Author Archives: Kaleb Page

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About Kaleb Page

Kaleb is a Senior, sport management major with a minor in journalism at Bowling Green State University. Including his involvement in the Maxwell Project, Kaleb is also an active member of the Sport Management Alliance and the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization. He enjoys watching all types of sports competition from the traditional forms of basketball and football to the emerging areas like mixed martial arts. His favorite teams are the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Cincinnati Reds, Ohio State Buckeyes (football &basketball) and Columbus Crew SC.

The Battle Continues for Dan Snyder

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By Kaleb Page

February 26, 2015

For the owner of the Washington professional football team, Dan Snyder, there is a big issue surrounding his long-standing team. The team name has drawn much fire over the past few years and more recently has seen a spike in attention.

The team name as many know is the Washington Redskins. To many (if not all) in the Native American community this term ‘redskin’ is seen as a racial slur. The battle has waged on with not only prominent Native American representatives but also the U.S. government with the owner Snyder.

This past year the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board cancelled the Redskins’ trademark with the reasoning being that it may be offensive to Native Americans. This ruling was a big blow to the brand that has been around the NFL for decades. Ultimately making the logo, name, etc. something to be freely marketed upon with no need to recognize the formal organization that is the NFL team.

This past Monday, court papers were filed by lawyers representing the team to fight the original ruling saying that the decision to cancel the trademark violates the first amendment right of free-speech and unfairly singles the team out.

The quote from the lawyers taken by the Associated Press essentially states that the court acted unfairly by picking sides.

“For disfavored treatment based solely on the content of its protected speech, interfering with the ongoing public discourse over the Redskins’ name by choosing sides and cutting of the debate.” – Team Attorneys

I find it interesting that this topic is kind of under the radar right now. I know that it is not football season and with ‘March Madness’ and other sports ramping up it can be lost in the mix. However, this debate and finale ruling could be huge in either direction.

This battle between owner Dan Snyder and the government/Native American community is dragging out and it seems like no end is in sight. Which could be something where we don’t see a final say so or even change for many years down the road.

Since I am neither a Native American or Washington Redskins fan, I don’t have a true stake in the matter. I do see the side of the Native Americans with having the name changed since it is offensive to them and there are thousands of other choices for mascots.

Likewise, I do see the whole side of the team saying the term in this context is not intended to offend. I don’t think you necessarily pick a mascot to be offensive or to be something that you think is an unworthy representative of your team.

Then again it probably easier for me to say since I am not in the shoes of Native Americans that are truly offended by the name. Ultimately even though I don’t have a personal stake in the matter, I do think the name change needs to be made.

Mr. Snyder, make the change…now.

Above I put a more serious debate on the issue of the name, but below this is a video done by The Daily Show with a serious look at the issue while still giving a bit of satire toward the stance of Snyder and the organization.

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The Ugly Face of Racism in International Soccer

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By Kaleb Page

February 23, 2015

This past Tuesday a huge match in UEFA Champions League play took place between Chelsea and PSG (Paris St-Germain). An anticipated match-up between two premiere soccer clubs from England and France that will decide who can move along in the biggest tournament aside from the World Cup.

The first leg of this ended in a 1-1 draw, and despite the draw the intensity was high all the way to the finish. It will be interesting to see the finale in England on March 11th as both teams have aspirations of taking the entire tournament.

Prior to this match however, Chelsea fans did show the ugly side that has been plaguing international soccer for many years.

In the video below you will see a metro station in Paris and in that metro there were Chelsea fans boarding to make their trip to the match. As the train car began to fill up a man tried to board and fit in the last little space available. Now I say “tried” because he was pushed off by the Chelsea fans.

As you can see from the video the Chelsea fans are white, while the man getting on the train is a black man. The worst part of the entire video is the explicit chanting of ‘we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.’ It is videos like these that really put a horrible stigma on supporters of football clubs around the world.

This past year we had a post by fellow blogger Alex O’Connor about how Manchester City player Yaya Touré was sent racial slurs over social media. These tweets coming from none other than Chelsea supporters.

The Chelsea front office has condemned such actions by their supporters and for this most recent incident in Paris, have suspended three of the fans in the video from attending their home grounds. A possible lifetime ban is also on the table says the club if there is sufficient evidence to support that ruling.

FIFA, for as long as I can remember, has been pushing to end this type of behavior. You will see prior to matches players, coaches and officials take pictures with a banner titled ‘say no to racism.’ Sometimes even they have players read off speeches prior to events encouraging fans and fellow players to end this terrible behavior.

I find it interesting that this story really has not picked up much of a reaction here in the United States. I know that this is ‘across the pond,’ but it is something I think needs to be talked about here as well. It still plagues us here as a society with not only racism in everyday life but as well in sports.

I hope that the media picks up on this story and shows the faces of these people who blatantly showed the ugly side of sports and racism. It is time to dismantle this in the world of sports because sport is something that should bring us together no matter what race or ethnicity you might be.

If FIFA and Chelsea are as serious as they say about this, they will come down hard on these ‘fans’ once and for all.

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The Walls of Rodriguez are Crumbling

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By Kaleb Page

February 20, 2015

Years ago as a young kid looking to get my hands on sports books to read, I came across a book about an athlete that intrigued me. I had this feeling that he was going to be a special player even more so than he already was. This player was a young budding star in the MLB playing shortstop for the Texas Rangers.

His name was Alex Rodriguez.

As the years passed, I guess my feeling did come true with how Rodriguez turned into a larger than life athlete in the MLB. Eventually he inked a deal in 2007 with the marquee team in the league, the New York Yankees, a deal so astronomical it still can blow your mind (10 years for $275 million).

Now as I mentioned earlier Rodriguez grew into this larger than life figure on the field, and it wasn’t just figuratively speaking either; it was definitely literal too. As soon as he switched from the Rangers to the Yankees he began to grow from a decent sized player to a rather hulking man who eventually moved over to third base.

With the eventual steroids scandal that rocked the MLB and prominent player being popped for it, one player had a big mark on his back. That player just so happened to be Rodriguez and rightfully so was he questioned and looked to since he had such a quick body transformation. In fact, back in 2009 Rodriguez sat down on ESPN admitting his usage of steroids from 2001-03.

However, this story was just merely a scratch on the surface with how Rodriguez was involved in the world of steroids.

Then in 2013 Rodriguez found himself back in another ring of steroid use when trying to rehab from hip surgery. As it came to light, his involvement with Anthony Bosch and Bosch’s Biogenesis corporation dropped Rodriguez in even bigger trouble.

His involvement resulted in him missing a substantial amount of time in 2014 (162 games) and with Bosch’s conviction Tuesday (four years in prison); Rodriguez is toeing the line of being banned from baseball for good.

I find it interesting that Rodriguez has been laying this low for this long. It has been far different from guys like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or even Mark McGuire in how the media handled their steroid convictions. It seemed as if the storm around their convictions raged on for months and never ended (maybe in part to the time the convictions came out).

It will be interesting to see where this whole thing goes, especially with baseball season approaching. It also will be interesting to see the dissection of a statement issued by Rodriguez on Tuesday trying to distance himself from not only Bosch but his past involving steroids. As spring training approaches and more is made of his statement, I wonder if it will grow to the level we saw with Bonds.

I can remember watching TV and all you would see is every stadium Bonds attended full of signs against everything he did. Will it be the same this season for Rodriguez if he plays? I can’t imagine it being any easier than it was with Bonds. This mainly being due to how adamant he was way back when about being clean and then turning around admitting his guilt. I also see the media scrutiny and pressure from questions before or after games ramping up as well.

I’m sure as Rodriguez wrote that letter today, he thought back to a time when things were much better, a time where a young kid like me was picking up a book about him being the next big thing to look up to.

Now kids see him as nothing more than another baseball cheat.

As the walls come tumbling down it makes you think ‘oh how the mighty have fallen.’

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What a Difference a Year Makes: The Story of BGSU Men’s Basketball

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By Kaleb Page

February 16, 2015

The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team has seen something of a metamorphosis from just a year ago. At this point a year ago the Falcons were sitting at an overall record of just 11-14 with a 5-7 record in the Mid-American Conference. That season went down as a rather unsuccessful one that could be added on to the list of ones before it (2012-13 season: 13-19, 2011-12 season: 16-16, 2010-11 season: 14-19).

Where was the hope? Where was the possibility of even seeing men’s basketball have any amount of success moving forward? Those questions could be answered by a change of direction.

Upon finishing the season on a four game losing streak along with a record of 12-20 (6-12 MAC), the time for change was now. On March 25, 2014 a new leader entered and the direction for the Falcons changed. That leader was none other than former Wichita State assistant coach Chris Jans. From the start of his press conference announcing his hiring, he had that feeling of someone who was going to turn things around.

What that turnaround might be nobody could know. Would it be a two or three game improvement, development that was hard to see but diagnosed by Jans as being there in practice or something different altogether? In the eyes of the media it seemed as though this new hire would help the Falcons reach fifth place at best in the eastern side of the MAC.

But what if I told you none of those things have happened thus far? You would probably think it went south fast and the bottom is where this Falcon’s team went if none of the above things happened. However, that would be far from the reality of this season thus far.

At this point in the season the men’s basketball team sits at an impressive 17-6 record (9-3 MAC East) and in sole possession of first place on the eastern side of the conference. This team has grown leaps and bounds from what it was a year ago at this time. The team has already surpassed its win total from all of last season and there are still six games remaining on the schedule.

If you told someone this would be what the team of a year ago looked like today, they probably would laugh and think you were crazy. Even more so would it be crazy to even imagine this team in talks to be an NCAA tournament team. Which this week has seen the Falcon’s mentioned as a 12 seed, and if they would reach the tournament it would be the first time since 1968 a team from BGSU made the big dance.

Even though coach Jans and his staff deserve a lot of credit with taking basically the same team and building them up to what they are today; an equal amount of credit needs to be shown the way of the players. You can start with the star player Richuan Holmes being a force inside on defense and offense showing his array of high-flying dunks and blocks. Even though he can be looked to as the ‘star,’ he would probably be the first to say the season would be nothing without guys like: Zack Denny who leads the MAC in steals with two a game, junior college transfers (Delvin Dickerson, David Joseph and Jovan Austin) making huge contributions, Spencer Parker becoming a dynamic threat off the bench and senior guards Anthony Henderson and Jehvon Clarke providing pop in the back-court. With young guys like Garrett Mayleben, JD Tisdale, Rasheed Worrell and Matt Fox waiting their turn, it looks like the team has a good balance of youth, size and athleticism to power this bright future forward.

I’ve had the privilege of broadcasting two BGSU games as a member of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) this season, and it has been something special to witness. This team just looks like a team you want to be on. They actually hustle and go for it on both ends of the floor each and every night. While I know at times they do have their lapses of judgement like any other team, it still must be said that this team is something special considering what it has done in a relatively short time.

With little expectations for this squad, they have proven the doubters wrong in every way thus far. This is why it is time for this team to capitalize on what it has done so far and push all the way to something bigger than anyone could have imagined: a MAC title. If that goal is accomplished then the sights should be set on getting to the NCAA tournament, and not only getting there but being competitive.

Even if the big prizes don’t end up in Bowling Green this year, this team has nothing to be ashamed of. Coming out of the seller to being a team to look out for is quite the accomplishment in itself.

Keep it up BGSU men’s basketball and ROLL ALONG!

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The Social Media Age and Teammate Interaction

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By Kaleb Page

February 12, 2015

Right now as you read this very post, you are probably getting a notification from one of your social media sites about something. Which hopefully you ignore and continue to read this post, but in today’s day and age social media surrounds everything we do. This surrounding by social media can be a good thing but equally bad as well.

While it provides us all with a connecting platform that in the past was never there and ultimately providing opportunities we never could have imagined; there is still an underlying point that can be crossed for the worse. Posting negative things, calling out people behind a keyboard, etc. has been something I’m sure all of us have seen.

Athletes are no different and many are very active with different social media outlets. That is why when a comment is made by a big figure in sports on social media, everyone critiques it. No different was it when LeBron James tweeted a statement in response to something said by his teammate Kevin Love.

This whole season for the Cavaliers it has been a continuing process to see what will be the optimal lineup and style this team will play with. It seems like since the recent additions of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov the team has found a sense of direction. Along with that it seems like the ‘jelling’ is starting to solidify into a strong team that is enjoying its basketball.

However one player has been up and down trying to find his all-star form. That player is starting power-forward Kevin Love who even though is playing well, still is not hitting on all cylinders. In the preseason Love mentioned something about trying to ‘fit-out’ with this team as he was unsure his role and place in the team. Then after a loss to the Indiana Pacers this past Saturday, Love was interviewed and said that it was one of the toughest situations he had to deal with. Thus, on Saturday night a tweet by James was sent out with some advice:

“Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts”-LeBron James (@KingJames)

Quite the public remark to be made by ‘the King’ and one that saw its fair share of debate from those on every sports outlet imaginable. From ESPN to Fox Sports the debate raged on with if James was out of line and what will this relationship look like moving forward. After the media ran away with the tweet, James responded back saying that the media essentially needed to relax and if he has a problem with a teammate he tells them to their face.

Personally I think James would be someone to actually go up to a player and give his thoughts, but I think this tweet is nothing more than a call out to Love. A call out to basically say the team needs you (Love) to step up and be that dynamic big-man you were out in Minnesota. A public motivation point put out by James may be what wakes up Love, but only time will tell.

As for now it looks like King James is sending the message, get on board as the stretch run of the NBA season is approaching.

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A String of Positive Drug Tests: Could it Hurt the UFC?

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By Kaleb Page

February 9, 2015

A competitive advantage.

A statement heard over the past few weeks involving the Patriots and ‘Deflate Gate‘ where there was debate on the competitive advantage gained from deflating footballs. Now in a different sport the statement ‘a competitive advantage’ was mentioned in a different way.

It was revealed this past Tuesday that one participant in the main event of UFC 184 was taking performance enhancing substances. What makes it more surprising is that it is someone who is thought of as (probably) the greatest fighter to ever step in the octagon. That person being the legend Anderson “The Spider” Silva. This test was taken as part of a practice done by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to test fighters on an out-of-competition basis. This ‘out of competition’ is meant by any sample not taken within 12 hours of competition.

Even though the sample from Silva was supplied on January 9th, the results were not reported until February 3rd. His opponent Nick Diaz also tested positive for Marijuana and those results were released on the same day. Quite the gap in time to not tell the results of such a test. This is leaving some to wonder if there is some back deals between the athletic commission and UFC to delay the findings of results in order to save fight cards. The reason for such speculation is that the Nevada State Athletic Commission receives 6% of the total gross receipts from live events and anywhere up to $50,000 depending on broadcasts of events (pay-per-views). Even though those claims of tampering between the commission and UFC are made, the leader of the commission Bob Bennett said the claims are “outlandish.”

It is hard to look at this instance and not wonder a bit about some type of issue involving hiding the facts. Especially with how the sample was done on January 9th and then results taking until February 3rd to get released; when they knew the fight was coming up on the 31st of January. It also is something interesting to note with the above mentioned payout for the commission from successful events.

Now I don’t want to make it some ‘witch hunt’ of sorts to figure out if this sport is dirty behind the scenes with handling performance enhancing policies and the fighters. However it is something that must be noted since this is not the first time that a fight has been compromised after the fact with positive drug tests.

You can even go back one event to see that. After UFC 183 it came out that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had cocaine metabolites in his system. However it wasn’t a test that was taken after the fight that found it, it was a test taken a month prior to the fight taking place on January 3rd (just like with Silva and Diaz). Then last August the UFC had a problem with a fighter, Cung Le, showing in a post-fight blood test elevated levels of growth hormone.

The list of incidents I could go on and on about but it brings me to one point. Will this problem of positive drug tests (drugs, PEDs, etc.) end up hurting the UFC? If people start to think the product is tainted with cheating and people taking anything they can to go in the cage and feel less pain or be stronger; this could bring a bigger problem than anyone at the UFC could imagine.

I am a big fan of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts, but if they aren’t careful with this problem we could see a possible boxing scenario. At one point boxing was one of the biggest sports in this country, but once things started to get dirty (plus other sport popularity growth and head trauma concerns) the nose dive began to where the sport of boxing has never been the same. Yeah there is Mayweather, Pacquiao and the Klitschko brothers but other than that I doubt any casual fan could name you another boxer right now.

That’s what I fear for the UFC they could lose the casual fan and hurt their brand with more things like this happening. Especially if an icon (Silva) is proven to be a cheater, it could be a big blow to what was supposed to be a big year for the organization. As an avid fan of the sport and the organization I hope it isn’t the case where we see a crumbling sport/organization, because if the UFC goes down then pretty much the whole sport goes down with it.

Now this is all talking in the worst case scenario, but the UFC better take more proactive steps to keep the sport clean. Also they better think of how they are trying to make the sport more mainstream and something everyone watches just like football, basketball or baseball. If they keep this up with scandals of drug use and/or cheating with PEDs then they might as well kiss that idea goodbye.

Just be careful UFC. Nobody is too big to fail.

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Betting in Sports: NBA Commissioner Silver has a Vision

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By Kaleb Page

February 5, 2015

Sports and betting is almost as synonymous as peanut butter and jelly. Always you are seeing the over/under on a game, the line and other betting points for nearly every game or sport. One sport that has been rocked in the past with sport betting is the game of basketball and not at the lowest levels, but at its highest platform the NBA.

Back in 2007 the NBA was faced with a huge scandal involving then referee Tim Donaghy and betting on games. In ESPN’s column they said it was one of the ugliest gambling scandals to hit a professional sports league since the last two major ones involving the MLB in 1989 and 1919. At the time it hurt the integrity of the league because if an official was betting on games and/or games he was involved in then what is to stop the outcome from being fixed?

As the years passed since that huge incident and formal statements by the league against gambling were released; a new voice emerged on sports gambling. When David Stern retired, he turned the league over to long time associate Adam Silver. Silver assumed the role of commissioner on February 1, 2014 and shortly after taking the position released a op-ed for The New York Times with an interesting stance  on betting.

“I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.” – Adam Silver

Quite the statement for the new commissioner to make, especially after a relatively short time since a big scandal involving his league and betting happened. However, if you look at the op-ed by Silver his points make perfect sense. He pointed to how so much has changed since laws enacted back in 1992 made it illegal to gamble on sports in all states (except Nevada). One change being that even though the law was put in place, gambling on sports is still there and increasing in popularity each year.

Another great point made was that other countries have made betting on sport a legal and regulated practice that cuts away the dark ambiguous areas seen here in the U.S. with betting laws. For example, in England they have betting kiosks at stadiums that are legal and regulated by the government. With many changes globally, commissioner Silver made the motion toward Congress to adopt their old framework on sports betting. This will hopefully allow sport betting without compromising any integrity of the game at hand.

I think commissioner Silver is absolutely right with his thinking, and with the push to make gambling and sport less of an ‘underground’ practice. It will definitely take someone in the power position that is forward thinking and able to provide a clear vision to make this happen. Silver fits in perfectly with both of those criteria.

I am glad he is the new commissioner of the NBA because he seems to be a leader who gets it. By ‘it’ I mean, he knows he has the power to progress things and make actual change, while also knowing that he needs to be willing to adapt to each situation. If you happen to be a fan of NBA basketball then I think you should feel good about what commissioner is in place for the foreseeable future.

More commissioners I think should look to him (even though he is relatively new in his role) for how to conduct themselves. While in a position of power it is fine to have a personality and speak your mind in an eloquent manner. It will be interesting to see where this goes and if the plan by Silver gains more movement.

Challenge and innovate past the status quo…that seems like the mindset for Adam Silver.

Below is an interview between Adam Silver and Outside the Lines reporter Andy Katz on various NBA topics and issues. If you want to get to the specific talking point of sport betting you can skip to three minutes in the video.

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Protecting the Official: A look at a proposed bill

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By Kaleb Page

February 2, 2015

With today’s society in America, the emphasis on sport and getting kids involved from an early age has never been higher. What could also be said about that fact is how the pressures and seriousness taken on by parents, players and fans is even higher as well.

At what cost is all this pressure? Are we all losing the fact that at an early age, while it is good to build skill and be competitive, that the game itself (being played by kids) should be fun? Another thing that should be mentioned as well is that parents are setting some poor examples for their kids at these sporting events.

In the state of Michigan, Senator Morris Hood III from Detroit is sponsoring a bill to hopefully curb this behavior in his state. In a Detroit Free Press article  the bill came to be after refs from lower Michigan came to Hood’s office after an incident where a soccer referee died days after being assaulted. Hood went on to say that the these refs had issues in the past of being harassed during a game and then followed out to their cars (even all the way home).

The bill that is still in the proposal stage will make assaulting a referee a felony. A three-year sentence in prison that could also come with a $10,000 fine. If the bill passes Michigan will join 23 other states that have similar laws like California, Florida, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Texas and Nevada just to name a few.

I think this is a good bill to have. You should not be allowed to go on the field or court of play and go after a referee. Even as a player you shouldn’t even be remotely close to hurting an official. I think as more and more we see the competitiveness of youth sports rise there needs to be more checks on how officials are treated.

Now I know we all do it, we all complain about a call here or there but it doesn’t mean we have the right to go off and assault the official. I remember watching an Outside the Lines report on ESPN about these cases growing in the United States at an alarming rate. It truly is sad to see people ruin a kids game by making a complete fool out of themselves.

I for one have been in games growing up as a kid where we had play stopped as a parent from another team ran on the court to go at a ref and once a coach even got ejected but wouldn’t leave the floor peacefully.

I hope this bill goes through and if anything a bill for all states is made. It is time to put out of control parents, fans and sometimes even players in their place for good. No more should we be having people doing their jobs (officiating just a game) in fear.

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Lance Armstrong Drops Bold Statement

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By Kaleb Page

January 29, 2015

Back in January 2013 a confession was made that not only rattled the cycling community, but also rattled fans around the world for this mega-star cyclist. That athlete being none other than U.S. cycling legend and seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. A man who so many gravitated to, even if they didn’t know anything about cycling, now sat on Oprah confessing he had been using performance-enhancing drugs.

In his first interview on television since that time in 2013, Armstrong had an interesting sit down with BBC Sport.

Now at age 43 and no longer the holder of a record seven Tour de France titles; Lance had this to say:

“If I was racing in 2015, no I wouldn’t do it again because I don’t think you have to,” Armstrong said, “If you take me back to 1995, when doping was completely pervasive, I would probably do it again.”

Quite the answer to hear from Armstrong after so many years out of the spotlight and having such the fall from grace that he did. This part of the video interview below shows Armstrong shedding light on the past. From what I could see, this was a man being honest as well as someone who looked to be serving the time to reflect on what they did.

I think this was good reporting by BBC Sport and a great piece in the works as the full documentary set to come out this Thursday on BBC News. This allowed for an update on what is happening since the last time we saw Armstrong in 2013 and how his demeanor has changed since then as well.

Another thing that struck me about this interview was something Armstrong said. He mentioned that even though what he did was wrong, at the same time the things associated to him saw growth that they had never seen prior. Whether it was his bike supplier, charity foundation or even the sport itself; Armstrong knew he made a big and helpful impact. Posing this question about all the good he did pretty well:

“Do we want to take it away (the growth/charity awareness)? I don’t think anybody says ‘yes’.” -Lance Armstrong

Is Armstrong going to be another one of those second chance stories we see all the time here in America? It still is too early to tell especially with a lot more legal battles to go between Armstrong and numerous other parties. I do see it happening where as time passes and the wounds heal Armstrong is placed back in the public eye.

For now it looks like he must wait for his chance at redemption. A chance I think he desperately wants and needs.

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From Spy-Gate to Deflate-Gate: Patriots Conspiracy Continues

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By Kaleb Page

January 26, 2015

This past weekend saw the NFL postseason action hit its final stride on the way to the big game to end the year. The first game of the day between the Packers and Seahawks was a great game that saw the Packers jump all over the defending champs to only squander it down the stretch; losing in overtime as Seattle scored a touchdown on its first drive. The second game of the day between the Patriots and Colts has still been getting extended coverage even though the blow out that ensued was nowhere near the game that took place earlier in the day.

Would you like to know how this is possible?

Well first why don’t we all go back to the year of 2007 in order to get background and see how this new mishap has everyone’s attention. A game between the Patriots and New York Jets created a huge controversy that is still talked about to this day. After the game the coach of the Jets at the time (Eric Mangini), told NFL security that he believed the Patriots were videotaping the signals of the Jets defensive coaches in order to know what was coming. After investigating the claims, the NFL did find the Patriots guilty of doing just that. With that being such a blatant act to get the upper-hand on a team, another report surfaced that same year that in the 2002 Super Bowl that the Patriots won, they had videotaped St. Louis Rams practices.

These were huge allegations for the time and got the name of “Spy-Gate” to even add more allure to this controversy. Since that time the Patriots seemed to clean things up, but still had those out there that thought the Patriots were always stepping over the line. Well for those conspiracy theorists the day they have been waiting for has arrived.

After the blow-out that was the AFC Championship game (Patriots won 45-7), the rumors started flying that there was just something off with the footballs used in the game. Typically for a game the air pressure in a ball is supposed to be anywhere between 12.5-13.5 psi. However, for this game reports are saying that 11 of the 12 game balls used by the Patriots were under-inflated up to 11% less than the regulation states.

Now you may be asking yourself, why would you want to deflate the ball? In the game between the Colts and Patriots the weather was a typical outdoor playoff game in New England: cold, windy and off/on precipitation. When the ball is deflated it provides more give on the ball which is helpful in cold conditions where grip is an issue. Thus a possible advantage to grip the ball could lend itself to throwing accuracy improving, being able to throw the ball further and allowing receivers to have an easier time catching.

No matter where you look you can find coverage on this issue. Whether it is ESPN, Fox Sports or even MSNBC (yes, they were even going in-depth on this too) there was discussion on what this all will mean. As it stands now there are just the preliminary results of 11 of the 12 balls being under-inflated, but as the NFL does its full investigation possibly the reason why and who did it will come out.

Am I in the camp of people saying that this advantage was what caused the Patriots to blow-out the Colts on Sunday? No, and I am not even remotely close to being on that side of the argument. I believe that the Patriots are the better team and they could play today with regulation footballs and I think the score would be the same. Yes, I know that the deflated footballs are cheating and the Patriots do deserve to be punished but there is no way you can honestly say that was what would cause the Colts to lose by that huge of a margin.

For those conspiracy theorists out there saying the Patriots are always doing this; here is your day. From Spy-Gate to now Deflate-Gate it sure looks like the Patriots haven’t learned their lesson. While this is just the tip of the iceberg, it is important to wait until everything comes out.

Sit back and enjoy the show, this story is far from being deflated.

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