Everyone's picked sides already. Anti-Pats partisans will lap it up, but they're not coming back to the fold anyway. I'm pretty sure self-respecting journalists have already been led too far down the garden path of NFL propaganda to take any kind of partial release of information seriously. Even people who think Brady 'probably did something' know that the league can't be trusted after the sham Wells Report and arbitration process.
1. Based on last year and everything else we know about this team, what is the reason to believe the Pats' performance would suffer?
Little men will still continue to try little things, even when they know in the back of their little minds that they achieve little results. It gives them their sad purpose in life.
It's cute that you believe they'll "learn" that they were dead wrong. It's cute that you believe any of them will "learn" anything.
The case is over with respect to the team penalty...they just don't care and none of the other owners (perhaps with limited exceptions) are clear thinking enough to realize the implication that you mention. And because the legal case against Brady no longer has anything to do with whether or not footballs were intentionally deflated, but rather everything to do with the commissioner's power to punish without interference, they will continue to fight that case until the ends of the earth. It's a sickening reality
I think you're making a big assumption here. It is entirely plausible that Goodell and company still believe that the Brady cheated. People reject scientific evidence all the time when it contradicts what they want to believe.
You are forgetting the other key piece of evidence. Brady destroyed his phone before the real evidence could be found. That is clear proof of intent to hide his scheme.
You are making a big mistake in your thinking here. This may have started because the NFL thought that they could nail the Pats for cheating but it is no longer about that and has not been about ball PSI for quite some time.
Yes, they probably still think the Patriots cheated.
The data does gel, because the laws of physics still exist.
I always thought the most overlooked aspect of DFG is that without the actual pregame PSI for each ball, all of the scientific analyses and debate is mostly useless. Aside from Walt Anderson's recollection (that Wells went at length to discount with regards to the gauges) there is no evidence that either team was using balls within the allowed PSI when the game started.
I've never had a great grasp of the details, but some here have made a compelling argument that Bob Kraft should answer this exact question for his acquiescence when the league brought the hammer down on the Saints.
Kraft gave up the fight when he accepted the penalty. He knew, then, there was no going back. He wants to be inside the NFL club, not an outsider.
Has Kravitz had a recent scare or tragedy in his life...some sort of "come to Jesus" moment?
This sentence is at war with itself. Which is it? Will the fundamentally dishonest never acknowledge their wrongfulness, or face reality?
I don't believe it is; knowing and saying you know are different things.
Perhaps, but he also knows he's painted himself into a corner. By stretching this "challenge to his authority" out so far, to admit defeat now would be giving the hammer to the union before the next CBA. He has to see it through, even if he loses the court case.
Seriously. It might be nice to hear some genuine regret from these people but trying to shirk his responsibility with feigned ignorance is a joke. The guy made money and notoriety out of this by smearing other people's reputations. It would be more accurate to characterize an apology like this as "I wish it had all been correct" rather than "I'm sorry I was wrong."
So Bob, make sure to mention that despite the science, there's still two items out there that make you think you were right, and therefore a journalist. Have a good laugh.
Ain't that the truth. Very well put.
I mean, look what has happened to the Ravens, Colts, and Mort since Deflategate began. It couldn't be worse for all of them. He better be worried. That karma is coming back with anger and rage.
Indeed. What's irritating is that he wants it both ways with regards to social media:
Kravitz's ideal world would be one where he gets to tweet out inflammatory information that puts him profitably in the eye of the storm, but where complaints only come in by snail-mail. As Aaron Schatz commented about Kravitz at the time, (paraphrasing: ) you can't complain about a witch hunt when you're the one with torch and pitchfork in the front of the line.
... as though a million-dollar fine and a star player going to federal court to salvage his reputation is somehow equal collateral damage with Kravitz getting mean emails.
