"No One Wrote Down the PSI?"

Unfortunately, after almost two weeks of questions, accusations and media overkill, we now know that the most critical element to winning a football game is the PSI of the football being used.  It trumps planning, strategy, execution and, yes, even talent.  It is perhaps the single most important facet of the game.

That said, when that's the case, why would you measure the balls to be between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI and then give them back to the teams?  Doesn't that invite almost any modification to the ball?  Of course, it does.  It's supposed to...that's how the NFL wants it.

If the ball's PSI is so important, what about the other aspects of the ball?  You can basically scuff the surface off of the ball to get a better grip, it just can't weigh less?  The pressure of the ball trumps even the ability to grip it?  Yes, it does.  Apparently.  Because, that's how the NFL wants it.

Why did the NFL, just several years ago, change the rule so that the ball could be modified at all?  Well, for the same reason that they changed the rules about hitting a Quarterback after the play...or in the head...or below the knees...or if they sneeze.  Also, for the same reason that they changed the rules about touching a Wide Receiver just before the catch...or during their perfect route...or if they can't see you about to hit them (indefensible position)...or if they burp.  Because, the NFL knows that viewers LIKE...no, viewers LOVE seeing the passing plays and the touchdowns that ultimately ensue.  Letting the ball be specially "tailored" by and for the Quarterback just ensures that the Crown Prince of viewing on any given day has his football perfectly set up to make the NFL Event look awesome.  No one wants to watch a 10-7 victory by Cleveland over Cincinatti...they want to see Johnny Football score touchdowns.  If he needs the ball to be a certain way, so be it.  The NFL isn't exactly about sports and rules...it's Sports Entertainment...and that's a little bit different.

Okay, so now we get it.  There's one divine rule.  You can't change the PSI of the ball to a weight outside the 12.5 - 13.5 PSI range.  We understand the value of this rule now.  So, if this number is so precious, and if you are going to give the balls back to the teams to modify, out of your view, you MUST have some kind of system of accountability for the balls.  This is the NFL.  This isn't their first rodeo.  If you are going to be this strict about the PSI of the football, you have to have a plan, right?  I mean, when I drive to work every morning, I have to think about how I'm going to get there.  I don't just hop in the car, point it, and put my foot on the pedal...just hoping I end up where I want to go.  Everyone plans stuff, especially when it's that important.

So...the Patriots are cheats.  The game balls for the Colts and the Patriots were measured at halftime of the game.  The Patriots' footballs, apparently 11 out of 12 used in the first half of the AFC Championship Game, were below the 12.5 PSI.  The Colts' footballs were not.  It has already been scientifically proven, over and over ad nauseum, that balls tested at room temperature and then put in a 50 degree environment will lose 1 PSI, give or take.  So, the range of legality is 1 PSI and the weather can lower the ball by 1 PSI.

This isn't hard people.  There is only one thing we need to know to solve this. It has nothing to do with the weather or anything else.

HOW MUCH DID THE BALLS ACTUALLY MEASURE IN PSI????

Why has no one told us this?  It makes all the difference in the world.  If the Colts handed in pre-game footballs at 13.5 PSI and the Patriots at 12.5 PSI...and the weather deflates the ball by .75 PSI...whose footballs are legal?  But, if the Patriots handed in balls at 13.5 PSI, and they measured at 11 PSI, then you may have an issue.  So, we just need to know....

HOW MUCH DID THE BALLS ACTUALLY MEASURE IN PSI????

It's easy.  The NFL said they gauged the balls properly before, during and after the game.  In some instances, they used multiple gauges.  Awesome.  Now, we're getting somewhere.  Just go get the sheet of paper the PSI was written down on and show us the numbers.  What?  What do you mean you didn't write it down?  You took the time to measure the balls, with gauges, and no one recorded the PSI on them?  No one wrote it down?

Wait...you said, "11 of 12 Patriots' footballs were about 2 PSI less."

Than what?  You can't have said that without at least knowing the baseline number.  X - Y = 2.  What was X?  What the hell do you mean, "I don't know?" Was it 2 less than 13.5 PSI?  Or was it 2 less than 12.5 PSI?  Or, did you average it...because you had no idea what it was, originally?

You had to know that no one wrote it down.  You had to know that you had no numbers.  You had to know the Monday following the game...right?  You also knew that you allowed the chain of custody on the balls to be broken because you never thought, at any time, that this rule was actually THAT important.  Or, of course, you would have policed it better.

And...more importantly...lacking all of this, you allowed the Patriots to be called cheaters for two weeks and forced them to defend themselves against charges that you were making, but knew, through the lack of your own accountability, that you couldn't prove.

YOU DIDN'T ACTUALLY LOG THE MEASUREMENT OF THE BALLS????

So, how do you know???

The biggest crime in this story is that the real perpetrator, the NFL, will make trillions of dollars because this is going to be one of the most watched Super Bowls in history.  Because, they created a drama that has been covered by every major news outlet for two weeks...so, they will profit from it.  Because, at the end of the day, the thing we all look at as a sport...the thing we treat as life or death because we live and die by our teams is, to them, Sports Entertainment.  Who loses in all this?  Who cares?...so long as it's not the NFL.  In this day and age, there's no such thing as BAD publicity.  Right?