Go easy on Seanberry guys. He's a jets fan. Posting in this thread is the closest he'll ever get to a Superbowl champion.
nattysez said:
You don't think people will watch games where the Pats are trying to win without Brady? If it's a two-game suspension, I'll bet they get bigger ratings for the first game without him and the first "return" game than they would otherwise.
soxhop411 said:6-8 games is a fucking joke and would make me consider not watching the NFL
nighthob said:I said this about 250 pages back, that the Colts and Ravens better be prepared for what's coming because all opposing QBs are going to want to humiliate them for this crybaby bullshit that will basically lead to the league taking sole control of the balls from now on.
They clearly do nothing for him...lithos2003 said:Take off your "I'm a Jets fan" glasses for a minute :q:
Hah!lostjumper said:Go easy on Seanberry guys. He's a jets fan. Posting in this thread is the closest he'll ever get to a Superbowl champion.
Yes, they addressed it, the report made it very clear that they were clearing Gostkowski of any wrongdoing in a scheme that involved league officials. It was mighty white of them.EL Jeffe said:I haven't had a chance to read the report, but did it ever touch on that league "official" who got canned for nabbing game balls, selling them off, and once caught in the act, handed the wrong ball to the Pats attendant who then provided it to the referee which caused all that sideline confusion? I'm almost positive Schefter reported out that the incident would be a part of the Wells report, but I haven't heard it touched on.
If Wells didn't include that bit, wouldn't it be more probable than not that the league was directing Wells to cover up a bunch of their own ineptness in all of this mess?
There was already an attempted palace coup a couple of years back. About 300+ pages ago one of the prevailing theories was that the leaking was being done to permanently drive a wedge between The Ginger Knish and one of the league's more powerful owners, so that said owner wouldn't intervene on his behalf the next time a coup was attempted. Mission Accomplished. Now the question is whether or not Kraft joins the rebels outright or just sits on the sidelines smiling the next time owners try to oust Goodell.cornwalls@6 said:So, as we get past 48 hours from the report being released, and still no word from the league on any potential discipline, one frequently brought up part of the narrative I have to disagree with. That Goodell is in a very tight, damned if he does, damned if he doesn't position. Actually, I don't really think any decision he makes would cost him his job, or the huge income that comes with it. If this past year, and his complete butchery of the domestic violence cases has proven anything, it's that all the owners(Kraft Included) really care about is the money machine relentlessly chugging along towards that 20-25 billion revenue goal. As long as that is happening, they are not going to upset the apple cart by changing leadership in the league office.
drleather2001 said:would be tremendous if we could get someone to 'shop Brady onto that picture.
drleather2001 said:I know it's almost as if people believe different things!
joe dokes said:
And not only that, some us believe something, yet somehow manage to consider what others have to say, and then change our beliefs a bit.
JimBoSox9 said:
I'm going to have to ask you to leave.
Prodigal Sox said:Pontius Goodell should just publicly wash his hands at 345 park Avenue and ask the crowd to decide on the punishment. I'm sure the NFL could get the major networks and the industry leader to get into a bidding war for the rights. There is a long stretch in the calender bewteen now and the beginning of training camps.
ALiveH said:"Five referees working together needed 600 seconds to test all the Patriots footballs at halftime, yet Wells believes that one person took 12 footballs out of a duffel bag, deflated all 12 and put them back in the duffle bag all in 100 seconds in a bathroom stall." That's the sound bite they should hammer home on every media outlet. All the other more science problems with the Wells report can be expounded on in more length.
TheoShmeo said:If Tom Brady or Donald Yee asked you to help design his defense or PR strategy, what would you tell him?
One answer might be to not even try mcuh PR wise. The damage is done and the less said the better. Time will heal all wounds (or at least it will help them. Throwing gasoline on the fire or protesting too much is a bad idea. Or something along those lines.
That is not my answer, even though I well understand it.
If I was asked to advise, I would urge that they:
1. Have Tom clearly express that he never asked for the balls to be set below the legal limit. However you characterize the conversations over the years, no one was ever told to get balls below 12.5.
2. Not worry about throwing the ball dudes under the bus. With care, Tom can say the above in a way that does not implicate them. "I don't know anything about how the balls in the Colts game got below 12.5. I don't know if the measurements were right, I don't know about atmospheric impacts, I don't know if there was an honest mistake, I don't know anything...I simply have no idea. All I know is that no one ever heard from me or got the suggestion from me that the balls should be below the limit.
3. Illustrate the perverse nature of the timing. If they measured balls after the Jets games, would people be saying that Tom wanted or asked for over-inflated balls?
4. Rally some other NFL coaches and QBs to make the general point that this whole situation is wildly overblown.
I'm sure there are other and better ideas out there. And I'm guessing that there are some readers here who have much more experience with PR or setting up a defamation suit or appeal from a fine or suspension than I do.
jsinger121 said:
He can get Jim Gray to host and they can have "The Decision".
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
Might there be a few Pats fans who decide, "that's it, I'm done"? Maybe. Drop in the bucket. But these will also be the ones who care so deeply for the team in the first place that they'll be back.
tims4wins said:
This is a great point. The refs didn't have the time to measure more than 15 balls during halftime, which lasts however long it lasts, and yet McNally had time to deflate 12 in < 90 seconds? Ok.
Have you no shame, sir? Have you no shame?joe dokes said:And not only that, some us believe something, yet somehow manage to consider what others have to say, and then change our beliefs a bit.
I wasn't suggesting they should feel entitled to be able to break rules and get away with it. I was wondering how the Pats truly feel about folks like Grigson (and possibly Harbaugh) blowing the whistle and what their true motivations were. The Pats could chalk up Spygate to a division rival simply doing some gamesmanship and the media getting carried away making it a bigger story. Now that their reputation has already been damaged by that aftermath, a conference rival ended up subjecting their team and their Franchise QB to another exhausting controversy over a rule the league never enforces, and in fact officials often times improperly apply (as evidenced by the footballs in the Jets game).Disclaimer: I am a diehard Pats fan.
That said, if the Patriots stopped doing shit to skirt the rules then they wouldn't have anything to worry about. Say what you want about how big a deal either this or SpyGate were in terms of effect on outcomes, the bottom line is the Pats did something wrong.
Don't you want to see whose wife/gf gets beat next? Or who gets a rape charge? At least tell me you'll check in for the murders.Jettisoned said:
I don't know about other Pats fans but I'm basically just watching because of Brady and Belichick at this point. After all this petty bullshit I'm probably done with the NFL after they both retire.
tims4wins said:
This is a great point. The refs didn't have the time to measure more than 15 balls during halftime, which lasts however long it lasts, and yet McNally had time to deflate 12 in < 90 seconds? Ok.
86spike said:
What if the bolded is not true or not entire true?
BigSoxFan said:So, you're taking the NFL's claim that they didn't have enough time to measure all the balls at halftime seriously? Because I think that's obvious BS.
BigSoxFan said:So, you're taking the NFL's claim that they didn't have enough time to measure all the balls at halftime seriously? Because I think that's obvious BS.
BigSoxFan said:So, you're taking the NFL's claim that they didn't have enough time to measure all the balls at halftime seriously? Because I think that's obvious BS.
Given that Brady liked the balls inflated to 12.5 psi and that most games are played in temperatures below 72 degrees it's likely that many of the Patriot's ball acquired by an opposing team via turnover would probably test below 12.5 psi. You can look at the resumes of the leagues GMs. Not many Mensa candidates in that bunch. I'm relatively certain they were not aware of the Gas Law and assumed that the Patriots were under inflating the balls. In addition, the thought would never have come to them to test their own balls as a control.redsahx said:Read Grigson's email from the report. He says it is common knowledge around the league the Pats like to tamper with the inflation of their footballs.
Then Tim Hasselbeck will go on Mike and Mike saying he never in all his years ever heard of a player telling equipment managers to alter footballs.jimbobim said:https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/everybody-messed-with-the-ball-a-former-nfl-star-speaks-out-on-deflategate/?utm_vicesportstwitter
Now, it's hard to deny that Bradyor at least his underlingsdid cheat, and so it's worth checking in with a fellow signal caller who isn't moved to tears by the idea but rather finds it all pretty silly. As a quarterback, the football was the tool of Blake's trade, and he was going to get it how he liked it, without a second thought.
"If they were too hard, I was like, 'Hey man, this one's a little hard. Just take a little air out of it,'" Blake said. And so the equipment manager would "put the pin in it, take a little air out of it, and that's it. And I'd squeeze it, I'm like 'Okay, yeah, that's good,' and then we'd keep movin'. It was just that simple. It was nothing that was did under the table or did sneakily. That's just what we did. Everybody did. I played on six different teams. It was the same everywhere."
Are you referring to the texts being on AT&T or Verizon servers? How does that help Wells' investigation?nighthob said:Texts don't travel from my phone to yours directly. Put another way, much like email there's always a record.
86spike said:
What if the bolded is not true or not entire true?
djbayko said:Are you referring to the texts being on AT&T or Verizon servers? How does that help Wells' investigation?
Not to mention, I remember there being some surprise that texts were even saved, but they said the content is saved for a week I believe.Jettisoned said:Yeah there's a 0% chance that a wireless carrier would hand that information over to the NFL.
We got #hotsportztakes coming up on Outside The Lines. Don't forget to tune in. Our advertisers would appreciate it.soxhop411 said:
Bob Ley @BobLeyESPN 48s48 seconds ago
Brady in the same breath as A-Rod? @TMooreSports, @darrenrovell, @EdgeofSports, and @TheJuanWilliams discuss legacy. http://bit.ly/1dSXJSE
yes, lets compare Brady to A-rod... Makes PERFECT sense
yes lets comep
I'll disagree slightly with the others. Yes, it's frustrating to have people constantly badger you about the Patriots, especially with misinformation. However, it's more than that to me. As a fan, it does matter to me that they are respected as the great team that they are. You don't have to love them (you're not supposed to) but you should recognize their accomplishments, just as I recognize the great Bulls, Cowboys and (gulp) Yankees, Lakers teams.Return of the Dewey said:
I know it doesn't...but, even if I did think it, why the hell do you care whether I think that or not?! That's my point.
natpastime162 said:Similar to cargo seals, why doesn't the league just put a small serialized sticker or something small and innocuous after the approval process to provide clear evidence of tampering?