Potential Scientific Explanation Of 'Deflategate'

From USA Today via MSN Sports:

What if Deflategate is literally a bunch of hot air?

There's at least one scientific theory to suggest the New England Patriots could have used physics to deflate footballs without violating the letter of NFL rule.

In simple terms, the theory goes like this.

Rather than pumping up a ball in the locker room, an equipment manager could take it into a warmer environment, such as a sauna, and fill it there before the mandatory check by the referee 2 hours, 15 minutes before game time.

As temperature drops, so does the pressure of the air confined inside the ball. So, a ball pumped full of hot air could test at the minimum 12½ psi, but be far less pressurized by kickoff — experiencing a greater drop than if it were filled with air at room temperature.

"The NFL rules are very much ambiguous really because they're not specifying a temperature," Sanderson said. "They're just specifying a pressure, and temperature makes all the difference in the world about how you make that measurement. Us science geeks picked up on it."

The ball wouldn't feel warm to the touch because the urethane bladder inside serves as insulation. And it wouldn't continue to deflate to an unplayable degree, because it'd eventually come to equilibrium with its environment. (ESPN reported 11 of the Patriots' 12 game balls Sunday were deflated 2 psi below the minimum when they were rechecked at halftime.)

This is precisely the type of thing Bill Belichick would do.

They go further explaining that a sauna would be the perfect candidate in that particular environment to create the deflated balls:

Chang Kee Jung, a football fan and physics professor at The State University of New York at Stony Brook, chuckled when the theory was explained. But he agreed it's possible — not only because of the temperature change, but other effects from the steam in the sauna.

"If you put it in the moisture with the hot air, then what happens is that some of the air — which is moist water — it could condense and then it could even more rapidly lose pressure," Jung said. "They may consider it not illegal, but if they actually did it, does that really pass the moral test?"

That'd make sense if officials pumped up the balls at room temperature during the intermission, since the drop from, say, 68 degrees Fahrenheit in their locker room to an announced game-time temperature of 51 degrees at Gillette Stadium wouldn't be enough for a major pressure drop.

"If I was the NFL," Sanderson said, "I'd be going, 'You know, there's really nothing here we can do about this. Our rule is ambiguous and we now need to go back and revise that rule and look at it and see how we can better define that.' "

My findings: If the Patriots did this, was it shady? Yes. Does it matter overall? No. There's already been copious amounts of evidence that every quarterback tries to get footballs that are inflated to his liking, into the game, so how is this incident any different?

This story is NOT one that should be paralyzing the American people, when so many other issues should be in focus.

Everyone in football gets the ball inflation to where they like it and no one is running around checking all the balls at every game for how much they are inflated so to whine about it in just this instance is silly.

The Patriots did better in the second half with the fully inflated balls, so any chatter that they cheated and won with deflated balls is silly. They are clearly a MUCH better team then the Colts, no matter if the balls are full or not.

This is a non issue.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Exactly. My point is that if Belichick allowed the above to occur, or Brady did, it doesn't matter. As you pointed out, they did better after the deflated balls were removed, and in either case, if this method was used, it doesn't technically violate NFL rules.

Technicalities are Bill Belichick's bread and butter. Other coaches just get pissy because they didn't think of it first.

There is no doubt the Pats won the game. The problem comes in that Belichick seems to think the NFL rules are a different sport to try and get an edge for his team. I understand ultra-competitive people often take it 'too far' like that and try to get every single advantage possible.

Yes, pumping the ball with 'hot air' is against the rules. Why? Because you know at game time the ball will be under inflated. The spirit of the rule is how the ball is during the game. 'Letter of the Law' defenses might work in court, but in sporting events if you are breaking the spirit of the law you're breaking the rules.

Personally, if I was the NFL, I'd have a beer with the team owner and tell him losing a few picks and dollars is small potatoes compared to what I'm going to do to his team if his fascination with bending the rules doesn't end. I'd tell him to cough up why all the balls are deflated immediately and accept his punishment like a man. Otherwise I'll make an example of his team with such a brutal punishment that no other team will want to bend the rules and refuse to come clean ever again.

originally posted by: noeltrotsky
Personally, if I was the NFL, I'd have a beer with the team owner and tell him losing a few picks and dollars is small potatoes compared to what I'm going to do to his team if his fascination with bending the rules doesn't end. I'd tell him to cough up why all the balls are deflated immediately and accept his punishment like a man. Otherwise I'll make an example of his team with such a brutal punishment that no other team will want to bend the rules and refuse to come clean ever again.

That's funny, especially considering the the Patriots owner, Bob Kraft, and Roger Goodell, are practically BFF's.

Politics, and business, make for some strange bedfellows.

If the pressure doesn't matter, why would they risk getting caught changing it?
A softer ball is easier to hold on to and not fumble.

The ball didn't matter in the Colts game but how many games did they play with an illegal ball?
One more loss and they don't have home field advantage, two more and the Colts play at their house.

They only cheated a little I guess, every little bit helps.

No offense intended, but who really cares about this in the grand scheme of things? Utter waste of brain cells to give a flying pancake about whether or not a bunch of over-paid children cheated, or not.

Again not directed at anyone, its just indicative of the obscene values of our obscene society.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
If the pressure doesn't matter, why would they risk getting caught changing it?
A softer ball is easier to hold on to and not fumble.

The ball didn't matter in the Colts game but how many games did they play with an illegal ball?
One more loss and they don't have home field advantage, two more and the Colts play at their house.

They only cheated a little I guess, every little bit helps.

Every little bit helps, and they ALL do it. If the difference in being a contender is a bit of rule-bending, and the difference in being in the red, or the black, is being a contender, rule-bending will win out every time.

a reply to: BlueJacket


You felt the need to comment on the subject.
why did you waste the brain cells?

originally posted by: BlueJacket
No offense intended, but who really cares about this in the grand scheme of things? Utter waste of brain cells to give a flying pancake about whether or not a bunch of over-paid children cheated, or not.

Again not directed at anyone, its just indicative of the obscene values of our obscene society.

I mentioned this in another post, and thread. The reason I put this thread out there, was to show how stupid this conversation really is, and how many people are simply missing the obvious explanation.

Just like with 'SpyGate': every single team steals signals. They have players on their roster for that exact purpose. Yet, the Patriots are caught doing it (or rather, turned in by a former disgruntled employee), and it's a national headline.

It's just stupid.

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

One last brain cell: Point is, in general all this talk detracts from talk with value...so the expense of just a couple cells seemed worth it, to not have further loss.

Enjoy your Superbowl my friend

a reply to: ProfessorChaos

Everyone cheats so cheating is ok

Wow! Did you run that by Mom before typing it?

originally posted by: noeltrotsky
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

Everyone cheats so cheating is ok

Wow! Did you run that by Mom before typing it?

Cute.

But seriously, anyone that doesn't understand how rampant cheating is in professional sports, is deluding themselves.

How many players spend their entire careers trying to find performance enhancing drugs that will evade discovery during testing, in order to advance their careers, legacy, and paycheck?

The same goes for the teams. Wins = Money, and cheating can help improve win totals. It's not rocket science.

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

One last brain cell: Point is, in general all this talk detracts from talk with value...so the expense of just a couple cells seemed worth it, to not have further loss.

Enjoy your Superbowl my friend

Everybody needs a distraction.
Those who take everything seriously all the time live lonely miserable lives.
You don't like football and that's fine, but you might like movies and TV or video games. Call of duty is a waste of brain cells to don't ya think?
Distractions keep us sane.

What I would like someone that is complaining about this farce do is answer me one important question.

How did the Patriots using deflated footballs stop the Colts from scoring more than a singe touchdown the entire game?

Did they break the rules? No.
Is there any evidence the balls were intentionally inflated in a warm environment to allow the natural course of events reduce the pressures? Any evidence...any at all....or is it all speculation and sour grapes?

The Patriots, without question, were the better team on the field, and, now proven, off the field. When the Patriots lose (and they do), you NEVER hear this type of whining and sniping from the team....ever. The response is usually that they lost because they did not execute their own game plan well enough, and/or the other team just plain played better ball. Their plan is to address those deficiencies, rectify them, and play better the next time. Guess what, this approach WORKS and they win games through self-reflection an improvement.

But, that type of non-reaction is not news worthy or sensational enough for the media or rabid haters. Too bad...really. Kids should learn from the example that when you lose, you should look inward and not outward for the reason. It will help improve your own game by exposing your own weaknesses and should be incentive to improve those areas for the next competition.

originally posted by: ProfessorChaos

originally posted by: noeltrotsky
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

Everyone cheats so cheating is ok

Wow! Did you run that by Mom before typing it?

Cute.

But seriously, anyone that doesn't understand how rampant cheating is in professional sports, is deluding themselves.

How many players spend their entire careers trying to find performance enhancing drugs that will evade discovery during testing, in order to advance their careers, legacy, and paycheck?

The same goes for the teams. Wins = Money, and cheating can help improve win totals. It's not rocket science.

You are absolutely right. Everyone cheats.
But when you get caught you get punished.
They got caught. They should lose a chunk of that paycheck.

Obviously rules are made so that everyone is playing on a level field it`s the spirit of the rule and not the letter of the rule that is most important. It`s not the number of times that they have been caught cheating (whether it`s by a technicality or not) that is so bad it`s the number of times that they haven`t been caught that is most concerning.

They are habitual cheaters and have proven they have no integrity, or honor, and that they will always cheat when possible. The team franchise should banned from the NFL.Allowing known cheaters to continue playing in the NFL makes the entire NFL a joke and a farce.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71

originally posted by: ProfessorChaos

originally posted by: noeltrotsky
a reply to: ProfessorChaos

Everyone cheats so cheating is ok

Wow! Did you run that by Mom before typing it?

Cute.

But seriously, anyone that doesn't understand how rampant cheating is in professional sports, is deluding themselves.

How many players spend their entire careers trying to find performance enhancing drugs that will evade discovery during testing, in order to advance their careers, legacy, and paycheck?

The same goes for the teams. Wins = Money, and cheating can help improve win totals. It's not rocket science.

You are absolutely right. Everyone cheats.
But when you get caught you get punished.
They got caught. They should lose a chunk of that paycheck.

They absolutely will. Just like last time. Goodell has to save face in this mess.

originally posted by: Krakatoa
What I would like someone that is complaining about this farce do is answer me one important question.

How did the Patriots using deflated footballs stop the Colts from scoring more than a singe touchdown the entire game?

Did they break the rules? No.
Is there any evidence the balls were intentionally inflated in a warm environment to allow the natural course of events reduce the pressures? Any evidence...any at all....or is it all speculation and sour grapes?

The Patriots, without question, were the better team on the field, and, now proven, off the field. When the Patriots lose (and they do), you NEVER hear this type of whining and sniping from the team....ever. The response is usually that they lost because they did not execute their own game plan well enough, and/or the other team just plain played better ball. Their plan is to address those deficiencies, rectify them, and play better the next time. Guess what, this approach WORKS and they win games through self-reflection an improvement.

But, that type of non-reaction is not news worthy or sensational enough for the media or rabid haters. Too bad...really. Kids should learn from the example that when you lose, you should look inward and not outward for the reason. It will help improve your own game by exposing your own weaknesses and should be incentive to improve those areas for the next competition.

Well said.

If anything, Rush Limbaugh put forward a great theory on this. He postulated that, maybe, the NFL likes having a little bit of scandal before a Superbowl. Maybe they want people talking about 'Deflategate' in the miserably boring two weeks before the big game.

How many will tune in now to see those cheating Patriots lose? How many will tune in to see if they try to cheat during the Superbowl?

It's all a big joke. Kraft will pay a paltry fine, lose some draft picks, and laugh all the way to the bank while sipping high-priced booze with Goodell in one of his vacation homes in the off-season.

a reply to: ProfessorChaos

And 100 million people will be watching...give or take.