opps, 11 out of 12 balls.....

[lord_of_six_rings]

[url]http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/12202450/nfl-says-new-england-patriots-had-inflated-footballs-afc-championship-game[/url]

sorry if someone posted already
A question were the balls all 2lbs under or did they average 2 lbs? If they were uniformly 2 lbs then, it was deliberate and planned strategy. Both deserve punishment but depending upon the answer the fine / penalty - the severity may change. HOWEVER, this must be stressed under goodell's leadership he always bullies and does fines / penalties based on PAST AND PRIOR HISTORY. Therefore, the Pats being the dirtiest "cheating-ess" team needs a big time fine and penalty. No one should let goodell swipe this under the rug like spygate. No hiding the evidence and burning tapes / reports etc. REMEMBER goodell is a big Massachusetts lefty who was sponsored by kraft for his position.

[SteelBuckeye]

[url]http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/12202450/nfl-says-new-england-patriots-had-inflated-footballs-afc-championship-game[/url]

sorry if someone posted already
A question were the balls all 2lbs under or did they average 2 lbs? If they were uniformly 2 lbs then, it was deliberate and planned strategy. Both deserve punishment but depending upon the answer the fine / penalty - the severity may change. HOWEVER, this must be stressed under goodell's leadership he always bullies and does fines / penalties based on PAST AND PRIOR HISTORY. Therefore, the Pats being the dirtiest "cheating-ess" team needs a big time fine and penalty. No one should let goodell swipe this under the rug like spygate. No hiding the evidence and burning tapes / reports etc. REMEMBER goodell is a big Massachusetts lefty who was sponsored by kraft for his position.

Under inflated by 2Lbs EACH. Not an average, EACH. Definite tampering.

[Sword]

Well this is disappointing...I wasn't going to wear any team gear during the Superbowl but, now I will go all in with Steeler gear...
I still think something else, is in play here that we do not know??? the dam referees get the dam balls 2 hours before, when do they give them back to the team??
how is this even possible? I blame the NFL and Referee's first....

[Sword]

Maybe the answer no matter what the outcome is for the NFL to change the ball policy right now, fine & lose first round for the pats if someone in their organization is proven that they tampered with the balls
, fire the referee who oversaw the balls, postpone the Superbowl a week, and finally make them redo the game this weekend......
This will get some heads rolling....

That being said.....
I'm still having a hard time with this being purposeful, it's insane that at some point after the inspection Belichick told one of his guys to deflate all of their footballs by two pounds, the risk to reward is just
astounding. If this was intentional and not some calibrating mistake or fault of the ref then the stupidity of it on the Pat's part is incredible.

[Slapstick]

Personally, I would be satisfied with two things:

1) Suspend Belichick for the Super Bowl. It would be torture for him. If his team wins, then they did it without his genius. If they lose, it was because he wasn't there. Either way, his ego takes a serious blow.

2) Vacate the AFCC win and the SB win, if they manage to do so. A few years ago, the Buckeyes had to vacate a Sugar Bowl win because of nothing that affected actual game play. I think something that does affect the game itself justifies such a consequence.

I don't care about draft picks or fines, unless they are in addition to the above.

[feltdizz]

Well this is disappointing...I wasn't going to wear any team gear during the Superbowl but, now I will go all in with Steeler gear...
I still think something else, is in play here that we do not know??? the dam referees get the dam balls 2 hours before, when do they give them back to the team??
how is this even possible? I blame the NFL and Referee's first....

you blame the refs first? lol...

that's like catching your fiance cheating with the best man and blaming the wedding planner.

[Starlifter]

I don't think you can blame the refs because they have to check the balls from both sides. If it's shown that they did a proper pre-game inspection and the colts balls were legal throughout the game - i'd think that was suggestive that the pats tampered with them after the game started. one of the new england reporters was crying how absurd this was because there were something like 45 cameras used on the game. i don't know if any were constantly pointed at the sidelines - but if there IS a chance video caught it, this would be the game.

oh, and I was prepared to say one or two balls could be a bit under pressure due to the cold and the fact they were inflated likely inside at 72 degrees. but for 11 out of 12 to all be 2 pounds under pressure? that's not a random act. that's planned.

[Oviedo]

Expect a slap on the wrist. They (the Pats talking heads at ESPN) are already trying to build the story line that the game was a blow out so it didn't matter and had no impact on outcome.

IMO...This is second offense so they should lose multiple high draft picks and a significant fine.

However, Goodell will likely ask his "Sugar Daddy" Kraft what he wants him to do and it will be non impactful.

[papillon]

you blame the refs first? lol...

that's like catching your fiance cheating with the best man and blaming the wedding planner.

They may not be blamed first, but there should also be an investigation into how this could have happened. In the other thread I was on the side of this is a big nothing, because all the facts haven't been laid out. I was wondering were the balls inflated to the minimum (12.5 PSI) and then the PSI dipped below that level due to weather, but 2.0 PSI difference surely should be able to be felt by referees that are used to handling properly inflated footballs.

The Patriots should be addressed first and foremost for not adhering to the rules
The officials need to be investigated to determine how they didn't notice the difference between Indy's footballs and New England's footballs
The NFL needs to change the policy and provide the footballs for all games and provide the ball boys and bill each team for the cost of the labor and footballs.

This is so easy to stop that even Goodell shouldn't be able to screw it up. The Pats should pay a price, the consistency with which the footballs were deflated is certainly damning evidence.

Pappy

[Sword]

you blame the refs first? lol...

that's like catching your fiance cheating with the best man and blaming the wedding planner.

no it's not..it's no different during a game when flags not thrown for penalties......holding someone or pass interference is going to effect a game more than a football
deflated .... did they check the colts footballs as well? what were their results?

[feltdizz]

11 out of 12 balls and all of them under by the same amount?

More than likely the Pats had a pin device made that takes out the exact amount.

The Pats* are like that friend who is a compulsive liar.

[feltdizz]

They may not be blamed first, but there should also be an investigation into how this could have happened. In the other thread I was on the side of this is a big nothing, because all the facts haven't been laid out. I was wondering were the balls inflated to the minimum (12.5 PSI) and then the PSI dipped below that level due to weather, but 2.0 PSI difference surely should be able to be felt by referees that are used to handling properly inflated footballs.

The Patriots should be addressed first and foremost for not adhering to the rules
The officials need to be investigated to determine how they didn't notice the difference between Indy's footballs and New England's footballs
The NFL needs to change the policy and provide the footballs for all games and provide the ball boys and bill each team for the cost of the labor and footballs.

This is so easy to stop that even Goodell shouldn't be able to screw it up. The Pats should pay a price, the consistency with which the footballs were deflated is certainly damning evidence.

Pappy

Refs wear gloves during the game.

The rules state that refs check before the game. That's it. I could see if the refs were instructed to check before the game, at halftime and after the game but that isn't how it works.

I don't think you can blame the refs for missing this during live action.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Refs wear gloves.

$$$$$
The refs wore gloves, and with just their normal handling of the ball during a game, moving it, etc., they would likely not have noticed that a ball was underinflated by a couple of pounds. They would probably have to be squeezing it a bit, holding it more tightly than they would in their normal handling, to notice the difference. Players who are throwing, catching, and carrying the ball would be much more likely to be able to tell.

Do an experiment. Let about two pounds of air out of a fully-inflated, regulation football. You likely won't be able to tell until you grip it fairly hard.

[feltdizz]

no it's not..it's no different during a game when flags not thrown for penalties......holding someone or pass interference is going to effect a game more than a football
deflated .... did they check the colts footballs as well? what were their results?

It's different because the refs are instructed to call penalties when they see them during a live game. If Pouncey holds someone and it isn't called it isn't considered cheating....

If it's revealed that the Colts balls are also under 2lbs then its due to weather and it's a non-story.

[MCHammer]

Personally, I would be satisfied with two things:

1) Suspend Belichick for the Super Bowl. It would be torture for him. If his team wins, then they did it without his genius. If they lose, it was because he wasn't there. Either way, his ego takes a serious blow.

I agree with this. I don't see how you don't suspend him if the NFL wants to be taken seriously. He should be given the Pete Rose treatment. If allowed to coach again, it should be under the express understanding that he will never make it into the HOF because he is a dishonorable cheater. He's not worthy.