OT: NFL 15 Off Season Thread III

[CDJ]

If the league office didn't have it out for the Patriots I'd like to hear the explanation for Gardi's behavior (in particular)

There is something nefarious there, sorry, you don't just spout off in emails saying the balls are 10.1 PSI out of nowhere and then have multiple sources from the league office confirm the report to Mortensen. In the appeal transcript they even ask Troy Vincent about that and he is basically left stumbling around without an answer.

It may not be the entire league office, but there is at the very least a faction of people in their who were out to get them from the start. I don't even see how that is disputable when taking the previous paragraph into account. There is ZERO explanation for some of their behavior. You can call it paranoia, but I call it reality.

 

[Bi Coastal Bawse*]

A) Don't feel bad for 49ers fans ever. Stabbings and shooting at every god damn game.

B) Ron Wolf, you just got added to the list buddy

U must mean Raiders............

 

[LSCII]

Would you answer such a baited question, especially when limited to simple yes/no answer to some fairly complex questions?

But anyways. In the spirit of goodwill and cooperation:

I agree more or less with the take of a Pats fan who I quoted to agree with in this thread.

I believe BB and the Pats, like many other teams, try and find and exploit any advantage they can to help achieve their goals. BB is known for his attention to detail. No problem with that.

I believe Brady ended up having to play a game with some balls inflated over where he likes them and he let it be known that this was completely unacceptable. No problem with that.

I believe the ball guys took it upon themselves to do what they felt necessary to keep Brady happy. It starts to get a little blurry here but in the grand scheme no real problem.

I believe the circumstantial evidence is pretty compelling that the balls could very well have been tampered with after the official "inspection". That's goes over the line from gamesmanship for me.

However given the relatively minor impact of the offense I would have very quickly fined the Pats the 25k standard for ball tampering with as little fanfare as possible and moved on as quickly as possible.

I would then make damn sure the officials took the ball inspection seriously going forward and tighten up the process of putting the balls in play after the inspection.

I believe the league bungled the entire thing from beginning until most likely the end.

I do not believe the league did this out of spite or out of any sort of deflection motive. Maybe the Colts and/or the Ravens came from a spite angle to get it started but I don't believe they had enough pull to launch this fiasco without the support of the majority and I don't believe the majority has it in for the Pats enough to put their own integrity on the line. The NFL had to address the allegations and completely screwed the pooch with the way they handled it.

It is possible, like another poster theorized, that the other owners believed what they were initially told and fell in line but there was plenty of opportunity for them to reign this back in once it began to spiral into absurdityville.


So I guess in summary. The answer is technically yes. I believe it is likely that the ball guys, so by extension the Pats did "cheat" in a relatively minor way by tampering with the already inspected balls. I also believe the punishment is way out of line and it should have been as I stated above, 25k and lets move on. I don't believe the "cheating" played much if any role in their success and if it never came out and they keep on doing it.... so what. lets play ball.

I do believe BB is one of those guys who tip toes right up to that line often. He is a brilliant competitor and understands the sum of the little things that are meaningless on their own can add up to a substantial advantage over time. I respect and admire that about him.

I haven't said much here that can't be taken from my posts of the last few days but if this saves you some time then good enough.

You won't answer basic questions because you know that by doing so, your antics will be revealed. You want to come here under the guise of being interested in the topic, but that's not true. What interests you is the reaction you get from Patriots fans when you try to aggravate them. You want to spit hairs and label an organization as cheaters, yet you won't answer my basic question because it shows the league has a history of cheating, and the only time the word is used is when a rival fan base or organization can't beat the Patriots on the field, so they try to dismiss it by saying they cheated. Guess what? Every team does. Every organization does. Every player does. Everyone in that entire league is about getting an advantage on the other team. If you want to dismiss it, go right ahead. It doesn't change the fact that what I'm saying is true. A league full of guys on PEDs and you want to label one team and one player on that team as cheaters? You lack any and all credibility.

 

[Vtwin]

I find your Pats praise really fake, you basically called them cheaters 5 or 6 times in this thread. I don't think you're a Bruin fan either. No Bruin fan would chicken out and be afraid to admit their favourite football team. To think of all the times I walked into hab bars sporting my B's jersey and embraced the hate.

I get to Montreal for at least a couple games a season. I'll give you two to one I've got Bs jerseys older older than you.

Any football fan who knows anything should be able to come up with the team from the clues I gave you. It's pretty obvious. Still not clear as to why it's even relevent. But that doesn't really matter to you anyways. You're not interested in anything that causes you to think.

 

[CDJ]

U must mean Raiders............

i meant Niners, but that is also quite commonplace at Raiders games too

 

[Replicator]

U must mean Raiders............

Nope, the 9-ers have a crazy amount of violence outside the stadium after games. Worse than the Raiders. I can't explain it.

 

[Alicat]

Common sense.

Well done Donnie!

 

[Alicat]

Both the League and Brady have filed their motions to vacate/confirm the arbitration award.

They each filed 15 page memos and the NFLPA/Brady memo cites the Peterson case.

If you're on Twitter @WALLACHLEGAL is an absolute must follow. He's breaking down each side's case in simple terms and without all the extra bs.

 

[CDJ]

They also cited the Hardy case as well

 

[N o o d l e s]

Would you answer such a baited question, especially when limited to simple yes/no answer to some fairly complex questions?

But anyways. In the spirit of goodwill and cooperation:

I agree more or less with the take of a Pats fan who I quoted to agree with in this thread.

I believe BB and the Pats, like many other teams, try and find and exploit any advantage they can to help achieve their goals. BB is known for his attention to detail. No problem with that.

I believe Brady ended up having to play a game with some balls inflated over where he likes them and he let it be known that this was completely unacceptable. No problem with that.

I believe the ball guys took it upon themselves to do what they felt necessary to keep Brady happy. It starts to get a little blurry here but in the grand scheme no real problem.

I believe the circumstantial evidence is pretty compelling that the balls could very well have been tampered with after the official "inspection". That's goes over the line from gamesmanship for me.

However given the relatively minor impact of the offense I would have very quickly fined the Pats the 25k standard for ball tampering with as little fanfare as possible and moved on as quickly as possible.

I would then make damn sure the officials took the ball inspection seriously going forward and tighten up the process of putting the balls in play after the inspection.

I believe the league bungled the entire thing from beginning until most likely the end.

I do not believe the league did this out of spite or out of any sort of deflection motive. Maybe the Colts and/or the Ravens came from a spite angle to get it started but I don't believe they had enough pull to launch this fiasco without the support of the majority and I don't believe the majority has it in for the Pats enough to put their own integrity on the line. The NFL had to address the allegations and completely screwed the pooch with the way they handled it.

It is possible, like another poster theorized, that the other owners believed what they were initially told and fell in line but there was plenty of opportunity for them to reign this back in once it began to spiral into absurdityville.


So I guess in summary. The answer is technically yes. I believe it is likely that the ball guys, so by extension the Pats did "cheat" in a relatively minor way by tampering with the already inspected balls. I also believe the punishment is way out of line and it should have been as I stated above, 25k and lets move on. I don't believe the "cheating" played much if any role in their success and if it never came out and they keep on doing it.... so what. lets play ball.

I do believe BB is one of those guys who tip toes right up to that line often. He is a brilliant competitor and understands the sum of the little things that are meaningless on their own can add up to a substantial advantage over time. I respect and admire that about him.

I haven't said much here that can't be taken from my posts of the last few days but if this saves you some time then good enough.

How do you think Drew Brees likes his footballs?

 

[Fenway]

move the chatter here

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=105910915