Nobody is saying you can't ask the question or start the discussion or start a new thread. What you are attempting to do is what you did under your previously banned persona and what all of the Pats trolls in this thread have been doing since the thread was opened. Deflect, excuse, obfuscate, point fingers outward instead of looking inward. You asked a question and you got a response. Apologies if you don't like the response. You can ask the question but after that you don't control the narrative. _
Agreed. And it was deserved for directly ignoring Goodell's memo asking teams to stop the practice. And if Patriots are found to have doctored balls illegally, they should suffer a similar fate this time around as well. Which brings me back to my original question(s)... how should the other instances be handled (AS WELL AS THE PATRIOTS)? Should there be any penalty levied on the 49ers for "cheating" 2x that we're aware of? Or has statute run out? It's a slippery slope and the league needs to figure out a way to make it clear how things like this will be handled in the future.
What Jerry Rice said was applicable when it fed the narrative (Patriots are cheaters). The part about him cheating doesn't feed the Patriot hating narrative, so you won't see it on the ESPN.com front page.
Do you believe the NFL needs to prove mal-intent or premeditation? Or is discovering the footballs were all below spec, while the opponents were not, simply enough? i get the sense from most Pats fans, that unless a picture surfaces with Brady putting his needle dick into the ball, the NFL will not have sufficient 'proof'.
I guess I'd say that I'll wait to see what the evidence shows, but that I would not need to see Brady putting his "needle dick" into the ball as you so eloquently put it. If the balls were all well below 11.5 psi (ie more than what cold weather would do naturally), then they are very likely guilty of something (at least to me) and should be punished in some fashion. As to your second question, you can't honestly say that after all this time, you don't understand a reasonable scenario where the Patriots balls are below spec (say 12 psi) at halftime while the Colts are at 13 psi at half-time? (Hint: Pats started at 12.5 while Colts started at 13.5, as a hypothetical) The problem is... we have no idea what the balls were at (before the game, or at halftime) since refs never wrote anything down (and almost surely just did a "feel" test before the game, as per the norm)... Do I honestly think the Patriots did "nothing" wrong? No, I believe that they probably presented the balls to refs at low-end of inflation or slightly under-inflated. The refs green-lighted them until the Colts put the issue on their "pre-game checklist" - which meant the refs had to check them at halftime. This does NOT exonerate the Patriots. But it also does not say they did anything so nefarious that isn't done by many, many, many other teams/QBs in history (as evidenced by the numerous ones that came out and you know, said so), nor is any worse than a ton of things teams do every game (hide concussions, fake noise, play with injury report, etc etc etc). But, if shown they have done something wrong, they will (and should) have to endure some penalty.
One. Trick. Pony. I've done nothing but try and answer the questions posed to me and have a, you know, discussion about the topic. You just want to discuss one side of it, pounding your predisposed notions into the ground. Must crush it at the bar.
So this is what watching your team win the Super Bowl reduces one to? I think I picked the right team in following the Jets.
You want to steer the narrative. Away from the Pats cheating. Those are my honest thoughts, if you don't like it I don't care. You're on a Jets fan forum pathetically begging for validation because of some notion that everyone cheated and/or did so to the extent the Pats did. Must crush it in Dawchesta. _
here's my take on your scenario: it's possible the majority of the Patriots footballs were marginally under inflated. We don't know the exact PSI at halftime. and it is plausible that the Patriots started the game at around 12.5PSI, or under, and the refs didn't gauge each one (rather going for the feel test). Here's my problem. This is yet another example of the Patriots riding that line, and trying to find a weakness in the NFL's rules or process, in which they can exploit. ie, noticing the officials don't always use the gauge, knowing the advantage and under inflated ball would give, and trying to slip one past the refs. I seriously doubt the AFCCG was the first time. The fact that the Colts balls were not under inflated is all i need to know really. The Pats are not victims here. The Patriots either rode that line too closely (again), and get caught this time. Or they flat out deliberately doctored the balls after the fact. Either way, Brady or Belichick (or both) are lying about complete lack of knowledge, and Kraft has the arrogance to expect an apology. It doesn't matter to me if the NFL can prove pre-meditation. They have evidence of the team violating the nature of the rules, and the rule itself, and they are now repeat offenders. The league will also have to alter its rules and process due to findings of the same time looking to exploit them (again).
... except that he didn't cheat because the NFL rule on foreign substances (both adhesive and slippery) expressly allows the use of tacky substances on gloves (which Rice used). Doesn't anybody read the rulebook anymore?
He does not want to discuss the Patriots cheating. He wants to discuss ANYONE else that may have cheated in the history of the league. OTHER than the Patriots. Get back on track. _
Section 4 - Article 4 - Subsection (j) - Adhesive or slippery substances on the body, equipment, or uniform of any player; provided, however, that players may wear gloves with a tackified surface if such tacky substance does not adhere to the football or otherwise cause handling problems for players. Tacky adjective, tackier, tackiest. 1. sticky to the touch; adhesive. ------------ As long as the substance doesn't get stuck to the ball and interfere with play, players are well within the rules to wear gloves with a tacky surface. It's right there in the rulebook. Rice was not cheating. It is not my fault that the media and Cris Carter (and apparently most Pats fans) are too dumb to read the rulebook.
Use google for 15 seconds and you'll realize how ignorant you are: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/shutd...illegal-stickum-substance-171138159--nfl.html It's illegal. The Chargers were found to not be using stickum but another substance and were fined $20k for not cooperating with the investigation into whether they were using stickum.
If it's only used on the gloves, and it does not come off and remain stuck to the ball, you are allowed to use adhesive. It's right in the F'ing rulebook; read it. I have no idea what was going on in San Diego (nor do I really care), but my guess is it was either (a) being used somewhere other than the gloves, or (b) it was found on the ball ... otherwise, whatever was being used was not being used illegally and the Chargers were stupid to interfere with any investigation. EDIT: And ... here's the follow up article (LINK): The San Diego Chargers have been fined $20,000 by the National Football League (NFL) for failing "to immediately surrender" towels when directed to do so by an official during an October 15 game against the Denver Broncos. However the NFL also said in a statement on Wednesday that, based on its investigation into the use of grip-improving 'Stickum' towels, the Chargers had not infringed any rule. "Following a review ... the NFL has determined that the club did not violate a competitive rule by use of the towels," the league said. "However, NFL game officials are charged with protecting the integrity and competitive fairness of the games and club staff members, like players and coaches, have a clear obligation to cooperate in this effort and comply with the direction of game officials. "As a result of the failure of club staff to follow the directive of a game official to immediately surrender the towels when directed to do so, and to attempt to conceal the towels, the Chargers have been fined $20,000." Try again, Cheatie fans.
No. It is not related unless Jerry Rice's balls were deflated. Should you start a new thread? Yes. On another website. You are correct about your final point - you don't belong here.
It's illegal, idiot. They were found to have been not using Stickum, which I said in my post. Keep up.