XPost: alt.sports.football.pro.denver-broncos, alt.sports.footba   
   l.pro.ne-patriots, rec.arts.tv   
   XPost: alt.tv   
   From: cheaters@nfl.com   
      
   BOSTON (CBS) — For weeks, or perhaps months, I’ve contended that   
   for as long as the Patriots maintain a link prominently placed   
   atop their official homepage to the Wells Report in Context, and   
   for as long as the team would continue to update the “Critical   
   Articles” section, then the Patriots’ fight with the NFL cannot   
   be declared dead.   
      
   Yet after Friday’s development, it feels safe to say that not   
   only is the fight still alive, but it just got a fresh can of   
   diesel fuel dumped on top of it in the form of an 8,000-word   
   essay attacking the NFL’s credibility for the league’s actions   
   and behaviors throughout the saga known as “DeflateGate.”   
      
   Now, all that’s left is for someone to light a match.   
      
   Whether that actually happens — now, next week, at the owners’   
   meetings the week after that, or any time before the draft in   
   late April — will be the real story. If Robert Kraft deems that   
   he has been unmistakably wronged by Roger Goodell and the NFL,   
   and if Robert Kraft demands to have the “DeflateGate”   
   punishments amended and lessened, then we will have ourselves a   
   big-time story. But if, ultimately, the team’s only war is waged   
   on a WordPress blog, then there’s frankly not much to see here.   
      
   Regardless, that is what we have now, and because we’ve all   
   invested more hours than any of us would care to admit toward   
   this case, it’s worthwhile to comb through the entire thing and   
   see what stands out.   
      
   (There is one consideration with the release of this long   
   statement from the Patriots, and it’s the timing. Last week in a   
   federal appeals court, the judges seemed to take the Wells   
   report’s findings and Roger Goodell’s judgments based off those   
   findings at face value. They seemed to believe the Wells report   
   was an independent work which produced thorough, conclusive   
   results. So perhaps this is an effort to help influence the   
   judgment of that panel? That might be an idealistic plan from   
   the Patriots if it were to be the case.)   
      
   Below are some highlights, followed by my own thoughts.   
      
   “… science fully explains the PSI measurements found in the   
   Wells Report. … Many thoughtful people have, with further   
   information and consideration, revised their initial   
   impressions, which were largely based on false information   
   leaked by League personnel and on the interpretations put on   
   ambiguous, at best, facts by the League and its lawyers.”   
      
   The impact of this statement might get lost, considering we’re   
   in month 15 of this mess. But think about it: the New England   
   Patriots, in what is as close to an officially sanctioned   
   statement as is possible in this situation, are stating in no   
   uncertain terms that the league has been lying throughout the   
   whole ordeal. They’re saying, “We did nothing wrong, and the   
   league lied.” That remains a powerful statement from the team.   
   Surely, wherever Al Davis is watching this affair play out, he’s   
   giving a thumbs-up at this opening statement.   
      
   “[The NFL] chose to perform ‘random spot checks’ during the   
   season and then refused to release the results of those checks,   
   no doubt because doing so would confirm that there was nothing   
   unusual about footballs falling below regulation in cold   
   weather.”   
      
   The sass has begun. This statement is reacting to the league   
   ignoring the scientific factors at play by not measuring the PSI   
   of every football at every game and then releasing the data.   
   It’s a very strong point, but writing that there’s “no doubt”   
   that the league chose this course of action is the type of   
   attitude that we’ve come to expect from Daniel Goldberg and the   
   Wells Report in Context.   
      
   “We hope that [this document] will induce added examination by   
   those who are interested and allow them to reach their own   
   conclusions regarding this matter and how the PSI of the   
   footballs at the AFC Championship Game in January 2015 came to   
   be under 12.5 PSI.”   
      
   Again, if they all hope to do is change the public narrative,   
   it’s going to be an uphill battle. It’s March of 2016, and minds   
   aren’t changing. So, if this stated goal is the actual intended   
   goal, then that’s not going to make much of an impact anywhere,   
   except among the group of people who already believe them.   
      
   “Nor did the League consider the potential impact of weather on   
   PSI, because the League was completely unaware of such impact.”   
      
   “Completely unaware” is funny.   
      
   “Unfortunately for all involved, the League leaked inaccurate   
   PSI numbers to ESPN shortly after the AFC Championship Game.”   
      
   Likewise, “unfortunately for all involved” is so passive-   
   aggressive that it hurts.   
      
   “What was initially seen as scandalous (and, remarkably,   
   continues to be characterized that way by the League) was that   
   the Patriots’ footballs, which measured pre-game at 12.5 or 12.6   
   PSI, had fallen below regulation after being used in the first   
   half. This circumstance is now generally understood to reflect a   
   basic law of nature … .”   
      
   It’s a good point. This came just after four sentences which   
   were used to belittle Troy Vincent, who testified to having “no   
   idea” that the air pressure inside of footballs changes when   
   moved from one environment to another.   
      
   “Had the actual PSI halftime measurements been released in the   
   days following the game, there would have been a quick   
   scientific assessment and explanation of the situation. Instead,   
   the accurate information was inexplicably kept from the public   
   (and the Patriots) by the League and the League’s lawyers for   
   months. The false information was allowed to fester, creating   
   largely inalterable and inaccurate public perceptions of what   
   happened.”   
      
   Another good point.   
      
   Myth 1: It took the officials nine minutes to measure the PSI of   
   New England’s footballs at halftime.   
      
   There are 15 myths listed. The first one is interesting because   
   it spotlights how the NFL claims that it took nine minutes for   
   the officials to gauge the footballs, an assertion that stands   
   in direct contrast with the Wells report’s fundamental belief   
   that Jim McNally was capable of entering a bathroom, locking a   
   door, removing 12 footballs from a bag, inserting a needle into   
   each football, placing the footballs back in a bag, unlocking   
   and opening the door, and then leaving the room, all in 100   
   seconds.   
      
   “If all that can be completed by one person in roughly 1 minute   
   and 40 seconds, it is reasonable to conclude Messrs. Blakeman   
   and Prioleau could begin to gauge the Patriots’ footballs less   
   than a minute into halftime and complete the gauging in two   
   minutes — i.e., taking 5 seconds for each man to gauge each   
   football. That timing would support Exponent’s conclusion that   
   science can fully explain the PSI of the Patriots’ footballs.”   
   Myth 1 also points out how the NFL has claimed attorney-client   
   privilege in not releasing the interview notes of all the   
   officials who were present in the room at halftime. The only   
   claim the NFL could have to privilege in this instance is if it   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)