Stupor Bowl

[BobG]

Maybe it was an honest mistake - like checking the pressure while they were in a 200 degree oven.

Or the referee room where the air pressure is checked has low air pressure. That 12.5 to 13.5 psi is a relative air pressure. The air pressure in the ball is 12.5 to 13.5 psi greater than the external air pressure.

Probably most people have worked in a buidling where the doors won't close when the weather's just right or the doors are incredibly hard to open when the weather's just right. And it's usually the same doors that have a problem. It's because the air pressure in that room or that part of the buidling is different than the rest of the building.

If it's hard to open the door to get out of the referee room, then your mystery is solved.

Not to mention that the difference in indoor temperature and outdoor temperature would have an effect. Except, unlike a few articles have posted, you have to use the absolute pressure inside the ball, not the relative pressure, when using the PV=NRT equation. Atmospheric pressure is usually around 14.7 psi, so they should be plugging approximately 27.2 psi (and using Kelvin for temperature) when figuring out how much pressure is lost due to the temperature difference.

 

[JorisL]

https://medium.com/the-cauldron/deflategate-and-the-softening-of-the-american-mind-8b5580a9cd3c

Haven't thought to deeply about it, it seems plausible after the quick read this afternoon.
The main point, of oversensational media coverage, it raises is more important and quite universal across the world.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Each team uses its own set when they are playing offense.

I am not an American football fan and thus do not really follow the game at all, but this statement above is astounding to me. Up until this point, I have always thought that the individual stadium or the NFL itself would provide standardized balls in all games, so that every team will use the same ball, as I believe is the case in every other sport where a ball is involved (e.g. soccer, lacrosse, basketball, baseball). However, correct me if I'm mistaken about this.

 

[BobG]

I am not an American football fan and thus do not really follow the game at all, but this statement above is astounding to me. Up until this point, I have always thought that the individual stadium or the NFL itself would provide standardized balls in all games, so that every team will use the same ball, as I believe is the case in every other sport where a ball is involved (e.g. soccer, lacrosse, basketball, baseball). However, correct me if I'm mistaken about this.

This rule changed in 2006 to allow each team to use their own game balls when on offense. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, among other quarterbacks, lobbied pretty hard and successfully for this rule change.

And I agree it's a pretty bizarre rule change.

Prior to 2006, quarterbacks pretty much had to deal with whatever ball was given to them. Super Bowls were always a nightmare. Being a big game, the NFL would use brand new footballs for the big game and they were slick and shiny. In the 2002 Super Bowl, one quarterback, Brad Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, paid the equipment staff a few thousand dollars to rough up the surface of the game balls before the game, just so they wouldn't be so slick. The opposing quarterback not only knew what Johnson was going to do, but offered to chip in a few thousand of his own, if necessary. It wasn't "cheating" per se. Just two quarterbacks that didn't want to embarrass themselves in the biggest game of their career simply because someone that may have never played football thought the game was important enough to warrant the "best possible" balls for the game.

I'm not sure quarterbacks really thought they'd get their own personal balls for games, but they at least wanted balls that were actually the best for playing with - not balls that just looked really nice.

Baseball, on the other hand, is really protective about their balls. You scratch one of them, spit on one of them (especially spit supplemented with some other foreign substance), you even sweat too much on them, and you're tossed out of the game. The only exception is the baseball club in Denver. They're allowed to keep their balls in some kind of humidor until game time due to the effects altitude and a dry climate have on the flight of the ball (and I think players still hit more home runs in Denver than in any other ballpark).

 

[nsaspook]

http://fox59.com/2015/05/09/nfl-com...punishment-for-role-in-deflategate-next-week/

(May 9, 2015) – According to the New York Daily News, an announcement with details regarding Tom Brady’s suspension is expected next week.

The New York Daily News reports that it’s no longer a matter of “if” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will suspend Brady, but it’s a matter of “how long” he will suspend him.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Probably suspend him until the start of the season.

 

[russ_watters]

Probably suspend him until the start of the season.

A four-games suspension?

 

[JonDE]

"Everything is being studied. Everything is being considered," an NFL source told the Herald.

Now, that doesn't mean that Brady will be suspended for the year, but it does mean that the NFL is at least considering it. Brady's punishment could end up being a shorter suspension, but the source told the Herald not to dismiss the possibility of a year-long suspension.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...m-brady-could-be-suspended-for-up-to-one-year
It also mentions it is even more likely because he refused to aid in the investigation, by not turning over his cell phone and e-mails.

 

[nsaspook]

The National Football League suspended New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four regular season games without pay "for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL," the league announced Monday afternoon.

The league also announced that the team—which won the Stupor Bowl earlier this year—would be fined $1 million and forced to forfeit its first-round pick in the 2016 draft and its fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102650340

The thing I don't like is that regular two employees of the team were suspended without pay for doing something they never would have done without exact orders from the QB and if they didn't do as ordered might have been risking their jobs. Brady has plenty of funds to handle his wait but I'm pretty sure the equipment guys don't.

 

[BobG]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102650340

The thing I don't like is that regular two employees of the team were suspended without pay for doing something they never would have done without exact orders from the QB and if they didn't do as ordered might have been risking their jobs. Brady has plenty of funds to handle his wait but I'm pretty sure the equipment guys don't.

The Monday release said that Patriots owner Robert Kraft told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week that two team employees had been indefinitely suspended without pay. The league said neither man could be reinstated without permission.

Wow! At least Brady gave them some pretty cool souvenirs. Customer demand for Tom Brady merchandise has doubled since his suspension. Maybe they should sell them now while the demand is high.

 

[russ_watters]

I smell a wrongful termination lawsuit.

 

[SteamKing]

A four-games suspension?

It's more than that. It's a four-game suspension without pay.

Brady leaves about $2 million on the table because somebody squeezed his balls during the Colts game.

 

[russ_watters]

It's more than that. It's a four-game suspension without pay.

I was joking with V50 about which four games the suspension could be for; The first four games of the year are preseason games. So it wasn't really a prescient prediction.

Brady leaves about $2 million on the table because somebody squeezed his balls during the Colts game.

I rather suspect that in relative terms that's a lot less money than the equipment managers are losing by getting fired. I am very sympathetic to them. Brady, notsomuch.

 

[SteamKing]

I was joking with V50 about which four games the suspension could be for; The first four games of the year are preseason games. So it wasn't really a prescient prediction.

No, I don't think these are pre-season games the suspension will apply to.

In the NFL, the pre-season games are like exhibition games: none of the stats count, and the won-lost record doesn't matter to the rest of the season, but the owners get to pocket some money from ticket sales. The players are all technically in training camp, where each usually receives a nominal amount as a weekly stipend (usually something small, like $500), which is not related to the salary spelled out in his playing contract.

The Patriots will not have Brady's services during the first four weeks of the NFL regular season in 2015. Brady's agent says he plans to appeal the NFL decision and suspension later this summer.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...games-by-nfl-patriots-lose-2016-first-rounder

 

[BobG]

It's more than that. It's a four-game suspension without pay.

Brady leaves about $2 million on the table because somebody squeezed his balls during the Colts game.

Actually, if you read the report, it's pretty clear they did this over the course of at least the entire 2014 season. Looking at messages before the 2014 season even began, they were probably doing it during at least the 2013 season, as well. The Colts seemed to know ahead of time the balls would probably be underinflated, so it wasn't an extremely close held secret by the end of the season.

I don't really know how to put this into perspective against a lot of the other stunts players pull, such as trying to get away with spraying their jerseys with cooking oil, throwing spitballs in baseball, etc, but I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to put it in the same punishment category as using performance enhancement drugs. A little surprising, but not completely unreasonable.

 

[russ_watters]

No, I don't think these are pre-season games the suspension will apply to.

I'm/was aware that that was never a possibility (because it would be stupid/pointless). That's what makes it a joke.

 

[JohnPrior3]

This is correct. It is why no one noticed until the ball was intercepted. It makes Tom Brady's story even more unbelievable. A linebacker, who almost never handles the football, could immediately tell the ball was underinflated, yet a quarterback, who handles it constantly, cannot?

Ravens had alerted the Colts and the NFL of the possibility of football tampering. The referees also handle the footballs between plays, it is strange that it was the linebacker who took notice.

 

[JohnPrior3]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...m-brady-could-be-suspended-for-up-to-one-year
It also mentions it is even more likely because he refused to aid in the investigation, by not turning over his cell phone and e-mails.

I am a Patriots fan, but I'm really doing my best to see this from an unbiased stand point. According to the Wells Report, both locker room attendant's gave up their text messages. Why would Brady then have to give up his private information?

What I also find interesting about this being a prominent argument against Brady is that in his appeal, he is required to give up this personal information. The texts and emails will come out. If Brady really was hiding a dark secret, he should not be appealing his suspension because it gives the league an opportunity to suspend him even more games if they do in fact find him guilty of cheating.

Again, I support the Patriots no matter what. I'm from Boston and my loyalty cannot be tainted. In my opinion, both sides are full of inconsistencies and seem to lack truthfulness.

 

[Muti]

I do not know if he is a star player or just last guy in his team. He is controversial or popular. I think player must know how a ball might behave when he kicks it. Other factors like rain or dew on ball can also make ball behave differently. I am excluding any tempering with the ball.

 

[russ_watters]

I am a Patriots fan, but I'm really doing my best to see this from an unbiased stand point. According to the Wells Report, both locker room attendant's gave up their text messages. Why would Brady then have to give up his private information?

What does one thing have to do with another? When investigarors investigate, they investigate everyone who may be involved.

 

[JohnPrior3]

What does one thing have to do with another? When investigarors investigate, they investigate everyone who may be involved.

From a legal perspective, the league has probable cause to investigate conversations with Brady and any equipment personnel. They do not have probable cause to look at every message Brady has sent say to his wife or to friends. I mean come on, who wants to make his or her phone records public? I know I certainly don't. Regardless, when the league investigates the appeal Brady MUST give up that personal info he didn't before and any findings that prove his guilt may INCREASE the suspension. If Brady's messages were so bad to begin with, he would have taken the four game suspension to save himself any worse punishment.