It's in there.
Posted on 02/07/2006 6:58:40 PM PST by bikepacker67
As fans continued to weigh in on calls by officials during the Super Bowl, a group has set up an online petition claiming the "NFL is fixed."
The petition, at http://new.petitiononline.com/nfl12006/petition.html, says "We, the fans of the NFL, will no longer stand by and allow our pure game to be corrupted by blatant bias."
The petitions ask fans for suggestions on how the problem can be fixed.
Seahawks fans are voicing outrage over what they say were game-robbing calls by officials in the Super Bowl.
In one, Darrell Jackson was called for pushing Chris Hope away as he broke to catch Matt Hasselbeck's pass in the back of the end zone. Replays showed Jackson extended his arm, but Jackson argued vainly there was no push involved. Seattle settled for a 47-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead -- instead of a 7-0 one.
Later, referees ruled that Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got the ball to touch the goal-line plane on his 1-yard score with 1:55 left, which put the Seahawks behind for good, 7-3.
Referee Bill Leavy upheld the call after a replay review. Holmgren then upbraided Leavy on his way off the field at halftime.
Holmgren walked over to Leavy, a fifth-year referee calling his first Super Bowl, and could be seen angrily telling him, "It wasn't even close."
The second half brought more Seahawks frustration.
Officials flagged first-year starting right tackle Sean Locklear for holding when Stevens did finally catch a pass, a 17-yard grab at the Steelers 2 with 12:11 left and Seattle trailing 14-10. On the next play, Casey Hampton bowled through Pro Bowl blockers Robbie Tobeck and Steve Hutchinson for a sack.
One play after that, Hasselbeck threw his game-breaking interception to doom Seattle's last chance of the game and of a suddenly lost season.
At a welcome home celebration at Qwest Field on Monday, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren took a shot at the Super Bowl officials, saying he knew the game was going to be tough, but he didn't know the Hawks were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.
I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this. Let's try this - You don't even realize how illogical that sounds, do you? As if ONLY NFL players drop passes, but not college players? Come on, get real. And who needs money more? Highly paid NFL players? Or college players that will NEVER see an NFL paycheck? It is 1000 times easier to fix a college game than a pro game, so the ironical thing is, if you're watching college games to avoid "fixed" games, you're like someone leaving the GOP for the democrats to avoid the "culture of corruption".
The superior teams can overcome this kind of routine stuff. Against the Colt’s, the Steelers still found a way to win despite being denied a game-closing interception (and unlike the 'Hawks they got an apology from NFL because that call was actually incorrect).
Prime example from SB XL: Steelers have a first and 10 at the Seattle 22. 1st down incomplete pass. 2nd down 5 yard completion – OMG! a phantom pass interference call on Heath Miller. Did you see the pass interference? I didn’t. If Madden and Co. had beefed about it the public would have bought it hook line and sinker. 2nd down (repeat) Wistrom sacks Roethlisberger bringing up 3-28 at the SEA 40. Out of field goal range. Adversity. Did they fold like Seattle? No. Instead a great play results in 1st and goal.
In the AFC Championship game Bettis hit a great 10-yard TD Run which was called back on an obscure Hines Ward illegal formation penalty. Did the Steelers fold like a cheap suit? No. They came back and scored another TD with a pass to Hines Ward!
Are you aware that OPI penalties have actually been called in past Super Bowls? i.e. against NE/Troy Brown. Unlike the Seahawks, they shrugged it off and won the game anyway.
Unfortunately, a great percentage of the newbies watching the Super Bowl don't understand that the commentators and analysts frequently have no clue what they are talking about and that they have biases just like other forms of media. So the sheeple will hear Steeler haters make definitive assertions and buy it unquestioningly.
I know, I know. Have you ever been to your college alma mater and seen the cars football and basket ball players drive? How can college students afford to drive $ 40,000 automobiles? But I still love college football.
Not getting the "helmet-to-helmet" call on 3rd down. It was close, just as most of the calls in question were close. On the replay I saw, it looked to me like the defender lowered his head and hit the WR on the back of the helmet. Now, if the refs "had the fix in", why did they change their minds? Was that a game-changing play? WE'LL NEVER KNOW! Pittsburgh had to punt.
Jeremy Stevens caught the ball and fumbled, only the ref had a quick whistle and blew the play dead. Clearly, Pitt would have recovered the ball. Was it a game-changing play? WE'LL NEVER KNOW! The Steelers didn't get a chance to pick the ball up and run with it. If a play like that is in doubt, the refs are supposed to swallow their whistles and let the play continue. If it turns out that it was down, it can be reversed on replay, but you can't reverse a blown whistle. If the refs "had the fix in" why blow the whistle so soon, giving Seattle a break?
Making such a big deal out of the penalty on Hasselbeck after his INT is only fair if you're going to make a big deal about the penalty NOT called on Seattle after Roethlisberger's INT.
LOL. Ok, as long as you are keeping it real. I love college football, too. I love the NFL, but I would have to say that a higher perectage of college football games are more exciting than the NFL.
This is just so classic. I see it a WHOLE lot on forums frequented by those who place wagers on games. It never fails. After just about every game, especially big games like the Super Bowl, people who lost can't help but blame refs or players who didn't play well for "fixing" the game. Now, people who lost their paycheck on a game is one thing. To see the same kind of attitude on FR is sad, but I guess it's human nature.
Reading and watching the post-game coverage, the Seattle players and coach Holmgren didn't start to really whine about the calls until they got back to Seattle and realized a lot of their fans thought they wuz robbed. Worst-called game ever? And the losing team didn't even notice? LOL Riiiiiight.
99 times out of 100 that ball is ruled an incomplete pass. He must make a football move. The only rationalization is the Pittsburgh fans not accepting the fact that the zebra's handed you a game. I did see one of these bang-bang catch and drops ruled a catch and fumble this season. But only saw it once. Can't remember which game. But nearly always it is ruled an incomplete pass.
The easiest way to understand how this works in practice is to state that once a catch is made, the receiver must maintain possession of the ball for at least a second in order to be eligible to fumble, otherwise the play is ruled an incomplete pass even if he has established enough possession to mormally qualify for an in-bounds catch. Now we both know this is how it works, so you can stop pretending that this non-call went against Pittsburgh.
In a sense it did go against Pittsburgh because they were getting every other call, why not this one?
Another play I'm unsure what should have been ruled was where Darrell Jackson's 2nd foot goes out of bounds and therefore no catch and TD. Makes sense. However, that 2nd foot hits the endzone pylon, knocking it down, before he steps out of bounds. I always thought the pylon was an extension of the endzone and if you hit it TD. I guess that doesn't count if you have not established possession in bounds first. Do you know for sure?
Got to agree with you. That is definitely pass interference.
****
Hey, I've been cryin' for months now.
;-)
Why won't the "conspiracy" crowd respond to posts #67 and #170? Aren't those the two biggest gripes?
Good pictures, btw, you two. Thanks for posting them.
That's possible?
I won my fantasy league this season
Good for you.
He claims that there is one team that is famous for its Mafia connections.
Get a real life!
When I see folding chairs whacked over the opposing player's heads as the referee is distracted with his head under the replay hood, then.... and only then, will I consider signing any petition.
The officiating was bad and the Seahawks took the brunt of the bad calls but for Pete's sake, get over it. The game is over. Both teams played like crap and the Steelers won because they didn't play quite as crappy as the Seahawks. We'll line it up again in the fall and do it all over again.
In the meantime,
11 days, 5 hours and 22 minutes...
The superior teams can overcome this kind of routine stuff. Against the Colt’s, the Steelers still found a way to win despite being denied a game-closing interception (and unlike the 'Hawks they got an apology from NFL because that call was actually incorrect).
Yeah right, I guess that's why Pittsburg players and fans were freaking out over 2 bad calls, in a game in which THEY WON! Even their own player, knowing he would be fined or suspended, came out and said the refs were cheating. (Porter). I can only imagine the shrieking that would still be emanating from Pittsburg if Vanderyanked had made that last kick, sent the game into overtime, and Indy had won.
Of course, now when the calls go your way, as a fan of Pittsburg and getting the outcome you desired, you just don't see any problem, and the fans for the other side are a bunch of conspiracy nuts.
And I'm still waiting to hear about a single crucial call that went against Pittsburg. Still waiting, because there were none. Anyone who follows the NFL knows that most games are decided upon just a few crucial plays each game. When one team gets ALL of those calls in their favor, it's no surprise they win. If the crucial calls all go the other way, the other team wins.
The game is over. The Steelers won.
Detroit is a five hour drive from Pittsburgh. That is just basic geography that can't be changed either. Holmgren, in an interview I heard this morning, is now whining about the number of Steeler fans 'let into Ford Field.' Can you get anymore crybaby than that? Did the Steeler faithful get comp tickets? Did get free logdings and food in Detroit? Ahhh...no. They paid. They came (by the thousands, evidenced by a 6 mile back up in Toledo, OH, Monday morning by PA plates getting on the Ohio Turnpike for the drive east). Of the millions spent in Detroit last weekend, alot of it came from Steeler fans...isn't that what the NFL/Detroit planners wanted? Isn't the game supposed to be a money maker?
The Steelers won and I congratulate them, but the Refs made some real bad calls that cost Seattle points on the board. Whether it cost Seattle the game, I'm not so sure.
I didn't think you could be a fan of both teams either. When I married her, I knew her to be part of the Browns cult. I only discovered the whole Pittsburgh thing this year.
I guess when you grow up a Brown's fan, you end up rooting for another team that acutally wins games. She grew up in eastern Ohio, so she was close to both cities. Yes, she hates Cincinnati, as you would expect.
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