Deflate-gate: Patriots Coach Says 'Climatic Conditions' May Have Under-Inflated Balls

ABCNews ^ | January 24, 2015 | DEAN SCHABNER and AARON KATERSKY

[Steelfish]

Deflate-gate: Patriots Coach Says 'Climatic Conditions' May Have Under-Inflated Balls Jan 24, 2015 By DEAN SCHABNER More From Dean »

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick today said "climatic conditions" may have been to blame for the footballs that were under-inflated Sunday for the AFC Championship game, and said the team had not tried to tamper with them.

He said the team "followed the rules to the letter," denying any intentional wrongdoing by the Patriots.

"At no time was there any intent whatsoever to try to compromise the integrity of the game or to gain an advantage," Belichick said.

[over3Owithabrain]

I meant each teams footballs were all the same level. Whether that was 12.5 or 13.5 for the Colts, not one of their balls dropped 2 psi. 11 Patriots footballs did. Explain how ALL the Patriots footballs were reinflated at halftime and were measured again after the game and ZERO of them were below the legal limit. How does 11 Patriots footballs drop 2 psi “naturally” in one half and not the other? It got warmer as the day went on in NE? Please

[T. Rustin Noone]

OK science major

Riddle me this - what was the temperature of the gas put into the footballs prior to turning them over to the refs for inspection? If it was via a compressor, I assure you that the air inserted into the footballs was considerably higher than the outside (or inside) ambient air temperature.

[T. Rustin Noone]

Try again

The footballs in question had just spent over two hours at game temperatures and atmospheric pressures. Halftime is brief. Therefore, the “cold” footballs and the air within them would have little time to acclimate to the indoor temperatures. The time for testing and adding a couple of psi to the footballs during halftime would have a small effect as they were returned to the field of play immediately for the second half.

If this were really an issue of science, the footballs and apparatus for testing and inflating would be at field temperatures and atmospheric pressures.

Just sayin’...

[over3Owithabrain]

You missed the point. Once reinflated at halftime, the footballs did not drop again in psi during the second half. They were put back in the same conditions and did not experience the natural drop Dr. Belichick claims they did during the first half. Clear as day. The balls were uniformly and intentionally deflated by one team and during one half before they got busted.

[T. Rustin Noone]

First, we do not know that the footballs were the same for each team at the time of testing 2 1/4 hours prior to game time. We do know that ALL the footballs provided by each team were within the league limits.

Second, we do not know that ALL the Patriots footballs were 2 psi below the minimum limits. I have read in the initial statement by the NFL refs that TWO of the twelve footballs originally submitted tested at 2 psi low.

Third, as I have stated earlier, the balls retested at halftime had just spent over two hours in game conditions (51 degrees at kickoff - 45 degrees at halftime). The balls, bladders and the air within them were at game time temps at the time they were taken into the refs locker room for retesting. The halftime is brief. The addition of a pound or two of pressure (at indoor temperatures) would have a very small effect on these footballs as they were immediately returned to the field of play.

I don’t have a dog in this fight. What I am appalled at is the insistence of cheating where we do not have sufficient evidence (in this case data) to determine what if any infractions occurred. I watched a video this evening of a demonstration of the effects of temperature and moisture on NFL regulation footballs. The testing was set up on eight Wilson footballs inflated at 12.5 psi at 72 degrees F. The balls were dampened and subsequently cooled to 45 degrees F, simulating game conditions. The average loss of pressure was measured at 1.85 psi. That means a great deal more to me than waving flags of suspicious outrage.

[timestax]

[over3Owithabrain]

The Colts footballs would then be below legal limits, even if we assume they started at the highest level 13.5, if the test you saw is realistic with a 1.8 psi drop. Answer that?

Also it's a false assumption that every football was sitting at 45 degrees just because it was 45 degrees outside. The benches get warmed where the extra balls could be resting. They also get warmer hands on them and movement. Sorry but the simplest explanation holds - 11 of 12 Pats footballs were illegal, 0 of 12 Colts balls were.

They cheated. Again. I don't expect everyone to accept that. People yelled for years that Lance Armstrong wouldn't lie and cheat and came up with every possible alternative explanation. Here it's even worse since the accused parties are proven cheats and all the evidence points to further cheating here.

[Leto]

THe balls have been shown in the last week by multiple experiments that the conditions on the field would have caused the ball to lose pressure.

It was the temp and rain nothing more. This experiment explains the effect of rain in addition to temp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxsXFX3tDpg

This experiment they didn’t get the ball wet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq-Zn6SS3FM

Why Didn’t the MSM or NFL perform this simple HS (Grade School?) experiment, and people wonder why so many believe in AGW, Americans are scientific illiterates.

[Caipirabob]

"Oy vey..."

[plain talk]

Yeah like I really care about the NFL anyway. I follow college football. I just don’t like those who cheat and lie. That goes for dems and the patriots ... and any other team that cheats.

[John W]

[Go_Raiders]

You’re right I meant 0.1 psi increments. As to the availability and cost of digital gauges with small increments:

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=20215266&cpncode=45-28412749-2&srccode=cii_17588969#product-details

$25 gets you a digital gauge with 0.05 psi increments, designed for exactly the purpose of measuring pressure in game balls. I guess they won’t be needing to borrow your tire pressure gauge after all.

[Delta Dawn]

And how, on the sidelines would they have let exactly 2 psi out of eleven balls? I have no proof of anything. However, it is possible that this has been going on for some time. The Pats just got caught this time...one indicator that points to this not being an isolated incident is a turnover ratio I heard reported last week. The Patriots are so far ahead of the rest of the league, that softer balls tends to make sense...and how does one take 2 psi out of 11 balls in a short time? Repetition...

[timestax]

[AFreeBird]

But somehow the climate didn’t seem to effect the other teams footballs.

Strange that?

Really Localized climate change. Wow! Call the IPCC. They can call it “The Brady Effect”

Rename the New England Patriots to The New England Democrats.

[lepton]

The climate certainly changes when you walk from indoors to outdoors in the winter.

[lepton]

Or the addition of dry to wet leather.

From 75F to 50F all by itself is a drop of 1.2 PSI.

[lepton]

Your first calculation was closer.

[lepton]

The climatic conditions were no where near what it would take to deflate a football....

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The math and 300 years of observations say otherwise. Heck, even the ravens say otherwise.

[lepton]

, which led to both teams footballs being retested at the half

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That’s an assumption which reporters have not been able to confirm. The only statement is that the Colts balls were tested at some point in time.

Regardless, if Colt balls started room temp and cooled to outdoor tempo, they would have had to have lost roughly 1,2 PSI, plus whatever effects from being wet. If the didn’t, your assumptions are wrong. If they were at 13.5 PSI at 75F, and cooled to 50F, they’d be out of specs.