Posted on 02/07/2006 6:24:19 AM PST by bikepacker67
So the Super Bowl wasn't so super. The team that played the best didn't win, although use of the word "best" must be considered relative when you consider how poorly both teams played.
On the other hand, the NFL got the ending it wanted, which was another Super Bowl championship for the Rooney family and a fairy tale send-off for Detroit native Jerome Bettis.
It is amazing how often the NFL gets what it wants out of these Super Bowls, isn't it? And given the very questionable calls by NFL officials that all seemed to go in favor of the Steelers, it almost makes you wonder if the Steelers' Joey Porter didn't touch a nerve when, after Pittsburgh knocked out the heavily favored Colts in round two, he complained the officials were trying to take the game away from Pittsburgh.
To suggest the game was fixed would be improper. But a friend of mine who played in the league for years believes he can tell you who is going to win the Super Bowl by who gets the break on the first questionable call of the game, including Sunday, when Seattle's first touchdown was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Darrell Jackson. It's amazing how often that's true.
"That's how it is when you're going against the world," Jackson said afterward. "It just seems all our big plays like that somehow, some way, got overturned or called back."
Last year, NFL-licensed products reportedly exceeded $3.4 billion, the profit from which all teams share. It won't hurt those numbers that Pittsburgh came out victorious. The Steelers are the third-most followed NFL team in terms of merchandise sales, while Seattle ranks 21st.
Pittsburgh's Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger rank in the top 10 in individual merchandise sales, while the Seahawks' Shaun Alexander managed to hit No. 10 in jersey sales only because the sale of Seattle merchandise jumped 62 percent during the Seahawks' playoff run.
Everyone in the NFL - Seattle included - will benefit financially from a Pittsburgh victory.
Still, as the Steelers demonstrated in overcoming questionable calls that didn't go their way in Pittsburgh's victory over Indianapolis and NFL-marketing favorite Peyton Manning, the game comes down to players making plays.
The judgment of the officiating crew does not affect the ability to catch passes or kick field goals or manage the clock at the end of the first half. Seattle had its chances and blew it.
On the other hand, with all the money the NFL makes, why does the league still rely on part-time but incredibly well-paid officials? The NFL is a huge business, with the livelihoods of players and coaches resting on the outcome of these weekend games.
Don't they deserve to have the rules of the game interpreted by full-time, paid professionals instead of butchers and bakers, lawyers and candlestick makers who work NFL games on the weekends?
Don't fans deserve to know the game is being managed by professionals, not left in the hands of some neighborhood insurance agent?
The NFL got what it wanted from the Super Bowl.
Can the same be said for the rest of us?
The team that played the best didn't win,...
But then further down says:
The judgment of the officiating crew does not affect the ability to catch passes or kick field goals or manage the clock at the end of the first half. Seattle had its chances and blew it.Methinks the author is simply unhappy with the outcome of the game. The team with the highest score at the end of one hour of play is the one that wins, period.
Over here...
Who's Al Gore?
Crybaby-palooza, day three.
I'm not a fan of either team, but I can't see how you can say the game was "fairly and accurately called". Too many game-shaping penalties against Seattle where none was to be found, and a few non-calls (against both sides) that should have been flagged.
You cited the tackling-below-the-waist penalty, but neglected the non-holding penalty two plays before it that would have put the Seahawks on the 2 yard line.
I don't believe it was a conspiracy, but certainly it was an infuriating game - even with no "dog in the hunt".
He played for the Aints. As in Aint President.
Ya know Petronski, I had absolutely no dog in this fight. And as a matter of fact, if you look at posts of mine last week you'd see I was leaning towards Pitts for the Jerome aspect (I started to question that after listening to JP run his mouth, and the coronation that seemed to pre-ordained)
But frankly I didn't care one way or another... had no money on it, and had no heart in it.
But if WERE a Steeler fan, I'd be embarrassed knowing that my team was the worse of the two playing and that they got over thanks to some clearly prejudice calls.
Uh.. maybe because it was a running play?
My exact thoughts midway through the first half.
V also didn't have the stupid Star "Mangled" Banner fiasco or the halftime "entertainment" joke this one had.
That statement simply has no credibility.
The Seahawks had plenty of chances to win this game, just by catching passes and making field goals and managing their clock and not going for a four-yard infield pass when they're down eleven points late in the game.
Blaming the refs is the biggest copout in organized sports. It is the very definition of weakness. Seattle lost the game, Pittsburgh scored more points.
They did blow a lot of chances. They probably deserved to lose. Nevertheless, it's amazing to me that the only holding calls in the entire game just happened to call back Seattle's big plays -- and on replay, the holding calls always turned out to be cheap.
It wasn't a running play... that's Seattle's FIRST Touchdown that was called back for O-interference.
"Gentlemen Start Your Engines!!!!"
"Daytona 500 Feb 19!!! WOOHOO"
NHRA Winternationals this weekend along with the Budweiser Shootout.
True, but I have yet to see one Steeler fan admit they got the benefit of the doubt on most calls. It wasn't all that bad of an officiated game, but of the most 7 questionable calls the Steelers got 6 of them.
Ok - please tell me how the refs affected the following:
2 missed field goals for Seattle
Pitt converting a 3rd and thirty +
Darrell Jackson not getting his feet inbounds at the end of the half
Numerous dropped passes by Seattle
Willie Parker running 75 yds. for a TD
The flea flicker that went for a TD
Clock (mis)management by Seattle at the end of the half and the game
Seattle having the ball in Pitt territory almost all of the first half and coming away with 3 pts.
etc....
Remember, the game is not played in a vacuum. Every play dictates a decision for the next play or circumstance. You cannot pull plays out of a game, give teams points for it, and then assume the game would have played out the same the rest of the way.
I now despise the CryHawks. Congrats Seattle fans, I went from not caring who won to despising Seattle.
Did you watch the game?
Good post. The only reason Jackson pushed off was that he was being held. It is only offensive interference if the reciever initiates contact, in those frames it clearly shows the defender holding the reciever first. If any call it should have been defensive pass interference, which would have been declined.
Yep, first look at the new Monte Carlo and the Ford Fusion on the track.
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