Super Bowl A Complete Joke

[LifelongChiefsFan]

Wow...I am really at a loss for words after watching that monstrocity which was Super Bowl XL. I have never seen such a poorly officiated game in any sport at any level in my entire life. I generally laugh when people say that sporting events are rigged, but man some of those call just left me wondering. Bogus PI call takes away a touchdown. Roethlisberger getting a TD after coming up short (I admit this one was close). BS holding call on Locklear when the Pitt guy was OFFSIDES. An illegal block on Hasselbeck. How do you get flagged for an illegal block when you TACKLE a guy?? Pitt getting the TO after the play clock expired. It was a sickening game to experience. I quit watching with about 4 minutes left in the game and just felt empty. This was the game I nervously anticipated for 2 weeks?? What a waste of time it turned out to be. I should have done my Physics homework instead.

This is the biggest sporting even in the US every year. These were the best refs the NFL had to offer?? There is no way they should affect the outcome of the game like this. It is so disgusting. All any NFL fan wants is to be treated to a fair game and the SB is no exception. All fans (Seahawk, Steeler, and just the casual NFL fan) should have been able to sit down and watch an exciting, fairly called game in which the best team on that day wins. Am I saying Seattle would have won if the game was called fairly? Of course not Seattle did not play close to their best game. But it is still just sickening to know that the Seahawks didn't even have a chance to win this game. It's not fair to Seattle, it's not fair to Pittsburgh, and it's not fair the anyone who is a fan of football and the NFL. This game was a total disgrace for the league and it's a shame that this is how it turned out, and I feel especially bad for the Seahawks fans who have waited 30 years for this to basically be slapped in the face and told by the league, this game was decided before it even began.

[scamperdog]

I agree with everything you said, Kind of reminded me of a whl game, why let the teams decide it, when the Ref's can do so much more. But in the end the Hawks just could'nt put finish on any play, and what was with the time management? nerves? anyways lets hope they have a bad taste in there mouth and make it there again sooner than later.

[Triton]

It was brutal.I shut it down after the 3rd quarter.I think that if some of those calls were made or not made,Seattle could have garnered some momentum from that and could possibly have made a few drives that could have lead to some points being put on the board.How does Rothliesberger go 9-21 and they still win?Ben didn't cross the line on his TD,The pushoff Jackson gave to that guy was so innocent (seriously come on),which lead to the TD that was called off because of the penalty.Blah was how the game seemed.The commercials weren't even that great either.

"The Bus" did nothing the whole game and he was so advertised.Seattle did however lay an egg that game..which was too bad.All the players after said that they weren't prepared and that they didn't play their game...COME ON! Biggest game of the year and your not prepared..you had two weeks.It was like a home game for the Steelers.Game sucked..refs sucked..Seattle sucked..SB's overrated!Interesting how every year the Grey Cup gives the fans the best game,even if your team isn't in it,you still enjoy the game.Thats where it's at is the CFL baby!.

[Tipped Off]

Officiating, officiating, officiating

Living here in the great Pacific northwest all I am hearing this morning is about how the officiating cost the Seahawks the game. That is just flat out wrong & is a component of seeing things through "blue" shaded glasses. Let's review:

1. The pass interference call on Darrell Jackson WAS, in fact, pass interference. That gets called 9 out of 10 times. The one time it doesn't get called is because the official is looking at something else or falls down.

2. The TD by Roethlisberger? He dove, had the ball in his right hand, it just has to cross the plane of the end zone, and the ball kind of disappears behind his arm. It's possible a millimeter of the ball grazed the plane of the end zone & you can't overturn a call without conclusive evidence. The rule of thumb here is, if it's so close you can't overturn it, it just can't be labeled as a bad call. The fact is, if they rule it down it's 4th and 1-inch and Pittsburgh goes for it & gets the TD anyway. And before you whine about how the Hawks would have stopped them on 4th down...I call BS. Teams score the TD 89% of the time when there is less than a yard to go for a TD. Better yet, Pittsburgh is one of the best at that particular situation. In fact, I would say the momentum would have been worse for the Seahawks had he been ruled down because Jerome Bettis would have come in and got a TD...the crowd, and the Steelers, would have really had momentum on their side if that happened. BTW, for the record, the still photos of an airborne Roethlisberger showed that the ball actually did break the plane of the goal line.

3. Seahawks punter Tom Rouen had 4 touchbacks. How about pinning the Steelers back deep once or twice, especially when the Steelers kept going 3-and-out in the 1st half?

4. The Seahawks messed up at the end of the first half, with terrible clock management, leading to a 54-yard field goal attempt that was missed. With the time they had and 2 timeouts, they should have gotten the ball closer. Later, they missed a 50-yard field goal. Again, they could have moved the ball closer.

5. The holding call on the Seahawks pass to the Steelers 1-yard-line looked like a bad call. Nothing you can do about that but hitch up your jock strap and move on.

6. Hasselbeck's interception a couple plays later. There was no Seahawk anywhere near that ball.

7. Hasselbeck blocking below the waist penalty. This was a 2nd bad call. It only cost the Seahawks 15 yards though. It certainly wasn't a game changing call. The interception was much bigger. I keep hearing how people are saying Rothlisberger did the same thing on the reverse a few plays later. That's just a joke. Rothlisberger hit his man above the waist. Hasselbeck hit his man at the knee cap. Hasselbeck's call was wrong because it was a tackle, not a block. Had it been a block, the call was correct. Rothlisberger's, under any definition, was a legal hit.

8. Pittsburgh had the big plays: a 3rd-and-28 completion in the 2nd quarter led to a TD. A 75-yard TD run by Parker. A flea-flicker from Randle El to Ward for the third TD.

9. The goat of the game: Big talker Jeramy Stevens had 4 drops. The two in the first half could have made this game totally different. With the exception of the one long run (which I explain next), Pittsburgh could not run the ball and Rothlisberger looked awful. If the Hawks jump out to a 14-0 or 14-7 lead & force Pittsburgh to try and pass, they win this game 34-7.

10. The 75 yard TD run. This is on the coaching staff of the Seahawks. Holmgren's team has been stopping the Steelers with a 7 man front the whole game. For some unknown reason, with his 3rd string Safety in due to injury, he switches to an 8 man front... turning what normally would have been a 7-15 yeard run into a 75 yard TD run (the longest in SB history). Boulware, the 8th man up, bites into the wrong gap and now Parker only has one man to beat...the third string safety...who takes the wrong route and gets burned by the fastest running back in the NFL.

11. Darrell Jackson disappeared after catching 5 passes in the 1st quarter (a SuperBowl record). He had no catches after the 1st quarter.

12. Down 21-10 with 8:48 to play, the Seahawks needed to get a score. They couldn't, with Hasselbeck getting sacked on 3rd-and-8 at the 47. For some unknown reason they decided to punt the ball away knowing they needed two scores. If they give up a first down or two, the game is over.

13. Speaking of which....down 21-10 with 6:15 left, they needed to make a defensive stop. They couldn't, allowing 2 first downs as Pittsburgh took over 4 minutes off the clock on 9 straight running plays...after the Hawks had stopped the run all day. It looked like the D had given up.

So, two plays I thought could be classified as bad calls. One was on Hasslebeck after the interception...which had nothing to do with the outcome of the game & the other a holding call after a pass down to the 1 yard line. This certainly did have something to do with the outcome of the game, but if you can't overcome a bad call or two, your not a Superbowl champ anyway. Not only do I agree with it, I wrote it all….lol.

Some articles have been written about how the Seahawks got jobbed. Here's a couple:

Buck Harvey from San Antonio (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA020606.1D.buckharvey.884c608.html)

Michael Smith from ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/columns/story?columnist=smith_michael&id=2320683)

To that I say....Eh, journalists are just people. They get paid to do a job and make interesting points. You think their column would be more interesting to read if it said, the game was great and I agree with everything? No. They have to find an angle to write about. Of course the people here in Seattle want something to blame. If these teams played 10 times, the Hawks would win 7. The better team did not win on Sunday. That being said, they lost. The got beat. Don’t whine about it. Don;t be known as the "criers from the Pacific Northwest." take your lumps and move on.

Now, on to some random thoughts:

1. The National Anthem was absolutely horrible. Could be the worst NA I have ever heard sung outside of me in my car.

2. Halftime Show. I never was much of a Stones fan, but it sounded awful. I would never pay a penney to go see tham live. In fact, if they were playing a mile from my house for free and I was guaranteed a seat, I'd pass.

3. The only good commerical was the rotating refrigerator....and that wasn't even a brand new commercial.

[Tinner]

Simple;

Did the Seahawks play the way they have played all year? No
Did the Steelers play the way they have played all year? Yes

No being a fan of either team and regardless of the referring, Seattle laid the golden egg.

By the way, I do agree with the National anthem deal. It was the worst. Almost seemed like Neville should have used the bathroom before he sang.

[Jovorock]

1. The pass interference call on Darrell Jackson WAS, in fact, pass interference. the official is looking at something else or falls down.

2. The TD by Roethlisberger? He dove, had the ball in his right hand, it just has to cross the plane of the end zone1. The National Anthem was absolutely horrible. Could be the worst NA I have ever heard sung outside of me in my car.

2. Halftime Show. I never was much of a Stones fan, but it sounded awful.
I disagree with you, Jackson wasn't interference, even Madden said so. It was a chicken stuff call.

If there was a better camera angle I guarantee Big Ben didn't brake the goal plane. But there was no proof so it was the right call.

If that is the way Jaggar sounds in concert I wouldn't pay one cent for the crap. Neville was equally terrible.

Both teams have played much better games, just another Super bore.

[Fight Guy]

I really pissed me off to watch the Steelers big celebration...all straight faced and calm and all. Like they have won it 10 years in a row and its nothing new to them. The coach was more exciting than anyone else. NFL suck. The Superbowl sucks.

[caps05]

Pitt getting the TO after the play clock expired. It was a sickening game to experience.


I've heard other announcers, besides Madden and Michaels, mention the reason this was allowed.

The official who's watching the game clock has to watch the clock count down to zero, then check the play to see if the ball was snapped. It gives a second to the offensive team, which is why you don't see delay of game a lot more than you do.

[caps05]

Best commercials IMO.

Guys on the roof, "fixing" things from Bud Light
FEDEX caveman
Streaking lamb.

[Big Daddy]

[QUOTE=Tipped Off]Officiating, officiating, officiating



Now, on to some random thoughts:

1. The National Anthem was absolutely horrible. Could be the worst NA I have ever heard sung outside of me in my car.

Well said, but me in the shower might give it a run.

2. Halftime Show. I never was much of a Stones fan, but it sounded awful. I would never pay a penney to go see tham live. In fact, if they were playing a mile from my house for free and I was guaranteed a seat, I'd pass.

I saw them in 1980 and I thought they were old then. Wow, I must be gettin up there too!

[Sput]

I find this incredibly funny. I get totally ripped on the Kelowna board for saying the officiating sucked in two games this past weekend, didn't say it cost anyone the game, AND gave cudos to Kelowna for playing and sticking to their game plan, and here soooo many people are ripping the refs in another sport and everyone agrees. So whats the deal? DO refs and their lack of compitancy in calling a fair game affect the final outcome or not? Cause right now I'm real confused. :confused: Either that or I really don't know what I'm seeing on the ice or field (depending on the sport)

[LifelongChiefsFan]

I find this incredibly funny. I get totally ripped on the Kelowna board for saying the officiating sucked in two games this past weekend, didn't say it cost anyone the game, AND gave cudos to Kelowna for playing and sticking to their game plan, and here soooo many people are ripping the refs in another sport and everyone agrees. So whats the deal? DO refs and their lack of compitancy in calling a fair game affect the final outcome or not? Cause right now I'm real confused. :confused: Either that or I really don't know what I'm seeing on the ice or field (depending on the sport)


hmm...I don't necessarily think that getting called out by Teaps qualifies as getting "totally ripped." Just my opinion.

[rinkrat]

Now a place for NFL fans to vent :D

http://www.petitiononline.com/nfl12006/petition.html


http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=2011

[rinkrat]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5313884

[Triton]

Now a place for NFL fans to vent :D

http://www.petitiononline.com/nfl12006/petition.html


http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=2011

Did anyone sign that petition?Some of the comments on there are funny.

[rinkrat]

http://www.crackthecrown.com/4images/data/media/5/stealer.jpg

[The_Vulk]

While I will admit that the Steelers did play their game (in the second half, not the first), Seattle's offense could not get going.

Madden also commented on the bad officiating/calls, and how pro-Pittsburgh the calls seemed to be. But even so, it was still anyone's game in the third (unlike most previous Super-bores).

A sign by a fan said it all "Refs-21, Hawks 10".

It definately was not an exciting game to watch.