It Begins:The Patriots should be disqualified from the Super Bowl

[Mr.wizard]

Oh my goodness people, lets not pretend a deflated football was the difference in a 45-7 ass beating. Since the balls where changed at halftime and it was more of the same ass beating in the second half you cant really make the case it was the difference in the game. If the NFL wants to fine them over deflated footballs then so be it, but there is no way you can justify eliminating them from the superbowl.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Oh my goodness people, lets not pretend a deflated football was the difference in a 45-7 ass beating. Since the balls where changed at halftime and it was more of the same ass beating in the second half you cant really make the case it was the difference in the game. If the NFL wants to fine them over deflated footballs then so be it, but there is no way you can justify eliminating them from the superbowl.

I don't propose eliminating them from the Super Bowl, and I realize the deflated balls weren't the difference in the game

BUT

you have to come down hard on this kind of thing, if you want to maintain any semblence of integrity. If it happens again, it COULD be the difference in a game. Why have the rules in place, if it's no big deal?

[Slapstick]

Oh my goodness people, lets not pretend a deflated football was the difference in a 45-7 ass beating. Since the balls where changed at halftime and it was more of the same ass beating in the second half you cant really make the case it was the difference in the game. If the NFL wants to fine them over deflated footballs then so be it, but there is no way you can justify eliminating them from the superbowl.

There is no way you can justify them being allowed to win the SB of it comes out that the footballs were intentionally deflated to provide an unfair advantage...

If a student is caught cheating on a test, does it matter if he or she only used the cheat sheet for one question?

Nope. Cheating is cheating. Period.

Repeat offense. Period.

End of discussion.

[hawaiiansteel]

fine the Pats $100,000,000.

[Oviedo]

Take their next 2 #1 picks and take $10M off of their available cap for two years

[birtikidis]

I think Mr. Wizard is right. Let's just forget about it. I mean it's only a little cheating. I'm sure they've learned their lesson and won't do it again. And geez, it's not like Indianapolis had to change ANYTHING like their game plan after falling behind in the first half. Luck was throwing the ball just fine in the first half and on par with **'s. It's not like both teams weren't one dimensional in the second half on account of the score. And momentum automatically resets at half time too.

[NorthCoast]

Oh my goodness people, lets not pretend a deflated football was the difference in a 45-7 ass beating. Since the balls where changed at halftime and it was more of the same ass beating in the second half you cant really make the case it was the difference in the game. If the NFL wants to fine them over deflated footballs then so be it, but there is no way you can justify eliminating them from the superbowl.

You are completely missing the point of the s__storm. Rules were implemented by the NFL. The Patriots intentionally and with forethought chose to circumvent the rules that were implemented. Whether or not it lead to an advantage is completely immaterial. The consequence of a second intentional violation of league rules should lead to substantial punitive measures.

Period.

[birtikidis]

Take it a step further. Mr. Wizard wants to sweep it under the rug because the **'s blew out the colts in the second half. Well, Sean Peyton got suspended for a year because a coach told his players to HIT HARDER. something they're supposed to do anyway. Nothing different from what they normally do. They just rewarded their players for doing their job better than before. SO why does Peyton get suspended while ** shouldn't? It's not like telling players to DEFLATE the balls more than usual. They should have let the Colts deflate their balls in the second half and over inflated the **'s balls.

[DukieBoy]

My twisted speculation:

The Pats learned for their previous indiscretion that they are too big to fail, and that the league can't really do much of anything about it, so ...

The league will find some low-level fall guys who will be fined, then fired. and there may be some showcased fines to a couple high-level people and the Patriots organizations. It will cost about $500K to $1M overall. And the Pats will make multiple millions from their SuperBowl appearance. In the end, it will have been an excellent business decision to deflate the balls and tip the AFCC scales in their favor, and wind up with a net profit.

[bostonsteeler]

And geez, it's not like Indianapolis had to change ANYTHING like their game plan after falling behind in the first half. Luck was throwing the ball just fine in the first half and on par with **'s. It's not like both teams weren't one dimensional in the second half on account of the score. And momentum automatically resets at half time too.

If the scores were tied at half time, what do you think the final score would be.

The pats would still have won, most likely.

That said, one questions at this point what other rules were twisted during the season. Every single victory by the Pats is questionable at this point. The win-at-all-costs attitude would surely have called for some creative thinking during the season too?

[MCHammer]

It's highly unlikely this was the first time. Who is going to say let's deflate 11 of 12 balls in the AFC championship game and see if anyone notices? If this was deliberate, it was probably tried on multiple occasions on other games to gauge the likelihood of getting away with it and the relative advantage gained. The old risk v. benefit calculation. It is extremely hard to believe the Patriots would decide to do this for the first time last Sunday.

I'd also point out that while Belichick deserves suspension, what about Tom Brady? Are we really to believe he was an unwitting accomplice in all this? He was throwing underinflated balls all day and had no idea. Please.

I'm sure the Patriots will offer up a scapegoat. The "rogue intern" or some such crap will be trotted out soon enough. But common sense says if this was deliberate, it was more than Bill Belichick. One person cannot make such a scheme work.

[bostonsteeler]

It's highly unlikely this was the first time. Who is going to say let's deflate 11 of 12 balls in the AFC championship game and see if anyone notices? If this was deliberate, it was probably tried on multiple occasions on other games to gauge the likelihood of getting away with it and the relative advantage gained. The old risk v. benefit calculation. It is extremely hard to believe the Patriots would decide to do this for the first time last Sunday.

I'd also point out that while Belichick deserves suspension, what about Tom Brady? Are we really to believe he was an unwitting accomplice in all this? He was throwing underinflated balls all day and had no idea. Please.

I'm sure the Patriots will offer up a scapegoat. The "rogue intern" or some such crap will be trotted out soon enough. But common sense says if this was deliberate, it was more than Bill Belichick. One person cannot make such a scheme work.

And, as you point out, it *definitely* wasn't the first time. As it comes out, Indy complained about underinflated balls in Nov. too.

[birtikidis]

If the scores were tied at half time, what do you think the final score would be.

The pats would still have won, most likely.

That said, one questions at this point what other rules were twisted during the season. Every single victory by the Pats is questionable at this point. The win-at-all-costs attitude would surely have called for some creative thinking during the season too?

Does it matter what I THINK the score would have been? Does that lessen the level of the transgression?

[skyhawk]

And, as you point out, it *definitely* wasn't the first time. As it comes out, Indy complained about underinflated balls in Nov. too.

Really? Link?

[papillon]

Really? Link?

Here's one of the articles from November and I believe there is another out there floating around.
[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/21/report-colts-had-inflation-concerns-in-november-matchup-with-patriots/[/URL]

Pappy