[FarmBoy]

Pats apologists are cracking me up on this issue. There's a reason the rules require the balls to be inflated to a certain level and the Pats/Brady are breaking the rule because it benefits their team. If the ball deflation didn't matter, then why are they doing it? That's right, because it gives them a benefit in their offense to have receivers catch, running backs carry, and QBs throw balls that are under-inflated. The Colts raised the issue when they played back in early November, so there's a pattern.

Did the deflation impact the binary outcome of the AFC championship? Probably not, but you can't say for certainty what the score at half time would have been had the Pats been following the rules and therefore, how the Colts might have played differently. And if the Pats were cheating the system against the Colts twice, then it's probable they cheated against the Ravens that they barely beat in a close game and in earlier games in the season that allowed them home field advantage.

I'm not one to beat on the "role models" issue, typically, but I do find it sad that a generation of kids in New England are parroting talk show host talking points that cheating doesn't matter if it didn't change the outcome or that cheating is okay when you think that everyone else does it. Sports are valuable for the life lessons taught by players overcoming adversity and playing with great sportsmanship. The Bill and Brady do a disservice by not admitting fault.

[FarmBoy]

Pats apologists are cracking me up on this issue. There's a reason the rules require the balls to be inflated to a certain level and the Pats/Brady are breaking the rule because it benefits their team. If the ball deflation didn't matter, then why are they doing it? That's right, because it gives them a benefit in their offense to have receivers catch, running backs carry, and QBs throw balls that are under-inflated. The Colts raised the issue when they played back in early November, so there's a pattern.

Did the deflation impact the binary outcome of the AFC championship? Probably not, but you can't say for certainty what the score at half time would have been had the Pats been following the rules and therefore, how the Colts might have played differently. And if the Pats were cheating the system against the Colts twice, then it's probable they cheated against the Ravens that they barely beat in a close game and in earlier games in the season that allowed them home field advantage.

I'm not one to beat on the "role models" issue, typically, but I do find it sad that a generation of kids in New England are parroting talk show host talking points that cheating doesn't matter if it didn't change the outcome or that cheating is okay when you think that everyone else does it. Sports are valuable for the life lessons taught by players overcoming adversity and playing with great sportsmanship. The Bill and Brady do a disservice by not admitting fault.