# To select SDMB Cheatriots' Defenders **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426 "2015-05-06T21:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/61 "2015-05-07T15:03:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As someone who has very little invested in this _particular_ dispute\*, I would like to ask you not to trot out that nonsense again. “Oh, it’s just chasing a ball,” shows a lack of perspective on _your_ part. No, it’s not as important as foreign policy or global warming or civil rights, but that doesn’t make it unimportant. It’s a multibillion dollar industry and an integral part of our culture. I’m not complaining about people talking about it. I posted as much to the other thread as anyone. I’m posting to this one. I’m talking about people hurling insults and invective at each other over it. Patriots fans as much as anyone else. Pop music is also a multi-billion dollar industry, and people who insult fans of this pop star or that one are also acting stupidly. > [@](#): > > Nobody bitches about the teaching of English literature in schools on the grounds that “_The Great Gatsby_ is just a bunch of fictional rich people whining.” I have no idea what that means. ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/62 "2015-05-07T15:10:06Z")
The temperature argument is goddamned absurd. The balls are expected to be inflated to a pressure range on the field, not the 90-degree room inside the stadium. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/63 "2015-05-07T15:20:43Z")
> [@CinnamonBabka](#): > > The temperature argument is goddamned absurd. The balls are expected to be inflated to a pressure range on the field, not the 90-degree room inside the stadium. Dammit! You outfoxed the investigators, who failed to give any consideration to the temperature/sauna argument. I’ll call ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/64 "2015-05-07T15:21:59Z")
More on topic, this is all on point with the Pats fan at work. The Bengals, Packers, Giants, and Cowboys fans all talk shit about whatever rhetoric is in the news, but whenever it’s Boston’s turn to have a scandal he’ll get defensive to the point where he gets mad at people for even bringing the subject up. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/65 "2015-05-07T15:27:03Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Perhaps “It’s Okay If **Elvis** Is A Fan.” I’ll send the five bucks I owe you for jsgoddess-to-English translation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/66 "2015-05-07T15:27:25Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Dammit! You outfoxed the investigators, who failed to give any consideration to the temperature/sauna argument. I’ll call ESPN. I’m sure ESPN’s covered it to death, but I still know at least one guy who thinks nothing “immoral” was done because it could all have been a simple mistake by someone not thinking about the temperature difference. I’d imagine the report covers that subject, but I’m not going to ask Mr. Pats Fan what he thinks about it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/67 "2015-05-07T15:29:47Z")
In all of this lets not lose sight of what is important. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GGSyzXKy6_I/hqdefault.jpg "Greatest Play in NFL History - David Tyree's Super Bowl XLII Catch") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGSyzXKy6_I) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/68 "2015-05-07T15:29:57Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Did you miss the hypocrisy and selectivity stuff, or is that simply too inconvenient for you? Shorter version: Cut the shit. Did you miss the part where you wrote really dumbass things about what constitutes cheating? I don’t give a rats ass if everyone you’ve been locking horns with in this discussion is a hypocritical dick, it doesn’t change that you’re either stupid or a poor communicator. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/69 "2015-05-07T15:32:14Z")
There’s a solid 100 pages covering the temperature and environmental angle. Essentially temperature almost certainly accounted for some pressure drop but couldn’t account for all of it. And there was a statistically significant difference between the pressure drop of the Colts balls and Patriots balls. That plus the text messages is enough to convince me. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/70 "2015-05-07T15:32:38Z")
> [@CinnamonBabka](#): > > I’d imagine the report covers that subject, … Oh, man, does the report cover it! And cover it. And cover it. With pretty little graphs and everything. ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/71 "2015-05-07T15:33:47Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Oh, man, does the report cover it! And cover it. And cover it. With pretty little graphs and everything. Maybe sometime today I’ll take a break from making graphs to look at those graphs. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/72 "2015-05-07T16:43:29Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I can’t tell if he’s somehow delusional about the facts, doesn’t care about being forthright, or if he’s just a douchebag all the way down to his core. > > I’m betting its the last one. You don’t need to see this latest crap to realize that he’s a douchebag – he’s long been one of the nastiest pieces of work on these boards from this mostly-lurker’s point of view. Consistently a hostile, whiny, ugly-minded jackass who can’t participate in a discussion without going into rabid dog mode. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/73 "2015-05-07T17:02:38Z")
I don’t give a rats ass about sports. Fuck, I have to think about it a bit before I know if its baseball season, football season, basketball season or rabbit season. Further more I have several hobbies in that my opinion that are chock full of interesting, smart, capable, and open minded people. I’d also be hard pressed to identify any of those I know as giving much more than a cursory fuck about sports. Having said that, given an unwanted education due to the inability to totally block my exposure to pop media sports news… I laughed my ass off at the latest deflate gate revelations. I hope holy hell rains down on the cheating muther fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/74 "2015-05-07T17:05:49Z")
Brady’s agent’s response to the Wells report was to, in part, call it “a sting operation”. Because, you know if you don’t tell someone you’re investigating their rulebreaking, and they go ahead and break the rules, then they’re not at fault. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/75 "2015-05-07T17:09:32Z")
He also called it a biased report, because Wells was appointed by the NFL and is not a neutral arbiter. Yes, I’m sure the NFL is desperate to find an excuse to suspend its most marketable\* player and cast a pall over the legitimacy of its 2014-15 season. \*Possibly “most marketable player not named Peyton.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/76 "2015-05-07T17:42:42Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Did you miss the part where you wrote really dumbass things about what constitutes cheating? I don’t give a rats ass if everyone you’ve been locking horns with in this discussion is a hypocritical dick, it doesn’t change that you’re either stupid or a poor communicator. Forget it, **naita**. He’s too stupid to understand he’s wrong. It’s at least heartening that even those disagreeing with the OP aren’t taking **Elvis** ’ side. There are three groups in this thread: 1. People who think \*\*ElvisL1ves \*\*is a stupid douchebag who thinks emoticons are arguments, 2. People who [del]don’t watch TV, don’t even OWN a TV[/del] [del]actually read _Game of Thrones_ so _you’re_ the one who’s not well-read[/del] want us all to know caring about a silly game like pro football is so beneath them, even though that’s not the issue, and 3. **ElvisL1ves** , all by his lonesome. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/77 "2015-05-07T18:03:12Z")
> [@bup](#): > > 1. People who [del]don’t watch TV, don’t even OWN a TV[/del] [del]actually read _Game of Thrones_ so _you’re_ the one who’s not well-read[/del] want us all to know caring about a silly game like pro football is so beneath them, even though that’s not the issue, and I’ve read the thread twice, and I haven’t noticed any of these people. ---
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/78 "2015-05-07T18:15:05Z")
[Those balls are all perfect.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT9pygVQwgk) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/79 "2015-05-07T18:18:21Z")
> [@bup](#): > > 1. People who [del]don’t watch TV, don’t even OWN a TV[/del] [del]actually read _Game of Thrones_ so _you’re_ the one who’s not well-read[/del] want us all to know caring about a silly game like pro football is so beneath them, even though that’s not the issue, and You misunderstand me. I’m not criticizing people for getting into sports or caring about the outcomes. I’m okay with that. What I’m criticizing is becoming partisan in so transparent a way, over something so minor in the grand scheme of things, that it’s absurd. Like, for example, a defender on red team clearly interferes with a receiver on blue team. Fan of blue team screams “that’s obviously pass interference!” and the fan of red team says “nope, not at all, what are you talking about?!” And then a few minutes later, a defender on blue team clearly interferes (to the same degree) with a receiver on red team. The red team fan screams “That’s pass interference! It’s obvious!” and the fan of blue team says “Nope! Not at all! That’s not remotely interference” What I’m saying is that someone who can’t recognize their own biases in such an obvious, inconsequential situation in which their world view is not under threat, and they’re full blown blind apologists/denialists over it - if they can’t clear that extremely low mental hurdle - then they have no chance of becoming enlightened in areas that actually do matter, and which their biases substantiate their worldviews. If you can’t see you’re biased to a reality-denying extent over sports, how would you ever see it on something more substantial? (also, your little crossed out statement is retarded, since I’ve never criticized anyone for not watching Game of Thrones. I only criticized a guy who called people who didn’t read the series illiterate) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426/80 "2015-05-07T19:04:41Z")
I really haven’t read the thread so I don’t know. But if you’re going to pull the ‘I told you so’ now that this information has been released, the OP had better provide evidence for his position back when the topic was originally discussed. Otherwise everyone at the time was guessing and the person who happened to be right doesn’t have much to crow upon now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-select-sdmb-cheatriots-defenders/719426.md?page=5)