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.

[kaehurowing]

Doggone Global Warming.

[plain talk]

well the balls didn’t all deflate 2 lbs by themselves.

[cpdiii]

It would lower the pressure by about 1.3 psi.
If that was the temperature differential.

[Diogenesis]

"Like the Patriots, the under-inflated balls
of the RINOs and myself are also due to 'climatic conditions'".

[newnhdad]

so, to keep it simple, just pump them up outside before the game.

[cpdiii]

correction: It would lower it about 0.5 psi.

[babygene]

Pikachu_Dad;Pikachu_Dad

“so, to keep it simple, just pump them up outside before the game.”

Wouldn’t work... I don’t know if you’ve ever used an air compressor or not, but if you have, there’s a tube that runs from the cylinder head to the tank (sometimes it has heat sink fins on it)

Ever touch it? Hope not, you could get burned... Depending on the compressor the air could be hotter than room temperature.

The only way to do this and be sure, would be to have a bottle of nitrogen (outside) with a regulator on it set to the correct pressure. This would give you the correct pressure at the outside temperature.

[FatherofFive]

well the balls didn’t all deflate 2 lbs by themselves.

How do you KNOW they were properly inflated in the first place? Where is the evidence?

[terycarl]

The climatic conditions were no where near what it would take to deflate a football....and the Colts footballs were properly inflated and under the same climatic conditions....THEY CHEATED and a multibillion dollar sport has been sullied...PERIOD

[montag813]

I have to say it. Bellichick's press conference was a masterful performance. Everyone I heard on radio afterwards was impressed. Clearly this man is concerned about his and his "team's" legacy.

In addition, he know he and Brady have less than a handful of years left, and he wants HIS legacy clean. Brady? That's another matter. Bill kept mentioning "the team," not Brady. Fascinating.

[terycarl]

Some will say it would have effected all of the footballs but that’s not necessary true

Yes it is...they cheated Period.

[MV=PY]

A lot of people seem to be getting these mixed up lately:

climate

the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.

weather

the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.

[babygene]

“Yes it is...they cheated Period.”

So as an uneducated person who skipped all the science classes in H.S., this is your opinion?

[jcsjcm]

When did they test the Indy balls? Do you know something that no one else does? It would have been nice if they confiscated their balls as well, but that didn’t happen. So your point was?

[dalereed]

To cure the problem inflate the balls with Helium instead of air and they won’t deflate or inflate with temperature change like they do with air.

[Delta Dawn]

I believe that the balls were in compliance with NFL rules, right up until the time that someone on the sideline let the air out of them...

[over3Owithabrain]

When did they test the Indy balls? Do you know something that no one else does? It would have been nice if they confiscated their balls as well, but that didn’t happen.

The footballs for both teams were inflated and ensured to be at the same levels before the game. Same controlled environment and done by the officials. The balls were tested at half time. Again all the balls by both teams. 11 of the 12 NE balls were well below the legal limit. ZERO of the Colts balls were. They both were subjected to the same atmospheric conditions and game play. Belichick is blowing smoke and lying. You should get all the facts so you don't fall for it yourself.

Belichick was asked in his presser about his taping/cheating scandal. His response gave himself away. First he got very testy and angry and his knee jerk response was to deny they did anything wrong. Then he said everyone did it. He was shaky and defensive and exposed. Then he caught himself finally and admitted they did something wrong back then(as we all know) and were punished. It was striking that years after proven to be cheating in a matter he still reflexively denies it even knowing he is guilty. It's why he in this case can stand up there for 20 minutes wagging his finger and inexplicably blaming weather, officials, football rubbing, random effects, etc in the face of a clear violation. He is a pathological cheater and liar.

[elpadre]

that was my first thought - change in temperatures causes change in air pressure - your auto tires suffer the same.

my second thought was that this hullabaloo might be a PR stunt, but by whom??

[xzins]

Not necessarily. The acceptable range is 12.5 to 13.5

If the Colts had balls closer to 13.5 and they lost .5 pound of pressure, then a perfectly legal Pats ball at 12.5, would then be under.

[over3Owithabrain]

Pats footballs were 2 psi under. That wasn’t a natural drop, proven by the fact that the Colts footballs did not drop to below legal limit, which they would have even at 13.5. It’s all smoke blowing by Belichick - deny deny deny and stall.