Patriots caught cheating again?

[Arlo]

I read somewhere that the Russians wanted the U.S. to buy Alaska at pretty much any price since they were broke.  they also wanted us to have it to keep the English from getting it.  At the time, they were afraid they were about to go to war with England, and didnt want the English armies in Canada to be any closer to Russia.

Ayup. Sumpin like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase

[Hajo]

I don't care what happens.  No one here knows how the balls lost air.  If the NFL finds that some skullduggery is involved there are rules that have been violated.

If no evidence is found so what.

[BaldEagl]

Mike Zimmer pretty much summed it up for me:

“I think it was like 41-7, right?” Zimmer said, according to NFL.com. “I don’t think the balls had a lot to do with it.”

[rpm]

I don't care what happens.  No one here knows how the balls lost air.  If the NFL finds that some skullduggery is involved there are rules that have been violated.

If no evidence is found so what.

Yeah, so what? Everybody already knows Brady and Belichick have to cheat to win. Don Shula pointed it out years ago.

[oboe]

I think the temperature drop theory is interesting, and sure hope the officials ALSO tested the Colts balls at halftime as well.  If it was due to temperature it should've affected the Colt's balls similarly.  Just have to wait to see how the NFL handles the investigation, and of course how much information they are willing to make public.

As far as Zimmer's comments saying since it was 41-7, the balls didn't have much to do with it-- I hope he's not suggesting it doesn't matter if you cheat as long as you win by a large enough margin to suggest you were going to win regardless.   If you were going to win anyway, then why cheat?    And what a lousy lesson to teach kids besides.

[Bodhi]

Yeah, so what? Everybody already knows Brady and Belichick have to cheat to win. Don Shula pointed it out years ago.

Pats took their lumps for a foolish case of supposedly taping the Jets Signals.  Foolish or not, it was illegal under the NFL rules.  The funny thing is, that no other allegations have ever been proven.  So, it's best just to label them as "cheats" as they consistently put together a good team.  

Not that it makes cheating right, but if you believe the Patriots that are the only ones breaking the rules, you're fooling yourself.

[Bodhi]

I'd agree Oboe.  The only thing with that theory is that Luck might prefer to have his on the higher end of the spectrum and a pressure drop might bring them down, but keep them within specs.  Who knows.  What I do know is that too many people are convicting without the benefit of all the information. 

The other elephant in the room is that the NFL inspected the balls prior to the game.  The balls were then given to the ball attendant.  If they, the NFL, signed off that they were ok, and the ball attendant deflated them, it's a big issue.  If the NFL signed off and no one touched them, I have a hard time blaming the Patriots unless they come out and say they intentionally tried to do it.  Here nor there, no official words from the investigation, just people speaking on condition of annonymity, which on it's very merit is wrong.

[Obie303]

I'd agree Oboe.  The only thing with that theory is that Luck might prefer to have his on the higher end of the spectrum and a pressure drop might bring them down, but keep them within specs.  Who knows.  What I do know is that too many people are convicting without the benefit of all the information. 

The other elephant in the room is that the NFL inspected the balls prior to the game.  The balls were then given to the ball attendant.  If they, the NFL, signed off that they were ok, and the ball attendant deflated them, it's a big issue.  If the NFL signed off and no one touched them, I have a hard time blaming the Patriots unless they come out and say they intentionally tried to do it.  Here nor there, no official words from the investigation, just people speaking on condition of annonymity, which on it's very merit is wrong.

I agree with this completely!

This is the problem.  Everyone is jumping on the fact the Patriots deflated the footballs without any official ruling.  Pretty much standard a response from people who hate the Patriots.  And just to be on the record, I do live in New England, but I don't agree with calling the team a bunch of cheats until all the facts are out.  I'm not siding with the Pats.  If they are guilty with tampering with the game balls, then they deserve the harshest of punishments.

I'm sure we'll see more of this garbage in the future.  What ever happened to just playing the game?  What's next?  Keeping the balls under lock & key?  BS like this is why I prefer hockey and baseball. Oh wait, you can put too much tar on a bat and put snot on baseball!  Damn!  I guess we're all doomed to watch fishing on ESPN. 

[The Fugitive]

It's the way of the world. Read some place someone said "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" another one is "it's "innovating" until you get caught,  then it's cheating".

due to the history of sore loser's calling out the Pats over the years every eye is on them. As someone else said above, if you think only the Pats are looking for short cuts then your pretty blind.

[rpm]

I'd agree Oboe.  The only thing with that theory is that Luck might prefer to have his on the higher end of the spectrum and a pressure drop might bring them down, but keep them within specs.  Who knows.  What I do know is that too many people are convicting without the benefit of all the information. 

The other elephant in the room is that the NFL inspected the balls prior to the game.  The balls were then given to the ball attendant.  If they, the NFL, signed off that they were ok, and the ball attendant deflated them, it's a big issue.  If the NFL signed off and no one touched them, I have a hard time blaming the Patriots unless they come out and say they intentionally tried to do it.  Here nor there, no official words from the investigation, just people speaking on condition of annonymity, which on it's very merit is wrong.

So you take your car down to get it inspected and they give you a sticker. You get back home and remove all the smog devices and install straight exhaust. It's not your fault when you get caught with an illegal car because you have an inspection sticker?

I have no problem with the formations. Hey, that's innovation. Way to game the game. But only NE balls were deflated. Only NE sideline had access to them. Homer, please. Belicheat gotta Belicheat.

[Bodhi]

RPM,
How do you knwo the refs even checked the pressures?  Do you know that the ball attendant or another subject changed the pressures?  If you do, maybe you should call the NFL.  As for the inflations, you are speaking purely on assumption.  You don't know what range the Colts inflate their balls to, nor do you know what the Patriots inflate theirs to (insert under-inflation joke here). 

I'll say it again... Until it is proven and stated by the NFL, everything is an assumption now.

[rpm]

Because that is pregame SOP the NFL and both teams acknowledge happened. The team is responsible for the balls after inspection. Nobody else. That's standard throughout the league.
Also heard an interview with Troy Aikman today and he said nobody is going to randomly deflate Tom Brady's footballs without Tom Brady and Belicheat knowing about it. This wasn't the first time it's happened either. It's just the first time they were caught doing it. Brady has said in the past he prefers an under inflated ball.

Homer please.

[Slate]

  If the Pats had fumbled or thrown an interception early in the game because of a slippery ball it would have changed the outcome. The momentum of a team can change with one play. Those that will say  "oh they won by a lot so cheating doesn't matter" have lttle ethics of their own. 

   Anyone that touched those balls could have deflated them with a small needle device preset for a certain pressure just like the off road deflators for tires.

  In Nascar depending on what part they tampered with it could take them out of championship contention with fines and suspensions.
 If the Pats are guilty it will taint their season and Superbowl win if any. 

[Delirium]

Disqualify the Patriots, I don't want them in the Superbowl much less win it. Living in New England makes football suddenly a front page story when it should remain in the sports section. You would swear the fans own stock in the team or something the way they get excited en masse like a group of pathetic lemmings.

[Brooke]

I don't think that temperature change would change the air pressure that much.  From PV = nRT, a 15% change in pressure (2 psi on a 13 psi baseline) would need a 15% change in temperature, but temperature as measured in Kelvin (i.e., room temperature is about 294 K).  So a 15% change in temperature would be 44 K worth of difference (which is 44 C of difference or about an 80 deg F change in temperature).  So, unless they filled the balls at 130 deg F and then took them into 50 deg F, it wouldn't change the pressure in the ball by 2 psi.

Unless I have made a math error.