Soft Balls?

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
I thought the whole concept of sports was to see who is the best at the game given the conditions at hand.

If the balls possibly ever being so slightly under pressure makes for such a big fuss then how do those over paid monkeys manage to play the game in general if the entire atmosphere and overall physical conditions around them is also not at the exact right STP and humidity levels and who else knows what? o_O

I mean lighting conditions, acoustics, which way the majority of the cracks in the parking lot run, color and height of the urinals in bathroom 3 of level 2, what frequency the VFD's for the HVAC system were set on so as to not cause undue disturbances in the locker room WiFi? You know, The important stuff. :p
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,279
I thought the whole concept of sports was to see who is the best at the game given the conditions at hand.

If the balls possibly ever being so slightly under pressure makes for such a big fuss then how do those over paid monkeys manage to play the game in general if the entire atmosphere and overall physical conditions around them is also not at the exact right STP and humidity levels and who else knows what? o_O

I mean lighting conditions, acoustics, which way the majority of the cracks in the parking lot run, color and height of the urinals in bathroom 3 of level 2, what frequency the VFD's for the HVAC system were set on so as to not cause undue disturbances in the locker room WiFi? You know, The important stuff. :p
Douglas Adams is that you?
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I think it's been 2 days now. Has anybody measured the pressure in the balls or are they still announcing an impending investigation into the unknown pressures?
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I am sure some of the pressures were measured. The real question is whether they can find where they put the piece of paper they were written on..

John
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
The answer will be a thesis at MIT ... down to the tolerance of a gnat's ass of pressure.

They will use the best dataset available for temperature, barometric pressure, and how much heat is transferred to the ball when the center, passer, runner, and receiver holds the ball, and the ultimate effects on the "pressure".

They will start "weighing" the balls, and not the pressure. I've seen halon bottles with supercharged nitrogen read the proper "pressure" but were way under weight.
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
I think it's been 2 days now. Has anybody measured the pressure in the balls or are they still announcing an impending investigation into the unknown pressures?
Unofficially, 11 of the 12 balls were underinflated. Nobody actually knows who in the NFL made that statement. The coach had a press conference today which should put the whole matter to rest, but it won't.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
One of my son-in-laws is a football coach. When he prepares for a game, it is like a 24/7 work schedule. I wouldn't put it past any coach in the NFL to have planted this "inflate gate" stuff to distract Belichick before the big game. None of us know the details of any contracts, but we can safely assume some money is at stake.

John
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Interesting...but there is another factor to consider. Cleveland doesn't fumble very much, because it throws an interception before it has a chance to fumble.

John
 

Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
... researchers at Carnegie Mellon University conducted experiments this week that lent support to at least some of the results of the Patriots' simulation. The university's HeadSmart Labs tried to simulate the conditions the footballs were in during the game. The researchers found the "pressure in the footballs used in the AFC Championship game could have dropped 1.95 PSI from weather and field conditions alone."
"Out of the twelve footballs we tested, we found that on average, footballs dropped 1.8 PSI when being exposed to dropping temperatures and wet conditions," the researchers said.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/sport...k-patriots-balls-bill-nye-20150125-story.html
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
We all know leather stretches when wet. That is a factor the media has not mentioned. As for the Colts, they must have kept their balls dry while the Patriots were ripping them apart on the field. The Patriots' balls had much more exposure to the elements (time of possession 38 vs 22 minutes).

John
 
Top