American Sports Thread

[Muck Savage]

ok, so a 3 game series. Was surprise that David Lee only played 15 mins, thought he'd be in for longer. So momentum back with GS even if they are just tied. Enjoyable series.

[The Iceman]

The Cavs had every chance to win that. Momentum was swinging there way at the beginning of the 4th. I think it was a 4 point game and the W's couldn't finish. Perfect time to capitalize and instead the Cavs imploded. I'll agree they are tired and beat up but they could have done more and been more.

In the words of poor auld Mick:

I didn't hear no bell......get up you son of a bitch

[oakleafgael]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/opinion/deflating-deflategate.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0

BEFORE "Deflategate," the National Football League's most recent controversy, there was "Bountygate," in which New Orleans Saints officials were accused of offering bonuses to Saints players who injured members of opposing teams — a policy alleged to have been in place from 2009 to 2011. Initially, several Saints officials and players were penalized by the N.F.L.

In 2012, however, we published an analysis of N.F.L. injury data that found that the Saints injured fewer opposing players than all but two teams did in 2009, and fewer than all but one team did from 2009 to 2011. Even if Saints officials offered "bounties," there was no good evidence that Saints players were influenced by them.

We presented our findings at an N.F.L. hearing in November 2012. The next month, the N.F.L. vacated all the players' suspensions.

Considering that our impartiality was at least implicitly recognized by the N.F.L. in the past, we believe that our analysis of the evidence in Deflategate, in a study released Friday by the American Enterprise Institute, could help resolve this latest controversy.

Deflategate is a dispute about whether the New England Patriots used deliberately underinflated footballs in their playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts in January. (Each N.F.L. team provides its own footballs when on offense, and an underinflated football may be easier to handle in cold or wet conditions.)

The N.F.L. commissioned a study, known as the Wells report, that concluded that it was "more probable than not" that Patriots personnel deliberately violated the rules and that Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback, was aware of it. Following the release of the Wells report last month, the N.F.L. penalized the Patriots organization and suspended Mr. Brady for four games.

Our study, written with our colleague Joseph Sullivan, examines the evidence and methodology of the Wells report and concludes that it is deeply flawed. (We have no financial stake in the outcome of Deflategate.)

The Wells report's main finding is that the Patriots balls declined in pressure more than the Colts balls did in the first half of their game, and that the decline is highly statistically significant. For the sake of argument, let's grant this finding for now. Even still, it alone does not prove misconduct. There are, after all, two possibilities. The first is that the Patriots balls declined too much. The second — overlooked by the Wells report — is that the Colts balls declined too little.

The latter possibility appears to be more likely. The Wells report notes the expected pressure for the footballs at halftime in the Patriots-Colts game, factoring in the decline in pressure to be expected when a ball, inflated in a warm room, has been moved to a cold outdoor field. If the Patriots deflated their balls, their pressure levels at halftime should have fallen below the expected level, while the Colts balls at halftime should have hovered around that level.

But when we analyzed the data provided in the Wells report, we found that the Patriots balls declined by about the expected amount, while the Colts balls declined by less. In fact, the pressure of the Colts balls was statistically significantly higher than expected. Contrary to the report, the significant difference between the changes in pressure of the two teams' balls was not because the pressure of the Patriots balls was too low, but because that of the Colts balls was too high.

How could this be? The report's own findings suggest an explanation: At halftime, N.F.L. officials measured the pressure of "only a sample" of the Colts balls (four out of 12) before they ran out of time; the second half of the game was about to begin. This implies that the Colts balls sat in the warm room where they were to be measured — and thus increased in pressure — for almost the entirety of halftime before being measured.

All of the 11 available Patriots balls, by contrast, were measured at halftime, which suggests that they were measured earlier, when they were colder — and thus lower in pressure. Although this explanation contradicts the Wells report's conclusions, it fits all the evidence.

There are other factors discussed in our study that undermine support for the Wells report's conclusions. For example, there is considerable uncertainty concerning the actual pressure of the footballs. The N.F.L. official who checked the pressure before the game used some combination of two pressure gauges to measure the Patriots and Colts balls, but it is not known which particular combination.

One of the gauges, as the report notes, records pressures that are higher than the other. If the official used that gauge to measure the Patriots balls (but not the Colts balls) pregame, then those balls may well have started out with too little air, which could explain a later appearance of intentional deflation. The report, however, does not consider that possibility.

Our recommendation? When the N.F.L. hears Mr. Brady's appeal of his suspension later this month, it should proceed with the knowledge that the Wells report is unreliable.


Kevin A. Hassett is the director of economic studies, and Stan A. Veuger is a resident scholar, at the American Enterprise Institute.

[stew]

Bountygate basically destroyed Brett Favre's health, I had no use for the man and seen him around town often enough to know he was a ballix but I felt so bad for him when they were batin the shite out of him.

That was the worst beating on a sporting field I have ever seen a man take and his memory is already going.

[DrinkingHarp]

Bountygate basically destroyed Brett Favre's health, I had no use for the man and seen him around town often enough to know he was a ballix but I felt so bad for him when they were batin the shite out of him.

That was the worst beating on a sporting field I have ever seen a man take and his memory is already going.

[/b]

Not as bad as what your Pack did to the Punky QB

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81182051/

[Muck Savage]

1 win away 

Will be very hard to go to Cleveland and get a win so this will prob go to 7. LBJ is giving every bit but the supporting cast is poor (injuries kill them coming into this). Tonight I thought they looked very tired.

[magpie seanie]

Bountygate basically destroyed Brett Favre's health, I had no use for the man and seen him around town often enough to know he was a ballix but I felt so bad for him when they were batin the shite out of him.

That was the worst beating on a sporting field I have ever seen a man take and his memory is already going.

[/b]

Not as bad as what your Pack did to the Punky QB

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81182051/

I can think of a few QB's who would still be down crying if that was done to them.

[AZOffaly]

One in particular I'd imagine

[magpie seanie]

One in particular I'd imagine

The guy who did it would get banned for life!

[Oraisteach]

Bad day for sports for me.  Armagh trounced and the Cavs lost a game they could have won.

[dferg]

1 win away 

Will be very hard to go to Cleveland and get a win so this will prob go to 7. LBJ is giving every bit but the supporting cast is poor (injuries kill them coming into this). Tonight I thought they looked very tired.

Can't see it going to game 7, they look out on there feet.  If Lebron takes a rest for 2 minutes he comes back 4 or 5 points further behind.  He is playing Point Guard, Defender, Attacker, he looked like he could barely dunk the ball by the 4th quarter.

1/20 for GSW to win now.

[Muck Savage]

Bad day for sports for me.  Armagh trounced and the Cavs lost a game they could have won.

Didn't think the Cavs really had much of an opportunity in this game, thought Game 1 they should have won. The Dubs have their tails up the last two games.

Always difficult however to close out a series and even more so in the Finals for a young team on the road.

[magpie seanie]

Blackhawks take the Stanley Cup for the 3rd time in 6 seasons. Great achievement. They are a great team.

[RealSpiritof98]

Really hard for American franchises to go back to back, the blackhawks and SF giants have flirted but seem to need a year out to get the hunger to come back and win again. Them hockey guys put in some shift of play-off games to win the title

[Gabriel_Hurl]

And good to see an American sport where the trophy is presented to the captain of the team and not the owner.

Pretty cool to see the Hawks captain hand the cup off first to 40 year Kimmo Timmonen - playing in his last ever game winning his first Cup after 1100 games and 17 years in the league.