There are a few things I keep coming back to in my mind.
The rule is written very poorly. It specifies a PSI range but no temperature. And the pressure does change with temperature.
The way the checking is done is also poor. Two apparently cheap and inaccurate gauges when they were checking at halftime, only one before the game. Gages that are typically off by 2% in the middle of the range. I didn't see in the report what the range was, but even if it was a 0-25 Psi range it could be off by .5 psi.
http://www.dascosales.com/pressure-gauge-accuracy.php A guage with .1% accuracy can be had for around $250. every Team should have 2-3 of them, one for staff and at least one in the refs room. NOT some cheap guage provided by the ball manufacturer or Wal-Mart.
On page 15 of the report (linked below) they say the "experts" they hired determined that the gauges would have read consistently, which is obviously wrong if you look at the raw data on page 12. The colts balls measurements are consistent except for one, where the guage that reads higher for three balls reads lower for one. But for the Patriots balls that same guage reads lower than the other on all 11. So I'd say that makes all the rest of their analysis a bit suspect.
On one gage three of the four Colts balls checked were also under 12.5 - where's the punishment?
In the report they have texts discussing balls the were overinflated by the refs. Perhaps as high as 16 Psi. Also a violation of the rule, and by the officials. Again no punishment. Not even a "don't do that" memo.
Top of page 9 Here
https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...flategate.html
The rule only calls for a fine.
So evidence that contradicts the science, obtained with poor equipment, supporting a poorly written rule. Yep sounds entirely convincing and fair to me
Steve B