We know a few things about the recent AFC Championship game. The Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 in a blowout. That's a fact. It was raining in Foxborough during the game. Another fact. Saying the Patriots were clearly the better team throughout, on both sides of the ball, would seem to be indisputable.
Then it was discovered that 11 of the 12 "Patriot" footballs were under-inflated. Would this have given them an advantage in the rain? Sure. QB Tom Brady could grip the ball better, and hence make make more accurate short throws. And after all, in a downpour, you won't see too many QBs attempting to throw 50-60 bombs anyway.
Many are calling for the Patriots to be hammered because they cheated -- again. Remember Spygate and all that? That particular boondoggle cost them a first round draft pick, actually quite a hefty penalty.
But a lot of questions remain regarding the current dilemma. Who gave the order and/or was responsible for these balls being put into play? Belichick? Brady? Another coach or assistant? Should the New England equipment manager be hauled before Congress to testify? Nobody knows for sure, and we likely never will.
And what's really to be done about it at this point anyway? Would anyone suggest the Patriots should forfeit the Super Bowl? I can think of a few billion reasons why that's not going to happen, and they all have to do with money. TV contracts, various sponsors that have already ponied up tera-bucks for ad time, every tavern on the planet gearing up for their Super Bowl parties, and the bazillions of dollars that already have, or will be wagered on the game before it kicks off on Feb.1. A forfeit is simply not an option. Going back to negate the AFC Championship game and give the Colts a victory? Please. What's done is done and not even the bumbling Emperor Goodell would dare issue such an edict. Can you imagine what would happen if he tried? It would result in utter chaos. Too many people with too many dollars at stake would run totally amok. Sort of like Congress or the Pentagon, but I digress.
So I think we can fairly assume that despite whatever happens in the wake of Airgate -- the Pats and Seahawks will still be meeting in Super Bowl 49.
But how did this mini-travesty happen in the first place? Because the NFL got a little too cute and wound up tripping over it's own feet.
There's no reason -- NONE -- why either team should have their own "balls". They all come from the same place anyway. Let enough of them be stored -- say 30-40 -- in a room of the stadium that is monitored by an impartial NFL official for any given game. They should all be the same.
Sure, we've long known "kickers" get different balls that are overinflated. That enables them to boot them out of the end zone on kickoffs and makes 50 yard field goals almost routine. But it doesn't make it right. Place-kickers can tell the difference between a regular ball and kicking ball. Witness them squeezing it before they tee it up. It would take a strong leg indeed to kick a nerf ball 75 yards. Kickers demand the "juiced" balls.
For that matter, next time you watch an NFL game, pay particular attention to how often the ball is swapped out. It happens after virtually every play. Is a new one needed that often? Of course not. There's nothing wrong with that ball. In soccer, they play with the same ball for an entire half. If it's kicked into the stands it's thrown back and play goes on -- with the same ball. Of course, Major League Baseball is quite the opposite. It's OK to keep a ball in play after it's bounced off outfield walls or been beaten into the dirt and/or grass of an infield, but it's immediately rejected if it happens to touch the ground on any pitched ball. Go figure. Tennis doesn't have one ball for serving and another for volleying. Hockey players don't get special pucks when a power play is in progress. Hoopsters don't get an altered roundball to shoot free throws.
Yet if found guilty of such shenanigans, should the Patriots be punished? Sure. The question is -- how? Another first round pick? Fining Belichick a million bucks because he SHOULD have known? Maybe.
But consider who keeps flying under the radar in this whole fiasco. The on-field officials that were present. They've spent their whole lives handling footballs or they wouldn't have made it to the NFL. The linesmen handle the ball after every play. Even the referee and umpire have been known to swoop in and swap it out when both teams are already at the line of scrimmage and a play is imminent. Why would they do that? In short, these guys know balls, or at least they should. Lord knows they've handled enough of them over the years.
A "normal" NFL ball is inflated to 13 PSI. The kickers get the juiced version of roughly 15 PSI. This is business as usual.
But after the Pats/Colts game it was discovered that the Patriots' balls were only inflated to a nerfish 11 PSI? And the officials never noticed this? For the whole game?
No wonder they're such hard-asses. A remedial class called Mr. Whipple 101 would seem to be in order. Obviously, they never learned the finer techniques and benefits of squeezing the Charmin.
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