|
|
Post by mylungswereaching on May 14, 2015 22:23:36 GMT -5
I've been reading the Wells report and it is really making the NFL look bad.
First of all how they measure the balls in the first place. The official that measured the balls didn't write anything down but he thinks that the Patriots balls were all around 12.5 and the Colts balls at 13.0. There were several pressure gages available. When they asked him which one he used the one that he told them he used made the pressure problem much less severe, so the independent investigator pressured him into saying he used a different gage.
Second, they used two different gages at halftime that got wildly different results. They were not the gages that were used in the first reading. They averaged a 1/2 a pound difference in their readings. When the proper range of pressures expected is 1 pound a 1/2 pound discrepancy is huge.
Third, they measured all 11 Patriots balls but they only had time for 4 of the Colts balls. They had 15 minutes to measure the balls. How long does it take to put in a gage, read a number and write it down? About 5 to 10 seconds per ball if you are competent. It gives the appearance that the officials saw that the Colts balls were under inflated too which wasn't what they wanted to see so they stopped measuring.
Fourth, 3 of the 4 Colts balls measured as under inflated by one of the two gages. The report says "The four Colts balls tested were not inflated because
they measured within the permissible range on at least one of the gauges used at halftime." Page 12. One of the two says they're fine and the other says they're under inflated so you assume that they are fine. You have got to be kidding. If two cops measure your blood alcohol content and one says .78 and the other .82 do the cops just say, you can go?
Fifth, The lead investigator told several of the Patriots on their first interview that they knew that the Patriots were guilty so they might as well confess. So much for a objective report.
Sixth, there are almost no extended quotes in the entire report. You would expect to see pages and pages of testimony but what you see are carefully chosen quotes of a few sentences. That gives the appearance of cherry picking quotes that fit your objective.
Seventh, the leagues idea of how the ball was deflated was when a Patriot employee took them in a bathroom for 1 minute and 15 seconds. So he went into the bathroom, locked the door, took a ball out of the bag, carefully let out just the right amount if air and put it back in the bag. He did this 11 times without mixing up which ball he already deflated and then unlocked the door and left all within 1 minute and 15 seconds. Seems a little suspect to me.
I think it is quite possible that the Patriots cheated. I also think that this report does not prove it. There are many things in it that looks like the league went into the investigation knowing what they wanted it to say and they emphasized what supports what they wanted it to say and ignored stuff that contradicted it. How much evidence did they just throw out because it didn't meet their preconceived conclusion?
|
|
|
|
Post by toonfeline on May 14, 2015 23:25:41 GMT -5
This "DeflateGate" saga is ridiculous. I find it very absurd that the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell would try to throw Tom Brady under the bus all because he suspected he deflated footballs being used at the AFC Championship game. If Tom Brady did intentionally deflate these footballs, then let's see the evidence, already. Although, I'm betting there isn't any. And even if TB did tamper with these footballs, this $1M fine is WAY over the top. Doesn't the NFL constitution state that it's a $25K fine for footballs out of the 12.5 - 13.5 psi range? Not $1M? I think Goodell's trying to hurt Brady and the Patriots in an attempt to please the league's fans, which is completely wrong. I understand a lot of people hate the New England Patriots (because they win a lot, of course), but what Goodell seems to be doing doesn't sound right at all. It's unfair and unacceptable.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Atari on May 15, 2015 1:39:30 GMT -5
The cover-up and denial is always worse than the crime. Well, most crimes. Just ask Nixon. That's why the NFL slammed the Patriots. This crime was silly and shouldn't have been such a big deal. But the Patriots have a culture of underhanded tricks mixed with a smugness that makes them pretty hateable. I'm vastly enjoying their petty and ironic whining about the report and the punishment. "Boo hoo, you were unfair to us in the investigative process of proving that we were unfair in gaining our competitive advantages." That being said, Roger Goodell is an incompetent, self-important ninny who needs to be stripped of his power and over-inflated sense of justice. This article is pretty dead-on. $1M is a drop in the bucket to Kraft and/or Brady. I think the best punishment for the Patriots would have been Pete Carroll running the ball from the 1-yard-line. |
|
|
|
Post by mylungswereaching on May 15, 2015 6:46:33 GMT -5
The cover-up and denial is always worse than the crime. Well, most crimes. Just ask Nixon. That's why the NFL slammed the Patriots. This crime was silly and shouldn't have been such a big deal. But the Patriots have a culture of underhanded tricks mixed with a smugness that makes them pretty hateable. I'm vastly enjoying their petty and ironic whining about the report and the punishment. "Boo hoo, you were unfair to us in the investigative process of proving that we were unfair in gaining our competitive advantages." That being said, Roger Goodell is an incompetent, self-important ninny who needs to be stripped of his power and over-inflated sense of justice. This article is pretty dead-on. $1M is a drop in the bucket to Kraft and/or Brady. I think the best punishment for the Patriots would have been Pete Carroll running the ball from the 1-yard-line. I lean towards the Patriots being guilty but what should you do if you're actually innocent? I'm don't really think it's whining to point out the many logic errors in the report. When everyone assumes you're guilty and are determined to punish you whether or not they can find the evidence to prove it and almost come out and tell you that they will manufacture evidence if they have to, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to cooperate. It's not paranoia if they actually are out to get you. |
|
|
|
Post by GarrettCRW on May 16, 2015 2:48:14 GMT -5
Kraft is going to get Goodell fired for this garbage. It amazes and me that he'd undermine the owner that turned the Patriots from a national disgrace (the players sexually harassing a female reporter in the Patriots' locker room after a game) to the class of the league, and to please the Colts (who, between the move to Indy, suck for Luck, and their owner, are the source for far more embarrassment to "the shield") and a Ravens team that can't understand the rulebook (or even follow explicit commands from the refs to not cover the ineligible blocker). Because with how much a farce the investigation has been, and the shaky conclusions, I can only consider it an attempt to pander to those two teams (and maybe the Jets, who Goodell and Troy Vincent were both employed by before taking their current league jobs).
As for the insinuation that the Patriots and Boston fans are smug jerks who deserve to be taken down a few pegs, I find that wholly offensive as someone who cheers for two of the city's four teams (the Red Sox and Bruins) and considers a third (the Patriots) as a secondary team. The fact of the matter is that fans of other teams get pissy because if the local fans don't fill their place, Boston fans will happily do it themselves (I was at the Patriots/Chargers game at the Murph this past season, and can personally attest to this phenomena.) While it's true that there are some bros, jerkasses, and other assorted morons in the fanbase, it has been my experience that the overwhelming majority of the fans are good people who know their stuff (if a bit chronically insecure due to years of watching the Sox stomp on our hopes). I also have to wonder if the hate for the city's teams isn't a factor of the jerkass sports media (Dennis & Callahan and Dan Shaughnessy come immediately to mind) and the overexposure from ESPN (who is ironically highly hostile to the teams, save for Bill SImmons, who is frequently a jerkass).
|
|
|
|
Post by mylungswereaching on May 16, 2015 8:03:40 GMT -5
I agree about the New England sports media. They can be insufferable. When WEEI started getting rid of people left and right I was waiting for them to dump the insufferable Dennis and Callahan but no, the most incompetent of the bunch had the best rating so they stayed. Three thought occurred to me. 1) I've found a good website on the overall cheating issue, yourteamcheats.com. This site looked at every documented incident of cheating for every team in the NFL over the entire life of the franchise. The Patriots are right in the middle of the pack. The team in their division that has cheated the most by a wide margin, the New York Jets. The teams with the most cheating overall are the Broncos, Baltimore and Pittsburg. 2) The Patriots have had two fairly minor incidents in cheating in the Bellicheck error, Spygate and Inflategate. Why did they blow up out of proportion? Commissioner Cartman. When you've got a macho on the brain commissioner screaming "Respect my authoritay" rather than actually running the league, you've got a problem. 3) The more I think about it, the more worried I become about the idea that Tom Brady is being punished for not cooperating. Lets say this wasn't Tom Brady of the NFL but Tom Brody of XYZ company. XYZ company suspects that Tom Brody broke a minor company rule but can't prove it. They ask him to talk to some company officials and he agrees. Then they ask him to give them his private phone. Why should he let his company look into his families private life? If they can't find any evidence on his phone, would people be ok for a private company to ask to search his car, his home, his private computer? What if they asked for his passwords to his social media, his bank accounts, his brokerage accounts, and every on line store he has shopped at in the last six months (as some companies have done)? Would you feel comfortable working for a company if one of your co-workers was fired because they refused to allow the company access to their private life when they were accused of violating a minor company rule. Does a private company have the right to invade the private life of one of their employees when they suspect that they might have violated a minor rule? |
|
|
|
Post by GarrettCRW on May 17, 2015 15:58:54 GMT -5
Does a private company have the right to invade the private life of one of their employees when they suspect that they might have violated a minor rule? I believe not, and I'm absolutely certain that the NFLPA told Brady to never hand over his phone, simply because of the precedent. Goodell is taking advantage of this by using it to paint a future Hall of Famer as "uncooperative", and it's another instance of his frankly bullying behavior. Your Team Cheats refers to Goodell frequently as an ex-Jets intern, and it's extremely telling with the Patriots, because the Jets have chafed more than anyone else in the division over their success. And that doesn't even address how it was Mike Kensil, who worked for the Jets for two decades, was the point man at the NFL at the start of this whole mess. |
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Atari on May 17, 2015 16:15:44 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mummifiedstalin on May 28, 2015 21:55:57 GMT -5
I like that article quite a bit. It's another case, I think, where it's not about the issue at all but about the "league credibility," which is a shame. It has little to do with Brady/Patriots and more to do with the fallout that the NFL has had in the last year with the domestic abuse scandals. They didn't handle that well, and they aren't handling this well because they aren't treating any case on its own merits. They're just worrying about overall perception and weighing options against PR considerations.
The sad thing is that they come out of all of this with a really bad ethical record. But the PR machine will continue on because they've managed to put it behind them in a few news cycles. They turned all of this into talking points rather than dealing with actual player conduct, on or off the field, in any meaningful way.
So, business as usual. Success for them overall. The machine runs on...
|
|
|
|
Post by mylungswereaching on Jun 18, 2015 21:08:51 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mylungswereaching on Sept 3, 2015 11:46:59 GMT -5
A judge ruled this morning and threw out Tom Brady's four game suspension. Yeah!
There were basically two points.
1) The leagues written rules calls for a $40,000 fine. The punishment was a $1,000,000 fine, lose three high draft picks and suspend the quarterback for for games. It's like having the death penalty for a parking ticket.
2) The Well's Report was total garbage. The only piece of evidence it contains is that during the off season one low level employee called another low level employee "The Deflator" once in a text message.
The science section states of the paper states that they had to do their tests four times because the first three times they indicated that the deflation of the footballs was caused by the weather conditions. They stated in the report that they had to keep repeating the tests until they got the results they wanted.
There were two gauges that the original ref could have used to measure the ball. One gave readings that made the Patriots look guilty and the other was more ambiguous. They asked the ref which one he used. He said the ambiguous one. The report stated that the ref was wrong. He actually used the gauge that made the Patriots look guilty without explaining why they believed this.
There are many other instances where the writers of the report made it clear in writing that they decided the Patriots guilt in advance and that any evidence that indicated that they were actually innocent will be ignored or twisted around to make them look guilty. Hardly an independent report.
Maybe the Patriots were guilty but the Wells Report didn't come close to proving it. The league should have said right off the bat that the balls were under inflated. We don't know why. We're fining the team $40,000 as stated in the rules.
|
|
