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Sez the Counselor,
:
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This jibes with Charley Casserly's Exec Sum, when he was asked about this situation. (If you just joined us, Casserly assistant GM'ed, and GM'ed, the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl wins.)
His remark was simple: if it's his org, he finds out who deflated the balls, and he finds out in 24 hours, long before the league gets there. If you have a shot-caller like Belichick claiming he's got no idea, then Belichick is involved.
Simple logic and very tough to beat.
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I didn't know that QB's DO get to pick their own footballs. At Bill James Online this is compared to a hitter using his own bat -- which James also states to be a bad idea. But as baseball fans, we've got to ask, in fairness, so what if the guy DOES use a custom-made football?
A flag QB myself, I can testify that it's easier to throw a ball that's easy to squeeze. The ball is effectively smaller. Imagine throwing a junior-size Street football, vs. trying to throw a medicine ball. Certainly an underinflated ball could be significantly easier to throw.
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Most NFL players have reacted like Bobby Wagner did: hey, man. Use a flat ball, use one with helium, I'm still going to lay out the ballcarrier after you hand it off.
Dr. D's visceral reaction is the same. He hates to see a cornerback give up the winning TD, and then cry "Your toe touched the line!" It's just weak.
Complaining that the ball was a little bit to one side's advantage, my first reaction is that it's kinda weak. Tape the foil onto your knuckles and let's throw hands. We can throw on grass, or dirt, or cement; it's not about the equipment. Of course, it wasn't the Colts who cried about the deflated balls. They actually stood up and said it warn't the balls, homey.
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You wind up talking about what kinds of cheating are OK and what kinds are not OK. It's perfectly fine to steal baseball signs with your naked eye, and a whistle from the bench. It's perfectly sinister, though, to use a TV monitor system and a buzzer in the batter's ear. :: shrug ::
It's perfectly fine for Felix to deliberately step in front of the rubber to throw a 57-foot fastball. But it's sinister for him to use his catcher's belt buckle to gouge the ball.
It's perfectly fine for the groundskeeper to water the sliding pits so that a fast team can't run on the Mariners. But it's sinister to humidify the baseballs to your team's advantage.
It was perfectly fine for Bill Walsh to teach the 49er's a rear-of-the-knee chop-block technique "that was right on the edge," but it's despicable for the Legion of Boom to push the line as to hand-fighting downfield.
What Dr. D argues for, is "fairness" -- the ability to apply exactly the same standard, whether the accused is your best friend or your worst enemy. How would we be judging DeflateGate if it were Donald Sterling responsible? If Edgar Martinez? If a neutral party?
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A Steve Largent or a Tim Tebow, or a Russell Wilson?, we might presume, simply plays according to the letter of the law at all times. The rest of us are trying to conform to a nebulous "sense of honor," to toe the line that our peers set, without stepping over it.
You don't get the idea that Belichick cares so much about what his peers think, much less what the letter of the law says. Here's where he starts running afoul of the Invisible Hammer, giving up draft picks and so forth.
Could be that this whole thing means a referee'ing advantage for Seattle, as the Steelers had in XL? If so, are you and I as indignant about that as we are about DeflateGate? ;- )
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Personally, I have no sense of proportion at all for how big a deal this is, deflated footballs. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but maybe Belichick is extra-class when it comes to cheating. No idea.
I'd be thankful if one of you amigos could clear me up. :- )
Warmly,
Jeff
