Deflate-gate

Quote: TheCesspit

As I understand it, that's what they do with baseballs... home side provides a few dozen for the game, refs hand them out as needed. The idea of each team having their own is Kafkaesque.

I see the home team as "hosting" the game, therefore they should provide all gear to be used, and make the visiting team feel at home (or something close). I mean, they will provide the field, so why not the gear?

Speaking of which, back in the 70s one time Pittsburgh's ground crew at Three Rivers screwed up the placing of a tarp, which made a bit of the terrain along the sidelines freeze solid. The Raiders played that day, and bitterly complained that it hurt them more and the Steelers had done it on purpose.

So maybe the League should supervise the ground crews as well ;)

Quote: TheCesspit

As I understand it, that's what they do with baseballs... home side provides a few dozen for the game, refs hand them out as needed. The idea of each team having their own is Kafkaesque.

The umpires actually prepare the baseballs.
They rub a bit of mud on every baseball so the pitchers can get a good grip.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Rubbing_Mud

There we go, I didn't realize the rubbing was done by the Umpires... I thought it was done by someone at the club (I recall vaguely seeing a MLB documentary about some ancient guy whose job had been the rubbing of the balls before every home game since he was 16 or something).

Quote: TheCesspit

There we go, I didn't realize the rubbing was done by the Umpires... I thought it was done by someone at the club (I recall vaguely seeing a MLB documentary about some ancient guy whose job had been the rubbing of the balls before every home game since he was 16 or something).

There is an ancient guy who gets the mud for the balls from some river. MLB likes the content of the mud and instead of figuring out how to make it they just pay him and he gets it from some river somewhere.

Brady and Belichek exonerated.

Quote: SOOPOO

Brady and Belichek exonerated.

Huh?
Are they throwing the equipment guy that took the balls into the bathroom, under the bus.
The equipment guy doesn't make a move on those balls unless he gets the nod or wink from either B.

Bill Nye the science guy and the manufacturer said Belichek explanation all BS.

Quote: terapined

Bill Nye the science guy and the manufacturer said Belichek explanation all BS.

Bill Nye the science guy hasn't taken a team to six Super Bowls ;)

Late to the party, but whatever.

I think this is all stupid. Why is there a rule on psi? It makes no sense!

Sports is full of variables. That's a good part of what makes it fun. I'm aware of dirtying a baseball. They feel funny clean. But my home field was largely clay based. In the suburbs, more sandy. In the city, it was like crushed brick. Every one gave a different feel, every one caused a different hop, every one required a different slide. IT'S PART OF THE GAME.

Football, same thing. My home field was a flood plain. Luscious grass, the kind you could hear rip when you cut hard, and would hold even a Sanders-esque juke. Others were treeless, making the surface resemble concrete and made it very slippery. Others where like marshland, like playing in perpetual rain even if it had been sunny for weeks. IT'S PART OF THE GAME.

Hockey, same thing. Sometimes the pucks go from the locker room straight to play. They're warm and soft and bounce all over the damn place. Others have been on ice for sometimes 10+hrs. Hard as a rock, and completely predictable. Some boards are just like a pool table, giving perfect angle shots. Others have lips and ridges, kicking a puck out randomly and unpredictably. IT'S PART OF THE GAME.

I'm less perturbed there was "cheating" and more irritated that it's a rule. A soft ball is generally easier to control in hand, less easier to pass, and impossible to kick. Since each team is allowed their own balls, why not let them choose which category they want to improve? Pah.

The NFL is dumb. And LOL at anyone who thought they would dare insult the Golden Boy by administering any sort of punishment.

If one side had hockey posts made of metal, and the other side had rubberized goal posts, it'd matter. If one side got the cold pucks, and the other side got warm ones.

I dunno if it's cheating, I just think both sides should have the same random factors. Teams do have kicking balls and normal balls. I don't quite get why... make it all the same. Soft, hard or whatever.

Then again, this is a league that things it's players have an obligation to speak to the press. You know whats one of the dullest things in sports? Listening to post game interviews with 90% of players (don't start me on Hockey interperiod interviews) is akin to sandpapering my fingertips. It's not that interesting. It's not necessary. Play the game and lets move right along. I don't care what Lynch has to say (though his Skittles interview is kinda funny). If he doesn't want to talk to the media, that's good by me.. there's plenty of other guys who do want to self-aggrandize themselves. And others who can speak very well and actually tell me something.