Since the coming week is the week leading up to the Super Bowl, there are a variety of issues related to Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. It doesn't take much imagination to guess that "Deflate-Gate" will be one of the main discussions (admittedly, I got it wrong when I called it "Inflate-Gate" in class). So what are the issues related to Deflate-gate? Since our last class, both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have held (multiple) press conferences in which they were asked to comment on what happened.
.jpg)
Bill Belichick held the first press conference, in which many felt that he threw Tom Brady under the bus. In Tom Brady's press conference he was "peppered with questions for 45 minutes" (Kim, 2015), as seen in this clip. Brady surprised many by saying that he had not yet been questioned by the NFL. He was asked directly if he was a cheater, to which he replied, "I don't think so," adding that this wasn't about ISIS. What do you think? Were Tom Brady and/or Bill Belichick telling the truth? Whether or not they were telling the truth, someone must have known about the footballs being deflated. So who bears responsibility? And what should be the consequences? One question that I raised in class was why someone didn't say something during the game.
While earlier reports suggested that D' Qwell Jackson noticed that the football that he intercepted seemed to have less pressure than usual, why didn't he (or someone else) report it? Jeff Darlington spoke to Jackson, who said that since that was his first interception in a playoff game, and the pass was thrown by Tom Brady, he wanted to keep the football as a souvenir. Time will tell whether Jackson eventually receives the football as a keepsake. For now, the NFL has confiscated all the footballs in order to examine whether they were purposely deflated.
On Saturday, Bill Belichick held another press conference, saying at the outset that in the past few days, he had dedicated himself to learning more about "bladders, air gauges, stitching, pressure, game day ball preparations," and so forth (Stone, 2015). He provided this explanation to account for the difference in air pressure: "We all know that air pressure is a function of the atmospheric conditions. It's a function of that. So if there's activity in the ball relative to the rubbing process, I think that explains why when we gave it to the officials and the officials put it at say [12.5 psi], if that's in fact what they did, that once the ball reached its equilibrium state it probably was closer to [11.5] psi" (Stone, 2015, para. 5). Since I am not schooled in how 'rubbing a football' might affect the air pressure, I turned to the "Science Guy" (Bill Nye), who basically said that Belichick "didn't make any sense" (Schwartz, 2015). I must say that I am more inclined to believe Bill Nye's assessment than the other Bill guy.
Given that the science of air pressure may not fully explain what happened to produce under-inflated footballs, how do you think this issue should be settled? Should players, teams, and/or coaches be punished? If so, what should be the penalties? Should penalties be applied before the Super Bowl? Will this controversy ultimately put a damper on the Super Bowl? And/or will it affect the outcome?
References
Darlington, J. (2015, January 22). Colts' D'Qwell Jackson: I didn't know football had less pressure.
NFL.com Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000462315/article/colts-
dqwell-jackson-i-didnt-know-football-had-less-pressure
Kim, S. (2015, January 23). Deflate-Gate: NFL players pile on New England Patriots Quarterback
Tom Brady. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/deflate-gate-nfl-players-
pile-england-patriots-quarterback/story?id=28428275
Stone, A. (2015, January 24). Bill Belichick dropped science knowledge in surreal press conference. USA Today. Retrieved from http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/bill-belichick-dropped-physics-knowledge-in-surreal-press-conference
Schwartz, N. (2015, January 25). Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' says Bill Belichick 'didn't make any sense in press conference.' USA Today. Retrieved fromhttp://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/bill-nye-the-science-guy-says-bill-belichick-didnt-make-any-sense-in-press-conference?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=206567
Deflate-Gate is a giant, tangled web of he said/she said. As of right now, it is impossible to prove that New England’s Tom Brady, Bill Belichick or the referees had anything to do with the deflation of the game balls during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. For me, this situation raises more questions than it provides answers. You ask, “Who bears responsibility?” and to be honest, how can you really say? After doing a quick Google search, it was brought to my attention via an ABC article that the Colts noticed this same issue back in November when they played the Patriots (Good & Katersky, 3015, para 1). So clearly, this has been an ongoing problem. I am curious if any other teams the Patriots faced have noticed this or have brought it to the attention of the NFL.
ReplyDeleteBill Nye threw a new wrench into the already confusing situation at hand. By disproving most of what Belichick said in his presser, where does the NFL go from here and what are the fans supposed to believe? If Belichick spent this much time learning the science of things, it leads me to believe he really didn’t know what was going on. However, Brady and Belichick both have publicists trained in crisis management who are more than capable of putting together a crisis communication plan, and guiding them in what to say to the media in order for them to be portrayed as clueless to the situation. I don’t think anything should be done or will be done prior to the Super Bowl just because there aren’t many options at this point. The timing of the situation is definitely not ideal for the Patriots, but I’m sure the Seahawks are thrilled that their foes have been semi-distracted by non-game related things such as media attention.
-Alexx Klein
References:
Good & Katersky (2015, January 21). 'Deflate-gate: Indianapolis Colts Raised Concerns in November About Under-Inflated New England Patriots Balls'. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/deflate-gate-indianapolis-colts-complained-november-inflated-england/story?id=28365105
The ever-growing, ever-changing media gem known as "Deflate-Gate" is an ethical matter obviously relating directly to cheating. The media, those involved, and those loosely related to the subject all seem to have different stories all leading to confusion over what happened and what should be done. The Super Bowl, quickly approaching this weekend, holds massive media day press conferences where players and coaches are asked serious and not-so-serious questions about the big stories in the NFL and about their preparation for the big game.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify, this is speculative and not necessarily my own opinion but just a thought that ran through my mind that I thought was interesting. Has everyone forgotten that this is the same organization that has done next to nothing to overcome repeated domestic abuse issues from its players within the past 6 months? The same organization that inevitably suspends numerous players for violations of their "substance abuse policy." Yet, during one of the biggest media events of the NFL season the NFL has lucked in to having to deal with questions of under-inflated footballs rather than the social issues that would undoubtedly have been a bigger topic had "Deflate-Gate" come around.
I am, again, not saying that this was some kind of inside job or conspiracy. I just think it is impressive the timing of this issue being brought to the public eye coinciding with the Super Bowl and not with the regular season's Week 12 games. Couldn't this have been brought up after it was reported in Week 11 and solved by now?
-Joey Durant
Joey,
DeleteYou bring up a great point that relates directly to what we will be discussing in today's class - i.e., domestic violence. I wasn't aware that the Patriots had so many instances in the past 6 months, but this provides an excellent segue.
Thanks,
Dr. Spencer
When I think of "Deflate-Gate", I think of an issue that the media has blown out of proportion. New England Patriots do not win their games because or deflated footballs. They win their games by out executing and out playing their opponents. I do believe that this issue is unethical, but I also believe that the NFL has many other issues that are greater in the scale of things. I agree with you, Joey. I thought that the timing of this was very suspect and has been blown out of proportion. If the Patriots have "deflated their footballs" then you best believe that they wouldn't try this new deflated ball theory out during the AFC Championship. It was also brought to attention after a 45-7 drumming. The media has carried this "Deflate-Gate" out longer than any domestic abuse or substance abuse case.
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12240395&ex_cid=sportscenterFB
DeleteStories like this are the ones that should be filling every news outlet, not stories like "Deflate-Gate".
Even though I have not been following the aftermath of the Patriots-Colts game and I have heard about “Deflate-Gate” only through what we have talked about in class or what is stated in the blog entry above, I consider it a highly interesting topic that raises a lot of question.
ReplyDeleteThe first one, as Joey has already pointed out, is the ethical aspect surrounding the scandal. Even though it might not be proven that the Patriots have actually manipulated the balls, one question that has come to my mind was, whether it is legit to adapt material and equipment in sports in order to one’s favor, as long as none of the rules are broken. I remember discussions from other sports, where the use of modified equipment has given athletes serious advantage. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, ski jumper Simon Amman faced criticism for modifying the bindings of skies – even though he did not break any regulations – which eventually landed him two gold medals.
As stated in Dr. Spencer’s blog, I too wonder why nobody has protested about the deflated balls during the game. Even though I am not familiar with the rules of football, I know from examples of tennis or soccer, that balls can be replaced during the game upon request of a team or player.
-Andreas Khuny
Andreas,
DeleteThanks for sharing about Simon Amman. I did not hear about that case. It reminds me of something that I remember hearing about golfers who may have pushed the envelop with clubs or balls that they used. I cannot remember the specifics.
Dr. Spencer
“Deflate-Gate” is a very interesting situation. I have seen more on this situation than the actual Super Bowl its self. I think this issue should be addressed after the actual Super Bowl has been played. The NFL has suffered many “black eyes” (pun intended) this season. This is not going to be a good look for the NFL as a whole. The integrity of one of the biggest sporting events in the United States is being questioned. The blame of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson’s situation can be shifted towards those two players. There is no scapegoat when the actions of this scandal are challenging an entire organization. If it is found that the Patriots and Coaching staff had any knowledge of footballs being deflated, I think severe punishments should be administered. The organization should lose all draft picks for this year’s draft, and their salary cap should be affected for the next year. Also, the head coach should be suspended for a year. I think the whole organization’s competitive balance should be affected because the organization tried to gain an unfair advantage. The penalties should be applied after the Super Bowl and this year’s Super Bowl will be tainted. I’m not sure if the outcome will be affected. Even though New England has been challenged by unwanted attention and bad weather, they still are the number 1 seed for a reason.
ReplyDelete-David Sims
While listening to all of the aftermath of “deflate-gate”, the one thing that has become apparent is that it’s not usual for teams to try and bend the rules when they can. NFL teams will look for any and all loopholes in the rules to try to exploit their opponent. In this case, I do not feel that the air pressure of the ball played a significant role in the Patriots victory. Statistically speaking, the Patriots performed better when the regular balls were inserted. It should also be noted that their defense only gave up 7 points, so no matter if there was an advantage or not, they weren’t losing that game.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to pushing the envelope, everyone has seemed to have forgotten about the Seahawks and their past history with rule infractions. Colin Cowherd of ESPN has reiterated over and over that the Seahawks have had their own issues. The Seahawks have been busted for too much contact in practice, had multiple players busted for illegal Adderall usage, as well as been one of the most penalized (flagged) teams over the last few years. It gets back to the notion of “winning at all cost”. No one should be surprised that the two teams in the Super Bowl have had their own issues with rules. To be a competitor at the highest level you must look for any breaks in the game you can find.
Eric Vendemia