1. Even though it rhymes, "deflategate" is a boring name. We should call it "ballgate".
2. The NFL requires that balls be inflated to a pressure between 12.5 and 13.5 psi. If you inflate a ball to 13.0 psi in an 85-degree room and then take it outdoors on a 50-degree day, the pressure will drop below 12.2 psi.
3. Aaron Rodgers claims that the refs themselves actually take air out of the balls. Weird.
4. The rule specifies that the refs check the balls exactly two hours and fifteen minutes before the game. As shown above, a team could inflate the balls with hot air and just let them deflate. This would appear to not violate the rules, although one could argue that it violates the spirit of the rules.
5. "The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications" and "the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game." In other words, if the balls weren't properly inflated at halftime, any blame should fall on the Referee.
6. Troy Aikman has officially lost it, as proven by his absurd claim that "deflategate" is a more serious offense than "bountygate".
7. During the press conference on ESPN, Belichick came across as somewhat credible. However, when I listen to just the audio, I can hear serious stress in his voice. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on "Bill is lying". I don't think he ordered it, but he is so detail-oriented that I'm sure he was aware of the possibility that his staff might be doing something like this on a regular basis.
8. Nevertheless, I think it's unlikely we'll find any hard evidence against Brady or Belichick.
- Increase receptions and interceptions (and decrease incompletions). This would increase offense and scoring, and also increase the excitement and drama that comes from interceptions and pick sixes. These are all good things.
- Decrease fumbles. If fumbles went down by 40%, we would see teams shifting away from "average running backs who rarely fumble" (like BenJarvus Green-Ellis) and back towards dynamic superstars (like Barry Sanders). Again, this is good for the game.
- Decrease field goals. Flatter balls are harder to kick. The NFL has been bending themselves in knots trying to cut down on field goals, from changing where to put the ball after a missed field goal to fucking up the overtime rules. It would be much easier to just deflate the balls a bit.
4 comments:
I haven't done lost of research into this, so maybe this is a dumb question:
Do the refs actually keep track of which footballs are to be used by which team throughout the game? i.e. Colts start at their 20, 1st and 10 and then the pats recover a fumble on the first play.
Do the refs then bring in one of the "patriot" balls since they are now on offense? Or, are all the balls pretty much used randomly as it seems to be in baseball?
If random, there is no real motivation to make the balls easier to throw/catch since you would be enabling your opponent the same advantage?
The home team plays with its balls and the road team with their own, they are switched with each change of possession. The exception to this is on punts and placekicks. The league supplies balls for this here is the rule: Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked with the letter "k" and used exclusively for the kicking game.
What I've learned this week about deflate gate:
Leisure in America = Religion
We are so beyond first-world problems.
Juis Suis Priorities?
Wow! People coming out hating the Patriots, that's a stretch.
People talk about the weather as the sole variable. How about dozens of men, weighing upward to 350 pds constantly falling on top of these balls as a greater variable set?
24 balls are collectively brought to the games, mostly for reasons as the aforementioned.
The discovery of interstellar space-travel, alien life, cures for cancer, and the singularity would never get the attention that this has received.
People, especially NFL 'fans' haven't learned yet that New England plays really well mad, let alone pissed!
The excitement and thrills of NFL game day action are commonplace along with you. Watch Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers football game live is usually a unique beast of its own.
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