Best article about the Cheats I have read so far

[Djfan]

And it's from Boston!

[URL="http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/01/22/win-lose-patriots-have-sacrificed-their-legacy/XIYx6wws1NpEn1h82kMtwO/story.html"]http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/20...twO/story.html[/URL]


DAN SHAUGHNESSY
Win or lose, Patriots have sacrificed their legacy

By Dan ShaughnessyGLOBE STAFF JANUARY 22, 2015


We haven’t even gotten to Arizona yet and the mission is already lost. Mike Wilbon of ESPN is calling for the Patriots to vacate the Super Bowl, Calipari-style. Others are saying that Bill Belichick should be suspended. We are waiting to learn whether NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — a Robert Kraft frat brother — will punish Belichick and/or the Patriots before the Super Bowl.

The Patriots can win another championship Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz. Belichick can join Chuck Noll as the only coaches with four Lombardi Trophies, and Tom Brady can join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks with four rings.


But the most important thing — the Patriot legacy — is lost. The Patriots and their fans will never win the “best ever” argument. Everything is tainted. Footballs (reportedly) have been doctored, headlines have been written, and opinions have been formed.

Locally, the Patriots are revered. Nationally, they are loathed and branded as cheaters, and once again they have handed the hammer to their legion of enemies.

We still don’t know where “Deflategate” lands. The NFL has yet to disclose its findings and announce penalties (if any) against the Patriots.


The league made no public announcements on the controversy Wednesday, and Patriots players were given the day off.


But the ballgame that matters is over. And the Patriots have lost.

At this hour, even if the Patriots are cleared of wrongdoing, they are the modern-day sports equivalent of Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Labor, Ray Donovan, who asked, “Where do I go to get my reputation back?’’ after he was declared not guilty in a corruption case.

There doesn’t seem to be much dispute that footballs used by the Patriots in Sunday’s AFC Championship were doctored. By somebody.

The 12 footballs used by the Patriots were inspected by referees 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game and deemed within league standards. At halftime, the balls were inspected again, and 11 of 12 were found to be below the league limit of inflation.

This has been widely reported (starting with ESPN) and not disputed. If this is not true, the Patriots need to come forward to tell the world.

We all know the Patriots did not win Sunday’s game because they deflated the footballs to Tom Brady’s satisfaction. The Patriots could beat the Colts in a game played with Wiffle Balls, bowling balls, or medicine balls. The Patriots are a very good football team, possibly a Super Bowl championship team.

But were they breaking the rules? Again? Was this another case of Belichick seeing a rule he doesn’t like, going rogue, and making his own rules? Was this another example of the Patriots doing every little thing — even an illegal thing — to gain a competitive advantage?

The fanboy narrative is that “everybody does it.’’ You’re not trying if you’re not cheating. Folks are just jealous of the Patriots’ success.

Swell. But if you are a Patriots fan, you cannot be satisfied with this explanation. If you walk into your local 7-Eleven and see the back page of the New York Post screaming, “CHEATERS,’’ you cannot make it all go away by claiming jealousy.

Granted, it didn’t matter in Sunday’s game. But what about all the other games? If the Patriots are cheating, are they not cheating systematically?

Like Spygate, it’s not a one-game anecdote.

Did deflating footballs ever give the Patriots an illegal advantage in any of their close games? Did it help them win the division 11 times in 12 years? We know they don’t like to play on the road. In the playoffs. Ever. This great Patriot dynasty has not won a road playoff game in seven years.

Forget about the Colts game. Did a deflated ball make the playing field uneven in any games this year? Did it result in a home-field advantage that they would not have otherwise owned? How does the legion of Patriot toadies defend this?

Belichick has already said he did not know anything about the deflated balls until he was told about them Monday. Could this possibly be true?

The next 48 hours will be interesting. By any measure, this is a colossal embarrassment for Kraft. He loves the journey and the Klieg lights, but now his franchise has been tainted again. It matters greatly to the Patriots’ image-obsessed owner.

Kraft spent September sucking up to Goodell in the commissioner’s time of need. Now we’ll see what the commissioner does when the Patriots allegedly break the rules on the eve of the league’s showcase event.

Sunday in Foxborough was a great day. But everything since Sunday has been a disaster for the Patriots. Their Super Bowl quest is damaged. Even if they win.

[lord_of_six_rings]

it was excellent...he hit on multiple points I made. First, not all games in the last 6-8 games of the season were 45-7. Some were close and this cr ap could effect the outcome. The winning of the #1 seed allowed them to have that bye week (important for an older team like them) and home field. Second, on sunday am brady did not know the final score. However, he took the risk and deemed the risk worthwhile to aid him in his accuracy and help secure a trip to the SB. In addition, regardless of (now) boisterous fans, marsha thought the colts worthy and talented enough to beat them. Lastly one more wrinkle, he did this cheating knowing he is and already known as a prior cheater. Which adds to the risk / possible consequences, I mean, come on people - brady wasn't the frickin punter in the SB 2001 to 2004. He was the main co-conspirator in spygate.

Say it all together next sunday....tom barry bonds brady (it has a nice catchy ring to it!)

[birtikidis]

What I want to know, and what I haven't seen mentioned AT ALL is: How do Bellicheat and Marsha NOT know about anything until Monday? If the balls were inspected at half time and deemed non regulation, would the coach NOT be informed? Did the NFL try to sweep it under the rug at halftime by simply re-inflating the balls and NOT mentioning it to either coach? ORRRRRRRRRRRR are Marsha and Bellicheat lying about not knowing until Monday?

[Slapstick]

Were the balls actually inflated properly at half time? Or did the refs let it go?

[MCHammer]

I read somewhere that they tested the balls at halftime, found 11 of 12 to be underinflated, and then properly inflated balls were substituted for the remainder of the game.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

I read somewhere that they tested the balls at halftime, found 11 of 12 to be underinflated, and then properly inflated balls were substituted for the remainder of the game.

Yes - and at the end of the SECOND half, the balls were all at the proper pressure ... i.e., no "deflation" during the 2nd half.

Importance of this? It pretty much lets the air out of the argument that the deflation noticed at the end of the 1st half was "natural", as a result of the cold air.

The air was colder in the 2nd half (to be honest, it was in the 50s at game time, so the George Costanza "it was too cold ... shrinkage!" argument was never really a reasonable one), so any "natural" deflation that might have been invoked as a cause for first half deflation would only have been more pronounced with the balls used during the 2nd half. But that didn't happen ... there was no deflation noted of the balls used in the 2nd half.

Ergo: The deflation was "caused", it didn't just "happen".

The defense witness rests!

[BowCatShot]

I read somewhere that they tested the balls at halftime, found 11 of 12 to be underinflated, and then properly inflated balls were substituted for the remainder of the game.

I'm not clear on all of the procedures that take place with respect to the pressure in the balls. For example are the balls tested at the beginning of the game? Were they found to be properly inflated then? Then where do the balls physically go? Are they in some bin somewhere at the edge of the field? Were they all found to be inflated to the same exact low pressure value, or was there a lot of variance. If they were all the same or close to the same and they were found to be correct when the game started, then someone would have to have used a meter to deflate them all by the same value. How did they pull that one off if the balls were all in plain view in some field side bin?

[MCHammer]

I don't know the answer to most of your questions. My understanding based on what I have read is that the referees test the balls before every game, each team supplying their 12. The Patriots balls were tested 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game and passed. 11 of them subsequently failed at halftime.

I don't know the exact procedure regarding where the balls go and who has access to them between the pre-game testing and kick-off, but my understanding is at some point the team gets them back and the team retains control of all of its balls except obviously when the one in play is lost. That would only happen when it is intercepted, fumbled or otherwise makes its way into the stands. I'm not sure what exactly happens during fumbles and interceptions, but my understanding in this case was the Colts either permanently retained the ball that was picked off in the first half or at least noticed issues with it prior to returning it to the Patriots bench and reported the issues to the refs.

The one issue I really would like clarity on is how the pre-game check was performed. The half-time checks were supposedly conducted with a pressure gauge that showed the balls were underinflated by 2 pounds per square inch. But I have not seen any details regarding how the pre-game check was performed. Maybe that info is out there, but I haven't seen it and I don't scour the net all day looking for stuff.

If the referees merely eye-balled and gripped them, I can see some wiggle room for the Pats on claiming hey our balls must have been inadvertently underinflated all along and slipped through the NFL's check undetected. We're sorry, but really this is an NFL issue. Yes, that would be complete BS and doesn't explain how they managed to provide all the underinflated balls in the first place. But I'm not coming up with a lot of other defenses for them and I haven't seen any plausible explanations.

Either way, if they did this deliberately (which certainly seems to be the case) it should eventually come out regardless of the NFL's investigation and what discipline is or isn't levied. I don't see how such a scheme couldn't be known by at least the QB, starting backs and receivers and a few equipment handlers. The longer it went on the wider the net. Sooner or later somebody will talk. It's human nature. And people will pay good money for a tell all book. Other people just want media attention. If the Pats did this deliberately, I don't see how they can successfully hush it up forever. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[bostonsteeler]

I don't know the answer to most of your questions. My understanding based on what I have read is that the referees test the balls before every game, each team supplying their 12. The Patriots balls were tested 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game and passed. 11 of them subsequently failed at halftime.

I don't know the exact procedure regarding where the balls go and who has access to them between the pre-game testing and kick-off, but my understanding is at some point the team gets them back and the team retains control of all of its balls except obviously when the one in play is lost. That would only happen when it is intercepted, fumbled or otherwise makes its way into the stands. I'm not sure what exactly happens during fumbles and interceptions, but my understanding in this case was the Colts either permanently retained the ball that was picked off in the first half or at least noticed issues with it prior to returning it to the Patriots bench and reported the issues to the refs.

The one issue I really would like clarity on is how the pre-game check was performed. The half-time checks were supposedly conducted with a pressure gauge that showed the balls were underinflated by 2 pounds per square inch. But I have not seen any details regarding how the pre-game check was performed. Maybe that info is out there, but I haven't seen it and I don't scour the net all day looking for stuff.

If the referees merely eye-balled and gripped them, I can see some wiggle room for the Pats on claiming hey our balls must have been inadvertently underinflated all along and slipped through the NFL's check undetected. We're sorry, but really this is an NFL issue. Yes, that would be complete BS and doesn't explain how they managed to provide all the underinflated balls in the first place. But I'm not coming up with a lot of other defenses for them and I haven't seen any plausible explanations.

Either way, if they did this deliberately (which certainly seems to be the case) it should eventually come out regardless of the NFL's investigation and what discipline is or isn't levied. I don't see how such a scheme couldn't be known by at least the QB, starting backs and receivers and a few equipment handlers. The longer it went on the wider the net. Sooner or later somebody will talk. It's human nature. And people will pay good money for a tell all book. Other people just want media attention. If the Pats did this deliberately, I don't see how they can successfully hush it up forever. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

These are *extremely* high-stakes games. There are millions or tens of millions of dollars riding on *each* game. Not just the spectators and TV, but Vegas.

Everything about the games is formalized to death. This includes the procedures for checking the balls. You can bet your butt the equipment to test the balls is standardized, the procedures are standardized, and there is formal record keeping.

Anyone assuming that there is anything ad-hoc about the formal procedures before, during, and after the game is mistaken, unless they're NE fans, in which case they're also stupid and brainless.

[Moonie]

The Patriots have been engaged in subversive un-American activities for too goddamn long. It's time for the Justice Department to consider RICO charges. Underinflated balls are RICO predicates.