Nobodydenies that Bill Belichick will do anything to gain a competitive advantage. Thesun also rises in the east and sets in the west for those of you that werewondering. Nobodydenies that NFL quarterbacks inflate and deflate the footballsto their liking. Matt Leinart tweeted this after the scandal broke out -- "Every team tampers with the footballs. Ask any QB Inthe league, this is ridiculous!!" Everybody agrees that the AFC Championship game was not affected by the air pressure inthe footballs. On the Rich Eisen Show, Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback(and former Seattle Seahawk) Matt Hasselbeck said, "We don't feel like this hadany impact on our game." Andeverybody agrees that "Deflategate" will have no effect on the Super Bowl. Seattle'soutspoken cornerback Richard Sherman was quoted as saying, "[Deflategate is]not going to have any effect on this game. Nobody is going to get suspended[for the Super Bowl] and nothing's going to happen." Inregards to Sherman's statement; nobody denies that except me. Deflategatewill in fact affect the Super Bowl. Deflategate will absolutely guarantee thatthe NFL standards of 12.5-13.5 pounds of air pressure in a football will beadhered to. Manyquarterbacks like Leinart have gone on record as saying that all quarterbacks inflate/deflatethe footballs the way they want them. Aaron Rodgers admitted earlier in theweek that he likes his inflated higher than most. The NFL would never admitthis but this scandal goes to show that even though this rule exists in theNFL, it is one the NFL officials have not been enforcing regularly. Untilnow. Youcan guarantee that not only will the Super Bowl footballs all adhere toregulation but at some point in the broadcast there will be an over-the-topsegment with a sideline reporter, an air pressure gauge and possibly an NFLofficial and this is exactly what Belichick wanted. Whywould Belichick want this? What and who does a deflated ball help? Simple, aball with less air pressure is going to have a softer touch for catching and isgoing to be easier to grip for running with the ball. Ateam that has a smaller quarterback, smaller receivers, a smaller tight end andrelies heavily on the running game is going to benefit from having footballsthat are slightly deflated. Conversely, a team with a larger quarterback, tightends, wide receivers and less of a running game would not be as negativelyimpacted by having properly inflated footballs. Isit possible that Belichick realized this? Is it possible Bill Belichickwondered how he could guarantee that the NFL standard 12.5-13.5 pounds ofpressure would be adhered to and not overlooked as it always has been? Is itpossible that the answer he came up with was to fall on the proverbial sword bygetting his own team in trouble violating this rule in the AFC Championshipgame? And is it possible he realized that by doing this it would benefit histeam in the long run and assure the footballs would be checked before the SuperBowl? Toanswer that question all you have to ask is, does Belichick understand the sizedifference between his team and the Seahawks? And, does Belichick understandwho would benefit more from deflated footballs? Of course he does. Then youhave to wonder, is Belichick manipulative enough to do this? This isunfortunately the question that will forever go unanswered, but I can tell youthat I undoubtedly believe he is. Iknow that Belichick is smarter than I am and I was smart enough to figure outthis trick as a teenager. I can recall a rainy day on the coast of Oregon whenI was pitching for my high school varsity baseball team. It was the sixthinning and my team was ahead by one run. It had been raining but was not tooslippery. At the top of the inning the umpire checked the batter's box andpitcher's mound and decided to keep playing. Seeing that he did this andknowing that the bad weather was in his mind I went out and promptly slippedand fell twice during warmups. Ididn't want to make me or my team to look like cheaters though, so when the umpireasked, "are you OK?" I quickly replied, "Yeah, it's OK, let's get this goingbefore it gets worse," I had just set the hook. The inning started and Ipitched the first ball normal, and then on the second pitch I slipped a littleand threw the ball way behind the batter. I quickly motioned to the umpire thatI was OK and called for another ball. Ipitched one more good pitch, then on the next pitch, channeling my inner dramaqueen, I slipped big time, I sent my leg flying, I sent my arms flying, Ithrew the ball against the top of the backstop and I crumpled in a heap on themound. Before I even looked up, the umpire had called the game and due to astipulation in the rules that stated that if the game is called due to rain and5 full innings have been played the game is considered official and counts inthe league record, we won. Theother team was furious. They knew I was faking but it didn't matter. I left theumpire no choice. The players' health was in danger and the rules are the rulesand we won because of it. Was it manipulative? Yes. Did I look like an idiotfor a short amount of time? Yes. Did we win? Yes. Belichickand Brady just did this same thing to the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks and footballfans everywhere. They knew the rules and how the officials regulated them, andthey fell, on purpose, to get the outcome they wanted. The outcome theofficials will now have to adhere to in the Super Bowl. Belichickand Brady do look bad right now, and they look like cheaters right now, andbecause of this the footballs will absolutely be checked before the Super Bowlnow, thus hurting the smaller quarterback, smaller tight end, smaller receiversand power running game of the Seattle Seahawks. Brilliant, just brilliant.