OT: ESPN States 11 of 12 Patriots Footballs Found Underinflated
Rosenberg is still deserving of his fisking because Rosenberg. Interesting to see how this plays out.
Link: http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/12202450/nfl-says-new-england-patriots-had-inflated-footballs-afc-championship-game?ex_cid=sportscenterTW
January 21st, 2015 at 12:04 AM ^
You should see a urologist immediately, since you could be in the early stages of testicular torsion. Look it up.
January 21st, 2015 at 6:09 AM ^
January 20th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^
Not the dumbest thing ever actually.
I was rooting for the Patroits. Still am. But it depends on just how low the balls were underinflated. If we're talking about a miniscule amount this is probably no big deal--it probably means that they were trying to put the balls at the lower limit of the inflation rules and then it got colder. Air pressure goes down when the air gets colder.
However if the balls were SIGNIFICANTLY underinflated, it would mean they setup the balls already outside of the rules. That could be pretty uncool, especially if they did it to f*** with Luck's ability to throw the ball.
Pretty hard to say exactly what effect it had on things, but it would be more than "nothing". It certainly didn't win them the game, but that was just because the game didn't end up being close. The league will punish them as if it had been a close game.
If they intentionally set up the balls outside of the guidelines, they will almost certainly get a pretty big penalty. If they can prove they setup the balls on the low end of the guidelines and it just got colder, it probably won't be so bad.
EDIT: Just re-read the link. If the balls were really low by 2 PSI, the penalties are going to be big. That is deliberate. Can't see how that could have been accidental due to the weather.
January 20th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^
HOWEVER I believe only the home team's balls are used UNLESS something is deemed to be wrong with them. That is what happened at the beinning of the 3rd quarter when the refs suddently switched out footballs.
This is different than in college where each team uses its own football on offtense.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:03 AM ^
"Each offense supplies its own footballs, which are examined by officials before each game to make sure they have 12.5-13.5 pounds of pressure. They are then marked and set aside until gametime. Another set of balls are used for special teams"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2015/01/19/tom-brady-…
January 21st, 2015 at 12:14 AM ^
if that is true, then the Patriots weren't doing it to f*** with Luck. Someone on ESPN was saying that both teams used the same footballs. Maybe that was incorrect info.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^
"The balls are required be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces."
And according to Twitter, "NFL has found that 11 of the Patriots footballs used in Sunday’s AFC title game were under-inflated by 2 lbs each, per league sources."
So a 2 PSI decrease is quite a bit. The temperature at game time was in the mid to upper 40s although the wind chill could have potentially played a factor as well. If the original test was in the ref's locker room in the upper 70s you would expect at maximum there would be a decrease of ~1 PSI...
January 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
that's what I was thinking too. Plus I'm assuming they are measuring the balls again now under warmer conditions, so the air would have expanded back. So if the balls are low even when they are warm, it means there were even flatter out there in the cold.
I would say the big question now is, did the officiials approve the flat balls, in which case the officials f***ed up, or did the Patriots take air out of the balls AFTER they were approved, in which case they are headed to Boliva?
January 21st, 2015 at 12:45 AM ^
When did they measure them the second time exactly?
January 21st, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^
Sigh time to bring out the Van Der Waals equation for real gases to figure out this shit.
How many Atm is 1 Psi? How many grams is 1 lb? Not used to the stupid American system when it comes to science.
January 21st, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
January 20th, 2015 at 11:46 PM ^
I honestly don't give a shit about this. Does anyone actually care that the ball was underinflated?
January 20th, 2015 at 11:47 PM ^
I can guarantee you the league does. They get pretty pissy when teams break the rules. C'mon, they get pissy when people wear the wrong socks.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:18 AM ^
It gives ESPN something to talk about during the off week. You know they are loving this.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:34 AM ^
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January 20th, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^
Did they check Indy's balls to? If not, what did they use as a control group to show that this wasn't a natural deflation over the course of the game in those environmental conditions? Is there a record of what the inflation of the balls were when the ref checked (and approved) them before the game?
January 21st, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^
I feel as if this might be a similar situation to "Spygate." Everyone deflates their balls to a degree and Indy just complained to the league about it first knowing the impression it gives the Patriots. Clearly there is some messing around with the air pressure on all teams, Aaron Rogers was just complaining that he doesn't get to keep them the way he wants them all the time.
January 20th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^
Disclaimer: I am a Patriots fan.
If they were deflated on purpose by someone in the organization against league rules then I think there should definitely be some punishment. I don't think this in any way affected the outcome of the game though. Further, wouldn't it be easy to eliminate this as a possibility by simply having both teams use the same balls which are in the sole possesion of the refs like the K balls used for kickoffs?
January 20th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^
Over a bunch of non holding calls and a head ref overturning a blatant PI call!
January 20th, 2015 at 11:58 PM ^
is that this may be a case of "everyone does it".
Apparently the Packers often OVERinflate the balls and see if they can sneak them pass the officials. Aaron Rodgers even admitted it.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4776728/jim-nant…
January 20th, 2015 at 11:58 PM ^
January 20th, 2015 at 11:59 PM ^
So what does 2 lbs of air translate into diameter change? Probably minute, but they don't pursue that anaylsis. High drama. Run with that Espn.
January 20th, 2015 at 11:59 PM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
What exactly is a "Tommy apologist?"
January 21st, 2015 at 12:09 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
It's just because those Tommy Bahama shirts are so damn comfortable. If it's against the rules to be that casual yet classy-looking, I don't want to be right.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:47 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:01 AM ^
It is my understanding that the referees inspect the balls before the game and lock them away. If this is the case, and the balls were indeed underflated, then why on earth did the referees allow this in the first place, long before game time?
Something here does not add up.
January 21st, 2015 at 12:10 AM ^
two possibilities.
1) The refs were careless and didn't check the balls very carefully.
2) Someone on the Patriots staff has a key to that ball locker
I'd say option 1 is likely. I mean, they played with the balls for an entire half and the refs never noticed anything wrong with them. If they felt super flat wouldn't they have notcied? They touch the ball on every play. I don't really notice my basketball is a bit flat until I go to dribble it. Just holding it doesn't really tell me it's flat. So maybe they never checked them super carefully to begin with?
January 21st, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:30 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:56 AM ^
With the exception of any videos taken inside of an elevator.
January 21st, 2015 at 1:08 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 1:46 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 1:12 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 1:12 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 8:08 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:55 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:08 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:09 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:13 AM ^
January 21st, 2015 at 12:38 AM ^
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January 21st, 2015 at 12:24 AM ^
it's still pathetic to cheat like that