BE SKEPTICAL IF NOT DOWNRIGHT CYNICAL...WATER FLOWS DOWNHILL

FUMBLING AND INFLATION PRESSURE OF A FOOTBALL:

In Tom Brady’s first five years as a starter (2001 to ‘05) the Patriots ranked 14th in the league in total fumbles. But since ‘06, when a suspicious rule change took effect allowing road teams to provide their own balls on offense--previously home teams provided all game balls--the Patriots have fumbled less than all but one other team in the NFL. Especially interesting is the way New England’s fumble rate on the road dropped when it was able to control its own game balls. While their fumble rate at home stayed fairly constant after the rule change, since ‘06 the Patriots have the fewest fumbles on the road after ranking 16th from ‘01 to ‘05.

One team executive says that before his team played the Patriots last season, “we looked into their fumble ratio...their backs don’t fumble the ball....people will say that deflation doesn’t really matter. I can tell you that if the ball is softer, it makes ALL the difference in the world.”

Now, we are not even talking about how much easier it is to catch a softer football or throw a softer football (and especially so in wet or cold conditions....Foxboro conditions).

No one is saying that Belichick isn’t a great coach and that Brady isn’t a great QB...but the difference between winning and losing an NFL game can be millimeters....a fumble here..a dropped pass there...just remember the Super Bowl last year....the Pats won by an eyelash....if your footballs make you less likely to drop passes and fumble, AND you are also successfully spying on your opponents to gain insight into what plays they will be calling...well, that can be the difference between 4 Super Bowls and No Super Bowls....

What force made the NFL want to change it’s rules from one stupid rule to another more stupid rule.....? What or who would make the league want to allow teams to provide and control their own game balls...? Who made that a priority in the NFL front office...that seems like the dumbest and most suspicious rules change imaginable....

witness Roger Goodell and Robert Kraft playing golf....remember, Kraft made Goodell commissioner....

If you think that someone in sports or politics who is accused of cheating or corruption is actually cheating and corrupt...if you think there is a valid reason to suspect that a man is lying when he has something to gain....then you are smart to assume that in all but a few miniscule cases, if any, you will be right...

bet on gravity, bet on the sun coming up in the morning, and bet on people in these circumstances cheating and being corrupt....if Vegas could post odds on these things and they later had access to actual truth, then a bet on corruption and cheating would earn you nothing. You would have to wager $1,000 to win a dime.

Find me one wrongly accused male celebrity in our society, just one, and I’ll show you a thousand who are lying and cheating with impunity. And, most of those will deny their guilt with righteous indignation....they will even point an finger at you....

Don’t be fooled....if it looks like a Belichick...if it talks and walks and scowls like a Belichick...then it most likely is one.