Deflategate: Brady suspended, Pats lose draft picks & fined

[Jordysghost]

Frankly, that's not what I'm saying. I am too prejudiced against Brady and the Patriots to be fully objective and I've tried to refrain from taking much of a position on this particular scandal. I don't know if its a legitimate scandal or not, but the point I was making is that accusations of cheating are logically of greater importance to the legitimacy of the NFL than off field actions. I'm not saying the NFL should have zero reaction to criminal activity among its players, but its obviously less inherently critical to the integrity of the game than cheating.

I actually understood what you were saying, and I agree, cheating is a more direct threat to the games integrity, I just also think that the fact that the Patriots are repeat offenders magnifies the situation.

[fiestavike]

I actually understood what you were saying, and I agree, cheating is a more direct threat to the games integrity, I just also think that the fact that the Patriots are repeat offenders magnifies the situation.

That's fair. My apologies if I misunderstood your previous post.

[Jordysghost]

Its all good man.

[Funkytown]

[Mothman]

Six months later, Mortensen deletes inaccurate Deflategate tweet

On January 20, Chris Mortensen of ESPN tweeted that 11 of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game were under-inflated by two pounds of pressure per square inch. That report was incorrect.

So Mortensen deleted the tweet. Unfortunately, he waited more than six months to do so.

Mortensen’s tweet was used for months to shape the Deflategate story. Even though PFT and others cast doubt on the report almost immediately, and even though the Patriots pleaded with the league office to correct the record, official confirmation that the balls were not as under-inflated as Mortensen’s source claimed didn’t come until the Wells Report was released months later.

That’s been one of the maddening things about the whole Deflategate mess: Accurate information has been hard to come by, and the gaps have been filled with inaccurate information.

[Mothman]

Grantland writer Charles Pierce sounds like he's had it with the whole Deflategate fiasco:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/patri ... never-was/

His expressed exasperation is makes for pretty good reading.

[dead_poet]

Grantland writer Charles Pierce sounds like he's had it with the whole Deflategate fiasco:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/patri ... never-was/

His expressed exasperation is makes for pretty good reading.

That was...refreshing. Thanks for posting. So many great lines, like:

More than a few people advised Brady to suck it up and take the penalty because you can’t fight City Hall, overlooking the fact that, in this particular case, City Hall is presided over by a guy who couldn’t pour juice out of his loafers if the instructions were written on the heel.

[Mothman]

That was...refreshing. Thanks for posting. So many great lines, like:

That was my favorite line! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was highly entertained.

[DK Sweets]

Thanks for posting, Jim. I'm so tired of this whole story.

[jackal]

You Know Belicheck is going nuts with this ...

He hates distractions, and right now the media universe is going to be focused, on his team, during training camp...

[Raptorman]

The more I read about this the more I think the NFL dropped the ball,(no pun intended) on the issue. They could have corrected the issue with Mortensen tweet if they had wanted to. I don't think they wanted to. It was not to their benefit to do it apparently. Because when misinformation gets out there about he NFL they are usually very quick to correct it. I would love to see this hit the court room and have the NFL try to explain why they didn't correct the bad information to the judge.

[Cliff]

Six months later, Mortensen deletes inaccurate Deflategate tweet

Well that's crappy of him. Even with the false report on the number of balls deflated, you wouldn't want all of the balls deflated anyway, would you? Don't they use them for kickoffs, punts, field goals and what not? If it's Brady who wants the balls deflated they'd just need the balls he uses? Or does he use all 12?

[Mothman]

Well that's crappy of him. Even with the false report on the number of balls deflated, you wouldn't want all of the balls deflated anyway, would you? Don't they use them for kickoffs, punts, field goals and what not? If it's Brady who wants the balls deflated they'd just need the balls he uses? Or does he use all 12?

All of those balls would be for use by the offense (ie: Brady). There are separate balls for use in the kicking game. Per NFL rules:

http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/ball

The home club shall have 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements. 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.

[DK Sweets]

League Office Unaware Science is Real

This story just keeps getting better.

[Mothman]

League Office Unaware Science is Real

This story just keeps getting better.

If, instead of launching that same night an investigation premised on proving that the Patriots had cheated someone had considered the notion that perhaps air pressure changes during games played in the elements, and if someone had immediately retained a scientist to examine the raw numbers under the conditions at Gillette Stadium that night, there’s a good chance that the conclusion would have been that the raw data is inconclusive at best on whether there was tampering.

But the early presumption — fueled by incorrect information given by the NFL to the Patriots and false numbers leaked by the NFL to ESPN — was that tampering had happened. So science became an afterthought, an inconvenience to be dismissed in the official report that found “more probable than not” evidence of cheating instead of what it should have been: An explanation considered seriously and thoroughly by the league office before pointing a finger at one of the 32 franchises it serves.

I have to hand it to Florio, his overall coverage of this fiasco has been excellent.

The NFL should just pull over, empty it's clown car (ie: replace Goodell and his cronies) and admit that this entire situation has been thoroughly botched from the very beginning.