There is a lot of vitriol among Jets' fans, and probably lots of other teams' fans, based on the deflate-gate results. And I'll admit I also think there is a very good chance the Pats cheated. Unfortunately, I am afraid it is also possible to make a case in their favor, which explains most of the evidence.
First, we all know that 11 of the Pats' 12 balls tested 2 psi under-inflated at the half of the AFC champ game. A Boston-based physics professor came out saying much of the deflation could be attributed to the drop in temperature between where the pressure was tested and the temperature outside. Well, I ran the calculation myself, and I found that a ball inflated to 12.5 psi at 70 degrees will drop to 11.5 psi when measured at 50 degrees assuming constant ball volume. So that would account for half of the measured deflation in 11 of the 12 balls.
Now what about the other half? Well, Bellichik said in today's news conference that the preparation they do to the balls raises the pressure by 1 psi. Taking him at his word for the sake of argument, I am guessing that mostly comes from the body temperature of the hands that are rubbing up the balls, and partly from the friction of rubbing. So that may be where there other half of the deflation comes from. That physics prof also said if the balls started at 80 degrees and fell to 50 degrees the deflation would be 2 psi. Perhaps the preparation does raise the balls to 80 degrees. That is just speculation of course, but I am just pointing out how a case can possibly be made in favor of the Pats.
What about the 12th ball not being under inflated? That one is a bit thorny, and may actually be the Pats' biggest problem. Perhaps it comes from the pressure gauge used to test that one ball being improperly calibrated, assuming the same gauge wasn't used on all the balls. But I'll admit, that 12th ball is still something that needs explanation.
As for the Colts' balls, that gets us back to whether the officials may have honored a request from the Colts to inflate their balls to 13.5 psi. And then there is uncertainty about how the Colts prep their balls. It is possible the Colts' balls started at 13.5 psi and dropped to 12.5 psi, still within the rules.
The last point is why did the Pats' balls hold pressure in the second half. It could be the balls had already dropped in temperature in the first half, were only brought in at halftime for only a short time for testing and re-inflating. So the balls may already have been close to the outside air temperature at the start of the second half.
OK. I want the Pats to be guilty of cheating as much as anyone. So I did this write-up as something of a straw man argument. But still, is it really overwhelmingly obvious that the only explanation could be that someone manually deflated the balls after the officials finished with them?
First, we all know that 11 of the Pats' 12 balls tested 2 psi under-inflated at the half of the AFC champ game. A Boston-based physics professor came out saying much of the deflation could be attributed to the drop in temperature between where the pressure was tested and the temperature outside. Well, I ran the calculation myself, and I found that a ball inflated to 12.5 psi at 70 degrees will drop to 11.5 psi when measured at 50 degrees assuming constant ball volume. So that would account for half of the measured deflation in 11 of the 12 balls.
Now what about the other half? Well, Bellichik said in today's news conference that the preparation they do to the balls raises the pressure by 1 psi. Taking him at his word for the sake of argument, I am guessing that mostly comes from the body temperature of the hands that are rubbing up the balls, and partly from the friction of rubbing. So that may be where there other half of the deflation comes from. That physics prof also said if the balls started at 80 degrees and fell to 50 degrees the deflation would be 2 psi. Perhaps the preparation does raise the balls to 80 degrees. That is just speculation of course, but I am just pointing out how a case can possibly be made in favor of the Pats.
What about the 12th ball not being under inflated? That one is a bit thorny, and may actually be the Pats' biggest problem. Perhaps it comes from the pressure gauge used to test that one ball being improperly calibrated, assuming the same gauge wasn't used on all the balls. But I'll admit, that 12th ball is still something that needs explanation.
As for the Colts' balls, that gets us back to whether the officials may have honored a request from the Colts to inflate their balls to 13.5 psi. And then there is uncertainty about how the Colts prep their balls. It is possible the Colts' balls started at 13.5 psi and dropped to 12.5 psi, still within the rules.
The last point is why did the Pats' balls hold pressure in the second half. It could be the balls had already dropped in temperature in the first half, were only brought in at halftime for only a short time for testing and re-inflating. So the balls may already have been close to the outside air temperature at the start of the second half.
OK. I want the Pats to be guilty of cheating as much as anyone. So I did this write-up as something of a straw man argument. But still, is it really overwhelmingly obvious that the only explanation could be that someone manually deflated the balls after the officials finished with them?
