Dein erstes Forum » Just going back to camp and the adjustment

RENTON, Wash. - The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots used underinflated footballs during their AFC championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts. But what advantages does a deflated football hold for a team? Former NFL quarterback Hugh Millen, who played two seasons for the New England Patriots and now helps designs footballs for manufacturer Baden in Washington state, explains.ADVANTAGES OF DEFLATIONNFL rules mandate that a ball must be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. But a football deflated a couple of pounds below the range is softer, allowing for better grip, Millen said.If youre going to be challenged to handle the ball in either very cold conditions or wet conditions, then having the ability to grab the ball and squeeze it, youre going to have more of a chance to remain in contact with the ball, he said.Deflated balls could also mean faster balls thrown by quarterbacks. Because of the softer grip, the index finger remains on the football a tad longer, allowing for faster spirals during a throw, especially for quarterbacks who like to keep their fingers on the seams, Millen said.We know from having put a football in wind tunnels, the faster the ball rotates, the more it cuts through the air. It has less drag, therefore more velocity on the ball, he said, adding later, most quarterbacks like to have less air than more air.HOW COULD THE REFEREES MISS IT?Referees inspect game balls about two hours before the game, checking the air pressure among other standards. NFL guidelines are clear: a football cannot be tampered after the pre-game inspection.While veteran officials could probably feel a difference between a properly inflated ball and a deflated one, referees arent thinking about ball air pressure during the game since theyve already checked them, Millen said. Theyre busy trying to move the game along.If theyre not of a mindset to check the ball, theyre not engaging their senses, Millen said, adding that some may be wearing gloves.POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONSIn his years in the NFL, Millen said it was common for quarterbacks to ask for balls to be deflated, within the leagues acceptable range, if the footballs felt too hard for their preference. It takes just a couple of seconds to lose 2 pounds of air pressure after inserting a needle. A team equipment staffer could have been careless.Ive seen somebody say, Hey, stick a needle in there for a second just to get the air right, Millen said.Another possible reason: footballs can sometimes leak air. Millen said all football manufacturers produce balls that lose air pressure without tampering. But he adds that would be an easy possibility to test. China Jerseys For Sale . 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Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.TORONTO - For most of his Maple Leafs career he played with one partner and for most of his NHL career he played on one side. Dion Phaneuf is doing neither this season. Carl Gunnarsson, long the Toronto captains partner on the teams top pair, was dealt to St. Louis in the summer and Phaneuf, amid that offseason of upheaval, was moved to the mostly unfamiliar left side. Thus, the Leafs are boasting a new-look top pair this season, one that includes Phaneuf on the left and Cody Franson, now in his sixth NHL season, on the right. The results thus far - and its still quite early - have been encouraging. Phaneufs even-strength possession numbers have spiked more than 10 percentage points from last season (51.5 per cent Fenwick) and those same underlying numbers look even better with Franson - Stephane Robidas started the year there before moving down the lineup. Its all helped in the Leafs slow push to becoming a better possession team. The 29-year-old Phaneuf is still squaring off against some very difficult competition - he faced the most challenging action of any defender last year - but isnt being buried as consistently in the defensive zone - up to 42 per cent offensive zone starts. Head coach, Randy Carlyle has made use of the newly added Roman Polak in the most defensive of situations - not to mention rookie Stuart Percy - thereby sparing Phaneuf from some of the heavy burden he assumed a year ago. Maple Leafs general manager, Dave Nonis, conceded on July 1st - after the team had landed Polak and then Robidas with a three-year deal in free agency - that Phaneuf could move to his strong side in the coming year and while Phaneuf concedes to an ongoing adjustment, he believes its been overblown some in the early weeks this fall. He spoke to TSN.ca about those challenges and the differences of playing with a new partner this season. SIEGEL: New partner, new side, whats been more difficult in terms of that adjustment? PHANEUF: To be completely honest with you, I think its been a good adjustment. It was a little bit different earlier in training camp shifting to the left side; that was a little bit of an adjustment early in camp. But now I feel very comfortable. Its something that I feel thats there more attention paid to than there should be, because the reality of it is that, yeah, Im playing a different side, but Ive played there before and I feel very comfortable there now. SIEGEL: Well, I guess the argument goes that you played the right your whole career or most of your career, [defensive] routes are different, you see the ice differently, it should be difficult… PHANEUF: Yeah, I havent found it difficult to switch. It was an adjustment early in camp. But as soon as I got through the first few exhibition games Ive felt more comfortable game after game. But now Im used to playing that side noww.dddddddddddd Now if I go back to the other side it feels a little bit different. SIEGEL: Really? PHANEUF: Yeah, so Im comfortable playing that side. And then when you have a new partner theres always an adjustment period, but I feel that me and Franny have built some real good chemistry early. Frannys a guy who sees the ice really well, he moves the puck really well and hes a big guy. Ive really enjoyed playing with him. We want to keep building. Partnerships and being defensive partners, theres lots that go into it; you want to communicate; you want to know each others tendencies and were still learning that. But overall, I feel really good about how weve played together and how were working on getting better together every day. SIEGEL: Well, you had said in camp that you just wanted to build those reps. Ive got all the game-logs and you played with Gunnarsson almost exclusively from the time you got here, you cant really replicate that experience… PHANEUF: Whether youre a forward or defenceman, a forward line that has played together a long time or a defensive pairing thats played together a long time, you have a lot of chemistry. You know what youre partner is going to do, where hes going to be, you read off each other - thats a big thing too is reading off of each other - where you want to support the guy, how you can support him, how he can support you. And I feel that me and Franny are working on that stuff. It is a process, but I feel that theres been a lot of positives early. SIEGEL: Overall, can you feel that youre spending less time in your own end, because the numbers suggest that? [Pause] PHANEUF: When you have a new partner and youre adjusting to playing with someone else its about playing and feeling as comfortable as you as quick as you can. I feel that weve done that. We obviously want to keep working on it, but I feel weve done lots of good things. Frannys a guy who talks a lot, he moves the puck very well, its been great playing with him. SIEGEL: Just going back to camp and the adjustment [to the left side], was it more [difficult] defensively or seeing the ice? PHANEUF: The two biggest adjustments were one, when youre moving the puck and youre breaking the puck out there is more of an advantage when youre playing your strong side because its always on your forehand. I found that part of it a positive. The other big adjustment, as a d-man, youve got shutdown areas on the ice where you like to focus on pinching guys off and angles and different spots that youre used to going to and that was an adjustment switching from one side to the other. And seeing and receiving rushes was a little bit different on the left side. SIEGEL: Its backwards right? PHANEUF: Yeah, its completely opposite, but that was early in camp and I feel really comfortable now on the left side. ' ' '