#DFG: Canceling the Noise

Is there any level of suspension that you would advise Tom to accept?


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The Four Peters said:
 
It's entirely possible that the Pats just got fed up with all the leaks and are throwing their cards on the table. They know the refs screwed up and that the league has nothing to go on and are laying it out there.
 
Seems like everything changed yesterday when the Glazer leak came out. Kraft finally said "fuck this I've had enough" and stopped toeing the company line.
 
Let's not forget that Kraft has a degree of responsibility for this entire mess, in the sense that he was one of the strongest supporters of Goodell all through the Summer and Fall.  And when you make a conscious decision to forgive grotesque incompetence, you really shouldn't be surprised when it comes back to bite you in the ass.
 
The only silver lining here is that Goodell has probably lost one of his key supporters. 
 

kartvelo

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Ferm Sheller said:
Probably beats his wife, too. I mean, we have no proof he doesn't. And he has plenty of opportunity, he's around her a lot (I assume).
That's right. Theoretically, he could, so he must.
 

PedroKsBambino

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dcmissle said:
I don't know, but I agree with you. The whole operation smacks of amateur hour antics by Goodell underlings with axes to grind.

PW, in my opinion, is still in reactive mode, behind the curve. They have to take the whole operation in house and not let anyone in the NFL office know anything about it, save Goodell and a trusted aide, at most. If you cut the information flow, the leaking will stop eventually. That has not been done.
 
I agree as well; seems like Paul Weiss is really 'calling in the adults' after the initial mess.  I also think Wells would pretty much tell the league he isn't willing to get involved if amateur-hour league types are involved.  I'd guess it's the NFLs top-rate legal team and Paul Weiss
 

54thMA

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cymbaline777 said:
Been watching this discussion for a week unfortunately. I feel as if Brady and the Pats going to Arizona for the Super Bowl will be like Rocky going to Moscow in Part IV.
 
Yeah, I stopped watching the Rocky movies after Rocky II; could you give me the gist of the story, try to keep it under 90 seconds.
 
 

kartvelo

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54thMA said:
 
Yeah, I stopped watching the Rocky movies after Rocky II; could you give me the gist of the story, try to keep it under 90 seconds.
 
He's pissed.
 

ifmanis5

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This story to me has always been about the refs. Even if the balls were not to spec the refs inspect, test, approve and handle the balls before and during the game. It's literally their job to regulate the game. Did the great Peter King or any of the media take that angle or attempt to investigate it? Nope. Just sit by the phone and wait for the NFL to leak you one side of the story.
 
The public has already tried, judged and executed the Pats in the court of opinion. Nothing from here on out will vindicate the Pats no matter what. For most, this case is closed. The moral of the story: people believe what they want to believe and they will hang out to it no matter what like a dog on a bone.
 

wilked

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Just a reminder for everyone wallowing in the shit here (just as I am)...  great actual content at SOSH Football Central talking about things other than length of a piss and psi of a football
 
http://soshcentral.com/
 

Gambler7

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Corsi said:
I can't make heads or tails of this Mortensen interview
 
He doesn't even sounds like he believes or knows anything about what he is saying. Completely contradicting about the NFL being "distraught" from what he said a week ago. Now he's saying the NFL shouldn't even have opened a formal investigation into this. Also said he doesn't know about how far under regulation the balls were. 
 

OnWisc

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Let's not forget that Kraft has a degree of responsibility for this entire mess, in the sense that he was one of the strongest supporters of Goodell all through the Summer and Fall.  And when you make a conscious decision to forgive grotesque incompetence, you really shouldn't be surprised when it comes back to bite you in the ass.
 
The only silver lining here is that Goodell has probably lost one of his key supporters.
This is what I think one of the subsequent iterations of this story will be as move past the Super Bowl. One take will be Kraft brought this on himself somewhat through his previous support of someone who had demonstrated an inability to adequately fulfill the duties of his position.

And justifiably, I think some people will call out that fact that Kraft turned on Roger over a situation involving an inconsequential 2 PSI, whereas when Goodell fucked up a far more substantial domestic violence incident, rather than offer any such criticism, Kraft publicly offered Goodell his full support.

And there will also be the "of course the NFL investigation didn't turn anything up. Kraft just publicly threatened the guy ultimately in charge of it who also happens to be an employee!" And people will question whether Kraft's comments were appropriate given the circumstance.
 

Wade Boggs Hair

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Not surprising, I know, but Brock (Huard) and (Mike) Salk has John Clayton on the morning show out here in Seattle. Brock and Clayton are reading the Glazer report as the Patriots claiming as an alibi that a rogue ballboy deflated the balls in the bathroom based of course on the uncontested first principle that we know someone deflated the balls.

I have deliberately not been listening until today and maybe he's been more on it as the voice of reason to date, but I was hoping Salk would have interjected some rationality into this discussion.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/559833298931691520
 
i.e. "I've got a billable hours target I haven't met"
 
This is not Ted Wells' first billable hours rodeo with the NFL. When the report is finished, his cash register stops ringing. I'll be surprised if we get it by March 1st.
 

Rosey Ruzicka

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The mort comments are exactly why the PSI drop due to temperature is the key to changing people's minds on this.  Its a clear formula and we just need people like NDT to not fuck up the calculation.  That could help change the question "Then why didn't the colt's balls deflate?"  from something that casts doubts on the laws of physics and the Pats, to something that casts doubt on the Colts and probably more accurately the NFL. 
 

Leather

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Rosey Ruzicka said:
The mort comments are exactly why the PSI drop due to temperature is the key to changing people's minds on this.  Its a clear formula and we just need people like NDT to not fuck up the calculation.  That could help change the question "Then why didn't the colt's balls deflate?"  from something that casts doubts on the laws of physics and the Pats, to something that casts doubt on the Colts and probably more accurately the NFL. 
 
It will never happen.   Explaining basic chemistry to the media (never mind the general populace at large) is hard enough without fucking Bill Nye and NDT using the opportunity to issue Hot Science Takes that are fucking incorrect.  
 
It's over.  
 
It's a lot easier to just buy into false premises that tie the story up into a nice little "Only patriots balls deflated, ergo, patriots did something dirty" bow.
 

TheoShmeo

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I was pretty worked up about this story for a while but now that Wells has told us that the investigation will take weeks, I'm a lot more relaxed.
 
That statement tells me (1) there will be no discipline before the Super Bowl, (2) the Patriots players and coaches can prepare for the game without dealing with the potential of a penalty that would screw them up, and (3) the possibility of a retroactive disqualification seems beyond remote.
 
Given all that, there is really no doomsday scenario and the only remaining worry I have is around whether IdiotGate will somehow impact their overall mindset and preparation in a negative way.  And while that's possible, it seems to me that if anything it will galvanize them.
 
As to the rest of it, I say "meh."  The Haters are going to discredit the Pats no matter what.  I hate the CHB something fierce but he was right today.  The national audience is going to call the Pats cheaters and hate them regardless of what happens next, and Pats fans will love them.  There could be total exoneration, nothing consequential or something else that isn't damning, and those outside of Patriots Fandom are going to say moronic things like "well, they taped the walk through...."  (Thanks, Tomase, you piece of crap.)
 
Bottom line, our Pats are in the Super Bowl, no amount of sad Ravens fans is going to change that, and whatever penalties get imposed will be after the fact and will not affect this game directly.  And our team's legacy will be reduced for the immediate future in the minds of the opportunists and haters but screw them anyway.
 
All that's left to do is relax and get ready to watch the Patriots rip the Seahawks to shreds.
 

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Harry Hooper

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TheRealness said:
He feels much more comfortable talking anonymously.
 
If he's really innocent here, he should be absolutely boiling that someone at NFL HQ is making him look bad.
 

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CSteinhardt

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drleather2001 said:
 
It will never happen.   Explaining basic chemistry to the media (never mind the general populace at large) is hard enough without fucking Bill Nye and NDT using the opportunity to issue Hot Science Takes that are fucking incorrect.  
 
It's over.  
 
It's a lot easier to just buy into false premises that tie the story up into a nice little "Only patriots balls deflated, ergo, patriots did something dirty" bow.
 
Do you honestly think it would be a substantial help if Neil Tyson posted a correction?  If so, I might be able to make it happen.  I haven't because I assume it wouldn't actually matter.
 

Leather

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CSteinhardt said:
 
Do you honestly think it would be a substantial help if Neil Tyson posted a correction?  If so, I might be able to make it happen.  I haven't because I assume it wouldn't actually matter.
 
 
 Why shouldn't he correct it?  He was wrong, and he's an influential figure.  What I think shouldn't matter; he should want to correct it out of principle.   
 
He strikes me as exactly the type of guy that would agree.  What, he's going to say "Oh, fuck it, it was just a dumb tweet (that 2 million people have either seen or heard about)...". 
 
EDIT: I mean, a central point of his take on "Cosmos" was to never stop questioning authority; push for answers.  That's science.  But this, perhaps the most publicly visible science issue of the year (as fucking sad as that is), isn't worth getting right?
 

mwonow

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CSteinhardt said:
 
Do you honestly think it would be a substantial help if Neil Tyson posted a correction?  If so, I might be able to make it happen.  I haven't because I assume it wouldn't actually matter.
 
I think it would help - not with the crazies/haters, but with some minority of fans who want another reason to move on to the game.
 
It would also help with Tyson's public image. With the Christmas thing, he came across as a slightly higher-brow version of a Kardashian, trolling for attention - with this, it looks like he isn't much of a scientist, either. A forthright correction might help on both scores...
 

Norm loves Vera

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dcmissle said:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/deflate-gate-finally-pushed-good-guy-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-to-blast-the-nfl-054801494-nfl.html

If the above excellent piece has been posted within the last 10 hours, I overlooked it and apologize. Thank you Dan.
 This article got me to thinking that the Glazer's use of the phrase "Person of Interest" was the final straw for Kraft.  The use of that term to most of the public implies guilty or even criminal.  If Glazer coined that phrase instead of quoting his source, he has raised the witch hunt to an all time level of low. 
 
If the Ball attendant is a kid and or the same kid we have seen in the b roll footage in various reports, then his parents/family have to rip shit over this.  I hope this kid turns out to be an alter boy and eagle scout who makes cookies for the homeless every weeknight before volunteering at the loca animal shelter.  The notion that Brady or Belichick would entrust a kid to manipulate balls pre game as a common practice and expect that kid not to tell a friend, girlfriend or tmz for a million dollars is folly. 
 

finnVT

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CSteinhardt said:
 
Do you honestly think it would be a substantial help if Neil Tyson posted a correction?  If so, I might be able to make it happen.  I haven't because I assume it wouldn't actually matter.
It might help him avoid some of the embarrassment from getting called out for getting high school level science wrong on large platform (e.g., http://www.avclub.com/article/neil-degrasse-tyson-bungles-science-deflate-gate-s-214373).
 
Not to mention he's being quoted as an expert on this issue now (google news reports >6000 hits for ndt + patriots).
 

Rosey Ruzicka

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CSteinhardt said:
 
Do you honestly think it would be a substantial help if Neil Tyson posted a correction?  If so, I might be able to make it happen.  I haven't because I assume it wouldn't actually matter.
I think it would help with the court of public opinion, but I also tend to give much of the american public more credit than most in this thread.  My 6 year old has already had adults give him a hard time for rooting for cheaters, so anything that gives less people less ammunition is worth it to me.  I am sure many will disagree.