Merged all things Brady, cheating, bellicheat, etc.

[better days]

From Robert Parry, a REAL investigative journalist, not a sports scribbler...

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/robe...atriots-guilty

Rushing to Judge NFL's Patriots Guilty

by Robert Parry | January 27, 2015 - 10:21am

Given how bad mainstream American journalism has become, I sometimes turn to ESPN for relief and generally find the sports network’s reporting – based on statistics and observable facts – to be superior to the rushes to judgment that have come to define U.S. political and foreign reporting.

But it seems the disease of sloppy and opinionated journalism has spread to ESPN, too, as demonstrated by the network’s unseemly rush to judgment over the so-called “Deflate-gate” scandal swirling around the New England Patriots’ 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game on Jan. 18.

Immediately after the game, all anyone was talking about was whether the Patriots intentionally deflated the footballs used in the first half to gain an unfair competitive advantage, by taking the balls from a legal minimum 12.5 pounds per square inch (PSI), down about 2 PSI below the legal standard.

And, though this controversy is about football – not about whether to go to war in some faraway country – the scandal does touch on journalistic principles that should be applied everywhere, especially where people’s reputations are affected.

As a longtime investigative reporter, I have always found it important – when addressing a suspicion of wrongdoing – to consider possible innocent explanations before concluding that someone committed an offense. Otherwise, you become easily drawn into conspiracy theories, assuming guilt rather than assessing evidence.

However, as “Deflate-gate” jumped from the sports pages onto the news shows and news pages, what was lacking across the board was any skepticism regarding the Patriots’ assumed guilt. The principle of presumed innocence was jettisoned and the only question was who was more guilty, coach Bill Belichick or quarterback Tom Brady, and what the punishment should be.

It became common for commentators on ESPN as well as regular news shows and talk radio to call Brady a liar and Belichick a chronic cheater. Yet, those conclusions were reached in the absence of direct evidence that anyone working for the Patriots had actually deflated the footballs.

...and...

Fitting with ESPN’s defensiveness, an article on Sunday was largely dismissive of Belichick’s explanation while burying at the bottom of the story this item from a Pittsburgh-based sports science organization which essentially replicated the Patriots’ experiment:

“HeadSmart Labs in Pittsburgh conducted a study that indicated the pressure in the footballs used in the AFC Championship Game could have dropped 1.95 PSI from weather and field conditions alone.

“HeadSmart said it tested 12 new footballs that were inflated to 12.5 PSI in a 75 degree room to imitate the indoor conditions where the referees would have tested the footballs 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The footballs were then moved to a 50-degree environment to simulate the temperatures that were experienced throughout the game and were dampened to replicate the rainy conditions.

“‘Out of the 12 footballs we tested, we found that on average, footballs dropped 1.8 PSI when being exposed to dropping temperatures and wet conditions,’ the lab’s report states.”

In other words, an independent organization that specializes in the science of athletic equipment essentially confirmed what Belichick had said. And there is the additional loss of PSI that one might expect from 300-pound players landing on the footballs.

...more...

smirkingchimp.com LMAO, not exactly the Washington Post is it?

Parry is NOT Woodward or Bernstein.

So sad watching you TRY to defend the CHEATERS.

[Buddo]

What a load of bollocks. Pats cheated, simple as. You can BS all you want about temp changes, but the simple fact remains, that at no stage did the footballs used by the Colts, not have sufficient pressure in them to be deemed legal. By the end of the first half, 11 out of 12 footballs the Pats used, were under-inflated, and hence 'illegal'. All of this garbage about temp changes, didn't make any difference to the footballs remaining legal, at the end of the game, when the zebras re-checked them after putting the right amount of air in them. You don't need physics to work out what simple logic tells you. The Patsies cheated, again.

[Joe Fo Sho]

From Robert Parry, a REAL investigative journalist, not a sports scribbler...

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/robe...atriots-guilty

Rushing to Judge NFL's Patriots Guilty

by Robert Parry | January 27, 2015 - 10:21am

Given how bad mainstream American journalism has become, I sometimes turn to ESPN for relief and generally find the sports network’s reporting – based on statistics and observable facts – to be superior to the rushes to judgment that have come to define U.S. political and foreign reporting.

But it seems the disease of sloppy and opinionated journalism has spread to ESPN, too, as demonstrated by the network’s unseemly rush to judgment over the so-called “Deflate-gate” scandal swirling around the New England Patriots’ 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game on Jan. 18.

Immediately after the game, all anyone was talking about was whether the Patriots intentionally deflated the footballs used in the first half to gain an unfair competitive advantage, by taking the balls from a legal minimum 12.5 pounds per square inch (PSI), down about 2 PSI below the legal standard.

And, though this controversy is about football – not about whether to go to war in some faraway country – the scandal does touch on journalistic principles that should be applied everywhere, especially where people’s reputations are affected.

As a longtime investigative reporter, I have always found it important – when addressing a suspicion of wrongdoing – to consider possible innocent explanations before concluding that someone committed an offense. Otherwise, you become easily drawn into conspiracy theories, assuming guilt rather than assessing evidence.

However, as “Deflate-gate” jumped from the sports pages onto the news shows and news pages, what was lacking across the board was any skepticism regarding the Patriots’ assumed guilt. The principle of presumed innocence was jettisoned and the only question was who was more guilty, coach Bill Belichick or quarterback Tom Brady, and what the punishment should be.

It became common for commentators on ESPN as well as regular news shows and talk radio to call Brady a liar and Belichick a chronic cheater. Yet, those conclusions were reached in the absence of direct evidence that anyone working for the Patriots had actually deflated the footballs.

...and...

Fitting with ESPN’s defensiveness, an article on Sunday was largely dismissive of Belichick’s explanation while burying at the bottom of the story this item from a Pittsburgh-based sports science organization which essentially replicated the Patriots’ experiment:

“HeadSmart Labs in Pittsburgh conducted a study that indicated the pressure in the footballs used in the AFC Championship Game could have dropped 1.95 PSI from weather and field conditions alone.

“HeadSmart said it tested 12 new footballs that were inflated to 12.5 PSI in a 75 degree room to imitate the indoor conditions where the referees would have tested the footballs 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The footballs were then moved to a 50-degree environment to simulate the temperatures that were experienced throughout the game and were dampened to replicate the rainy conditions.

“‘Out of the 12 footballs we tested, we found that on average, footballs dropped 1.8 PSI when being exposed to dropping temperatures and wet conditions,’ the lab’s report states.”

In other words, an independent organization that specializes in the science of athletic equipment essentially confirmed what Belichick had said. And there is the additional loss of PSI that one might expect from 300-pound players landing on the footballs.

...more...

So roughly a 2 psi pressure drop. How come the Colts balls didn't deflate that much? Assuming they were at the max range of 13.5 psi, a 2 psi drop would put them under the lower limit by 1 psi. This story is bull****.

[Strongman]

Many times, when someone claims they followed the law (or in this case, rule) to the letter, they know they didn't follow the spirit of the rule.

At this point, my best guess is the Cheatriots** are skirting the rules and exploiting a gray area. They probably used a ball that had lower pressure (something in the 12.0 +/-0.5 PSI range).

The reason Kraft is sounding so confident is he's pretty sure, is they have a plausible excuse to account for this. The temperature on game day could account for some of the lower pressure, but not a full 2 lbs.

[Mr. Pink]

BTW, are the haters starting to get the sinking feeling that the Pats will be fully exonerated and they'll look like total fools again?

Time to start backtracking guys if your credibility means anything to you.

Just a friendly warning...

They'll be hit with a slap on the wrist.

The league will do it to save face.

Just like they did with the Chargers in 2012 with the "Stick Um" incident.

[gebobs]

I saw the presentation by HeadSmart Labs and was not impressed at all. Their results were shockingly at odds with basic physics.

[gebobs]

I can make any wild allegation about you I want and as long as you can'r DISprove it, we have to consider it having an equal possibility of being true or false? C'mon

Who cares if they can't disprove it or not? This has all been brought on by them with their skirting and breaking the rules or the past decade and more. This is important and even if they are not guilty, it underscores a weakness in the way the game is presented. There need to be changes.

[Strongman]

I saw the presentation by HeadSmart Labs and was not impressed at all. Their results were shockingly at odds with basic physics.

There are a few assumptions the Headsmart Labs video made that we simply don't know at this point. The biggest three are we don't know the initial conditions in which the balls were inflated, what the final PSI readings really were, or even if they are using some kind water resistant resin in their prepping.

The smoking gun here is are the Patriots** prepping their game balls so close to game time? Other teams seem to do this days to weeks in advance, and not a couple of hours prior like the Patriots** seem to do. Also Belichick, claiming he doesn't know a thing about how balls are prepped... I don't buy that.

[Mr. Cynical]

Kraft

[YardRat]

Bob Kraft can eat a bag of dicks too.

[YardRat]

Now both Kraft and Belichek sounded way too confident in their pressers...they know Goodell will make it go away.

[YardRat]

Goodell's response will most likely be 'This probably happens all of the time with cold weather games, it's just never been asked by any team to check before this. The Patriots did absolutely nothing wrong, but steps will be taken in future games to assure that the balls used comply with league rules at all times, as stated.'

[Skooby]

Apologize to a team known to cheat & that has been caught before ?

[upstart]

This whole thing was a non-issue.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Dear Mr. Kraft, I have requested that the NFL send you an apology to your inbox. To obtain the document, please put your head between your own legs and shove it up your own ass.

[ckg927]

Hey, Mr. Kraft: **** your apology, **** you in the neck, MF'er...**** the Cheatriots...**** the Red Sox, who were the last MLB team to integrate...AND **** Boston, that place that dissed Bill Russell so badly he called the city "a flea market for racism".

Did I say the F word one too many times?

[ckg927]

Dear Mr. Kraft, I have requested that the NFL send you an apology to your inbox. To obtain the document, please put your head between your own legs and shove it up your own ass.

No, no, no...the RIGHT way to say it is this..."Please put your head in your hands...once you shine that head up nice and good...put your head between your legs....turn that sum***** sideways...AND STICK IT STRAIGHT UP YOUR CANDY ASS!"

[upstart]

Now both Kraft and Belichek sounded way too confident in their pressers...they know Goodell will make it go away.

The Pats reputation hasn't been tarnished. The Pats should be looked at as a model and top tier NFL franchise over the last 15 years. Fans of all teams should be happy to have New England as an example of what their team could be,

[OpIv37]

**** Kraft and **** the Patriots organization.

You know, I used to think Kraft had class and made a mistake by hiring an ass in Belicheck- obviously he can't fire Belicheck for being an arrogant ass when he's winning. As far as Brady: he's arrogant, too, but I don't think they were too concerned about that when they drafted him with a 6th round pick after he spent most of his college career riding pine behind a ****ty baseball player.

But after this, it seems that Kraft is just as arrogant as those two bastards. He knows he owns Goodell's sorry ass and he knows he can get away with it. Brady and Belicheck think they're above the rules because they know what it feels like to win and won't risk losing. Kraft feels like he's above the rules because he has money and is not afraid to use it to buy influence.

All three of them are horrible human beings who are tarnishing the league. And because of his affiliation with Kraft, Goodell is as impotent as a Nevada boxing commissioner.

This will be a better league when all 4 of them are out of football.

[Skooby]

The Pats reputation hasn't been tarnished. The Pats should be looked at as a model and top tier NFL franchise over the last 15 years. Fans of all teams should be happy to have New England as an example of what their team could be,

When the cameras stop rolling for the Pats, so did the Championships.