Deflategate

[Alaskan Grizzly]

So I keep hearing and reading about the recent deflategate and the contest between NE and Indy. I know it's not Bears football stuff but am curious what your thoughts are? Especially with many here consider Belicheck one of the best ever.

 

I'll say this; my money is Brady is being dishonest about something.

['TD']

A game or even a season can often come down to one play in the NFL. Being caught doing this should have serious repercussions in my opinion.

[madlithuanian]

Agreed.

 

And it's not their first offense as a team.

 

A game or even a season can often come down to one play in the NFL. Being caught doing this should have serious repercussions in my opinion.

 

[scs787]

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Big stink about nothing in my eyes.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Big stink about nothing in my eyes.

 

So let me pose the question to you and SCS. What if in the course of the investigation Brady is found to have not told the truth?

[Lucky Luciano]

Big stink about nothing in my eyes.

 

i have to totally disagree. who is to say the patriots would even have made it to this point in the season if they had played fair?

 

cheating destroys the integrity of the game. once you lose credibility then the sport is done and there is no coming back without very serious effort by the league and even then there will always be that stigma in the back of peoples minds.

 

it is no different than stealing. the amount is inconsequential. whether it is millions or a dollar, you are a thief. the patriots have stolen not just fame and glory from another team that may have deserved it, they have taken money out of the pockets of players, coaches, owners and fans of other teams who played by the rules.

 

what SHOULD they do?

 

1. the patriots should be disqualified from playing in the superbowl and the colts should be the replacement team.

 

2. as a second offense bilichek should be banned from the NFL for life.

 

3. tom brady should be suspended for one year and all statistics and accomplishments for the 2014 season expunged from the record books. if it happens again... banned from the NFL for life.

 

4. next season the patriots should not be eligible to participate in the playoffs or the superbowl.

 

5. if cheating happens again kraft should have his franchise taken away from him by the league.

 

that would be fair and send a message to the franchises and the fans that cheating will never be tolerated.

[AZ54]

i have to totally disagree. who is to say the patriots would even have made it to this point in the season if they had played fair?

 

cheating destroys the integrity of the game. once you lose credibility then the sport is done and there is no coming back without very serious effort by the league and even then there will always be that stigma in the back of peoples minds.

 

it is no different than stealing. the amount is inconsequential. whether it is millions or a dollar, you are a thief. the patriots have stolen not just fame and glory from another team that may have deserved it, they have taken money out of the pockets of players, coaches, owners and fans of other teams who played by the rules.

 

what SHOULD they do?

 

1. the patriots should be disqualified from playing in the superbowl and the colts should be the replacement team.

 

2. as a second offense bilichek should be banned from the NFL for life.

 

3. tom brady should be suspended for one year and all statistics and accomplishments for the 2014 season expunged from the record books. if it happens again... banned from the NFL for life.

 

4. next season the patriots should not be eligible to participate in the playoffs or the superbowl.

 

5. if cheating happens again kraft should have his franchise taken away from him by the league.

 

that would be fair and send a message to the franchises and the fans that cheating will never be tolerated.

 

 

Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice…

 

I agree this is a big deal.

 

What we know:

 

1) Brady admits for every game he is very picky about which footballs he wants to see on the field during the game. He's so picky about which footballs he likes he spends about 20min going through them beforehand but then he has no clue when a football is 2psi less than standard. Anyone who has ever played backyard football knows when the ball is light on air but Tom Brady who does this for a living had no clue.

 

2) The start of the 2nd half was delayed for 1 min while they searched for a legit ball. Brady and Belicik says they had no idea why there was a delay. The masterminds of clock management weren't even curious why the officials delayed their first play?

 

3) A week ago after they barely beat the Ravens, Brady and (to a much lesser extent) Belicik were bragging about how well they know the rule book. Bill Belichick as Sgt. Schulz is not believable when he says he knows nothing about how footballs are maintained and what the rules are. Neither is Tom Brady.

 

4) Many current and former NFL players, Hall of Fame players I might add, have been very outspoken that it would be impossible for someone to make a 2psi change on a ball and for the QB not to notice.

 

5) I'll skip the physics lesson on PV=nRT but temperature changes from mid 70s (i.e. indoors) to 51 degrees at game time do not reduce the football's air pressure by 2psi. This was proven by the fact the footballs just 53 yards away had no discernible decrease in pressure.

 

6) It is statistically improbable that 11 of 12 footballs were exactly 2psi below where they were 2hrs 15 min earlier simply by chance.

 

7) Altering the air pressure on the football not only gave Tom Brady a better grip on the football it did the same for the RB, WRs, and TE. This reduces the likelihood of a fumbles and dropped passes. That is a big deal when a game against the Ravens was won by one scoring drive.

 

8) Lower air pressure on a football the Patriots were using had nothing to do with the fact the Colts cannot tackle.

 

9) The fact the Colts cannot tackle has nothing to do with the Patriot's cheating being acceptable.

 

10) Tom Brady is staring at his entire legacy going down in flames. So is Bill Belichick. Both want us to believe they had nothing to do with this. Despite all they stand to lose neither has called for their owner to conduct an independent investigation into who would set them up for failure like this. Both are content to sit back and see what the league says about it. They are so infuriated that someone would do this to them that neither has even spoken with the league to demand quick resolution.

 

I highly doubt there is one member on this board who, if faced with a coworker who set them up to take a hit on their career like this, would just sit back and not demand HR and their senior managers do a thorough investigation into what happened. Remember, one week earlier Brady and Belichick were the smartest men in the room.

 

Now we have an equipment manager setup by two millionaires to take the fall for this cheating. That is even more despicable.

 

 

----------------------

 

The uproar from so many former players and coaches has clearly caught Goodell by surprise. He was expecting to let his buddy off with a simple fine by the end of the week, and maybe a loss of late draft pick. He is now between a rock and hard place because of all his pontificating about the integrity of the game and the NFL when handing out punishment to players. He has many HoF players and coaches watching very carefully what he does. This at a time the league is trying to celebrate the Superbowl teams. He just pivoted and decided that since he cannot get away with a light punishment for his friends he will now delay the process. He brought in an outside firm to investigate and doing this gives him time to get past the Superbowl. Yet his inaction before this game will forever setup his legacy. He better hope Seattle wins because the optics of him handing that trophy to the Patriots owner, coach, and QB won't be good at all.

 

 

I want to see a similar punishment as was handed out to the Saints organization, if not worse, because this is the 2nd event where this organization has been caught cheating. They can't run and hide the video this time.

 

 

 

 

[madlithuanian]

AZ, you just built a very interesting case...

 

Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice…

 

I agree this is a big deal.

 

What we know:

 

1) Brady admits for every game he is very picky about which footballs he wants to see on the field during the game. He's so picky about which footballs he likes he spends about 20min going through them beforehand but then he has no clue when a football is 2psi less than standard. Anyone who has ever played backyard football knows when the ball is light on air but Tom Brady who does this for a living had no clue.

 

2) The start of the 2nd half was delayed for 1 min while they searched for a legit ball. Brady and Belicik says they had no idea why there was a delay. The masterminds of clock management weren't even curious why the officials delayed their first play?

 

3) A week ago after they barely beat the Ravens, Brady and (to a much lesser extent) Belicik were bragging about how well they know the rule book. Bill Belichick as Sgt. Schulz is not believable when he says he knows nothing about how footballs are maintained and what the rules are. Neither is Tom Brady.

 

4) Many current and former NFL players, Hall of Fame players I might add, have been very outspoken that it would be impossible for someone to make a 2psi change on a ball and for the QB not to notice.

 

5) I'll skip the physics lesson on PV=nRT but temperature changes from mid 70s (i.e. indoors) to 51 degrees at game time do not reduce the football's air pressure by 2psi. This was proven by the fact the footballs just 53 yards away had no discernible decrease in pressure.

 

6) It is statistically improbable that 11 of 12 footballs were exactly 2psi below where they were 2hrs 15 min earlier simply by chance.

 

7) Altering the air pressure on the football not only gave Tom Brady a better grip on the football it did the same for the RB, WRs, and TE. This reduces the likelihood of a fumbles and dropped passes. That is a big deal when a game against the Ravens was won by one scoring drive.

 

8) Lower air pressure on a football the Patriots were using had nothing to do with the fact the Colts cannot tackle.

 

9) The fact the Colts cannot tackle has nothing to do with the Patriot's cheating being acceptable.

 

10) Tom Brady is staring at his entire legacy going down in flames. So is Bill Belichick. Both want us to believe they had nothing to do with this. Despite all they stand to lose neither has called for their owner to conduct an independent investigation into who would set them up for failure like this. Both are content to sit back and see what the league says about it. They are so infuriated that someone would do this to them that neither has even spoken with the league to demand quick resolution.

 

I highly doubt there is one member on this board who, if faced with a coworker who set them up to take a hit on their career like this, would just sit back and not demand HR and their senior managers do a thorough investigation into what happened. Remember, one week earlier Brady and Belichick were the smartest men in the room.

 

Now we have an equipment manager setup by two millionaires to take the fall for this cheating. That is even more despicable.

 

 

----------------------

 

The uproar from so many former players and coaches has clearly caught Goodell by surprise. He was expecting to let his buddy off with a simple fine by the end of the week, and maybe a loss of late draft pick. He is now between a rock and hard place because of all his pontificating about the integrity of the game and the NFL when handing out punishment to players. He has many HoF players and coaches watching very carefully what he does. This at a time the league is trying to celebrate the Superbowl teams. He just pivoted and decided that since he cannot get away with a light punishment for his friends he will now delay the process. He brought in an outside firm to investigate and doing this gives him time to get past the Superbowl. Yet his inaction before this game will forever setup his legacy. He better hope Seattle wins because the optics of him handing that trophy to the Patriots owner, coach, and QB won't be good at all.

 

 

I want to see a similar punishment as was handed out to the Saints organization, if not worse, because this is the 2nd event where this organization has been caught cheating. They can't run and hide the video this time.

 

[BearFan2000]

[CrackerDog]

I think rules are important but didn't see this as a big deal. Some of you have made a good case why this should be taken seriously and I respect that. Unfortunately I think this is another case of "everyone does it" so they'll likely give them a hand slap and let it go.

[CrackerDog]

Oh, and I wish people would stop tacking "gate" onto the back end of every damn scandal. Ridiculous.

[adam]

Here is a great article on the topic:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/not-for-attr...-184104713.html

 

Basically it almost happens all the time, and in almost every game (depending on QB).

 

I don't think it is a big deal, but the league should do a better job of policing the rule. There are enough TV timeouts to have a side or back judge check the balls, hell they can carry a small air pressure valve in their pockets. To

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

i have to totally disagree. who is to say the patriots would even have made it to this point in the season if they had played fair?

 

cheating destroys the integrity of the game. once you lose credibility then the sport is done and there is no coming back without very serious effort by the league and even then there will always be that stigma in the back of peoples minds.

 

it is no different than stealing. the amount is inconsequential. whether it is millions or a dollar, you are a thief. the patriots have stolen not just fame and glory from another team that may have deserved it, they have taken money out of the pockets of players, coaches, owners and fans of other teams who played by the rules.

 

what SHOULD they do?

 

1. the patriots should be disqualified from playing in the superbowl and the colts should be the replacement team.

 

2. as a second offense bilichek should be banned from the NFL for life.

 

3. tom brady should be suspended for one year and all statistics and accomplishments for the 2014 season expunged from the record books. if it happens again... banned from the NFL for life.

 

4. next season the patriots should not be eligible to participate in the playoffs or the superbowl.

 

5. if cheating happens again kraft should have his franchise taken away from him by the league.

 

that would be fair and send a message to the franchises and the fans that cheating will never be tolerated.

 

Lucky, usually you make some questionable comments and although this seems rather harsh, I would have to totally agree with you. At the very least something in between with a lean to what you propose.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice…

 

I agree this is a big deal.

 

What we know:

 

1) Brady admits for every game he is very picky about which footballs he wants to see on the field during the game. He's so picky about which footballs he likes he spends about 20min going through them beforehand but then he has no clue when a football is 2psi less than standard. Anyone who has ever played backyard football knows when the ball is light on air but Tom Brady who does this for a living had no clue.

 

2) The start of the 2nd half was delayed for 1 min while they searched for a legit ball. Brady and Belicik says they had no idea why there was a delay. The masterminds of clock management weren't even curious why the officials delayed their first play?

 

3) A week ago after they barely beat the Ravens, Brady and (to a much lesser extent) Belicik were bragging about how well they know the rule book. Bill Belichick as Sgt. Schulz is not believable when he says he knows nothing about how footballs are maintained and what the rules are. Neither is Tom Brady.

 

4) Many current and former NFL players, Hall of Fame players I might add, have been very outspoken that it would be impossible for someone to make a 2psi change on a ball and for the QB not to notice.

 

5) I'll skip the physics lesson on PV=nRT but temperature changes from mid 70s (i.e. indoors) to 51 degrees at game time do not reduce the football's air pressure by 2psi. This was proven by the fact the footballs just 53 yards away had no discernible decrease in pressure.

 

6) It is statistically improbable that 11 of 12 footballs were exactly 2psi below where they were 2hrs 15 min earlier simply by chance.

 

7) Altering the air pressure on the football not only gave Tom Brady a better grip on the football it did the same for the RB, WRs, and TE. This reduces the likelihood of a fumbles and dropped passes. That is a big deal when a game against the Ravens was won by one scoring drive.

 

8) Lower air pressure on a football the Patriots were using had nothing to do with the fact the Colts cannot tackle.

 

9) The fact the Colts cannot tackle has nothing to do with the Patriot's cheating being acceptable.

 

10) Tom Brady is staring at his entire legacy going down in flames. So is Bill Belichick. Both want us to believe they had nothing to do with this. Despite all they stand to lose neither has called for their owner to conduct an independent investigation into who would set them up for failure like this. Both are content to sit back and see what the league says about it. They are so infuriated that someone would do this to them that neither has even spoken with the league to demand quick resolution.

 

I highly doubt there is one member on this board who, if faced with a coworker who set them up to take a hit on their career like this, would just sit back and not demand HR and their senior managers do a thorough investigation into what happened. Remember, one week earlier Brady and Belichick were the smartest men in the room.

 

Now we have an equipment manager setup by two millionaires to take the fall for this cheating. That is even more despicable.

 

 

----------------------

 

The uproar from so many former players and coaches has clearly caught Goodell by surprise. He was expecting to let his buddy off with a simple fine by the end of the week, and maybe a loss of late draft pick. He is now between a rock and hard place because of all his pontificating about the integrity of the game and the NFL when handing out punishment to players. He has many HoF players and coaches watching very carefully what he does. This at a time the league is trying to celebrate the Superbowl teams. He just pivoted and decided that since he cannot get away with a light punishment for his friends he will now delay the process. He brought in an outside firm to investigate and doing this gives him time to get past the Superbowl. Yet his inaction before this game will forever setup his legacy. He better hope Seattle wins because the optics of him handing that trophy to the Patriots owner, coach, and QB won't be good at all.

 

 

I want to see a similar punishment as was handed out to the Saints organization, if not worse, because this is the 2nd event where this organization has been caught cheating. They can't run and hide the video this time.

 

Bravo. Very well said AZ. And if there is some truth to Goddell in a form of cover up, he should be fired. He dodged a bullet with the Ray Rice incident. Set a bad tone with the dealing of Jim Irsay and now this. I understand that he works for the owners but what is starting to develop is something similar to how steroids blew up baseball. And this is on his watch.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

I think rules are important but didn't see this as a big deal. Some of you have made a good case why this should be taken seriously and I respect that. Unfortunately I think this is another case of "everyone does it" so they'll likely give them a hand slap and let it go.

 

Mike and Mike talked about this the other day. Sure, by itself it's wrong and maybe not a big deal. But ask yourself this; when they were caught 'cheating' previously were they the only team doing it then? And If not why weren't other teams caught and disciplined? Mike and Mike commented on how since their last Super Bowl win and the revelation of Videoga...er sorry, video cheating, they haven't won one. Now they are on the precipice of finally getting to the super bowl again and the chance to essentially clear their name then this scandal rears its head. They are very close to having all their championships with an asterisk next to them.

 

If you are ok with this, you are on with what A-Rod did, what Lance Armstrong did, what Pete Rose did...etc

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Here is a great article on the topic:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/not-for-attr...-184104713.html

 

Basically it almost happens all the time, and in almost every game (depending on QB).

 

I don't think it is a big deal, but the league should do a better job of policing the rule. There are enough TV timeouts to have a side or back judge check the balls, hell they can carry a small air pressure valve in their pockets. To

 

So the person answering the questions, what is his name? Is he "anonymous"?

 

The article says that the NCAA takes deflating balls "very seriously" and when USC was caught they were fined etc. and this was allegedly by a "rogue equip. manager". (See scapegoat). And to say that "everyone does it" doesn't make it acceptable. Why would USC be fined if it was ok? Why does the NFL have rules in place for this very thing? Why the whole process for issuing a set number of balls to each team during a game only to have them returned right before the game for inspection? You think that's coincidence? It's clearly a rule violation. If USC was punished after their incident, NFL teams had to be out on notice that this was not ok. And I'll grant that should this have been an isolated incident for NE maybe, just maybe, I'd be willing to accept something lesser in discipline. But this is not their first offense. Who knows how many other times they got away with somthing(?).

[Mongo3451]

Bravo. Very well said AZ. And if there is some truth to Goddell in a form of cover up, he should be fired. He dodged a bullet with the Ray Rice incident. Set a bad tone with the dealing of Jim Irsay and now this. I understand that he works for the owners but what is starting to develop is something similar to how steroids blew up baseball. And this is on his watch.

Agreed. We all know it didn't make a difference in the Colts game, but what about the Ravens?

 

The less air pressure, the lighter the ball too. The Ravens game could have swung on a play or two from this particular offence. That being said, the Ravens or Colts should potentially be playing in this game.

 

Goodell has allowed this investigation to linger long enough to allow the Patriots to compete for the championship. What a black eye for the league. We are not talking about players smacking someone around anymore. We are taking about billion dollar corruption. All anyone in competition wants to hear or say, is that they won or lost "fair and square".

 

Thanks for starting this post. I've been wanting to vent this all week...

 

 

[adam]

So the person answering the questions, what is his name? Is he "anonymous"?

 

The article says that the NCAA takes deflating balls "very seriously" and when USC was caught they were fined etc. and this was allegedly by a "rogue equip. manager". (See scapegoat). And to say that "everyone does it" doesn't make it acceptable. Why would USC be fined if it was ok? Why does the NFL have rules in place for this very thing? Why the whole process for issuing a set number of balls to each team during a game only to have them returned right before the game for inspection? You think that's coincidence? It's clearly a rule violation. If USC was punished after their incident, NFL teams had to be out on notice that this was not ok. And I'll grant that should this have been an isolated incident for NE maybe, just maybe, I'd be willing to accept something lesser in discipline. But this is not their first offense. Who knows how many other times they got away with somthing(?).

 

Why doesn't the NFL provide the balls? Just like the ones they get directly from Wilson for kickers? Just have the NFL provide the balls for every game, and test them every quarter for accuracy. The QB's should not have the ability to doctor the balls to their liking. To me that is the bigger problem. Yes it does not make it right just because everyone is doing it, but most drivers exceed the speed limit everyday (against the law) and knowingly do it. Seattle commits a penalty on every play (usually holding), yet they do it knowing that the refs will not call it on every play. Normally leading the league in penalties was a bad thing, but for Seattle, they have led the league the last two years, so it obviously working for them.

 

I think NE should be fined if there is evidence that they actually did something, but I don't see it as that egregious of an act like the national media (even non-sports media) has made it out to be. Should they be fined, if guilty, yes (25k per ball); should they lose draft picks, yes ( 2-3 since it was a playoff game). Besides the grip, a lower inflated ball will be more affected by the wind and will not travel as far. So besides grip, there is not many other benefits.

 

To me there are two issues here, obviously NE has a track record that really needs to be looked into, and the NFL officiating needs to be cleaned up. Either enforce rules or don't have them. I am sick of the game to game, crew to crew differences. They are worried about player celebrations, but rarely flag coaches who come onto the field, or players without helmets.

 

 

[adam]

Agreed. We all know it didn't make a difference in the Colts game, but what about the Ravens?

 

The less air pressure, the lighter the ball too. The Ravens game could have swung on a play or two from this particular offence. That being said, the Ravens or Colts should potentially be playing in this game.

 

Goodell has allowed this investigation to linger long enough to allow the Patriots to compete for the championship. What a black eye for the league. We are not talking about players smacking someone around anymore. We are taking about billion dollar corruption. All anyone in competition wants to hear or say, is that they won or lost "fair and square".

 

Thanks for starting this post. I've been wanting to vent this all week...

Mongo, the balls were re-inflated at halftime and NE outscored IND 28-0 in the 2nd half. The ball psi didn't have that much to do with the outcome of the game.

 

For the Ravens game, how do we know the Ravens balls were not deflated too? If the Indy game was close or this was discovered during the Baltimore game, then I would have more of an issue with it, but this really didn't impact the Indy game, and there is no way to know if this was done in the Ravens game too. Again like I said in the other post, this comes down to the league and the mismanagement of the officials. Don't even let the team have the ability to provide the balls. Let the league provide them for every game with the refs. Let them control them until kickoff and then test at the end of every quarter.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Why doesn't the NFL provide the balls? Just like the ones they get directly from Wilson for kickers? Just have the NFL provide the balls for every game, and test them every quarter for accuracy. The QB's should not have the ability to doctor the balls to their liking. To me that is the bigger problem. Yes it does not make it right just because everyone is doing it, but most drivers exceed the speed limit everyday (against the law) and knowingly do it. Seattle commits a penalty on every play (usually holding), yet they do it knowing that the refs will not call it on every play. Normally leading the league in penalties was a bad thing, but for Seattle, they have led the league the last two years, so it obviously working for them.

 

I think NE should be fined if there is evidence that they actually did something, but I don't see it as that egregious of an act like the national media (even non-sports media) has made it out to be. Should they be fined, if guilty, yes (25k per ball); should they lose draft picks, yes ( 2-3 since it was a playoff game). Besides the grip, a lower inflated ball will be more affected by the wind and will not travel as far. So besides grip, there is not many other benefits.

 

To me there are two issues here, obviously NE has a track record that really needs to be looked into, and the NFL officiating needs to be cleaned up. Either enforce rules or don't have them. I am sick of the game to game, crew to crew differences. They are worried about player celebrations, but rarely flag coaches who come onto the field, or players without helmets.

 

I used to follow NASCAR a lot when I was younger. If you're familar with how they operate even though there are about 4-5 manufacturers they all have to fall under specific measurements and specs. They measure, weigh and critique every aspect of the sport. Most specifically the cars . Every little bump or ding is analyzed because at 200 miles those little tweaks can make a whole heck of a lot of difference . Do they over do it sometimes ? Yes but why do they do that? To keep every one on an "equal" playing field. Since "Stock Car" is part of their title, they are compelled to keep it equal. And when they find one little cheat during their numerous inspections they generally come down hard on the team.

 

Should they get to a point where they regulate the sport out of the game? No but they have to do something to keep it fair across the board. And consistently and gradually increase discipline them should they try to unfairly get the upper hand.

 

[Mongo3451]

Mongo, the balls were re-inflated at halftime and NE outscored IND 28-0 in the 2nd half. The ball psi didn't have that much to do with the outcome of the game.

 

For the Ravens game, how do we know the Ravens balls were not deflated too? If the Indy game was close or this was discovered during the Baltimore game, then I would have more of an issue with it, but this really didn't impact the Indy game, and there is no way to know if this was done in the Ravens game too. Again like I said in the other post, this comes down to the league and the mismanagement of the officials. Don't even let the team have the ability to provide the balls. Let the league provide them for every game with the refs. Let them control them until kickoff and then test at the end of every quarter.

Just so you don't think I'm stupid about the Colts game, please re read my post. Lol

[adam]

Just so you don't think I'm stupid about the Colts game, please re read my post. Lol

Lol, I thought you were talking about the Super Bowl with the comment about the Ravens or Colts playing in this game. My bad.

[adam]

I used to follow NASCAR a lot when I was younger. If you're familar with how they operate even though there are about 4-5 manufacturers they all have to fall under specific measurements and specs. They measure, weigh and critique every aspect of the sport. Most specifically the cars . Every little bump or ding is analyzed because at 200 miles those little tweaks can make a whole heck of a lot of difference . Do they over do it sometimes ? Yes but why do they do that? To keep every one on an "equal" playing field. Since "Stock Car" is part of their title, they are compelled to keep it equal. And when they find one little cheat during their numerous inspections they generally come down hard on the team.

 

Should they get to a point where they regulate the sport out of the game? No but they have to do something to keep it fair across the board. And consistently and gradually increase discipline them should they try to unfairly get the upper hand.

 

Grizz,

Then you know that teams still do it all the time. The pit crews and Crew Chiefs were sometimes more important than the driver, because they would tweak things out of spec and back in during a race to give their car an edge.

 

I just think in this case, why even give a team the ability to do something like this? Let the game be won and lost between the lines. This is easily remedied by the league taking control of the footballs and inspecting them at every quarter.

 

This reminds me of things like "pumping in crowd noise" or "not cutting the grass". The crowd noise has a huge impact on the game, on both sides of the ball. Not cutting the grass can play into your teams strengths and slow the other team down. There should be more enforcement of these types of advantages, especially ones that have been around for a long time. The inflating or deflating of footballs was never seen as a big deal as long as they kept them within the range. In this case, they were outside the range, and someone messed up.

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Grizz,

Then you know that teams still do it all the time. The pit crews and Crew Chiefs were sometimes more important than the driver, because they would tweak things out of spec and back in during a race to give their car an edge.

 

I just think in this case, why even give a team the ability to do something like this? Let the game be won and lost between the lines. This is easily remedied by the league taking control of the footballs and inspecting them at every quarter.

 

This reminds me of things like "pumping in crowd noise" or "not cutting the grass". The crowd noise has a huge impact on the game, on both sides of the ball. Not cutting the grass can play into your teams strengths and slow the other team down. There should be more enforcement of these types of advantages, especially ones that have been around for a long time. The inflating or deflating of footballs was never seen as a big deal as long as they kept them within the range. In this case, they were outside the range, and someone messed up.

 

We agree for the most part.

 

And unless you're talking about the folks that should be regulating the game, they did more than 'mess up'.