We've spent months dissecting Carolina's methods of staying relevant in NCAA basketball and football (well, maybe football not so much... ) polls.

I watched Bill Belichick throw Tom Brady under the bus earlier this afternoon, when he denied having any specific knowledge of the process of preparing NFL game balls. Then I watched Brady say that after umpteen years as an all-American college QB and an all-pro QB, he can't tell by the feel of the ball if it's underinflated or overinflated; and that he can't fathom how anything could have happened to the Patriot's footballs last week.

Both of those guys are highly accomplished liars.

Also heard Fran Tarkenton say that "Belichick is the Richard Nixon of the NFL." He also said that Brady would never, ever set a foot on the turf unless or until he knew exactly what had been done to his selection of footballs, by whom and when!

So far the consensus of the "experts" I have seen is that they believe Belichek and do not believe Brady ---

Brady has stated before that he prefers the balls to be under-inflated because he can grip them better.

If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

Rick0714 wrote:If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

If they can prove someone cheated then they absolutely need to be punished, and severely. However, they may have done nothing wrong. I posted in another thread that there is a theory that the air pressure in the balls dropped because they were outside for a period of time before being re-measured. If they were inspected and approved indoors and then moved outside, the change in temperature would be more than enough to reduce the air pressure by 2 psi.

appst89 wrote:

Rick0714 wrote:If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

If they can prove someone cheated then they absolutely need to be punished, and severely. However, they may have done nothing wrong. I posted in another thread that there is a theory that the air pressure in the balls dropped because they were outside for a period of time before being re-measured. If they were inspected and approved indoors and then moved outside, the change in temperature would be more than enough to reduce the air pressure by 2 psi.

The inside vs. outside temp and air pressure may have merit but without boring anyone with the gas laws, I find it hard to believe almost 10-15% drop in pressure would occur. Maybe it would; hard to say. One thing to believe: someone in the Pats' organization knew and did something. If the Saints got penalized then so should the Patriots.

scatman77 wrote:

appst89 wrote:

Rick0714 wrote:If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

If they can prove someone cheated then they absolutely need to be punished, and severely. However, they may have done nothing wrong. I posted in another thread that there is a theory that the air pressure in the balls dropped because they were outside for a period of time before being re-measured. If they were inspected and approved indoors and then moved outside, the change in temperature would be more than enough to reduce the air pressure by 2 psi.

The inside vs. outside temp and air pressure may have merit but without boring anyone with the gas laws, I find it hard to believe almost 10-15% drop in pressure would occur. Maybe it would; hard to say. One thing to believe: someone in the Pats' organization knew and did something. If the Saints got penalized then so should the Patriots.

McLeansville App did the math in another thread. If the indoor temp was 71 and the outdoor temp was 45, the pressure in the balls would drop to 10.5 psi.

appst89 wrote:

Rick0714 wrote:If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

If they can prove someone cheated then they absolutely need to be punished, and severely. However, they may have done nothing wrong. I posted in another thread that there is a theory that the air pressure in the balls dropped because they were outside for a period of time before being re-measured. If they were inspected and approved indoors and then moved outside, the change in temperature would be more than enough to reduce the air pressure by 2 psi.

Theory makes sense to me but not sure about the amount of the drop. Inflated inside at 70+ and then sit outside in subfreezing weather for hours. Who do they penalize though the Team Owner (car owner), Coach (crew chief), Quarterback (driver), Equipment guy (tire changer). Yep looks like the NFL's transition to NASCAR seems to be right on track!

I follow the theory and McC's explanation, the question I have is ' if 11 of the 12 were the under-inflated (and all at 10.5 psi ) why was the 12th one not?'

appst89 wrote:

scatman77 wrote:

appst89 wrote:

Rick0714 wrote:If Sean Payton got suspended for a full season because "he should have known" about the "pay for injuries" ordeal, Belichek should get his cheating ass suspended as well, whether he knew or not. This is a second major offense of intentionally breaking the rules under his watch. And a loss of cap space and loss of draft picks should be included as it has been on other teams for lessor violations. The NFL had better not let them off because one is the genius and the other the golden boy.

If they can prove someone cheated then they absolutely need to be punished, and severely. However, they may have done nothing wrong. I posted in another thread that there is a theory that the air pressure in the balls dropped because they were outside for a period of time before being re-measured. If they were inspected and approved indoors and then moved outside, the change in temperature would be more than enough to reduce the air pressure by 2 psi.

The inside vs. outside temp and air pressure may have merit but without boring anyone with the gas laws, I find it hard to believe almost 10-15% drop in pressure would occur. Maybe it would; hard to say. One thing to believe: someone in the Pats' organization knew and did something. If the Saints got penalized then so should the Patriots.

McLeansville App did the math in another thread. If the indoor temp was 71 and the outdoor temp was 45, the pressure in the balls would drop to 10.5 psi.

Did this happen to the Colts footballs in the same game? Not trying to be a SA, but really don't know.

Wilson, who makes the footballs, says the Belichick explanation is a crock. They might drop pressure after a year or two or if put directly into a freezer but not the temperature drop they had over such a short period of time without being tampered with. Link: http://deadspin.com/nfl-football-manufa ... socialflow

I also heard Tony Dungy on Dan Patrick say that Peyton Manning had total control over what happened with the footballs. I cannot believe that some ball boy for New England took it upon himself to alter 11 of the 12 balls without some input from Tom Brady.

That being said, it didn't change the outcome of the game.

I am pretty sure the balls were under weight too.. the change in temperature would have no impact on the weight -- just the psi.

No matter how you spin it, someone in the Patriots organization knew about it. As the "experts" said, there is no way Brady would get on that field without knowing exactly what happened to his footballs -- especially in a a conference championship game.

Now, the NFL has video evidence of a locker room attendant taking the balls after inspection to somewhere other than the field. The Patriots and the NFL have successfully made it so Brady and Bellichick are innocent. I hope this "locker room attendant" has the strength to come out with the truth, but I am sure the Patriots, Brady and/or NFL have already paid him off.

Just like spygate -- "I had no idea what was going on..."