 2015 by Dirt Demon

[tubbs]

Here's the story. The balls are checked for pressure and size and weight two hours before the game. Each team uses their own balls, they are allotted 12 balls each.

Once the balls are checked and approved they are locked away until just before game time, when each team is given their balls.

So somewhere between when the Pats got their "ok" balls and the game, someone on the Pats deflated 11 of them (why not all 12? Who knows)....

Did the softer balls make it easier for Brady to throw them? Easier for the Patriot receivers to catch them? Obviously. That's why they did it.

Did the softer balls actually have any effect on the final score? Impossible to say.

Did the Patriots cheat? Yes. They knowingly and intentionally broke a game rule. It's not a matter of how unimportant a rule, or how unimportant the result, or even if there was any result at all. The bottom line is they cheated. And they have a proven history of cheating.

If I was the King of the NFL I would erase that game, throw out all the stats, and make the Patriots and Colts replay the game.

Casey, yes, they had underinflated balls, but there is no proof that they (New England) did it, so you cannot say "the bottom line is they cheated". do I think they cheated, heck yea. I think the Colts are pissed because they didn't think of it, do I think it changes the outcome of the game (like the "incomplete" call on Des Bryant), absolutely not.

nothing in sports will be replayed, there has been numerous times that things have happened and none of it was actually replayed. only one I can thing of is when George Brett had too much pine tar on his bat and they took away the home run he hit, AT THAT MOMENT. no, the game should NOT be replayed, take away all of Brady's passing, that may be fair and they STILL WIN because Blount ran all over the colts for 3 scores and 150 yards. what happens and I know it's not intentional, or is it.... when the refs make bad calls, they ADMIT making bad calls, is the game replayed, no.

what I don't understand about the whole thing as I mentioned before, they say they found out at halftime, WHY WASN'T ANYTHING DONE RIGHT THEN? if I am the coach of the colts, I pull my team till something is done, but they continued to play, with the refs handling every ball, and they didn't do anything till AFTER the game. I feel nothing was said because it was only 17-7 and the colts may have felt they were in the game and the "deflated" ball didn't mean that much, after they got their butts handed to them, they cried.

[tubbs]

I love all these people blowing this so far out of proportion.....I hope the Patriots win the Super Bowl..... Then everyone can say they cheated in that game too.... Haters are gonna hate...... Go Pats!

I am right there with you Bill.

Andrew Luck was 12-33 with most of his incompletes not even close to receivers. and the pats had no problem catching 2 of Indy's passes. the Colts defense must have had overinflated shoes or something, because they just FLAT out got manhandled!! probably the worst game the Colts have played all year.

[tubbs]

I am a Colts fan and clearly the Pats won by a convincing margin. I doubt if the ball pressure would have made that much difference. Why did they have to cheat? Once a cheater always a cheater. Belichick should be banned from the Super Bowl. Just like in NASCAR when the crewchief is banned when the team has been proven to cheat. My only question is why are 12 balls ditributed to each team before a game starts? Wouldn't it be more fair if they were distributed durring the game by the refs like in baseball with the exception of the practice balls?

why don't the refs handle the balls during game time? that's my question also. I have a funny feeling that the NFL and good ol Roger are in on this. they say with all the hate flowing over this, this will be the most watched super bowl ever... EVER!! that means a lot of money flowing to the WWF... er, I mean the NFL. can you say scripted. would the Seahawk-Colts super bowl bring this much excitement? I don't think so...... just sayin.....

Edited January 29, 2015 by tubbs

[Dirt Demon]

There are a lot of arm chair critics like Harry on this subject....... It just amazes me on how quick everyone is acting like the Pats committed a murder or something. Nobody knows the REAL facts on the situation..... not even the league but....everyone is quick to throw them under the bus or hang them so to speak. Get over it people!.... The Pats could have beat the Colts without Brady even being on the field!. They dominated all aspects of the game!... Mainly the running game..... Like I said before.... "Haters are gonna hate".... Lmao!

[tubbs]

There are a lot of arm chair critics like Harry on this subject....... It just amazes me on how quick everyone is acting like the Pats committed a murder or something. Nobody knows the REAL facts on the situation..... not even the league but....everyone is quick to throw them under the bus or hang them so to speak. Get over it people!.... The Pats could have beat the Colts without Brady even being on the field!. They dominated all aspects of the game!... Mainly the running game..... Like I said before.... "Haters are gonna hate".... Lmao!

agreed, but once you get that reputation, it's hard to shake. I just wish Bill would have stayed in Cleveland!?!? people have a right to form an opinion, I believe he did it. like I said before, it seems they knew about the deflated balls at halftime and nothing was done... so be it, it is what it is.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

The whole "Pats deflated balls" evidence is useless without one piece of evidence: the Colts' balls' pressures.

Where are they? What are the exact pressures of their footballs? Prove that your footballs were perfectly inflated all the way through the game while the Pats' weren't.

This is why this case will go nowhere.

[Erik Smith]

The whole "Pats deflated balls" evidence is useless without one piece of evidence: the Colts' balls' pressures.

Where are they? What are the exact pressures of their footballs? Prove that your footballs were perfectly inflated all the way through the game while the Pats' weren't.

This is why this case will go nowhere.

The Colts ball pressure did not effect the Pats ball pressure. This is a red herring argument. It is a known FACT that the Pats balls were under inflated.

[Dirt Demon]

I can hardy wait to see what will happens after the Pats win the Super Bowl Sunday..... The arm chair critics will be out in full force.... With their expert analysis of the game...lmao!

[chunkypeanutbutter]

The Colts ball pressure did not effect the Pats ball pressure. This is a red herring argument. It is a known FACT that the Pats balls were under inflated.

I'm not avoiding the fact their balls were deflated. I said that.

Just the evidence of the Pats' deflated balls means absolutely nothing without the proof that the Colts' balls weren't deflated. Get it?

[Erik Smith]

I'm not avoiding the fact their balls were deflated. I said that.

Just the evidence of the Pats' deflated balls means absolutely nothing without the proof that the Colts' balls weren't deflated. Get it?

I won't get into logical argumentation here. But as I said before, the Colt's balls have nothing to do with the Pat's balls.

Essentially what you are proposing is that the Pats are guilty but if the Colts also cheated, than the Pats are in some way not guilty. Get it?

Edited January 29, 2015 by Erik Smith

[slusher]

I can hardy wait to see what will happens after the Pats win the Super Bowl Sunday..... The arm chair critics will be out in full force.... With their expert analysis of the game...lmao!

Bill, I have no team in the game but they have to play it first. It really does seam there is always some controversy around the Patriots coach or team. No matter what team that would be in the championship game if the balls came up under pressure there would be talk....

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I won't get into logical argumentation here. But as I said before, the Colt's balls have nothing to do with the Pat's balls.

Essentially what you are proposing is that the Pats are guilty but if the Colts also cheated, than the Pats are in some way not guilty. Get it?

I'm not saying the Pats are guilty. Isn't it possible that the balls lost pressure during normal play, not to mention it was cold then?

[slusher]

I'm not saying the Pats are guilty. Isn't it possible that the balls lost pressure during normal play, not to mention it was cold then?

Then it should have affected the colts footballs...

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Then it should have affected the colts footballs...

Exactly my point. How come we haven't seen any stats on what their balls were, pressure-wise?

Look, it's fully possible that the Pats cheated. I don't even care, really. All I want is proof that the Colts' balls weren't affected by the atmosphere.

Edited January 29, 2015 by chunkypeanutbutter

[Erik Smith]

I'm not saying the Pats are guilty. Isn't it possible that the balls lost pressure during normal play, not to mention it was cold then?

The balls did not lose air pressure due to weather. The temperature only dropped about 4 degrees from the start of the game to the end. The balls were "caught" at halftime, meaning even less of a drop. Using an equation for volume change based on temperature, the change is negligible - probably less than .1 psi. Plus, all balls would have lost the same amount of air - they were measured at the start at 12.5 - so 12 of 12 would have tested the same. One of the balls was still legal when measured.