*** updates at bottom – 1.26.15
You have heard about the Patriots and the deflated footballs, right?
I have been poking around, and can put it in perspective if you are interested. First – everything the Patriots are saying is a goddamn lie. We’ll get to that. What happened was 11 of their 12 football was found to be seriously under-inflated. How much were they deflated? Well, I am not going to talk PSI, you have ESPN for that. I watched a show yesterday where they deflated a football to the exact degree the Patriots’ balls were deflated. Then, they had a proper inflated football. Every single person they gave the footballs to, including a gal who said “I don’t know if I have ever touched a football” were able to correctly identify the flatter balls.
They are squishier.
What is the advantage? It is much easier to throw and catch. It’s really more a nerf at that time than a hard leather football***. My next thought was – well, if it is easier to catch and throw, wouldn’t that help both teams? No, because each team uses their own footballs. Specifically, the Patriots provide their own footballs their QB will be using. Only their qb uses those balls. In last weekend’s case, the Colts used their own footballs when it was their turn to play offense. Like you, I assumed a neutral, official, NFL person held all the balls and divvied them out for teams to use. Nope, that is only kicker balls. The kicker balls are touched by NO ONE except the refs until just before they are used on the field.
How did the other team find out, then? This is awesome. The other team (the Colts) found out when they intercepted one of Brady’s passes. Immediately, the guy who caught it brought it to the ref and explained the ball was flat. Someone, justice briefly happened, and ALL the Patriots balls got checked. 11 of the 12 game balls they had were flattened. That isn’t co-incidence, or an accident. Maybe 2 or 3 could be regarded as that. Here is where it gets marginally worse… the lies and cover up. Tom Brady said he didn’t notice anything. Really? You throw footballs for a living. Odds are you have thrown a football every single day of your life since you were about 15. You didn’t notice any of them were flat? You are a fucking liar. In Bellicheck’s (the head coach) denial, he said I’m not an expert in footballs. Oh my fucking god, are you serious? That is your answer? Guess what, YES YOU FUCKING ARE!!! You are absolutely an expert in footballs. You are the most successful football coach in the history of football. More than anything else in life, you are an expert in footballs. It is ALL you are, besides maybe being a cheating and lying asshole. Here are some much better looking people than myself to explain a bit more. Now, some housekeeping. Aren’t there checks and balances in place? Yes. Each team does what they want to the balls they will use that game, and gives them to the head ref. He checks them, sings off on them, and gives them back to the team. This takes place 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game. This is so the teams can scuff new balls, to make them grippier. Did this happen with the Patriot’s balls? We don’t know… yet. What is the penalty for this? Apparently, a fine “as much as $25,000”. What does that dollar figure mean to a team worth billions… especially one with the superbowl on the line? There will be talk about taking a draft pic. Boo fucking hoo. I say either make them play the game over, or pull the Superbowl from them. See, the Patriots have a history of cheating. You can google it. Did this help the Patriots win? Probably not by much. They won by 40 points. They didn’t have to cheat. How long have they been doing this? We’ll never know. At least, not until some of these guys retire and decide to come clean. Were it me caught? I would say something like this
“frankly, it sickens me, and it cheapens our win. It was a very cold that day. It’s possible that impacted the inflation. However, you and I both know it wouldn’t affect it that much. Of course we are looking into this with our equipment managers and such. Trust me, this is a bigger concern to us than it is you. It puts a LOT of things into perspective, and means we need to change how we do business. I am the coach, and I take full responsibility. I fully welcome any and all investigations and inquiries. I fully accept any and all punishments this will result in. I can promise you this, it changes absolutely everything about how we do business. I want to apologize to fans, and ESPECIALLY to the wonderful Indianapolis Colts. They are a great organization, and I can understand how they would be furious about this development.”
*** the ‘nerf’ analogy- I wrote this before I found that video piece. They used the same analogy. Just wanted you to know I wrote that first. About 6 hours before I found that video piece. *** update 1.26.15 – a few important voices have chimed in, and they are calling bullshit on the Pats. Like… who? Jim Jenkins and Molly Wallace most definitely call bullshit. Who are they? The people who make the goddamn footballs. Some would call them ‘experts’. In fact, even Belichekc would call them experts. See, this story has tarnished Wilson, who busts their asses to keep the game legit. Molly, who is in charge of this stuff, was asked “how could air come out of these footballs?”
Ok, that seems pretty clear. How about the other Wilson guy. He doesn’t mince words. “it isn’t possible”. What do you think of the Patriots story?
Ok, good sound bite. But… it was all cold that day, and we know that cold air contracts, and hot air expands. So, with temperatures that fluctuate during the 90 minutes where the balls were inspected to code (and returned to the team) and the time of the game starting…. i mean… that could shrink the ball a bit, right? No. To use his words
Just like politics, the scandal goes all the way to the top. This guy feels the owners are just too cozy with the league… so there is no objective observation. There is no checks and balances. Who is this guy, who dates question the integrity of the NFL?
Oh… gee, only the motherflippin’ retired NFL commissioner. Paul Tagliabu seems to feel things have gone downhill with Goodell taking over.
anyone else who is a so called ‘expert’ wanna weigh in? Bill Nye. Yeah, an expert in physic and science and stuff.
Oh, and lets just say temperature variation could have caused it. Wouldn’t all the Colts balls be in the exact same shape (or lack of)… BAM. That just happened.
I am Correct 
Think I have posted before, this is the reason I no longer watch any professional sports. Tom Brady: once a cheater always a cheater. Remember Moynahan/Baby/Bundchen? Yep. Thought he was a douche then too. So, when I heard this I was not surprised. My Brother-In-Law made a side comment that day that this is not the first time the Patriots have been under suspicion of cheating. Just more ammo for me to keep in my “Why I hate Professional Sports” arsenal. XD
I think we should deflate all their tires. See if they notice. You are right, patriots have been caught cheating before.