January 23, 2015

Underinflating Footballs


     National Football League game balls, we're being told, are inflated to pressures between 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 pounds per square inch (psi).  Thing is, that arcane fact happens to reach our ears because the Patriots got accused of stomping the Colts 45-7 this weekend through under-inflating their game balls by some 2 psi. 

     Apparently a team's game improves by 5 touchdowns and a field goal when you set the gauge to 10 1/2 instead of whatever.  Clearly, this brings up one simple question.

     Why didn't they tell everyone to set the damn contraptions to 10 1/2 in the first place?