Deflation-gate

Maybe...That depends on exactly what the rule states. In my opinion, it should be completely appropriate to over-inflate the ball in the locker room with the expectation that the stadium temperature would be well below room temperature. However, the rules may or may not allow such a thing.ABE:What if the Pats inflated their balls with warm air with the goal of getting some 'natural deflation', while the Colts pumped theirs up with cold air. The Colts balls would then not deflate upon being brought out into the cold, while the Pats balls would deflate. Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

The rules require that the refs inflate the footballs. The football teams are limited to prepping the balls, meaning to manually induce wear on the surface to eliminate the out-of-the-box slickness and make it easier to grip and handle.If the league feels that football inflation pressure is a significant competitive factor then they need to take temperature into account. There's been no indication in what I've read so far that league rules or procedures take temperature into account.As the season moves into winter, kicks in outdoor stadiums in the north travel less and less far. I hadn't thought about it before, but now it seems obvious that the drop in pressure in the ball must be responsible. A football's original 12.5 psi indoor pressure at room temperature would be much lower in 10 degree weather. The leather and bladder must be stiffer at lower temperatures, and that must also play a factor.--Percy

I'm sure what happens is that the referees deflate the balls when they arrive too high and add air when the balls are too low. If the balls arrive in spec, the referees most likely do nothing at all. What I am sure they do not do is let all of the air out and then re-inflate them. So the question of whether the air in the balls was at thermal equilibrium with the stadium temperature cannot be addressed by simply saying that the refs inflate the footballs. I don't know enough about the procedures to say whether they do or don't take them into account. Is that simply a recast of what you just said? Or perhaps the increased density/viscosity of the air produces some increased wind resistance. Yes, being extra flat would matter if indeed the kickers balls were deflated. In any event the kickers balls are handled differently from the rest of the team balls. Kickers can get balls inflated on the high end even if the quarterback wants something else.

Yes, this has been explained several times. Here's another video to not watch: How Officials Check Ball PressureNo. As explained several times, the balls are prepped and inflated indoors. In that video you can see that the balls are inflated in the referees locker room. The footballs will definitely not be in thermal equilibrium with the stadium temperature, assuming that by "stadium temperature" you mean the temperature on the field. In a domed stadium indoors and outdoors (meaning the playing field) will be pretty much the same temperature. In an outdoor stadium indoors and outdoors could be at very different temperatures. Gillette is an outdoor stadium. I've since found the NFL rules on footballs (NFL Rules, click on "Ball" under the Rules dropdown), so I can say this more clearly this time. Temperature can affect a football's inflation pressure to an extent great enough to change it outside the legal range. If the league feels that football inflation pressure is a significant competitive factor then their rules need to take temperature into account. The NFL rules say nothing about temperature affecting pressure, so if the NFL thinks it important enough for temperature to be taken into account then they'll need to write new rules.Having said that I should note that there are obviously procedures in place not mentioned in the rules, such as each team specifying the pressure it wants for its footballs. I couldn't find these additional procedures anywhere online, or even any mention about whether they're written down somewhere. Yes, that would be another factor. The kicking balls are provided by the league and are kept under the control of the refs. The rules do not state what pressure the kicking balls should be at, other than the 12.5-13.5 psi range for all footballs. I couldn't find anything about whether kickers could request a certain pressure, but maybe you found something?--Percy

That explanation still does not address my point.What temperature air is inside the balls when the referees get them? The temperature inside the ball is not necessarily at thermal equilibrium with the testing room and it would take some time (don't know how long) for them to reach equilibrium. The air inside the ball may stay hot or cold for some amount of time. If so, then the pressure in two sets of balls even after checking/deflating/topping off by the referees may have distinct trajectories once they get onto the field. In fact there may be a difference between balls checked early and late in the process. Nothing in the rules. But a discussion with a kicker or two that suggest that they can have input into the ball pressure. Apparently prior to 1999 there were no "K" balls and the kicker had to compromise with the quarterback on ball pressure. Now it seems that kickers can dictate their own ball pressure.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

I think it does. Your scenario wouldn't happen because the balls start out at thermal equilibrium with the indoor environment, which is climate controlled. The footballs are being moved around indoors between rooms and hallways that are all at the same temperature. You ask this question: The temperature of the air inside the footballs when the referees get them in the referees locker room is the same temperature as the temperature inside that locker room, which is the same as the temperature in the hallway, which is the same as the temperature in the equipment room (where the footballs presumably spent the night), which is the same as the temperature in whatever room is used by the team to prep the footballs. So when you go on to say: Yes it is, assuming we don't care about temperature variations of a degree or two that are common in most climate controlled buildings.We can certainly speculate about circumstances that would affect the balls' temperature while still inside. Are the footballs in the equipment room stored next to or near a heat source like a heating vent or refrigerator? Does the prepping actually increase the temperature of the footballs, as Bill Bellichick's simulation of game day procedures seemed to find? If any circumstances like these are in play then what you say next is perfectly correct: --Percy

The NFL just can't seem to help itself. While cautioning its employees, team personnel and players to refrain from commenting on deflate-gate while the investigation is ongoing, the NFL springs yet another major leak full of comments embarrassing to the Patriots and to which they cannot respond: N.F.L. Investigator Seeks to Consult Columbia Physicist Over Patriots’ Deflated FootballsThis article states who from the law firm retained by the NFL contacted Columbia. It had access to the notes of an administrative manager at Columbia. It quotes a Columbia physicist who posted on Facebook, and another Columbia physicist who says it's more likely than not that there was tampering. It quotes a cosmologist ridiculing Bellichick's science experiments. It has a copy of a followup email from the law firm.It must be one heck of a law firm that doesn't know to initiate contact with an outside resource by saying, "There's a matter I would like to discuss with you if you can guarantee confidentiality."Unbelievable.This may be the last straw regarding Goodell's job security. Anyone who saw how ticked Robert Kraft was at the Monday press conference where he showed more emotion in a few minutes than he's exhibited during his entire tenure as owner knows his anger and frustration with Goodell must now be over the top. As I commented earlier, Kraft is one of the more influential owners in the league, and if in the end it's found the Patriots did nothing wrong then Goodell could be gone within a year or two. It will be an amicable parting because that's Kraft's style.--Percy

If at an atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi a football with a gauge pressure of 12.5 psi and at a temperature of 72^o were cooled to 45^o, the ideal gas law yields a pressure of 11.12 psi.If at a temperature of 45^o a football's gauge pressure was 10.5 psi, then it would have to be heated to 96.1^o to yield a pressure of 12.5 psi.--Percy

What were the pressure readings of the footballs tested at halftime?

Reports say the footballs tested a couple psi low. That would be in the neighborhood of 10.5 psi, but how much in the neighborhood and how much variance there was among the footballs is not known, or at least not public. They did say that one of the twelve footballs tested only a little low.How much to trust these reports, I don't know. Reports directly contradict each another on some points while reinforcing each other on other points.--Ted

I've read everything from 2 lbs in a few balls to 1 lb in some to .5 lb in others from different media (undisclosed) sources.I can imagine this full disclosure thing that keeps not happening is intended to limit the damage to the NFL's biggest product next Saturday. What could be so bad in full disclosure of this whole petty affair that the league would see as more damaging to the sport's, the league's and the Pat's already destroyed reputations than is happening now?Did Belichick and Brady give all the refs blow jobs in exchange for underinflating their balls (chuckle)?Sports stars, politicians, preachers never seem to learn that full disclosure now is far far less damaging than having the media browbeat you with your denials, obfuscations and lies later. And if there actually is nothing blatantly untoward in this thing then the stvpidity* in letting it fester so long is mindboggling.* Asinine banned word policy

Yesterday I came across a couple articles with a little different information:

• NFL bears plenty of blame for #DeflateGate
  
• One Unanswered Question Is The Key To The Patriots' Deflated-Ball Scandal

The first article contains this little nugget: Various reports have contained mildly conflicting information, but this is the first time the possibility has been raised that it wasn't eleven balls that were 2 psi underflated but one. The others were only around 1 pound underinflated. And what pressure did the ideal gas law yield for a drop in temperature from 72^o to 45^o? 11.12 psi.Remember that reports seemed to agree that the Colts balls had checked out in range at halftime, but that's not possible. If they'd been originally inflated to 13.5 psi at 72^o, then at halftime at 45^o they would have been at 12.12 psi and out of range. The reports are either incorrect or the Colts balls were originally overinflated.The other significant point in the articles was the way the NFL has mismanaged this. Quoting the first article again: I am not claiming the Patriots did nothing wrong. One part of what I am saying is an expression of my dismay over not just the lack of knowledge and awareness of the effects of climatic conditions on ball pressure, but in some quarters of actual rejection of them.But more importantly I am saying that the evidence for drawing any conclusions is not yet publicly available, and that anyone who is drawing conclusions is doing so out of their own biases. If the Patriots are guilty I will condemn them along with everyone else, but they can only be found guilty by evidence, not public opinion.One clarifying comment about how I'll feel if it turns out to be a rogue ball attendant: I won't know what to think. Was he really rogue, or is he just taking the blame for the organization? Even if he was genuinely rogue, how much blame should the organization bear for that? I don't have answers at this time.--PercyEdited by Percy, : Grammar, wordsmithing.

Article: DeflateGate broken down by MIT physics professor, says Bill Belichick, Tom Brady should be innocent until proven guiltyGee, what a novel thought. The MIT professor says he's dismayed that the NFL went to Columbia for physics tutoring: Not only is Columbia the JV of physics, they can't keep a secret, either. The professor goes on to say he understands that they may have avoided MIT because it's located in the center of Patriots fandom. Where the Columbia professors erred he correctly comments on the influence of climatic conditions: He refreshingly concludes: --Percy

You Yanks and your funny little balls.....

Even though we have funny little balls we score 20 times to your one.