Dibs

I knew I'd regret not adding "unless somebody can correct me". Thanks for the info. It seems Papazoid is right on two fronts....it isn't talked about much.

They never cheated with the salary cap, everything was within the rules.....and nothing they did caused a change of rule. They mortgaged their future salary caps for the sake of that SB year, and suffered greatly in subsequent years as a consequence. Teams can still legally do what the 9ers did. I think they choose not to as failing to win the SB leaves no reward and a great deal of future problems.

From what I understood, the reason that he took the balls away was due to the extra people being around due to it being a conference final, and that normally there wouldn't have been anybody in the room. So what you are saying is that the balls are provided to the officials by both teams....the officials take them away....then they give them back(unsure how home team is somewhat responsible)? When they give them back, are they collected by their respective ballboys?....taken directly to the field?....taken back to their team rooms? I ask this as I don't know the answer, not to attack you.

I am a bit perplexed as to why the 31st ranking for slot production lies solely on Hogan. Surely system, coaching, playcall, play design, OL production and QB performance contributed to that stat in some meaningful way. For the record I like both Hogan and Goodwin. I also like the concept that we have too many good/decent players for the first time in 2 decades.

Except the deflation happened inside.....before the balls were brought onto the field. Do the refs now collect both teams balls and then test them in one area? Or do they test in each teams respective areas? If the later, the post rule away teams would have a new found opportunity to tamper.....where as pre rule, all balls were with the home team prior to being brought onto the field.

I don't know what proceedures were changed when that rule came in. Perhaps prior to the rule the away team was given their balls on the field. That would leave little wiggle room to be able to tamper with them. After the change, the Pats might have had the new ability to tamper with their away balls.....and who knows, perhaps the proceedures changed at that time which then enabled the home team to more easily tamper with the balls. What we do know is.... Soft balls are easier to hold on to. The Pats fumble rate is statistically miraculous since the rule change (apparently more so in wet weather). Brady pushed for the rule change. Brady was caught organizing the excessive deflation of balls. Perhaps the rule change had nothing to do with it. Perhaps Brady only grew the balls to orchestrate ball tampering in 2007. That coincidence is far easier to accept than accepting the low fumble rate was not connected to BBD (Brady Ball Deflation).

There are many coincidences in life. It seems that many are willing to accept the correlation of Brady petitioning for the rule change regarding game balls....Brady being caught orchestrating systematic deflation of game balls.....and the anomolously low fumble rate statistics for the Pats since the rule change as being coincidence. I for one don't see it as coincidental.

Do we know that the Pats can't cheat that way anymore? Has there been new protocols put in place yet to help stop it happening in the future? I wouldn't be surprised if they go straight out and do it again.

I've bent or found loopholes around rules many times myself....but I can honestly say that I have never broken the rules in any game/sport that I have played, and I imagine that there are many people similar. It is a sad indictment on society that so many people feel that breaking rules is acceptable.

Then don't. Perhaps shift your thinking to that where it is reasonable to expect people to get some sort of punishment for cheating and lying. For everyone who thinks that 4 games is reasonable......imagine if you caught somebody cheating in a home poker game. A 15 minute suspension from play would be appropriate for that wouldn't it? So you're saying Patriots fans are like Nazis?

Yep. Just like in 2008.

I am of mixed emotions about this. On one hand I am disgusted that somebody who has been caught cheating in a premeditated fashion as this....and who didn't comply fully with the investigators, gets only a 1/4 of a year ban. On the other hand I understand that in a PED riddled sport where cheating is somewhat commonplace, the penalties for cheating are lower than what should be appropriate.....and at least Brady's reputation and legacy are permantly damaged. Good on the NFL for coming down hard.....but shame on them for allowing a system where cheating is treated as an unfortunate byproduct.

With a cynical guess I would say he only travelled to bad weather games...like Buffalo.

Wasn't the rule change to enable away teams to bring their own balls....thus the Pats were then able to deflate the away balls too? All things being equal, that should see both home and away being of similar fumble stats since the rule change....but things are not equal as a percent of Patriot away games are played without the weather factoring(in domes)....so this should theoretically see a slightly higher fumble rate at home compared to away.

Is cheating really so much a part of modern day culture that so many people can look at a blatant case such as this and be content with a slap on the wrist type penalty of a 1-4 week suspension? I don't know about anybody else, but I was raised to be honest, work for my achievements, and not to cheat. IMO any first offense premeditated cheating should get a one yead ban, regardless as to what exact level of actual benefit the cheating achieved. Second offenses should be a lifetime ban.

Australian Rugby(NRL) took away 2 titles from the Melbourne Storm for salary cap cheating. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/apr/22/melbourne-storm-stripped-nrl-titles I have been baffled at the many, many responses from people recently who seem to think that Brady's cheating warrants only a 1-4 game suspension, and this from people who hate him and think he is guilty. IMO, any premeditated, focused and ongoing attempt to cheat should minimally hold a 1 year ban.

Because it is clearly beyond reasonable doubt that Brady is guilty.

Pointing out an issue where some people eroneously think there is evidence of guilt does not supply more room for doubt. The crux question is... What reasonable explanation could there be to suggest that the texts implicating Brady were somehow false or misleading?

I understood what you meant. What I have been saying is that there isn't any room for (reasonable) doubt. There is plenty of room for muddying the waters, but the crux of the situation shows that Brady's guilt is without doubt. There are two guys who are guilty of commiting the cheating act. Though they both say that Brady had nothing to do with it their text messages clearly implicate Brady as not only knowing about it, but actively directing it. What reasonable explanation is there to account for those texts being false or misleading?

That has no relevance to the concept that it has been determined that the two chuckleheads at the Patriots illegally deflated balls after the refs checked them.....that those two guys had regular conversations via text implicating Brady as the instigator in the conspiracy....and that Brady denied all knowledge of the deflated balls. Unless one is willing to believe that the two guys not only took it upon themselves to cheat, but to also have a long term plan in place that would frame Brady if they ever got caught (and logically, if they were going to think ahead and plan something as elaborate as that, why wouldn't they communicate via burner phones so as to not get caught in the first place?), then there is no doubts as to Brady's guilt. It clearly shows beyond reasonable doubt.

That doesn't make sense. Brady stated in his press conference (from memory here) that he likes his balls at exactly the legal minimum.....and that he directs them to be inflated to that amount. If he stated he wanted the balls to be at the legal minimum then there would be no reason for deflating them after the refs had done their checks, and importantly no reason for all of the back and forth text conversations shown in the report regarding Brady wanting the balls deflated. Beyond reasonable doubt. Hell yes! He's guilty.

2 Burmese(Musashi and Titania). Burmese are known as the most dog-like of all breeds. All the warmth and affection of dogs, with the cleanliness and self sufficiencies of cats. I highly recommend the breed if you are looking to get a cat. They look great too.

Music is also entertainment and a business. Getting upset about the formulaic mass produced music is akin to getting upset over the concept that fast food restaurants are successful.

He's going to get unlucky again and miss out on his HC opportunities due to his team getting to the SB.