[BobandMary]

This is a great marketing tool to get people to watch the Super Bowl.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

Jim Harbaugh, the Baltimore Ravens' coach and well known cry baby reportedly notified the NFL to look out for under inflated balls.

If that's the case, why would the NFL not have made certain that the balls were right at game time?

Pete Rose was convicted and found guilty of violating the rules. The Patriots have been found guilty of nothing. There is simply an allegation. There is not one scintilla of proof that they knowingly and purposely under inflated balls.

Like I said, take away all of the points the the Patriots scored in the first half and the D'Qwell Jackson interception and The Patriots are still going to the Super Bowl.

If Harbaugh believed that balls were under inflated the previous week, why wouldn't he have brought it up then? That game, by the way was played in relatively warm, dry conditions.

Harbaugh can't win big games so he whines.

You totally misinterpreted my point regarding Pete Rose.

And I thought the Ravens DID complain about underinflated balls. They certainly tipped the Colts off about it. I guess maybe it took it happening twice to get the NFL to stand up and take notice.

It's understandable that Patriots fans are going to stand up for their team. It's also possible that this goes on everywhere and they were just too blatant about it. (It was stated today that 11 out of 12 of their game balls were underinflated.) Same thing with the videotaping. Many have said everyone does it but the Patriots were overly blatant about it.

I fault the NFL and the rather spineless Goodell for not ensuring that the game is played without cheating.

[janmcn]

There has to be like a gazillion security cameras inside Gillette Stadium, especially in the locker room and ball room, so play the tapes and see who tampered with the footballs.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by redwitch

To say I loathe the Pats is probably putting it mildly. I've never forgiven them for the blizzard game against Miami where they plowed the field for their kicker..

I remember that game well redwitch since I was living in Miami.....Don Shula refers to the coach as Bill Bella-a-cheat.
It's a fact of life whether you want to believe it or not but when millions are riding on a game whatever the sport, cheating will always be an option if they think they can get away with it.

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by BobandMary

This is a great marketing tool to get people to watch the Super Bowl.

or not...

[PennBF]

Of course they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl, etc. If you marked the slots on the head of our golf clubs before a tournament you would be disqualified, if you put tar on the bat or marked a basball you would be disqualified, If you used a non regulation racket, etc in tennis you would be disqualified, if you gave a horse an enhancement drug you would be disqualified, if you used non standard ski equipment you would be disqualified or went outside the gates you would be disqualified, if you used a non approved engine in racing you would be disqualified, and many many etc's. So tell me why cheating in pro football would not justify being disqualified. You would be disqualified if you signed a golf score card that did not represent your true score. The fact that they beat them by a large score is not important. They cheated and in fact by scoring as much as they did they mose likely cheated a number football pool and individual bets as they changed the betting spread. OF COURSE they will not be disqualified as money will rule and the courage to do the right thing is not there. Too bad they again lowered the bar on their reputation but they don't care as the money is what is important.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by PennBF

Of course they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl, etc. If you marked the slots on the head of our golf clubs before a tournament you would be disqualified, if you put tar on the bat or marked a basball you would be disqualified, If you used a non regulation racket, etc in tennis you would be disqualified, if you gave a horse an enhancement drug you would be disqualified, if you used non standard ski equipment you would be disqualified or went outside the gates you would be disqualified, if you used a non approved engine in racing you would be disqualified, and many many etc's. So tell me why cheating in pro football would not justify being disqualified. You would be disqualified if you signed a golf score card that did not represent your true score. The fact that they beat them by a large score is not important. They cheated and in fact by scoring as much as they did they mose likely cheated a number football pool and individual bets as they changed the betting spread. OF COURSE they will not be disqualified as money will rule and the courage to do the right thing is not there. Too bad they again lowered the bar on their reputation but they don't care as the money is what is important.

First of all, in order to call this cheating and take action it has to be PROVEN that this was done INTENTIONALLY. That is not even close to the case.

Secondly, if you've been following this, you know that the balls were replaced with legal balls in the second half. If you take away all of the points The Patriots scored in the first half, ( you should also take away the Colts interception by the way, since it was made with an illegal ball) they still would have won the game and beaten the point spread by 15 and a half points.

Even if it is found that this was done intentionally by a member of them team, there have been a number of former quarterbacks who say that it's common practice throughout the league. It is technically a violation of the rules, but the league has been looking the other way for decades. Now, all of a sudden they're going to start enforcing a rule that hasn't been enforced for decades because a whining Baltimore coach brings it up?

[dbussone]

Thank you. Another rational mind.

[DonH57]

We enjoyed watching most of the game on the cruise ship. Lots of us wearing jerseys from Green Bay, Seattle, New England, and Indianapolis. Televisions all over the ship. You could hear cheering all over the ship during the games but never from the casino.LOL. I want to say the colts fans showed a lot of class taking the loss gracefully. Just a game. On any given sunday!

[PennBF]

As we all know Fran was an outstanding NFL quarterback with many many wins and awards. They interviewed him today and his assessment was that not one QB every allowed the crew to control the balls. Not one QB did not know the
feel of the ball and whether it was within limits. He felt that of course NE knew the ball was not legal and the Coach tried to throw the QB under the bus and the QB tried to throw the crew under the bus. This was not NE's first violation and it would be naive to believe they would not violate again to get into the Superbowl. I have great faith in what Fran was saying as he has been there and knows the circumstances. Regarding proof: It is proven the ball(s) were not legal that has been substaniated, it has been recognized that both the Coach, who is respoinsible for the team and QB who directs the plays and has the most knowledge of the ball are responsbile for all aspects of the game. If there has been a violation of the rules who else should be help responsible. Certaintly not the tight end, the center, etc. The QB today admitted the ball(s) were not in
line with the rules. Enough said.

[T-325]

No one has mentioned the referees who place the ball back on the field after every play. Why didn't one of them notice the under-inflated condition.

Go Pats

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by PennBF

As we all know Fran was an outstanding NFL quarterback with many many wins and awards. They interviewed him today and his assessment was that not one QB every allowed the crew to control the balls. Not one QB did not know the
feel of the ball and whether it was within limits. He felt that of course NE knew the ball was not legal and the Coach tried to throw the QB under the bus and the QB tried to throw the crew under the bus. This was not NE's first violation and it would be naive to believe they would not violate again to get into the Superbowl. I have great faith in what Fran was saying as he has been there and knows the circumstances. Regarding proof: It is proven the ball(s) were not legal that has been substaniated, it has been recognized that both the Coach, who is respoinsible for the team and QB who directs the plays and has the most knowledge of the ball are responsbile for all aspects of the game. If there has been a violation of the rules who else should be help responsible. Certaintly not the tight end, the center, etc. The QB today admitted the ball(s) were not in
line with the rules. Enough said.

A violation of the rules would occur only if someone on the the team, knowingly and deliberately deflated the balls. We don't know that that's the case.

Even if that is the case, as I've stated before, several former NFL QBs have come forth and stated that this is standard practice in the NFL. Everyone does it and it has been allowed by the NFL for decades. In fact a Super Bowl winning quarterback admitted he did it in the Super Bowl that he won. For the NFL to suddenly decide that they are going to enforce this rule would be totally unreasonable.

Some QBS have come out and said that they would know the difference immediately and others have said there is no way that anyone could tell a 16% difference in PSI. Who are we to believe. There are many "experts" coming out with different opinions. Until the NFL has done their investigation and come to a conclusion, I think that everyone should cool it and stop jumping to conclusions.

[Average Guy]

Originally Posted by T-325

No one has mentioned the referees who place the ball back on the field after every play. Why didn't one of them notice the under-inflated condition.

Go Pats

According to Mike Florio from NBC Sports, "as to the fact that the officials didn’t notice anything wrong with the balls while handling them after every play, the [league] source explains that a pressure difference of one or two pounds would not be obvious, if the official is not specifically looking for it."

Source: Footballs were properly checked before Colts-Patriots game | ProFootballTalk

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by T-325

No one has mentioned the referees who place the ball back on the field after every play. Why didn't one of them notice the under-inflated condition.

Go Pats

Because they handle the balls all the time and whether the ball had ten or ten and half psi it would have absolutetly nothing to do with the outcome of either teams performance. It's amazing to me people are still obsessing over it.

[slipcovers]

Originally Posted by Average Guy

According to Mike Florio from NBC Sports, "as to the fact that the officials didn’t notice anything wrong with the balls while handling them after every play, the [league] source explains that a pressure difference of one or two pounds would not be obvious, if the official is not specifically looking for it."

Source: Footballs were properly checked before Colts-Patriots game | ProFootballTalk

According to a news reporter, 2# of air weights about the same as a standard white business envelope, that he held in his hand.