DEFLATE-GATE
By
Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D.
February 2, 2015
NewsWithViews.com
(Note: Greece has just elected a leftist leader who has vowed to end that nation's austerity program of the last 5 years. That could return the world to the same dire economic circumstances that caused not only the European markets to plummet, but also the American stock market as well. This, in turn, could lead to the world currency I predicted by 2018 as part of the secret Nazi plan described in my book, THE POWER ELITE AND THE SECRET NAZI PLAN. Remember also that part of the secret Nazi plan was that the people would lose confidence in the ability of their leaders to solve their problems.)
Rush Limbaugh (and other commentators) have been spending a great deal of time talking about "Deflate-Gate." This concerns the current controversy over 11 of the 12 footballs used by the New England Patriots against the Indianapolis Colts being underinflated by 2 pounds per square inch. This underinflation makes the footballs easier to throw, catch and harder to fumble (the Patriots have an unusually low number of fumbles compared to the rest of the league). The underinflation was noticed when one of the Colts intercepted a pass thrown by the Patriots, which immediately raises the question of why didn't the officials notice it? Rush poohed-poohed this, but since the officials handle the footballs before and after every play and in every exchange of balls, it is difficult to see how they could have missed the underinflation, especially in comparison to the Colts' properly inflated 12 footballs.
Rush and others say that because the Patriots won by such a wide margin (45 to 7), the underinflation probably did not determine the winner and loser of the game. However, there is a larger point here, and that is was this the only game in which the Patriots' footballs were underinflated. If not, then they may have won other closely contested games because of the underinflation, and therefore perhaps should not have been in the championship game against the Colts in the first place, much less in the Superbowl. One might also ask what other teams have used underinflated footballs?
Rush is right when he says the integrity of the game is at stake. Millions of people spend a lot of money to attend football games or watch them on television. But if any of the games were won by cheating, then the fans have been cheated as well.
The "person of interest" in the current scandal is the Patriots' locker room attendant. If he is to blame, a series of questions arise. First, did he tell anyone with the Patriots what he did? Did he deflate footballs in any other game? Was he acting alone? Was he paid to do it by people betting on the game? Many people bet on games, not just the winners and losers, but also the point spread (e.g., if someone bet on the Patriots by 35 points, they would have made a great deal of money because of the odds they would have had).
"Deflate-Gate" is only the latest problem related to sports. The impact of steroids on athletes in many sports (even in high school) is a continuing problem. "Deflate-Gate" pertains to football, but in baseball there have been concerns regarding the possible "juicing" of the balls to make them more "lively." Such "juiced" balls could result in more records (e.g., in home runs, singles, doubles and triples). In golf, there have actually been television ads on how certain balls (and clubs) could be engineered for longer and more accurate flight.
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This raises the whole question of whether one athlete is better than another or does he or she just have better engineered equipment (e.g., in golf, track, auto racing, etc.). One might ask how many more home runs could Ted Williams have hit with a juiced baseball? Also how many more records could Bobby Jones still hold in golf with better engineered balls and clubs? And how fast could Jesse Owens have run with the more bouncy track shoes of today?
When I was young, I used to be very active in many sports, such as football, baseball, basketball, track, tennis, table tennis, squash, golf, archery, bowling, etc., but now I hardly ever even watch an athletic even on television, because I never know when a game is rigged. Don't misunderstand. I am sure most games are probably not rigged, but one never knows when a game is, because it is so easy for just one person to rig a game. Remember the point-shaving scandals of several decades ago in basketball? All it took was just one player missing a single shot on purpose for the opposing team to win by a point. And all it might have taken in the current "Deflate-Gate" scandal is possibly one locker room attendant acting alone.
� 2015 Dennis Cuddy - All Rights Reserved
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