Physics department chair at BC: weather alone could easily deflate ball from 12.5 to 10.5 psi

PP2 said:

I think the balls the Colts used are very relevant. If the Patriots balls were not tampered with, then logic dictates that the Colts balls would also end up underinflated, correct?

Very little has been said, if any, on whether the balls the Colts used were any different as far as air pressure.

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No. Not if they began the game overinflated or were inflated outdoors.

lurker1965 said:

My response to this has been to ask what cop show ends their investigation with a question. My theory is two fold. The Colt ball boy may have hung out near a space heater and the Colt balls were remeasured after the Patriot balls and had more time to reacclimatize to the room temp they got remeasured at.

All of that is just a theory. I, and you, do not know why the Colt balls were unaffected. I say we find the answer - what say you?

That usually gets a "Cheatriots homer" reply.

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No conspiracy needed. The Colts balls came in on a bus. They top them off to 13.5 or 13 they don't say. Important point is the air may have been cold. Cold air inside the ball means the pressure doesn't go down when it's in the cold air outside. It's already cold.

It's WARM AIR which loses pressure as it cools.

If the Patriots stored their balls in a clubhouse kept at 70 degrees or so then that ball would be pressure tested at an internal temp of 70 degrees. When the internal temp cools to 45 the pressure goes DOWN EVEN THOUGH THE COLTS BALL PRESSURE DOES NOT.

Brewskies said:

More people are speaking negative about this including the White House press Secretary and Bill Maher.

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Doesn't surprise me this White House doesn't like a winner.

Brewskies said:

Both Belicheck and Brady did more damage IMO yesterday than if they didn't speak out. With the exception of New England the rest of the country thinks Belicheck and Brady are lying according to a nationwide poll..

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I disagree. And people would have thought that anyway. They're scientifically illiterate.

People have the assumption if pressure went down then air must have been removed. Not true but people are idiots.

PP2 said:

I think the balls the Colts used are very relevant. If the Patriots balls were not tampered with, then logic dictates that the Colts balls would also end up underinflated, correct?

Very little has been said, if any, on whether the balls the Colts used were any different as far as air pressure.

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Incorrect.
Colts could prefer to pump their balls high say to 13.5 or even above like Rogers.
What was the temp the their balls were pumped at vs the Pats? If done at ambient near their equipt truck they's hardly change much during the game.

The league only needs to know that nobody F'ed with the pats balls and that physics offers a 100% explanation.

n6249c said:

What scares me is that evidence will be constructed to fit the preconceived belief that cheating occurred, even though falsifying evidence is itself cheating.

So, they hear weather might be an explanation, all of a sudden both teams' balls were tested and only one was low. But were they really both tested? Or is it just a better narrative than "oops, nothing to see here" when the mob has already brandished pitchforks and lit torches?

Face it, somebody's gonna hang, whether or not a crime really happened.

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Not necessarily a reply to you, but this just has to be said:

There are 2 main reasons for the present status quo, and both involve and reflect the current NFL regime.

First, they're Luddites. It's beyond obvious.These guys wouldn't recognize bona fide science if it bit them in the ass repeatedly.

Analagous to this is the equally obvious fact that NFL offices are fully repleat with conspiracy theorists. Just as the initial impulse is avoid science at all costs, the actual first impulse is to look to devious human interaction, which invariably falls upon the Patriots.

I must add..."Spygate" wasn't really about "spying", stealing signals, or imprpoer camera placement in the ballpark. It was Belechik's perceived blatant disobeience of a Roger Goodell memorandum on the subject.

Goodell, unfortunately, has shown too many times he is not only thin-skinned, but not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, if you get my meaning...

bpippin said:

Why don't they use nitrogen to fill footballs, I believe nitrogen isn't affected by temprature

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That is NOT true.

Every gas is the same. The reason some put Nitrogen in tires rather than the mixture of gases in air, is to delay the decay and ageing of rubber by exposure to Oxygen which is the second most common gas in air after Nitrogen.

We now have a possible entirely natural explanation for what happened, IF the Colts balls were stored in a truck/bus outside, in the cold, while the Patriot balls were storred inside in the warmth. No wrongdoing by anyone.

If anything, the Colts might have very temporarily and inadvertantly, played with over-inflated footballs early in the game, as the cold balls after checking/certification, warmed up, and over-pressured, and had not cooled back down to outside temperatures. early in the game.

As for ascertaining the "weight difference", I defy anyone blindfolded, to select between two identical footballs with one having a torn-in-half, half of a dollar bill resting on it. That is the difference in weight between the amount of air inside a football to yeild a 2 PSI difference in the small volume of a football.

Dequell Jackson rumored to be the one who noted under-pressure said it was not him, nor could he tell. He kept it merely because he wanted the souvenir of his INT in the AFCCG.

This natural explanation explains how both sets of balls could be tested and be certified prior to the game.

This natural explanation explains how the warm Patriot footballs could lower pressure when cooled on the sidelines, and fall out ofcompliance when measured at halftime.

This natural explanation explains why the cold Colt footballs were cooled back to conpliance, if they overinflated, after certification testing, in the 2 hours prior to the game.

The one suposedly Patriot football in compliance, the "12th ball", was probably missing, and never tested, as La Garette Blount had thrown it into the stands after scoring his TD.

This natural explanation explains why re-inflated Patriot footballs during the short 12 minute halftime in the cold, were unchanged after the game. It even proves that the Patriot footballs were not damaged or leaking, since they held compliance for the second half.

By Occam's Razor this is the likely truth. Without resorting to Conspiracy Theories and wrongdoing, or mal or mis-feasance on anyone's part, either Patriots or Refs or NFL ballboys assistants.

BTW, genuine scientific calibration certifications generally list pressure at some temperature. e.g. 13 PSI Gauge at "Standard Temperature and (atmospheric)Pressure", aka "STP" which the ambiguous NFL rules do NOT do. (I,m certain they will when revised, next year.)

PatsWickedPissah said:

Incorrect.
Colts could prefer to pump their balls high say to 13.5 or even above like Rogers.
What was the temp the their balls were pumped at vs the Pats? If done at ambient near their equipt truck they's hardly change much during the game.

The league only needs to know that nobody F'ed with the pats balls and that physics offers a 100% explanation.

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I'm hoping there's a rational explanation for how the Colts balls were different than the Patriots balls, and if there is one, the message gets out loud and clear.

This actually may be a pretty good explanation of why Rogers likes his footballs over-inflated....at ~ 14 psi...because in the typically cold Green Bay environment, he'd end up playing with a ball that was only at ~ 12 psi. And he's stated he prefers a firmer vs "softer" ball.

SVN said:

"BUT BUT BUT the colts balls were fine...the colts balls were fine...." thats all you hear.

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Except that we didn't actually hear that.. In fact, we've heard no mention as to whether or not the footballs used by the Colts were inspected at half-time..

SVN said:

Still begs the question, who asked the pats to be investigated and how did they know to investigate ?

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I'll be honest. I believe it was Kravitz because he was embarrassed for the colts..

mosi said:

What I don't understand is why is why none of the media discussing this. This is the most logical and rational explanation.

The calculations are all just calculations but the experiments show what really could happen.

Also for every other story they bring in Bill Nye the science guy but when there is actually a science question nobody is talked to!

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You expect the media to talk about a logical and rational explanation??? No wonder you're confused..

PP2 said:

I'm hoping there's a rational explanation for how the Colts balls were different than the Patriots balls, and if there is one, the message gets out loud and clear.

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PV = nRT. We said it from get-go. If the Colts balls had a smaller difference in temperature change - whether it be by being inflated outdoors, or as BB just referenced by not being rubbed down - then their balls would not change as much.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ick-we-have-followed-every-rule-to-the-letter
YES!

kennyb said:

No if the Patriots and colts balls started at the same psi but ended the first half at different psi that does not mean someone deflated the balls.

Jesus this is frustrating. Can you read? Pressure alone means nothing. Pressure has to be mentioned with temperature. If the pats air inside the ball is 72 and the Colts is 50 then the pats lose 1.4 psi at 45 degrees and the Colts lose .2 or .3psi. Jesus.

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Can you not read what you just typed? Why in the hell would the Colts balls be filled with 22 degrees colder air? You think the Colts balls were pumped up outside? Omfg

This is the truth. They do things better then anyone and I believe they knew how to get the feel they wanted.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_op...eather_could_have_deflated_patriots_footballs

The preperation process involved the ball people heating up balls with friction. The nfl owes the patriots an apology.

Anyone know if there was information about:

what the PSI of the Colts footballs were when officials approved them, and what the PSI of the Colts footballs were after the officials checked them at end of the game?

The thing is coach pointed to the preperation process. Friction or rubbing creates heat and that is what was different then then what Colts did. A ot of practice by ball people to get the results Brady wanted.

Could it be the Pat are just better at preparing for the game then other teams. NO!!!!!!

Heat of balls is key. This is why Curran asked about putting in front of heater. Belichick pointed right at production of heat created by rubbing of balls. No pun intended. The nfl has no case and should apologize now. I thin good chance they are all telling the truth.

PP2 said:

I'm hoping there's a rational explanation for how the Colts balls were different than the Patriots balls, and if there is one, the message gets out loud and clear.

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Let's get Weiss and Resnissance on the Colts now. Did they manipulate the balls DURING the games?