NFL should feel embarrassed

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/13808261.htm ^

[bikepacker67]

SEATTLE - And now a word about the officiating in Super Bowl XL. Two words actually.

It stunk.

The interference call, a push-off on Darrell Jackson that cost the Seahawks a first-quarter touchdown, was hideous.

If former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin hadn't been allowed to use his arm to get separation the innocent way Jackson did in Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh, Irvin would have caught maybe 20 balls in his career.

And the fourth-quarter holding call on right tackle Sean Locklear that nullified a spectacular catch by tight end Jerramy Stevens at the Pittsburgh 1-yard line was equally egregious.

[Carling]

And your barbs about "SteAlers" too. No bad sportsmanship there, huh?

My spin on the FADErs barbs I've taken for years. Relax my man. The refs sucked, but they didn't (necessarily) hand Pittsburgh the game. Also, responding to bad sportsmanship with the same doesn't exactly give me hope that you are still sold on this win.

A simple image of the Lombardi Trophy should be the only thing that SteAler fans should need to post.

[Supernatural]

Right. About 10,000 times, one for each derogatory remark about the Steelers win since the Super Bowl was over.

[Carling]

Bad sportsmanship?

Me?

:)

[Supernatural]

No, you are a great sport. Thanks for being happy about the SteAlers victory.

[beyond the sea]

The interference call, a push-off on Darrell Jackson that cost the Seahawks a first-quarter touchdown, was hideous. ------- Maybe hideous to Seattle fans, but correctly called. The dumb*ss receiver should not do it five feet in front of the ref in the endzone in the Superbowl next time. Stupid.

If former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin hadn't been allowed to use his arm to get separation the innocent way Jackson did in Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh, Irvin would have caught maybe 20 balls in his career. ------ He should have been called on it much more often. Plaxico Burress loves to break the rules too. Some players just know where and when to do it.

[beyond the sea]

The NFL, like any other entertainer loves bad press. The bigger the bad-boy or flub-up, the more they can chat it up next year.

BULL!

[beyond the sea]

And the fourth-quarter holding call on right tackle Sean Locklear that nullified a spectacular catch by tight end Jerramy Stevens at the Pittsburgh 1-yard line was equally egregious.

The timing of the call was what was jolting to some fans (viewers), but the call was correct.

The Seattle offensive line was grabbing, clutching, and holding all night long. They could have been flagged a dozen times or more.

I've spoken personally to retired NFL offensive linemen with over 40 years experience between them about the game and officiating. They watched the game of course, and said generally the right side of Seattle's offensive line was over-matched all night, and in desperation were grabbing and holding all night. And it just wasn't confined to the right side of the line.

They also mentioned, as an aside, that for some odd reason, players on both sides of the ball were having a hard time breathing, were getting inordinately fatigued in that stadium that night (that sometimes happens because of the extended nervousness during the run-up to the game).

Now, don't get the impression that the Steelers didn't hold too. They did. But refs let it go until it's just happening too much, especially by one guy in particular.

By the way, down on the field during a game, there are a number of times that the officials will warn linemen and others......... "hey, next time there's going to be a flag", or something of that sort.

Seattle was just over-matched all night and resorted to what the great and witty Tunch Ilkin refers to as "Habbeus Grabbus".

***

p.s. These retired NFL players also laughingly gave their kudos for the professional and sly way Seattle's receivers ran their "pick plays" (a technically illegal play) all night. One of them helped give them their only TD.

[Supernatural]

Just think of all the flak we would have taken if the Steelers would have lost. Look what is happening when they won.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday people still want to bash the Steelers and say that their win was illegitimate.

Do you think they will ever get over the Steelers winning, having a Victory Parade and getting the Lombardi Trophy for Super Bowl XL? And for winning their fifth Super Bowl, as many as any team has ever won in 40 years?

[ScubieNuc]

I'm not running a conspirousy flag up the pole, I'm just stating the obvious. The NFL is wise at marketing. They use both good and bad to promote their industry. I'm not saying that they manufacture the bad, they just run with it.

That's one reason why Randy Moss, and TO get press. They both have tremendous skills, but a certain number of people tune in for the drama of rebellion.

You wait tell next year. They'll be talking out of the side of their mouths about a rematch to "settle" the XL officiating score. It'll be just like when Oakland loss to NE with the "forward pass" incident. Do you really think that whereever TO land's they won't discuss his antics/firing?

Heck, I even read where part of the Super Bowl pregame had an interview with the Oakland guy that paralyzed that other guy. Why? What did that have to do with Seattle and Pittsburg? Nothing, except that negative drama is like a train wreck. People don't want to be in one, but we sure as H--L will slow down or stop to look at one.

Also, if the NFL really wanted to clean up the sport they could simply expell any player who fights. It's all on tape. They could easily have a NFL rep watching for violence and order the refs to kick the people out. Shoot, if it was anyone else fighting like some of these athletes do, they would be arrested. Obviously the NFL doesn't take these extreme measures. Why? I would bet because it's all about the bottom dollar, and not what is best sports wise.

These are my two cents worth, but I'm not the only one to notice it.

[beyond the sea]

I'm not running a conspirousy flag up the pole, I'm just stating the obvious. --- In truth, you are stating what is only obvious to you.

The NFL is wise at marketing. --- nearly the best, right behind the PGA Tour.

They use both good and bad to promote their industry. --- They do, but they WILL NOT magnify a story about bad officiating! That will never happen. You are wrongamundo. ;-)

You wait tell next year. They'll be talking out of the side of their mouths about a rematch to "settle" the XL officiating score. --- Baloney, there will be no talk about "a rematch to "settle" the XL officiating score". That is just foolish. There is one thing the NFL hates as subject matter --- gambling/bad officiating.

Heck, I even read where part of the Super Bowl pregame had an interview with the Oakland guy that paralyzed that other guy. Why? What did that have to do with Seattle and Pittsburgh? -- that was puzzling, but again, that story wasn't about the NFL magnifying the idea of poor officiating in the NFL. That will never happen.

Also, if the NFL really wanted to clean up the sport they could simply expel any player who fights. It's all on tape. They could easily have a NFL rep watching for violence and order the refs to kick the people out. Shoot, if it was anyone else fighting like some of these athletes do, they would be arrested. ---- fighting and violence are NOT the same as the idea of bad officiating. The NFL will NOT direct light to that.

These are my two cents worth --- We're agreed on that...... two cents worth.

;-)

[ScubieNuc]

I'll agree my rants are across the board.

I should differentiate between the NFL and the sports media. While I believe that they feed off of one another, they are two different animals.

It will be the sports media that keep the XL officiating story alive.

The NFL could cut down on alot of the "gansta" image the sport is developing into, but it doesn't. I believe that is because of the "train wreck affect." Your right, that doesn't have anything to do with officiating, but it does point to the fact that the NFL will use negative things to its benefit.

Ok, now maybe it's three cents worth.

[mainepatsfan]

The draft can't come soon enough.

[airborne]

Good morning!

Are we still Super Bowl Champs?(snicker)

[beyond the sea]

LOL.

The guy on post # 225 seems to think so.

;-)

[beyond the sea]

Take your tainted title and accept that the majority of fans think the refs sucked in this game.

LOL.

There are a number of polls today that say the majority of Americans think the economy is bad. It's not, quite to the contrary.

Face it, many Superbowl viewers/fans, and people in general are just plain uninformed, disinformed or just plain stupid on whichever, rules or facts.

Go figure.

Heck, there are a lot of fools who still believe Dan Rather and Mary Mapes.

;-)

[E Rocc]

I'll vouch for Mike being a Browns fan that hates the Stealers.

But I can understand why the 'Hawks fans are making an uproar. Losing a game because of biased officiating has always been a pet peeve of mine. I suspect this is because I played in the old Greater Cleveland Conference, where the Lake County referees were notorious for their bias. There is absolutely nothing worse, IMO, than losing a game, or even a chance to win a game, because of poor officiating. Especially when it crosses the line between poor and biased.

There's also something constructive about all this. There is absolutely no reason why a league that has half a billion dollar franchises and eight figure player contracts should be using part-time officials.

-Eric

[Ditto]

Heck, I even read where part of the Super Bowl pregame had an interview with the Oakland guy that paralyzed that other guy. Why?

I thought it was a good interview and have wondered how Darryl Stingley (of the Patriots) was doing. I hadn't heard anything about him for years. I don't see how that is "stirring" anything up or adding the the marketing swirl. More the opposite if anything --- reminding people that really bad things have happened on the field.

[SengirV]

Typical, Seattle apologists grasping for any reason other than their team's own poor performance for their loss.

First, it was a "bum" call, definitely not offensive PI.

Now, it's offsetting penalties, because "the DB pushed off too"?!?

Perhaps your glaring inconsistency is because you realize just how blantantly wrong you were to begin with.

[trubluolyguy]

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday people still want to bash the Steelers and say that their win was illegitimate.

---

Hey, any landing you can walk away from right?

[Carling]

Perhaps you should read further in the thread a bit more and be a bit less defensive about the Lombardi that Pittsburgh won.

Unfortunately, many objective fans such as myself realize that the calls were blatantly one-sided. This didn't cause the SteAlers to win, but it certainly didn't make for the close game that we all could (and should) have witnessed.