Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
The Patriots say, again and again, that the air pressure in most of the balls is consistent with what you would expect if they were measured with the gauge the referee says he remembers using (but Wells decides for no apparent reason that he did not use) and then taken out in the cold for the first half. I know most of what I know about this subject from stuff that other people have linked to on this board, but with that caveat I have not seen anything that proves they are wrong.
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No. There were two different readings taken by two different refs. The Patriots focus on one of the ref's readings and rely heavily on the one statement he made about his "best" recollection. They outright reject everything else. Either way, I do not believe their take on how much the ball deflates naturally over the course of one half of football, considering the guy drawing that conclusion gets funding from Kraft.*
Also, I don't give a shit what the Patriots say again and again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
IIRC, The text messages are equally consistent with the understanding that Brady likes his balls at the legal minimum. Unless you read only a couple of the many, many text messages, and read them with the assumption in mind that Brady was cheating.
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You recall exactly the way I expect you would--heavily in favor of the Patriots. I'd ask you to go read them again in as neutral a way as possible, but I don't think you're capable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the boss's view is that no reward (sorry, Christmas bonus) is necessary for people who are simply doing their jobs, and obviously everyone else thinks that Clark Griswold got the shaft.
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Good one. In
Trading Places, at the expense of Louis' career, reputation, safety, and personal and professional relationships, the Dukes decided to find out if nature or nurture was the cause of great success. We all thought Louis got the shaft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I certainly think it is possible that some Pats employees did things that resulted in the first half of the AFC Championship being played with some balls that were below the legal limit, but the suggestion that this was the result of a conspiracy that Brady and the team were in on strikes me as far-fetched, notwithstanding that obvious efforts of the NFL and the Colts to tar them. Of course everyone thinks the Patriots and Brady did it. That's what the NFL and the Colts were trying to accomplish.
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Why? Why were they trying to accomplish that?
By the way, let's use this as a jump-off on the use of the word, "conspiracy." This is everyone's favorite word to make a spoken or unspoken
agreement seem completely ludicrous. In law school we learned that a conspiracy can exist through something as small as a wink or a nod. Maybe there was a conspiracy among three people here (Brady and the guys who work his footballs). If there was, it sure doesn't sound ludicrous to me. But even if there was no outright, spoken conspiracy and Brady simply looked the other way when he knew his guys were breaking the rules to please him, then screw Brady just as much.
I think there was an unspoken understanding that Brady's guys would deflate as much as possible based on their interactions with Brady. Brady knew that his guys were doing it and he could tell whenever he picked one up. He knew the rules were being broken, but considered the rule stupid and one the NFL really didn't care much about. Then all of a sudden it did, and he knew he was in deep shit. He gave up text messages to the League that wouldn't show wrongdoing. and he probably discussed it (including by text) with people not working for the team. He didn't want to be asked for those, so he destroyed his phone.
It's unfair for the NFL to act like he was destroying evidence when they didn't ask for it. Yes. It's unfortunate for the Patriots that this happened in a year where Goodell already looks so fucking bad when it comes to discipline because now Goodell has to punish somebody, look like he's in control, and he needs a win desperately. Absolutely. It's also ridiculous that Goodell gets to review his own decisions and leaks info that makes Brady and the Patriots look bad. Sure. But at the very least, Brady was knowingly using underinflated balls and he knew where they were coming from.
TM
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/e...ner-bob-kraft/
