#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[RetractableRoof]

He's getting grilled by media/coaches/etc. so he goes to the people who do the balls for answers. Wouldnt that be considered normal procedure?

Normal procedure?  I don't know if there is a normal procedure for what happens on the edges like this.
 
Normal reaction - I'd sure say so.  Especially if one of the most damning criticisms in the media is "how could Brady not know?".  "He's Tom Fraking Brady, of course he knows what's going on.  If he says he doesn't know what is going on, then he's lying."
 
Brady was caught between a rock and a hard place.  When he stated he didn't have knowledge (I don't know a McNally) he was vilified and accused of lying.  And when he did the work to be informed (like BB admitted he did), he's got Wells saying the sudden/out of character communications makes it obvious there is a cover up.  For the anti-Brady crowd, he was toast from the get go.
 
In case it isn't clear, I agree with you.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Looks like he's getting suspended:

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/596259296817618944

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/596259296817618944

link to tweet

 

[pappymojo]

I wish the report on the Ray Rice video included a statement of opinion on whether on not the NFL probably lied.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I wish the report on the Ray Rice video included a statement of opinion on whether on not the NFL probably lied.

 
The report on the Ray Rice case was 96 pages. The Wells report was 243 pages.
 
That's some nice work, boys.

 

[TheoShmeo]

 
The report on the Ray Rice case was 96 pages. The Wells report was 243 pages.
 
That's some nice work, boys.

I don't know, SJH, there were a lot less moving parts in the Ray Rice story than this one.  That Wells would need more pages to dissect this one doesn't move the needle in my view.  And in light of Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, SpyGate and the fact that this story was so overblown from the beginning, Wells had to do a very thorough job.
 
Two unrelated comments:
 
- Thank you, Dan Shaughnessy.  For years, I have known I should just stop reading you but like a traffic accident, I kept sneaking looks.  Today's predictable and totally one-side effort seals the deal.  I feel like I just lost 10 pounds.  The CHB Diet.
 
- The sampling of e-mails I have received thus far tells me that I will simply not discuss -- other than in a business setting when I essentially have no choice -- DeflateGate with non-Pats fans.  It is clear to me that it will be more difficult to ferret out the Opportunists from people who want to discuss the situation with any degree of objectivity, and it simply isn't worth it.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

 
The report on the Ray Rice case was 96 pages. The Wells report was 243 pages.
 
That's some nice work, boys.

 
No one will ever accuse the NFL of having its priorities in order.

 

[dcmissle]

I love how CHB accepts Wells and rejects Wells, all in the same column

 

[Ed Hillel]

I think the correlation between the ball PSI and on field performance is negligible. To me, Brady's stats, wins, etc. are no less authentic than they were.

It's Brady's image and reputation that take the biggest hit to me, letting Belichick and Kraft go to bat for him and then completely denying any involvement or knowledge of the practice. If he did know what was going on, allowing these guys to defend him instead of stepping up and taking responsibility is far worse than what little competitive advantage may or may not have been gained by deflating the balls.

I mentioned this before, but I think the timing put Brady in a bad spot, assuming he is/was lying. After all the media hoopla, I can understand not wanting to say anything right before the Superbowl, both because of the distraction and because of threat of Goodell overreacting and suspending him for the big one. He still should have told them in private, though.

 

[jsinger121]

Looks like he's getting suspended:
 

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/596259296817618944
link to tweet
 


 
And which would immediately be appealed and probably overturned.

 

[Ed Hillel]

 
And which would immediately be appealed and probably overturned.

I still don't think so. The league has no ground to stand on regarding deflating footballs, particularly given no punishment to Aaron Rodgers, but I think a suspension would stick for lying to investigators. Obviously we don't know the length, but something like a 1-2 game suspension would probably be upheld.

 

[ivanvamp]

Very discouraging article on FiveThirtyEight:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/fivethirtyeight-dissects-the-deflategate-report/
 
The discouraging part really centers around how some really smart guys can be so dumb.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Very discouraging article on FiveThirtyEight:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/fivethirtyeight-dissects-the-deflategate-report/
 
The discouraging part really centers around how some really smart guys can be so dumb.

They are breaking down the report, and the benm dude just completely ignores that this is a Brady thing and not an organizational thing. I quit after a few of his little blurbs.

 

[jsinger121]

I still don't think so. The league has no ground to stand on regarding deflating footballs, particularly given no punishment to Aaron Rodgers, but I think a suspension would stick for lying to investigators. Obviously we don't know the length, but something like a 1-2 game suspension would probably be upheld.

 
Vilma got a year suspension overturned. NFLPA will go to bat for TB12. Brady was under no obligation to give any phone or text records, This is weak evidence and to me deserves a max 500K fine. The NFL will look ridiculous if they suspend him for a minor infraction.

 

[TheoShmeo]

Please don't wet your pants if this turns out to be wrong -- and who the hell knows ?-- but a friend with NFL connections is hearing 3 games.  And that the Pats will not take that without a fight.
 
I have no stake in this being right and indeed hope that it is flat wrong.  So take it FWIW or don't take it or take a nap.

 

[DJnVa]

Per NFL guy Adam Caplan on ESPN Radio, after talking to folks "around the league", he said deflategate "isn't as bad as everyone seems to think."

 

[ivanvamp]

And this from Peter King (http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/ted-wells-deflategate-tom-brady-patriots-nfl/):
 
"According to the Wells report, an examination of Jastremski’s phone found that he and Brady had not spoken or texted for six months before the morning after the AFC championship. When the story broke that that the league was looking into claims of doctored football, the two men then spoke six times over the next three days, for a total of 55 minutes. Circumstantial, yes. But you can bet the league will look at that suspiciously."
 
This drives me CRAZY.  Peter King can't take five second to examine the first piece of this information - namely, that Brady didn't speak to or text or in any other ways communicate with those guys for SIX MONTHS, but we are to assume that Brady not only was "generally aware" of what they were doing, but that he was in on the shenanigans?  Without talking to them for six months?
 
Moreover, how is this not EASILY explainable by the fact that Brady, after getting off the air with D&C where they brought this to his attention and he was like, no, I have no idea what you're talking about, would then call these guys to ask, WTF is going on?  How is that automatically "suspicious" and not something anyone would normally do to find out what the hell is going on?
 
That these things don't even seem to cross King's mind is so frustrating.

 

[kartvelo]

I can't get past the thought that Brady would want anyone messing with the balls post-inspection. I can see him wanting the locker room attendants to be his advocates with the refs - "make sure they know I like the balls soft, don't let them do the 16 psi thing again, show them the rule, here's a copy" - but I can't imagine him being OK with anyone then tampering with the balls in an uncontrolled environment. I can't imagine him actually asking anyone to do so, and in fact my guess is that if he found out it were happening he'd be highly pissed off. Not for "integrity of the game" reasons, but because it would destroy any hope of "quality control" re: the inflation - which, if inflation mattered to him, he would absolutely want.
 
I'm not convinced by the report that McNally or Jastremski did any post-inspection tampering, but even if they did I don't think it's rational to think that Brady knew about it.

 

[theapportioner]

Vilma got a year suspension overturned. NFLPA will go to bat for TB12. Brady was under no obligation to give any phone or text records, This is weak evidence and to me deserves a max 500K fine. The NFL will look ridiculous if they suspend him for a minor infraction.

 
The NFL unfortunately has little incentive to give out a lighter punishment if the hounds (public and media) are demanding more -- if it gets reduced or overturned on appeal, HQ could just point fingers at the Players Association.

 

[McBride11]

 
Demonstrating the effect on ball PSI on on-field performance would be difficult, but at minimum they could (and perhaps should) have done a controlled double-blind experiment with a few college QBs and receivers throwing balls of various inflation levels and asking them to identify them.

Why? The AFCCG served as a cross-over experiment in and of itself. First half with 'deflated' balls the Pats scored 17 points. Second half with 'normal balls' they scored 28. And Im sure Brady was blinded since he didnt know which were which.

As for 'knowing' McNally, maybe Brady knew his face not his name. There are many people in the organization. McNally is some part time gameday assistant, Brady not knowing his name or what he did wouldnt surprise me at all. He knew was Jastremski's assistant maybe.

Weiss - do you know McNally??
Tb- who? No
Weiss - he is the gameday assistant to Jas
Tb- uhh ok. Sure. Maybe. Ive seen him around I guess
Weiss- ah hah! Lies!

 

[Gambler7]

It's crazy to me that this thorough investigation did not cover:
 
1. The issue with all of the leaks from the NFL offices. The question of integrity within the offices was brushed aside in one paragraph. 
 
2. Further investigation into the Colts claim that they felt balls were soft during the game in Indianapolis. Does McNally travel on the road? Isn't the road team responsible for the balls until they hit the field? How would this be possible?

 

[Silverdude2167]

Very discouraging article on FiveThirtyEight:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/fivethirtyeight-dissects-the-deflategate-report/
 
The discouraging part really centers around how some really smart guys can be so dumb.

I expected better from the site. There are obvious flaws with the report that they should point out, but instead they take everything at face value which goes against the point of the site.
 
I am wondering which site will be the first one to come out and destroy the report fully, if any site will.

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

 
Demonstrating the effect on ball PSI on on-field performance would be difficult, but at minimum they could (and perhaps should) have done a controlled double-blind experiment with a few college QBs and receivers throwing balls of various inflation levels and asking them to identify them.

Or we could just watch the ESPN sports science thing that ESPN buried

 

[mulluysavage]

Yeah, but moreover, the threat- even as a joking reference- implies that he was deflating the balls bellow 12.5 and all parties viewed that there were going to be serious repercussions if it was revealed to the public. This to me is the strongest circumstantial evidence.

What part of the texts implies that he was deflating balls below 12.5?

 

[TheoShmeo]

And this from Peter King (http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/ted-wells-deflategate-tom-brady-patriots-nfl/):
 
"According to the Wells report, an examination of Jastremski’s phone found that he and Brady had not spoken or texted for six months before the morning after the AFC championship. When the story broke that that the league was looking into claims of doctored football, the two men then spoke six times over the next three days, for a total of 55 minutes. Circumstantial, yes. But you can bet the league will look at that suspiciously."
 
This drives me CRAZY.  Peter King can't take five second to examine the first piece of this information - namely, that Brady didn't speak to or text or in any other ways communicate with those guys for SIX MONTHS, but we are to assume that Brady not only was "generally aware" of what they were doing, but that he was in on the shenanigans?  Without talking to them for six months?
 
Moreover, how is this not EASILY explainable by the fact that Brady, after getting off the air with D&C where they brought this to his attention and he was like, no, I have no idea what you're talking about, would then call these guys to ask, WTF is going on?  How is that automatically "suspicious" and not something anyone would normally do to find out what the hell is going on?
 
That these things don't even seem to cross King's mind is so frustrating.

It's also fair to infer that (a) there was no reason to talk much in advance because the equipment guys knew what Tom wanted and (b) that the volume of conversations after the story broke makes it look like Tom was trying to cover his tracks.
 
I am pro-Patriots and think Peter King is a severe douche bag, but I can't kill him for that observation.  Yes, there are other ways to look at this and what you wrote above is far, but King's comment here is fair, as well.

 

[LoneWarrior1]

Do you think there's any chance that Kraft already knows what the punishment is? I found it interesting that craft said he wouldn't fight the punishment even before was handed down. What he really be okay with the Brady suspension?

 

[ivanvamp]

It's also fair to infer that (a) there was no reason to talk much in advance because the equipment guys knew what Tom wanted and (b) that the volume of conversations after the story broke makes it look like Tom was trying to cover his tracks.
 
I am pro-Patriots and think Peter King is a severe douche bag, but I can't kill him for that observation.  Yes, there are other ways to look at this and what you wrote above is far, but King's comment here is fair, as well.

 
I hear you.  But we're not talking about "not talking *much in advance".  We're talking about *not talking AT ALL for six months*.  Don't you think Brady would have had SOME conversation with those guys at SOME point during the season if he was involved in football shenanigans?  Even one or two?  But zero???

 

[Ed Hillel]

Do you think there's any chance that Kraft already knows what the punishment is? I found it interesting that craft said he wouldn't fight the punishment even before was handed down. What he really be okay with the Brady suspension?

Technically, he wouldn't be. It would be Brady and the NFLPA.

 

[twibnotes]

The thing I keep going back to is that the Colts four balls is not a valid control group for two reasons:

1) the numbnut refs only measured 4 of their 11 balls (if this was an issue that became escalated, how do you let that happen? And if a balls attendant can perfectly deflate balls in a bathroom, how is it that a ref can't find the time to measure 7 more balls...bc this is supposed to be important!)

2) we have no idea where the colts balls started off. Luck might want his balls to end up in the 13s whereas Brady wants to be at 12.5. Couldn't both sets of balls decline in similar ways (having started at different places)?


Am I missing something here (seriously asking, not rhetorical)?

 

[TheoShmeo]

 
I hear you.  But we're not talking about "not talking *much in advance".  We're talking about *not talking AT ALL for six months*.  Don't you think Brady would have had SOME conversation with those guys at SOME point during the season if he was involved in football shenanigans?  Even one or two?  But zero???

He probably did.  In person. 
 
And as I wrote above, maybe this has been in place for years and there was simply no reason to reiterate or talk on the phone or by text.
 
The flurry of conversations and the volume of them in the next three days creates an impression for even me, a Patriots toadie, fanboy, homer and whatever else anyone wants to paint me as! 

 

[shoosh77]

I think Pinocchio works with Wells:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CGyASDjE-U

 

[nattysez]

And this from Peter King (http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/ted-wells-deflategate-tom-brady-patriots-nfl/):
 
"According to the Wells report, an examination of Jastremskis phone found that he and Brady had not spoken or texted for six months before the morning after the AFC championship. When the story broke that that the league was looking into claims of doctored football, the two men then spoke six times over the next three days, for a total of 55 minutes. Circumstantial, yes. But you can bet the league will look at that suspiciously."[/size]
 
This drives me CRAZY.  Peter King can't take five second to examine the first piece of this information - namely, that Brady didn't speak to or text or in any other ways communicate with those guys for SIX MONTHS, but we are to assume that Brady not only was "generally aware" of what they were doing, but that he was in on the shenanigans?  Without talking to them for six months?
 
Moreover, how is this not EASILY explainable by the fact that Brady, after getting off the air with D&C where they brought this to his attention and he was like, no, I have no idea what you're talking about, would then call these guys to ask, WTF is going on?  How is that automatically "suspicious" and not something anyone would normally do to find out what the hell is going on?
 
That these things don't even seem to cross King's mind is so frustrating.

Do you really not understand the difference between Brady's ongoing in-person discussions with J about how he wanted the balls (which info was then conveyed to M by J) and his sudden interest in talking directly to M, who'd actually been doing the deflating, via phone and text when the allegations surfaced?

The excuse-making on here for Brady is mind-blowing.

 

[Ed Hillel]

The part of the report about Brady contacting the attendants after the story broke is ridiculous. One would reasonably expect such contact, regardless of guilt or innocence. Spinning that as inculpatory is lazy at best.

 

[yecul]

IMO, the league normally wouldn't suspend anyone or make a huge deal of this. However, it became such a big story and they had such a bad year, so I fully expect retribution. The report was released prior to the punishment so they can gauge the public's response and act accordingly. 
 
People think this is a big deal and a big offense. People want suspensions and punishment. They will get it, IMO, and they will get it early next week.
 
Brady - 6 games, bumped down to 4 (fine I suppose, who cares about that bit)
Team - 3rd rounder, fine
Rule changes, firing the low level guys, etc
 
The only alternative is hand slap fines due to lacking evidence,etc... and the NFL eats it. Do they want to do that? Probably not. So it will be stiff.

 

[RedOctober3829]

The thing I keep going back to is that the Colts four balls is not a valid control group for two reasons:

1) the numbnut refs only measured 4 of their 11 balls (if this was an issue that became escalated, how do you let that happen? And if a balls attendant can perfectly deflate balls in a bathroom, how is it that a ref can't find the time to measure 7 more balls...bc this is supposed to be important!)

2) we have no idea where the colts balls started off. Luck might want his balls to end up in the 13s whereas Brady wants to be at 13.5. Couldn't both sets of balls decline in similar ways (having started at different places)?


Am I missing something here (seriously asking, not rhetorical)?

We don't know for sure what ANY of the balls were pregame because Walt Anderson didnt write them down.

 

[nattysez]

The part of the report about Brady contacting the attendants after the story broke is ridiculous. One would reasonably expect such contact, regardless of guilt or innocence. Spinning that as inculpatory is lazy at best.

If he didn't know M and hadn't been asking him to do anything wrong, why the sudden interest in talking to him when the story broke?

 

[twibnotes]

Do you really not understand the difference between Brady's in-person discussions with J about how he wanted the balls (which info was then conveyed to M by J) and his sudden interest in talking directly to M, who'd actually been doing the deflating, via phone and text when the allegations surfaced?

The excuse-making on here for Brady is mind-blowing.

Maybe it is a cover up, but do you really not see how Brady's communications could just as easily have picked up if he is innocent.

You could see this going the other way. "Tom - If you were really taken aback by all the charges, why didn't you reach out to the ball boys to investigate what happened!?"

 

[johnmd20]

Man alive, this NY Times column is a steaming pile of turds.
 
Lots of overracting in the column, but this note in particular is ridiculous.
 
 

 
Brady’s more-probable-than-not involvement in deflating those footballs means that he had lost faith in himself as an athlete and in his ability to accomplish amazing feats on the strength of his talent alone. It shows that he — the Patriots’ trusty No. 12 — has been doubting himself.

 

 

[twibnotes]

We don't know for sure what ANY of the balls were pregame because Walt Anderson didnt write them down.

Exactly and unless all the balls started at the same point, the colts balls aren't a control group at all. (Unless we knew precisely what their measures were)

Hell, even if they said they didn't record the readings but that they got all 22 balls to be identical ("can't remember the number, but we matched em all perfectly"), that would mean something

 

[RetractableRoof]

It's also fair to infer that (a) there was no reason to talk much in advance because the equipment guys knew what Tom wanted and (b) that the volume of conversations after the story broke makes it look like Tom was trying to cover his tracks.
 
I am pro-Patriots and think Peter King is a severe douche bag, but I can't kill him for that observation.  Yes, there are other ways to look at this and what you wrote above is far, but King's comment here is fair, as well.

It's also fair that they needed communication to set up the egregious act they are accused of.  There is no record of communication by Brady w/ McNally.  In fact there are streams of texts where McNally is begging for shoes from Jastremski because he has NO access to Brady.  It was a large point of Wells that McNally got in front of Brady for a few seconds for signed stuff.  It has to be reasonably clear Brady did not interact with McNally prior to the AFCCG.
 
If one posits: they were smart enough to manage to get everyone on board with a rule circumvention conspiracy without communication from Brady to one of the parties that is accused of actually performing the task, and no digital communication between Brady and the other party involved.  Then surely they were also capable of getting their story straight without looking like keystone cops after the fact.  The two are in stark contrast: they are smooth conspiracists that manage to screw with footballs under the NFL noses during the biggest game of the year to that point; they are morons calling each other n number of times the first time the media says the balls are being looked into.  It isn't reasonable to have it both ways during the argument.

 

[Ed Hillel]

If he didn't know M and hadn't been asking him to do anything wrong, why the sudden interest in talking to him when the story broke?

Because it was a gigantic news story, and anyone's natural reaction would be to go talk with the guy who handles the balls, particularly when it was Brady who was the subject of the nation's ire. Everybody in that situation would have been like "Dude, what's going on here?" Or they could have been like "Dude, keep your mouth shut." Either makes complete sense.

 

[SuperManny]

If he didn't know M and hadn't been asking him to do anything wrong, why the sudden interest in talking to him when the story broke?

 
Because he has to talk to the media about it and wants to have an explanation? I'm not saying that it is the case but how is this version hard to envision?

 

[TheoShmeo]

Man alive, this NY Times column is a steaming pile of turds.
 
Lots of overracting in the column, but this note in particular is ridiculous.
 
 
 

And he of course took magical "believe in yourself" pills before SB 49.
 
And the NYT ignores that he might have been adjusting the balls for years.  Was he always doubting himself?
 
Does Aaron Rodgers doubt himself when he overinflates balls?
 
Good to see the NYT is wrong on this issue, too.

 

[InstantKarmma]

nonono... St. Louis!

I'd be down with that.

 

[twibnotes]

I could also imagine Brady, even if the pats did nothing wrong, being very concerned about the ball boys saying something stupid or misleading.

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

Someone asked me last night to think about whats the easiest, most plausible explanation about this whole thing.  He insisted that it was that someone on the Patriots purposefully deflated those balls.  
 
I still disagree.  I think the easiest explanation is that the NFL is backed into a corner because this blew up into a huge story and while this could be easily explained by science and replacing the dubious assumptions in the report, that the general public is stupid, incapable of understanding nuance, science or math and is looking for blood.  This is mob mentality and the NFL needs to throw them some red meat. 

 

[ivanvamp]

The thing I keep going back to is that the Colts four balls is not a valid control group for two reasons:

1) the numbnut refs only measured 4 of their 11 balls (if this was an issue that became escalated, how do you let that happen? And if a balls attendant can perfectly deflate balls in a bathroom, how is it that a ref can't find the time to measure 7 more balls...bc this is supposed to be important!)

2) we have no idea where the colts balls started off. Luck might want his balls to end up in the 13s whereas Brady wants to be at 13.5. Couldn't both sets of balls decline in similar ways (having started at different places)?


Am I missing something here (seriously asking, not rhetorical)?

 
No, you're not missing something.  And it's a fundamental point.  Here are the psi readings of the footballs when measured at halftime:
 
Pats (Blakeman - Prioleau - Average)
11.50 - 11.80 - 11.65
10.85 - 11.20 - 11.03
11.15 - 11.50 - 11.33
10.70 - 11.00 - 10.85
11.10 - 11.45 - 11.28
11.60 - 11.95 - 11.78
11.85 - 12.30 - 12.08
11.10 - 11.55 - 11.33
10.50 - 10.90 - 10.70
10.90 - 11.35 - 11.13
11.11 - 11.49 - 11.30 (average)
 
Colts (Blakeman - Prioleau - Average)
12.70 - 12.35 - 12.53
12.75 - 12.30 - 12.53
12.50 - 12.95 - 12.73
12.55 - 12.15 - 12.35
12.63 - 12.44 - 12.54 (average)
 
Let's ignore the inconsistency between the measurements - namely, that Blakeman's measurements of the Patriots' balls were routinely higher than Prioleau's, but the situation was just reversed when measuring the Colts' footballs.  That doesn't  make any statistical or scientific sense if each man used his own instrument to measure both sets of footballs.
 
Regardless, the Patriots' footballs measured at halftime an average of 1.24 below the average Colt football.  If we start with the assumption that the Patriots' footballs were measured at or around 12.50 when Anderson cleared them before the game, and the Colts' footballs were measured at or around 13.50, both at the legal ends of the spectrum, then it's pretty obvious that we should have *roughly* a 1.00 difference between the Patriots' footballs and the Colts' footballs when they were measured at halftime, after having spent all that time in cold weather.
 
So what we are talking about here is the possibility of just a 0.24 psi discrepancy between what we'd expect and what was measured at halftime.  0.24 psi.  And could that have been accounted for in this way:  when they got the footballs at halftime, they immediately measured the Patriots' footballs, and sure enough, that's what they got.  But they did the four Colts' footballs (why only four?) after the Patriots' measurements were made.  And how long of a time period was there in-between?  WHO KNOWS!  Let's say they carefully measured the Patriots' footballs, both men.  Then they took a few minutes to compare notes.  And asked some questions of what's going on here.  And then they measured the Colts' footballs.  Could those possible 5-10 minutes in between have been enough to account for the 0.24 psi discrepancy?
 
If you start with the premise that the Patriots are cheaters, then yeah, this stuff is easily read in a nefarious way.  But if you start with the premise that there are all kinds of natural explanations for this, then everything Wells brought up - including this point - are pretty easily explainable.

 

[ivanvamp]

He probably did.  In person. 
 
And as I wrote above, maybe this has been in place for years and there was simply no reason to reiterate or talk on the phone or by text.
 
The flurry of conversations and the volume of them in the next three days creates an impression for even me, a Patriots toadie, fanboy, homer and whatever else anyone wants to paint me as! 

 
The report says they didn't talk at all for six months.  Not just they didn't text for six months.  That they didn't talk at all.  That's how it was reported, anyway.

 

[TheoShmeo]

 
The report says they didn't talk at all for six months.  Not just they didn't text for six months.  That they didn't talk at all.  That's how it was reported, anyway.

I'm not sure how they could conclude that with any degree of certainty. 
 
Either way, my point stands.  The flurry of calls over the next three days looks bad and leads to a very obvious conclusion: They had tracks they needed to cover or discuss covering.  If it was all purely innocent, there would not be that much to talk about.

 

[twibnotes]

 
The report says they didn't talk at all for six months.  Not just they didn't text for six months.  That they didn't talk at all.  That's how it was reported, anyway.

It would be weird if they DID text all the time...

"Hey guys, don't forget to deflate the balls this week. I know we've been doing it for 8 years but just a reminder."

"Guys, it's tom. Giselle is inviting her friends over the house this week...talking hotty central. Swing by - left a set of keys in the mailbox"

 

[ivanvamp]

I'm not sure how they could conclude that with any degree of certainty. 
 
Either way, my point stands.  The flurry of calls over the next three days looks bad and leads to a very obvious conclusion: They had tracks they needed to cover or discuss covering.  If it was all purely innocent, there would not be that much to talk about.

 
Yeah it could be seen that way for sure.  No issue with that.  It's just that the other side could also easily be true.  I mean, if you were just going through life and everything was going fine and then you got word that you were being investigated for doing something illegal or immoral, and that Bob the company mail man was a key guy who was potentially involved and it could bring you down, don't you think you'd have some conversations with him like, what the HELL is going on Bob?  I don't think it's unreasonable to suspect that such conversations would take a little more time than a thirty second hello.  
 
Either side of this is plausible.