#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[Leather]

If only there was a way to test these hypotheses.  ... Hmm.  
Well, I give up.  
We should just rely on quotes from various people to make sure that we have a balanced debate.

 
 
So if you take a ball of air from 72 degrees F to 40 degrees F, there's no effect.  But if you take it from 40 degrres F to 10 degrees F, there is?
 
That doesn't make any sense.  Air doesn't think to itself "Oh, wow, now THIS is cold, think I'll retract."

 

[judyb]

This just coming up on the boston.com/sports page: http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2015/01/thats_bs_-_wilson_doesnt_seem_to_buy_belichicks_sc.html.  Wilson reps basically just saying that there's no way the air pressure can change unless it's perhaps stuck in a freezer and then taken out.  A bit odd given the rather hard-to-debate arguments made to the opposite.

How could that even be possible when it's colder outside than it is in a freezer?

 

[njnesportsfan]

 
Yes, I suppose it comes down to a professor of planetary science at MIT versus the director of 'experiential' marketing at Wilson.  Experiential marketing?  I really did take the wrong classes at university...

"Experiential marketing is a form of advertising that focuses primarily on helping consumers experience a brand.
While traditional advertising (radio, print, television) verbally and visually communicates the brand and product benefits, experiential marketing tries to immerse the consumers within the product by engaging as many other human senses as possible. In this way, experiential marketing can encompass a variety of other marketing strategies from individual sampling to large-scale guerrilla marketing.
In the end, the goal of experiential marketing is to form a memorable and emotional connection between the consumer and the brand so that it may generate customer loyalty and influence purchase decision."
At the mean time, I am still waiting for my merchandise to arrive from Amazon. 

 

[ifmanis5]

Seriously. The media won't react to this story at all once it's over. They will simply move onto the next thing, be it a lost plane, a starlet in rehab, or anything else. The accountability is zero when it comes to the media. They build up, they break down, and then move on.

They've moved on to Tom and Nicole's Spygate and snow storms and all the usual crap. Yeah, it'll be back for the SB but the shitstorm levels of last week is essentially over for now.

 

[Leather]

Peter King this morning.

GFY Peter. Who created the hysteria by passing along the agenda of your league hacks?

 
Seriously.  Go fuck yourself, asshole.  

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

 
Seriously. The media won't react to this story at all once it's over. They will simply move onto the next thing, be it a lost plane, a starlet in rehab, or anything else. The accountability is zero when it comes to the media. They build up, they break down, and then move on.

Hey, let's be fair, Mike Reiss did take the time to publish something of an apology. Of course, he's the last guy who needed to but whatever.

The infotainment business is pretty warped.

 

[Harry Hooper]

"I do believe that is not an overstatement"
 
 
Such a bold stance taken by King there.

 

[LeoCarrillo]

 
Seriously. The media won't react to this story at all once it's over. They will simply move onto the next thing, be it a lost plane, a starlet in rehab, or anything else. The accountability is zero when it comes to the media. They build up, they break down, and then move on.

Yes, don't wait for a retraction from any media organization in whose DNA it is to leap to a conclusion.

A good villain is always a greater driver of peripheral rooting interest than a good hero.

Instead of awaiting public exoneration, pats fans are better off relishing the new narrative: a past outlaw minding his own business and herding his cattle is accused unjustly of a stagecoach robbery he didn't commit by a dick sheriff and a mob of townsfolk.

Wear the black hat. You're never getting the white one.

 

[Infield Infidel]

Just got back from a Fleetwood Mac concert on Long Island.  I can say with compete confidence that everyone on Long Island KNOWs that BB and TB were lying.  Their body language gave them away.   Just thought you'd want to know.

 
Those kinds of people are Everywhere

 

[Mystic Merlin]

There ain't gonna be any exoneration or mea culpas from the keyboard warriors. In fact, these clownshoes will drop references into articles for years to come in an effort to cast aspersions on the team, BB or Brady, or to 'put the Pats' legacy in appropriate relief'.

 

[Gagliano]

What I don't get about this whole thing is that if ball psi is so critical, why are they so lax about it in the first place? Seriously, for about two grand, I could build a glass chamber where the refs would keep the next football to be put into play, and I would keep it inflated to exactly 12.5 psi while taking the ambient temperature and wind chill into account. They would remove the football and insert a new one, making the psi it was inflated to hours previously irrelevant.

 

[OnWisc]

The level of brilliance in this thread is outstanding. FWM song puns and ichiro vs irsay... Great work. At this point I wonder how the media will react to their own behavior when the NFL comes up with nothing. Because that's what this is, Irsay et al, a big nothing. I'm sure you'll have the tin foil hat crowd that grumbles that something must have been awry anyway and that it was only because the Pats were able to conceal evidence to succeed. But I would hope some would realize that maybe they helped contribute to a witch hunt without evidence and they should have waited before passing judgment. I'm not holding the air in my lungs for that but it would be nice to see a mea culpa or two.

My guess:

60% of the media will move onto the next story without another word.

20% will touch on hysteria and the problems with making assumptions based on incomplete information, but will frame it in a way that makes it sound more like they're lectuing their colleagues or NFL fans rather then any real act of contrition (Peter King's already heading down this road).

18% will take it out on the NFL. "Well they led us to believe...."

2% will put out some sort of apology or acknowledgement of subpar journalism. Of these, 80% will be written because it's a unique take that can get clicks. 20% will be written by someone who actually learned something this week and may take a different approach next time around.

 

[Omar's Wacky Neighbor]

 
 
So if you take a ball of air from 72 degrees F to 40 degrees F, there's no effect.  But if you take it from 40 degrres F to 10 degrees F, there is?
 
That doesn't make any sense.  Air doesn't think to itself "Oh, wow, now THIS is cold, think I'll retract."

Who are we to say that air doesnt have a Cremaster reflex? 

 

[OnWisc]

What I don't get about this whole thing is that if ball psi is so critical, why are they so lax about it in the first place? Seriously, for about two grand, I could build a glass chamber where the refs would keep the next football to be put into play, and I would keep it inflated to exactly 12.5 psi while taking the ambient temperature and wind chill into account. They would remove the football and insert a new one, making the psi it was inflated to hours previously irrelevant.

By most accounts, it's not critical. Lost in this at times is the fact that even if Brady changed the PSI using the most devious means imaginable, it would have had basically no impact.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

What I don't get about this whole thing is that if ball psi is so critical, why are they so lax about it in the first place? Seriously, for about two grand, I could build a glass chamber where the refs would keep the next football to be put into play, and I would keep it inflated to exactly 12.5 psi while taking the ambient temperature and wind chill into account. They would remove the football and insert a new one, making the psi it was inflated to hours previously irrelevant.

Because it wasn't an issue that the officials, coaches or players thought to be meaningful until the Colts (and perhaps the Ravens) stomped their collective feet. Pete Carroll, for instance, admitted yesterday that he knew nothing about the ball preparation and approval process until this week.

Seriously, between the catch rule and negligible variations in football air pressure, the drive for technical perfection at the expense of common sense is a real turn-off. If the fucking balls feel fine, LET'S PLAY.

 

[johnmd20]

By most accounts, it's not critical. Lost in this at times is the fact that even if Brady changed the PSI using the most devious means imaginable, it would have had basically no impact.

 
Basically, yes. 

 

[finnVT]

 
 
So if you take a ball of air from 72 degrees F to 40 degrees F, there's no effect.  But if you take it from 40 degrres F to 10 degrees F, there is?
 
That doesn't make any sense.  Air doesn't think to itself "Oh, wow, now THIS is cold, think I'll retract."

I think I've missed where this claim comes from, but there's at least a few things playing into this.  As temperature changes, the combination of pressure and volume must change in accordance (PV=nRT, but n and R are constants here, so changes in P*V has to balance changes in T).  If it were impossible for the volume to change, you'd be right: any drop in temperature would be accompanied by a proportional drop in pressure.  But the ball is not a perfectly rigid object, so it's possible that the volume is also going to drop.  How much likely depends on the surface properties of the material.  Perhaps when going from 72->40, most of the "PV" side of the equation get balanced by a change in volume, but as the temperature keeps decreasing, that becomes harder to do, meaning that the balance is accounted for by changes in pressure instead.
 
Just spittballing based on barely remembered chemistry, but the main point here is that surface properties/rigidity of the ball are probably going to effect volume changes, and we don't (as far as I know) have a good understanding of that part of the equation.

 

[judyb]

What I don't get about this whole thing is that if ball psi is so critical, why are they so lax about it in the first place? Seriously, for about two grand, I could build a glass chamber where the refs would keep the next football to be put into play, and I would keep it inflated to exactly 12.5 psi while taking the ambient temperature and wind chill into account. They would remove the football and insert a new one, making the psi it was inflated to hours previously irrelevant.

If they cared or even thought about this at all before a week ago, couldn't they just have had teams give them the balls earlier and leave them outside a while first?

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

 
We mock Ray Lewis for his involvement in a double homicide.
We mock Big Ben for his involvement in two sexual abuse allegations. 
 
Jim Irsay is essentially an older version of Johnny Manziel:  an entitled a-hole who believes that rules don't apply to him.  So when he decides that it's time to hold others strictly accountable for (allegedly) violating the most innocuous of rules, anything is fair game.
 
Playing the sanctimonious card on members for pointing out Irsay's clownishness and lack of credibility is being a special brand of asshole.

Unsurprisingly you lack reading comprehension. In no place did I say you can't mock Irsay. I actually said there were many places you could, being an entitled asshole is one of them. But making fun of him for being drunk or drugged is a bit different. And if you can't tell the difference you might as well just change your handle to "Mike Florio"

 

[dcmissle]

What I don't get about this whole thing is that if ball psi is so critical, why are they so lax about it in the first place? Seriously, for about two grand, I could build a glass chamber where the refs would keep the next football to be put into play, and I would keep it inflated to exactly 12.5 psi while taking the ambient temperature and wind chill into account. They would remove the football and insert a new one, making the psi it was inflated to hours previously irrelevant.

It's not critical.

Here's a speculative read between the lines. Remember when Brady semi-taunted John Harbaugh about the formations? "Read the rules ..."

Harbaugh got really pissed because it made him look like a fool, and he set this off with his Colts connections. The enabler inside the NFL office was that former Jets guy.

So it's no accident that Harbaugh, seeing the shitshow that resulted, got it out there that he really, really loves BB. As he should because BB gave him a glowing recommendation for Ravens HC.

The Harbaugh statement of praise is one of the keys to unlocking this whole thing.

 

[Gambler7]

The most amazing thing is the NFL has this rule in the rule book that THEY did not even understand. Then they possibly setup a sting on it, Go back to the reporting Monday. They were distraught. They had no clue the PSI could drop based on elements because they have never tested it before. If that is not incompetence then it doesn't exist.

 

[johnmd20]

Unsurprisingly you lack reading comprehension. In no place did I say you can't mock Irsay. I actually said there were many places you could, being an entitled asshole is one of them. But making fun of him for being drunk or drugged is a bit different. And if you can't tell the difference you might as well just change your handle to "Mike Florio"

 
This is where the "line" becomes difficult to distinguish. This board celebrates the death of Thurman Munson. I am a recovering addict and URI has, in the past, mocked my sobriety. It is what it is. I think it's fair game to rip Irsay's drunkenness.
 
Yeah, it's a serious disease. I should know. But it doesn't mean it's off limits.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

The most amazing thing is the NFL has this rule in the rule book that THEY did not even understand. Then they possibly setup a sting on it, Go back to the reporting Monday. They were distraught. They had no clue the PSI could drop based on elements because they have never tested it before. If that is not incompetence then it doesn't exist.

This is what happens when you hire ex-Jet front office people to run the league office. 
 
I love this. The unholy alliance between the two teams that screwed their fans by moving the team (Colts and Browns). And the Jets. 

 

[BlackJack]

First: Eric Wilbur. Please.

Second: Wilson Footballs! Circumventing the Ideal Gas Law since 1913!

 

[Doctor G]

Just got back from a Fleetwood Mac concert on Long Island.  I can say with compete confidence that everyone on Long Island KNOWs that BB and TB were lying.  Their body language gave them away.   Just thought you'd want to know.

People on Long Island have always been bi-lingual.

 

[DJnVa]

Actual scientists find Belichick's explanation plausible. However, none of them have "Science Guy" after their last name.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/26/scientists-agree-that-football-will-lose-air-pressure-when-moved-cooler-place/2KfFPHn9dARXXCwMgBMSkO/story.html

 
Here's what annoyed me: on ESPN Radio, Greenie essentially believes BB, but says "I don't know about the science. Sure, the Boston scientists agree with him..."
 
WTF? Science doesn't change depending on where you work. And then he mentioned Bill Nye, without the caveat of him being a "Seattle scientist".
 

 

 

[Average Reds]

Unsurprisingly you lack reading comprehension. In no place did I say you can't mock Irsay. I actually said there were many places you could, being an entitled asshole is one of them. But making fun of him for being drunk or drugged is a bit different. And if you can't tell the difference you might as well just change your handle to "Mike Florio"

 
Just to be clear, I did not post anything making fun of Irsay in this thread.  But I find the sanctimony to be a bit silly.
 
To go back to the example I gave in my response, when we mock Ben Roethlisberger for being a rapist, are we being insensitive about the subject of sexual assault or abuse?  I think everyone understands that the answer is no.
 
When we mock Irsay by suggesting that he is drunk-tweeting, the intent is not to be insensitive about the subject of alcohol abuse.  It's to focus on the foolishness of the actions of a prominent member of the NFL ne'er-do-well lucky sperm club.
 
It's fine to disagree.  But making it personal as you did feels ridiculous considering the nature of this thread.

 

[JimBoSox9]

It's not critical.

Here's a speculative read between the lines. Remember when Brady semi-taunted John Harbaugh about the formations? "Read the rules ..."

Harbaugh got really pissed because it made him look like a fool, and he set this off with his Colts connections. The enabler inside the NFL office was that former Jets guy.

So it's no accident that Harbaugh, seeing the shitshow that resulted, got it out there that he really, really loves BB. As he should because BB gave him a glowing recommendation for Ravens HC.

The Harbaugh statement of praise is one of the keys to unlocking this whole thing.

 
It's laughably not critical.  No one on this board should for one second grant any of the basic premises of this 'scandal'.
 
Fact: If in 1939 the NFL had decided to set a rulebook standard of 10-14 psi inflation for game balls, the entire issue is stillborn.  Never has a chance to happen.
Fact: Given the variety of QB preferences, the recent rule change to allow them to prep their own balls, temperature-related variance, and the minute level of difference between 10 and 14 psi, a reasonable person should conclude that the rulebook standard of 1 psi is some combination of archaic and irrelevant.
 
The 'punishment' path for this thing never should have risen beyond a memo warning and quiet rules tweak in the offseason.  That said, I'm still not convinced reading into Harbaugh's PC is tea leaves instead of tinfoil hats.  At this point I have Occam firmly tilted towards 'media gets leak of procedural nonsense it doesn't understand; league fails to properly react'.

 

[TheoShmeo]

There ain't gonna be any exoneration or mea culpas from the keyboard warriors. In fact, these clownshoes will drop references into articles for years to come in an effort to cast aspersions on the team, BB or Brady, or to 'put the Pats' legacy in appropriate relief'.

Exactly.
 
I caught a few minutes of Bob Ley talking about this and he showed the audacity and stupidity to lump in the Pats' legal and truly brilliant substitutions in the Ravens game in the list of supposed violations.
 
If perfectly legal plays by the Pats are cast as examples of their cheating ways, how much more so will be potential violations of the rules be so characterized?
 
I wish I could say that any of this is a surprise but in the expose, clicks and gotcha culture we live in, all of this nonsense is to be expected.
 
And, as a side point, I wonder if the flap around DeflateGate is contributing to the incredibly high prices right now on the secondary market?  Is the NFL perversely creating even more interest in this game?  We've all been talking about what a clown Goodell has been to let this get so out of hand but maybe there's an evil genius plan buried beneath all the manure.  

 

[kartvelo]

 
It's laughably not critical.  No one on this board should for one second grant any of the basic premises of this 'scandal'.
 
Fact: If in 1939 the NFL had decided to set a rulebook standard of 10-14 psi inflation for game balls, the entire issue is stillborn.  Never has a chance to happen.
Fact: Given the variety of QB preferences, the recent rule change to allow them to prep their own balls, temperature-related variance, and the minute level of difference between 10 and 14 psi, a reasonable person should conclude that the rulebook standard of 1 psi is some combination of archaic and irrelevant.
 
The 'punishment' path for this thing never should have risen beyond a memo warning and quiet rules tweak in the offseason.  That said, I'm still not convinced reading into Harbaugh's PC is tea leaves instead of tinfoil hats.  At this point I have Occam firmly tilted towards 'media gets leak of procedural nonsense it doesn't understand; league fails to properly react'.

Punishment should never have come up at all until there was any evidence of wrongdoing. There still isn't; and, to the contrary, there are simple plausible natural explanations for everything that we know happened.

 

[Leather]

Exactly.
 
I caught a few minutes of Bob Ley talking about this and he showed the audacity and stupidity to lump in the Pats' legal and truly brilliant substitutions in the Ravens game in the list of supposed violations.
 
If perfectly legal plays by the Pats are cast as examples of their cheating ways, how much more so will be potential violations of the rules be so characterized?
 
I wish I could say that any of this is a surprise but in the expose, clicks and gotcha culture we live in, all of this nonsense is to be expected.
 
And, as a side point, I wonder if the flap around DeflateGate is contributing to the incredibly high prices right now on the secondary market?  Is the NFL perversely creating even more interest in this game?  We've all been talking about what a clown Goodell has been to let this get so out of hand but maybe there's an evil genius plan buried beneath all the manure.  

 
No offense, but folks here have been pushing that angle for almost a week, now.

 

[Infield Infidel]

The 'punishment' path for this thing never should have risen beyond a memo warning and quiet rules tweak in the offseason.  That said, I'm still not convinced reading into Harbaugh's PC is tea leaves instead of tinfoil hats.  At this point I have Occam firmly tilted towards 'media gets leak of procedural nonsense it doesn't understand; league fails to properly react'.

 
This is where I'm at. Say what you want about how the NFL handled the Ray Rice thing, Adrian Peterson, Mike Vick, Bountygate, those things at least involved crimes or bribery. This shouldn't approach those things in attention. The media has gone way overboard, but the NFL gee them a ton of rope on this, it should never have let this get past a memo warning. 

 

[InstantKarmma]

And, as a side point, I wonder if the flap around DeflateGate is contributing to the incredibly high prices right now on the secondary market?  Is the NFL perversely creating even more interest in this game?  We've all been talking about what a clown Goodell has been to let this get so out of hand but maybe there's an evil genius plan buried beneath all the manure.  

Rather than the "evil genius of Goodell", it's more likely the "stupidity of the general public".

Occam's Razor and all that.

 

[Doctor G]

Yes, I suppose it comes down to a professor of planetary science at MIT versus the director of 'experiential' marketing at Wilson.  Experiential marketing?  I really did take the wrong classes at university...

The story is being driven by sportswriters who majored in English or Journalism in college.English majors are only required to find one 3 credit "gut" science course to get a degree if things are still the same as they were when I staggered out of college last in my class.

 

[Leather]

The story is being driven by sportswriters who majored in English or Journalism in college.English majors are only required to find one 3 credit "gut" science course to get a degree if things are still the same as they were when I staggered out of college last in my class.

 
The sportswriters and ESPN personalities pushing this don't give a frog's fat ass about the science; they want the juicy story of Cheating Patriots to survive as long as it can.   "Oops, well, turns out it just might be the cold weather" makes them no money and, moreover, makes them look like fools.  
 
I suspect most of them understand the science; it's really not that complicated.  They just don't care.

 

[Shelterdog]

OK, I'll bite.  How do you have any idea who did what?  You have no visibility into what went on behind the scenes, who was involved, who didn't know, etc.  And while it sure looks like there was a sting of sorts, even that is uncertain.
 
What facts of any kind -- other than the league is investigating in what appears to be a less than complete manner (no interview of Tom) -- do you think that you have?

 
There's the Glazer story quoting some league source saying that they were looking out for the deflated balls going into the game and that they were always going to test them at half time, and then there are a couple of stories saying Mike Kensil is leading the investigation and was at the game.  That's at least a little something to run with.

 

[dcmissle]

Rather than the "evil genius of Goodell", it's more likely the "stupidity of the general public".

Occam's Razor and all that.

This would move "taking one for the team" -- the NFL being the team -- beyond any level ever seen in this sport.

In what world is Bob Kraft anybody's bitch?

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Exactly.
 
I caught a few minutes of Bob Ley talking about this and he showed the audacity and stupidity to lump in the Pats' legal and truly brilliant substitutions in the Ravens game in the list of supposed violations.
 
If perfectly legal plays by the Pats are cast as examples of their cheating ways, how much more so will be potential violations of the rules be so characterized?

Yeah, coming on the heels of formation-gate gave this story even more legs than it would have had. When people say the Patriots "have a history" of cheating, they are really talking about a laundry list of supposed things since spygate that have nothing to with cheating. Stuff like "running up the score" and allegedly not shaking Tom Caughlin's hand after the game. The Patriots are simply held to a higher standard on this stuff, and it all gets mishmashed into a stew of supposed "line pushing".

My biggest fear here is that I think by mishandling this, the NFL has put itself in a position where my hunch is that it's now looking to build a case not looking to conduct an objective investigation. They will interview Brady and issue a punishment to appease the other owners and to avoid the shitstorm they would face for leaving the team twisting in the wind over nothing.

 

[Leather]

This would move "taking one for the team" -- the NFL being the team -- beyond any level ever seen in this sport.

In what world is Bob Kraft anybody's bitch?

 
What can Bob Kraft really do?
 
He raises hell, but Goodell put these guys purportedly behind the investigation in charge.  He looks like an ass, but he'll look like even more of an ass if he bows to pressure from the owner of the team under investigation.  

 

[MuellerMen]

Here's my biggest concern: how all of this affects our QB on game day. Tom E Curran noted on csn tonight that Tom seemed visibly shaken at the presser, and when he saw him again morerecently, he "didn't seem himself."

This is my greatest deflate-gate concern right now, by far.

 
 

You can't be serious. He's a trained assassin.

 
Even trained assassins get their feelings hurt.  And then they go right on back to assassinatin'.
 
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12229774/tom-brady-new-england-patriots-putting-personal-feelings-aside-deflategate-concentrate-super-bowl-xlix

 

[nolasoxfan]

I know Irsay is a clown, but shitting on a dude by making fun of his substance abuse problem is being a special brand of asshole. 

 
For the record, I was repeating a quote and not making fun of anyone’s substance abuse issues.  
 
My point was to highlight that his Twitter statement reeks of innuendo rather than praise for the Patriots’s achievement.

 

[dcmissle]

What can Bob Kraft really do?
 
He raises hell, but Goodell put these guys purportedly behind the investigation in charge.  He looks like an ass, but he'll look like even more of an ass if he bows to pressure from the owner of the team under investigation.

He can do what I advised last night. This will help ensure the investigation is legit and that there will be no further bleeding this week.

He can then tell Goodell if the facts support it -- and I believe they probably will -- that if there is any discipline, and I mean one penny, every son-of-a-bitch who had anything to do with this will be called before an arbitrator, put under oath, and forced to answer questions put to him by Brendan Sullivan.

He can also tell Goodell that even absent a hearing or discipline , anything said that implies wrongdoing by the NEP will result in Kraft going to the other owners to force an explanation as to why any of them should be subject to the conspiracies of other teams, with the League Office cast in the role of co-conspirator.

In other words, I would act like Al Davis -- the young vital one -- bless his soul.

 

[nolasoxfan]

That's just Rumours.

It’s Second Hand News, as well.
 
Edit:  Mentioned upthread.

 

[Doctor G]

He can do what I advised last night. This will help ensure the investigation is legit and that there will be no further bleeding this week.

He can then tell Goodell if the facts support it -- and I believe they probably will -- that if there is any discipline, and I mean one penny, every son-of-a-bitch who had anything to do with this will be called before an arbitrator, put under oath, and forced to answer questions put to him by Brendan Sullivan.

He can also tell Goodell that even absent a hearing or discipline , anything said that implies wrongdoing by the NEP will result in Kraft going to the other owners to force an explanation as to why any of them should be subject to the conspiracies of other teams, with the League Office cast in the role of co-conspirator.

In other words, I would act like Al Davis -- the young vital one -- bless his soul.

I agree completely.

 

[Trlicek's Whip]

"There is no such thing as bad publicity" - PT Barnum
 
So the NFL is just letting this roll right through. Gotta admit the attention towards this Super Bowl is white hot. Advertisers will be happy too.

 
GoDaddy's jamming out a topical commercial that references this media circus as we speak, presumably.

 

[Pxer]

 
This is where the "line" becomes difficult to distinguish. This board celebrates the death of Thurman Munson. I am a recovering addict and URI has, in the past, mocked my sobriety. It is what it is. I think it's fair game to rip Irsay's drunkenness.
 
Yeah, it's a serious disease. I should know. But it doesn't mean it's off limits.

Humor is great and all, but maybe we should just consider showing we can be decent human beings a little more often. To each his own, though.

 

[Monbo Jumbo]

Especially since all these allegations of cheating are just Second Hand News anyway. 

 
 

It’s Second Hand News, as well.

 
 
As is your post. 

 

[pedro1918]

I want to quit this thread.  I really do.
 
I...just...can't.

 

[TheoShmeo]

 
No offense, but folks here have been pushing that angle for almost a week, now.

No offense taken.  I missed that element of the conversation here for whatever reason.  And I hadn't seen anyone apply the increased interest in the game to something tangible, like higher prices on the secondary market.
 
And that said, there may be and probably are other better explanations for the current price levels, and some have indeed been offered in the ticket buying thread.

 

[simplyeric]

 
Well, judging by the non-sports outlet coverage of this story, I don't think its a stretch to say that a lot of people outside the natural audience for the NFL were paying attention.  Those outlets have advertisers and its a fair bet that their ads saw more eyeballs this week.  Maybe your right and its inconsequential but given how this story seems to have legs, I doubt it.
 
 
Brutal murders, suicides, racism, horrific domestic abuse, concussions and lewd behavior haven't scared advertisers or audiences away yet.  Are deflated footballs and a bunch of cheaters who were caught cheating again going to do it?  Really?

 
I would think quite the opposite:  a "non-criminal" villian would be loved by the NFL, to generate rivalry and press and additional casual viewership.
Noone wants to focus on domestic abuse, homicide, PED's, or concussions, because those are real problems, that have real consequences but are also difficult to solve.
 
But a bullshit pointless "CHEATER!!!" is easy to resolve (burnnnn themmmm!) and basically with no real consequences (taped signals, deflated footballs, whatever).
 
eidt: please note that I do not think the NFL is intentionally milking this...just that I don't think these things damage the "brand" that much.