Cheating, does it bother anyone else?

[YosemiteSam]

Yes. The cheating story has managed to take what little enjoyment I expected out of the game. It's now a farce as far as I'm concerned.

Personally, I wish there was a huge outcry to boycott the Super Bowl. Everyone should. The NFL won't do anything unless the fans scream about it. Brady and Belicheat shouldn't even be allowed to be at the Super Bowl. Because there is next to no real uproar, it sounds like the Pats may walk away from this unscathed.

 

[DBOY3141]

Yes. Rules are in place for a reason. If you break the rule, you get punished. Doesn't matter if everyone else is doing it, that's not an excuse.

The Pats organization broke a rule. The ref's inspected the balls for both teams, gave them to the team. Upon re-inspection, the Pats balls were no longer legal. Can't blame the weather, because the Colts balls were fine. Someone in the Pats organization broke the rules. I don't care if it was Brady, Belicheck or the ball boy. The Pats broke a rule, they deserve punishment.

To me taking draft picks and money doesn't do anything. They were punished before like this and look where we are now. To me you go the college route and suspend them from post-season play for a year. Cheat all you want, after week 16, your staying home.

 

[Rogah]

Personally, I wish there was a huge outcry to boycott the Super Bowl. Everyone should. The NFL won't do anything unless the fans scream about it. Brady and Belicheat shouldn't even be allowed to be at the Super Bowl. Because there is next to no real uproar, it sounds like the Pats may walk away from this unscathed.

This story has dominated national headlines for about 2 weeks. Not just ESPN headlines, I'm talking the national network news.

If you consider that "no real uproar" then you need to read a newspaper every once in a while.

 

[Idgit]

This story has dominated national headlines for about 2 weeks. Not just ESPN headlines, I'm talking the national network news.

If you consider that "no real uproar" then you need to read a newspaper every once in a while.

There's been an uproar. It's jut the league that's sat on it's hands during this period.

He should have said 'no real consequence.'

 

[dogberry]

The Carnegie Mellon experiment supports NE. What did the Colts do to avoid the drop in psi?

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Yes. Rules are in place for a reason. If you break the rule, you get punished. Doesn't matter if everyone else is doing it, that's not an excuse.

The Pats organization broke a rule. The ref's inspected the balls for both teams, gave them to the team. Upon re-inspection, the Pats balls were no longer legal. Can't blame the weather, because the Colts balls were fine. Someone in the Pats organization broke the rules. I don't care if it was Brady, Belicheck or the ball boy. The Pats broke a rule, they deserve punishment.

To me taking draft picks and money doesn't do anything. They were punished before like this and look where we are now. To me you go the college route and suspend them from post-season play for a year. Cheat all you want, after week 16, your staying home.

That pretty much makes way too much sense which means it will never happen.

 

[Rogah]

The Carnegie Mellon experiment supports NE. What did the Colts do to avoid the drop in psi?

Do you honestly believe they prepare and treat their balls in an identical manner? We don't know how far under-inflated any of these balls were because no one bothered to actually, you know, keep records. That 2 PSI number originally reported has been pretty much thrown out the window for anyone honestly following the situation (which explains why the haters are still clinging to it).

 

[Idgit]

The Carnegie Mellon experiment supports NE. What did the Colts do to avoid the drop in psi?

Does it really matter how they happened to end up with balls that did not meet the requirement? All of this is just an attempt at a distraction. NE's balls went from regulation to not regulation during the period in which they were responsible for them, and they cannot or will not account for the change in PSI. Nothing else matters. They benefitted from the drop in pressure and should be held accountable. Whether it was because they were filled with hot air that cooled off or because of an evil ball boy or because of a magical deflation spell or we never know the reason why only one team's balls lost pressure and all agree to pretend it was just a lucky coincidence.

We don't need the video of Brady and Belichick looking over their shoulders while sticking pins in all 11 balls. They benefitted from the balls not being regulation, and the air pressure changed when the balls were in their possession. That's really the end of the story right there. Ding them hard and the balls will magically stay inflated in all weather conditions from here on out.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Does it really matter how they happened to end up with balls that did not meet the requirement? All of this is just an attempt at a distraction. NE's balls went from regulation to not regulation during the period in which they were responsible for them, and they cannot or will not account for the change in PSI. Nothing else matters. They benefitted from the drop in pressure and should be held accountable. Whether it was because they were filled with hot air that cooled off or because of an evil ball boy or because of a magical deflation spell or we never know the reason why only one team's balls lost pressure and all agree to pretend it was just a lucky coincidence.

We don't need the video of Brady and Belichick looking over their shoulders while sticking pins in all 11 balls. They benefitted from the balls not being regulation, and the air pressure changed when the balls were in their possession. That's really the end of the story right there. Ding them hard and the balls will magically stay inflated in all weather conditions from here on out.

Troy is that you?

I agree btw..a slap on the wrist accomplishes nothing. Been there, done that.

 

[Rogah]

Does it really matter how they happened to end up with balls that did not meet the requirement?

Uh, yeah it kinda does.

Are you honestly suggesting that it doesn't matter whether it was entirely natural deflation due to the laws of physics compared to if it was a ballboy with a pin?

All of this is just an attempt at a distraction. NE's balls went from regulation to not regulation during the period in which they were responsible for them, and they cannot or will not account for the change in PSI.

They have given their account for the change in PSI. You just don't believe them.

a magical deflation spell

Apparently the laws of physics seem like a magical spell to you.

 

[Idgit]

Troy is that you?

I agree btw..a slap on the wrist accomplishes nothing. Been there, done that.

If they don't come down on this now, it's an invitation to every team to circumvent any rule by any means possible. In fact, they'll have an obligation to do so if they want to be competitive for their fans as the league will have tacitly set the expectation that they will account for every exception in the language of every rule in the rulebook.

Or, they can slam them hard for simply being in violation of the rules and, almost magically, they will not be in violation of rules going forward.

My children pull this garbage on me all the time. Each one saying they didn't do anything wrong and that it was the other guy that did it or they didn't know. When that happens, they both go in plank position while they debate with each other who was really responsible. This is how I help them resolve disputes. Amazingly, we get solutions to common brotherly disputes in my house in less than two minutes per dispute because neither of them can hold a plank longer than that. And then next time, when they argue and I offer to help them sort it out, they both say 'no thanks, dad, we got it covered.'

And they somehow magically do.

 

[Idgit]

Uh, yeah it kinda does.

Are you honestly suggesting that it doesn't matter whether it was entirely natural deflation due to the laws of physics compared to if it was a ballboy with a pin?
They have given their account for the change in PSI. You just don't believe them.
Apparently the laws of physics seem like a magical spell to you.

Yes. I am honestly suggesting that it does not matter how the Patriots balls all deflated when all of the Colts balls did not. They ought to be penalized for using equipment that was out of regulation in such a way that it gave them a competitive advantage. The same would go for a WRs glove that was mysteriously covered with stickum. Or more than one helmet per unit that mysteriously contained communication equipment. Or sideline equipment on one side of the field that mysteriously did not work at points during a game.

And, no, the laws of physics are not magical to me. In fact, I realize that balls can be inflated as well as deflated. So, if your equipment manager can't keep your equipment regulation and it costs you a huge fine and some draft picks, I'd recommend getting a new equipment manager.

And if your fans don't like you getting penalized for using equipment that gives you a competitive advantage because it is not regulation, so what? Tell them to root for a team that wins on merit.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

If they don't come down on this now, it's an invitation to every team to circumvent any rule by any means possible. In fact, they'll have an obligation to do so if they want to be competitive for their fans as the league will have tacitly set the expectation that they will account for every exception in the language of every rule in the rulebook.

Or, they can slam them hard for simply being in violation of the rules and, almost magically, they will not be in violation of rules going forward.

My children pull this garbage on me all the time. Each one saying they didn't do anything wrong and that it was the other guy that did it or they didn't know. When that happens, they both go in plank position while they debate with each other who was really responsible. This is how I help them resolve disputes. Amazingly, we get solutions to common brotherly disputes in my house in less than two minutes per dispute because neither of them can hold a plank longer than that. And then next time, when they argue and I offer to help them sort it out, they both say 'no thanks, dad, we got it covered.'

And they somehow magically do.

I think the only question now is what will the PTB do? I really think they get wrist slapped again & that'll be it.

 

[nathanlt]

• Aaron Hernandez
  
• Johnathon Vilma
• Vince Wilfork

All of these guys have been know to do *thuggish* things. They all also happen to be Miami Hurricanes too. I don't find it weird that so many of the Pats players are shady and from the Hurricanes. I find it fitting of the types of players they like to employ.

Ah, that's a very good point. I originally thought they didn't have thug players since before their first cheating incident. Since then, I couldn't care less who they have on their team, they're cheaters from the top down. Wilfork might have been on the team way back when, but I don't care to research it anymore. This latest incident they've added "DEFIANT" to their cheating ways.

 

[Rogah]

Yes. I am honestly suggesting that it does not matter how the Patriots balls all deflated when all of the Colts balls did not.

Then I submit to you that your opinion is in the extreme minority. There are light years of difference in submitting the balls to the refs before the game, getting them approved and then they lose air pressure because it is a cold and wet outside compared to they lose pressure because someone working for the team stuck a pin in 'em.

The same would go for a WRs glove that was mysteriously covered with stickum.

No it is not the same because the laws of physics don't put stick'um on a WR's glove under certain atmospheric conditions (like happened in San Diego a couple years ago but since it was San Diego no one cared).

 

[Rogah]

• Aaron Hernandez
  
• Johnathon Vilma
• Vince Wilfork

All of these guys have been know to do *thuggish* things. They all also happen to be Miami Hurricanes too. I don't find it weird that so many of the Pats players are shady and from the Hurricanes. I find it fitting of the types of players they like to employ.

Aaron Hernandez went to Florida, not Miami.

Jonathan Vilma never played for New England so I am not sure why you are putting him in there.

And if you have information about Wilfork doing "thuggish" things then you know something no one else knows, unless you consider helping pull a trapped woman from her overturned car after last week's AFCCG thuggish.

 

[DallasEast]

Cheating sucks, but if you gave me one wish about what I want fixed in the NFL it wouldn't be making sure players aren't taking adderall or deflating footballs.

Fix the rule book and officiating. Keep in mind, I've been relatively pro-referee in the past because I don't think they intentionally screw teams over as some might. They just make bad calls. That said, the rulebook is such a jumbled mess that even instant replay has become a crap shoot.

They need to go through the rulebook page-by-page and remove as much subjective language as possible. As it stands, it's almost assured that a couple times per year a team will lose a game in part because a questionable call negated a good play.

Instant replay is broken, IMO, because every single big play gets scrutinized for any possible excuse to pull that play off the board. Almost like there's assumed doubt and without being able to explain why it may not be a catch, they go to the booth to find a reason to negate the catch.

It sucks to see teams benefit from skirting or breaking the rules, but it really sucks to see the rules themselves cost teams games.

Just my opinion.

Excellent post.

 

[dogberry]

The Vikings and Panthers were warned not to manipulate their footballs once the teams brought the footballs outside.

 

[Idgit]

Then I submit to you that your opinion is in the extreme minority. There are light years of difference in submitting the balls to the refs before the game, getting them approved and then they lose air pressure because it is a cold and wet outside compared to they lose pressure because someone working for the team stuck a pin in 'em.
No it is not the same because the laws of physics don't put stick'um on a WR's glove under certain atmospheric conditions (like happened in San Diego a couple years ago but since it was San Diego no one cared).

I bet I'm not in a minority in this regard, at all.

And it *is* the same--or nearly the same--because those balls didn't lose air because of physics. Well, they did, but it was the physics of somebody depressing the valves on the balls.

Either way, though, the point is the same. You don't get to benefit from having equipment that was verified to be regulation, and then has altered or been altered while in your care to no longer be regulation. The league shouldn't be responsible for policing that range of activity from fraud to mischief to willful misinterpretation of the rules for all 32 teams. It just needs to set down the specifications and penalize the teams that can't or won't follow them.

 

[Rockport]

Cheating is wrong so of course it bothers me as well it should everyone.