Reiss expects Pats to be fined-deflategate? No farking way

Goodell would be digging his own grave if he did that. He might be dumb enough to try it.

patman52 said:

Why do you think a lawsuit is out of the question? or even not likely?

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Because all 32 teams have signed contracts to not sue each other or the league.

And I'm willing to bet that in the 30 years since the Al Davis team moving shenanigans the league has tightened up those contracts a lot.

patman52 said:

The nfl is not like joining the military where your constitutional rights are given up when you become a member.

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Actually it's very much like that. The owners had to agree to give up a bunch of things (including their right to sue) to join the fraternity.

vyrago said:

On what grounds?

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on the grounds that they are giant ****s and dont care what actually happened

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I DID see that and it was great. The problem is he just recently came out in support of Goodell again (which is driving me absolutely nuts). I construe this to mean the investigation is over and we can expect good news. However, if Reiss's prediction is correct, then I'm sorry, Kraft is screwing the fanbase over.

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Kraft's words to the public in such matters are carefully crafted, and are usually meant to portray a unified front, even when there isn't one. Read Kraft's words carefully. Also read Goodell's comments in the MMQB carefully too. He's obviously trying to distance himself from Kensil, and perhaps others. It's impossible to know exactly what is happening so you have to read between the lines, try to logically fill in the blanks and re-evaluate every time you get new information.

I suspect there is a deal in the background that will get Kraft and the Pats compensated and apologized too, will get some in the NFL offices fired, the Jets punished appropriately and Goodell's continued employment with public support from Kraft. And it will all be done in a manner to control the damage and paint the NFL in the best possible light.

Integrity of the game my arse.

Reiss, like the bulk of mediots, has never even mentioned or thought of the science of it, so he's not looking at it from the right perspective. They can't punish us if their scientific experiments suggest the balls depressurized naturally.

I think Reiss' instincts - that the league wants to punish us so as to avoid the embarrassment of wasting time & money on this whole thing - are correct, though.

Very confusing analysis by Reiss who is usually methodical. He states that the league likely won't find evidence of deliberate tampering but will need to levy some penalty for the fact that footballs were used that were proven to be underinflated.
So this would disregard any scientific findings or simulations for how air pressure is affected by weather.
And Sal seemed to be agreeing with him about "some fine" as though this is the idea that is circulating.

Breer indicated a small fine too and along the same lines as Reiss. So once again, facts and findings be damned. Something seems fishy regardless so let's levy a fine. Makes no sense.

SacPete1 said:

Breer indicated a small fine too and along the same lines as Reiss. So once again, facts and findings be damned. Something seems fishy regardless so let's levy a fine. Makes no sense.

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Because most of the sports journalism world is still confused how the balls deflated because they were too lazy to plug some numbers into PV = nRT.

Remember Peter King's "don't worry about the science of it too much..." stuff.

Galeb said:

Krafts words to the public in such matters are carefully crafted, and are usually meant to portray a unified front, even when there isn't one. Read Kraft's words carefully. Also read Goodell's comments in the MMQB carefully too. He's obviously trying to distance himself from Kensil, and perhaps others. It's impossible to know exactly what is happening so you have to read between the lines, try to logically fill in the blanks and re-evaluate every time you get new information.

I suspect there is a deal in the background that will get Kraft and the Pats compensated and apologized too, will get some in the NFL offices fired, the Jets punished appropriately and Goodell's continued employment with public support from Kraft. And it will all be done in a manner to control the damage and paint the NFL in the best possible light.

Integrity of the game my arse.

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It just pisses me off to no end that we're even at this point.

All Goodell had to do in 2007 was bring Belichick and Mangini into his office, sit them down and say "cut the **** right here and now or I'm going to get involved" and then just tell the press that the matter was resolved internally. The press would have lost interest and, other than the rambles of a few conspiracy kooks, this story would have died in a week.
Instead, commissioner dipsh*t decides to make an example of the Pats and, in the process, not only disgraced the league's model franchise but jeopardized the league's anti-trust status in the process. Now, all these years later, we reliving this nightmare with another ****amamie cheating allegation even stupider than cameragate that should have been resolved within two hours after it came up.

It just sucks that this screwed up league keeps needlessly pooping in our punchbowl.

I have always expected a fine of some sort. Reiss' prediction isn't earth shattering. Most of the people in the media expect a fine of some sort.

The only thing that gives me some hope is that all the leaks about how screwed up the league was with this with a crooked NFL employee stealing balls and the mismanagement of the checking of the air pressure.

any option the nfl had for a token fine ended 2 days after the game ended. You can't fine the patriots less then what the investigation cost, and if the investigation found no real evidence that the patriots actually did anything, finishing them anything is absurd.

Rob0729 said:

I have always expected a fine of some sort. Reiss' prediction isn't earth shattering. Most of the people in the media expect a fine of some sort.

The only thing that gives me some hope is that all the leaks about how screwed up the league was with this with a crooked NFL employee stealing balls and the mismanagement of the checking of the air pressure.

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I go back and forth - as I've said before, trying to predict Goodell is impossible. The man is irrational and his decision making is erratic. But if Columbia runs an experiment and finds what HeadSmart found, how could the NFL fine us? I think that would be difficult. I think the league wants to fine us for PR reason to salvage this mess, but as they sought out actual scientists who might present them with a perfectly good explanation, they might be left with no choice.

We can hope.

Goodell's comments yesterday to me suggest perhaps the Wells report could be turning into an essay on how to handle ball-handling in the future, with an acknowledgement of the fact that football pressure is subject to change as the game goes on. It's a basic fact that the principle players in this thing did not consider when this thing unfolded, and that's a mistake on their part.

I too expect a small fine... probably pinned on something like game op procedures not being followed properly, like the footballs being taken into that bathroom. Not a big deal. There will also be tightening up of controls around the footballs.

What haters think is completely irrelevant. The Wells report isn't going to change any minds. I like that they are livid that the Patriots won. All the more reason to gloat and make them even more so.

Galeb said:

Krafts words to the public in such matters are carefully crafted, and are usually meant to portray a unified front, even when there isn't one. Read Kraft's words carefully. Also read Goodell's comments in the MMQB carefully too. He's obviously trying to distance himself from Kensil, and perhaps others. It's impossible to know exactly what is happening so you have to read between the lines, try to logically fill in the blanks and re-evaluate every time you get new information.

I suspect there is a deal in the background that will get Kraft and the Pats compensated and apologized too, will get some in the NFL offices fired, the Jets punished appropriately and Goodell's continued employment with public support from Kraft. And it will all be done in a manner to control the damage and paint the NFL in the best possible light.

Integrity of the game my arse.

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From your keyboard to God's ears....

rlcarr said:

Because all 32 teams have signed contracts to not sue each other or the league.

And I'm willing to bet that in the 30 years since the Al Davis team moving shenanigans the league has tightened up those contracts a lot.



Actually it's very much like that. The owners had to agree to give up a bunch of things (including their right to sue) to join the fraternity.

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So it is your opinion, that the league can impose an unjust punishment devalue a franchise and that team has no recourse in a court? I am not a lawyer by any means, but I cannot see how such an agreement can be enforced when if you sign it under duress of not joining the league. To me that is like anon compete agreement you sign when you get employed, Your employer cannot hold you to one standard and allow other employees something else. The Vikings and Panthers were both manipulating footbals
on camera and no fine was issued. All contracts must be enforced equally or you have recourse.

SacPete1 said:

Very confusing analysis by Reiss who is usually methodical. He states that the league likely won't find evidence of deliberate tampering but will need to levy some penalty for the fact that footballs were used that were proven to be underinflated.
So this would disregard any scientific findings or simulations for how air pressure is affected by weather.
And Sal seemed to be agreeing with him about "some fine" as though this is the idea that is circulating.

Breer indicated a small fine too and along the same lines as Reiss. So once again, facts and findings be damned. Something seems fishy regardless so let's levy a fine. Makes no sense.

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Look at other teams messageboard and see how fans are already slapping the cheater charge on the Pats for under-inflating footballs.

Accepting ANY fine just gives weight to their charges.

If there is no smoking gun the Pats cannot accept any punishment.

We took one for the league during CameraPlacementGate to our detriment, we cannot do that again.

patman52 said:

Your employer cannot hold you to one standard and allow other employees something else.

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Absent a contract saying stuff like "everyone in job grade XYZ/1 will be treated identically" or protected classes being involved, your employer can legally have double-standards up the wazoo. It would be quite legal for an employer to forbid me to eat lunch at my desk or to work from home but let my co-worker do it. Or to pay me less for the same work. Or make me work longer hours. Or have sh*ttier work. Or have me sign a non-compete but not my co-worker. Etc.

Having underinflated footballs is not cheating. We already know that deflation occurs naturally, so if you ask for 12.5 like the Pats did, they will definitely be under in the right conditions.

Deflating the football on purpose is a completely different story.

zoostation said:

Not sure this would be a good resolution for anyone. Especially the Pats

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It would be great. the league could get extra commercials in. Perhaps there could be a ceremonial blessing of the balls. Think outside the box, my friend.

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I know 2 things about Goodell: he's a native New Yorker and he isn't very bright (or honest based on what we learned in the Rice fiasco). He literally put the league's anti-trust status at risk in 2007 just to screw the Patriots when he easily could have handled that matter quietly.
Kraft could have, and should have, stood up to Goodell back then but didn't. What makes you think he'll stand up to him now?

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I said it before and it isn't something that we don't all know, but Kraft is an NFL toady and he will go along to get along. I love RK, but I'm not expecting a Custer's last stand scenario from the organization if Goddell decides to screw them over.

meatface said:

on the grounds that they are giant ****s and dont care what actually happened

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Oh well, since you put it that way, I guess I agree.