JETS SB wrote:
Bottom line is... we have proof that two employees let air out of the footballs secretly and after the officials already inspected the footballs. There is no denying that. .
I was under the same impression after listening to all the rhetoric espoused by the supposedly neutral analysts and reporters on the various sports channels...in particular ESPN. Listening to them since this came out just prior to the superbowl, I imagined Brady tossing around a "frisbee" because the balls he was using were so deflated. I recall Nark Brunell among others saying how much easier it is to handle and grip a ball at around 10 psi versus a properly inflated ball. All this made me think wow, they sure caught these arroganmt A-Holes this time. then I read this:
"The erroneous report from ESPN that 10 of 12 balls were 2.0 PSI below the 12.5 PSI minimum cemented the early narrative that the amount of air missing from the footballs clearly suggests tampering. The actual numbers, standing alone, say otherwise.
It’s possible that the actual numbers suggest no tampering at all. Which could be the biggest problem with the 243-page report.
Here’s where we try (key word: try) to take something that’s pretty complicated and make it somewhat understandable.
First, the officials had two pressure gauges available — and those pressure gauges generated very different measurements.
One gauge had a Wilson logo on the back. The other didn’t. One had an obviously crooked needle. The other didn’t.
The gauge with the Wilson logo and the longer, crooked needle typically generated higher readings, in the range of 0.3 to 0.45 PSI.
The measurements taken at halftime of the AFC title game by the two available gauges demonstrated this reality. Here’s the gap in PSI for each of the 11 Patriots footballs, based on the two gauges: (1) 0.3 PSI; (2) 0.35 PSI; (3) 0.35 PSI; (4) 0.3 PSI; (5) 0.35 PSI; (6) 0.35 PSI; (7) 0.45 PSI; (8) 0.45 PSI; (9) 0.4 PSI; (10) 0.4 PSI; and (11) 0.45 PSI.
Second, referee Walt Anderson doesn’t recall which gauge he used to measure PSI at the start of the game.
The absence of a documentation regarding the air pressure in the Patriots footballs prior to kickoff can be justified by Anderson’s clear recollection that he ensured each ball was set to 12.5 PSI. However, Anderson doesn’t clearly recall whether he used the gauge that generates the higher measurement or the one that generates the lower measurement.
It’s an important point because the gauge used before kickoff determines the starting point for the halftime analysis. If the pressures were set by the gauge with the logo and the long, crooked needle, that’s the gauge that should have been used at halftime. If it was the other gauge that was used before the game, that’s the one that should have been used at halftime.
The Wells report concludes that Anderson used the gauge that generates the lower measurement before kickoff, despite Anderson’s lack of specific recollection as to which gauge he used. The reasoning for the decision to assume Anderson used the gauge without the Wilson logo appears in the paragraph contained at the bottom of page 116 of the report.
Frankly, the explanation doesn’t make much sense. If anyone understands it, please let us know.
Here’s the one thing that does make sense: Without knowing which gauge was used to set the pressures before the game, it’s impossible to know which set of readings taken at halftime is the accurate set of readings, and which set of readings should be thrown out.
Third, knowing the gauge that was used before kickoff is critical to proving tampering.
At page 113, the Wells report states: “[T]he Ideal Gas Law predicts that the Patriots balls should have measured between 11.52 and 11.32 psi at the end of the first half, just before they were brought back into the Officials Locker Room. Most of the individual Patriots measurements recorded at halftime, however, were lower than the range predicted by the Ideal Gas Law.”
As those of you who were visiting PFT frequently in the early days of #DeflateGate may recall, the Ideal Gas Law refers to the formula that determines the changes in gases based on various factors, including but not limited to volume, pressure, and temperature. And the Wells report concludes that all Patriots footballs should have measured between 11.52 and 11.32 PSI at halftime.
But that observation hinges on the question of which gauge was used to set the PSI prior to kickoff. If the gauge that generates the higher numbers was used, the measurements of the Patriots footballs taken by that gauge are mostly consistent with the 11.52-11.32 PSI range at halftime: (1) 11.8; (2) 11.2; (3) 11.5; (4) 11.0; (5) 11.45; (6) 11.95; (7) 12.3; (8) 11.55; (9) 11.35; (10) 10.9; and (11) 11.35.
Based on those readings, three of the footballs were above the predicted range, five were in the predicted range, and three were below the predicted range.
By assuming that the gauge that generates the lower readings was used before the game began, the readings taken by that same gauge at halftime show that one ball was above the predicted range, two were in the predicted range, and eight were below the predicted range. Which is more consistent with the conclusion that some degree of tampering occurred.
So, basically, the scientific proof of tampering hinges on a literal coin flip between the pressure gauge that generated a higher reading and the pressure gauge that generated a lower reading. Apart from the very real problems inherent to the NFL using pressure gauges that generate such dramatically different readings for a key postseason game, the justification used to assume that Walt Anderson used before kickoff the gauge that makes tampering more likely doesn’t feel like the outcome of a scientific experiment. It feels like an effort to work backward to justify a predetermined conclusion".
After reading this it seems ESPN and other sports outlets MAY have resorted to this:
"Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers. Sensationalism may include reporting about generally insignificant matters and events that don't influence overall society and biased presentations of newsworthy topics in a trivial or tabloid manner contrary to the standards of professional journalism.
Some tactics include being deliberately obtuse, appealing to emotions, being controversial, intentionally omitting facts and information, being loud and self-centered and acting to obtain attention. Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant, and often includes stories about the actions of individuals and small groups of people, the content of which is often insignificant and irrelevant relative to the macro-level day-to-day events that occur globally. Furthermore, the content and subject matter typically doesn't affect the lives of the masses and doesn't affect society, and instead is broadcast and printed to attract viewers and readers".
Trey Wingo has to fill up an hour every day on NFL Live....just sayin....nevermind that bunch of dunderdinks on NFL Insiders
I probably dislike the Patriots about as much as the average fan that doesn't like the same team continually being overly successful. But, if we're going to crucify them let's come up with something better than this. And I don't have a reasonable explanation for Larry and Curly's (the 2 locker room employees) texts. And it is possible....probably likely that something was historically occurring...but in this particular instance I'm not totally convinced, based on the evidence, that anything did occur. If something was amiss Larry and Curly didn't do a very good job of executing the intent based on these findings. Some are wondering why the Patriots would suspend Larry and Curly if they thought them innocent of any wrong doing...maybe it was because the 2 nitwits couldn't even deflate a football properly!!!
You are right - there have been a lot of teams playing with the rules. I sounded good at the time though lol.
