Let me finish with this. Games are played by rules. Without rules, no game makes sense.
And numbers matter in games. You might say a game makes no sense without them. Who won? The team with the higher numbers. Who’s the best quarterback? The guy with the best offense.
Numbers, numbers, numbers. The NFL rules say football must be pumped up to 12.5 pounds – not 10.5. Say it doesn’t matter?
Then why the rule? Say it doesn’t matter?
You try. You get a grip on the regular pressure and compare it with a ball at the lower pressure.
The rule-breaking football is easier to grip, especially in freezing weather.
The guy who used the rule-breaking, softer football is breaking the rules. He’s cheating. Think it doesn’t matter?
Then you don’t know anything about sports. Just check the sports page. Check the results! It’s all numbers! Numbers are how we keep score, how we decide who wins, who loses, and here in this case, who’s cheating.
Chris Matthews