To Deflate or Not Deflate

Staff writer, Justin Reed

Hold your balls, America.


There’s another scandal in town, and another irrelevant gate added onto the end. According to a plethora of news companies, including Dan Wetzel- of Yahoo Sports, with nothing better to report on than balls deflated 1.5 pounds per square inch less than the NFL standard- writes,

What they found was that the way the Patriots prepare the outside surface of their footballs – scrubbing, rubbing, etc. – actually raises the pound per inch levels inside the ball. Once that process ends and the ball reaches an equilibrium, the ball that was once legally measured to be 12.5 psi naturally drops to the illegal level of 11.5. Throw in the climatic differences between a room temperature locker room and a cold playing surface, and it's 1.5 psi or enough to cause this whole kerfuffle

Since 1972 when the Watergate scandal occurred, gate has been tacked onto the end of a number of words to give more controversy to an NFL story than what is needed. You have the Spygate, coincidentally also a scandal related to the patriots, the Bounty Gate, a scandal where the New Orleans Saints paid players to injure opponents, and now we have Deflate Gate.  How many readers are actually informed about the original ‘gate’ scandal?

This over inflated story has been published to the popping point, and even Bill Nye the science guy finds himself invested in the topic. The real scientist opens up to ABC News about Belichick's theory of ball rubbing being the culprit in deflated balls,

I’m not too worried about coach Belichick competing with me… What he said didn’t make any sense.

To check out Nye’s interview follow the following link: Bill Nye "The Science Guy" Refutes Bill Belichick's 'Deflate-Gate' Explanation

If the Patriots are found to have been tampering with their balls illegally, then they might find their wallets flattened. ABC News reports that according to the NFL official handbook calls for a fine of $25,000 for each tampered balls. Though to put this into perspective of the lucratively contracted NFL world, on any given Sunday the Patriots quarterback could afford the eleven reported deflated balls with a healthy $479,220 going back into his own bank account.

Now with all seriousness, the Patriots would have defeated the Colts playing with blindfolds covering their eyes and while throwing  beachballs. The Patriots embarrassed the Colts, and now we wait to see if the latest Super Bowl winner will need an asterisk next to their name.

#dontmesswithyourballs