Posted on 02/07/2006 4:55:05 PM PST by bikepacker67
GOT SCREWED, USA -- Complaining about officiating is a time-honored sports tradition. It's much easier to believe your team got screwed than it got whupped because anger is more manageable than sadness.
It's sour grapes, plain and simple.
But, America, please forgive Seahawks fans if they sound a little bitter and paranoid after the rest of the country got its sweet, little fairy tale with Jerome Bettis winning Super Bowl XL in his hometown of Detroit.
It just seems a bit too tidy, considering how things went down.
Here's the rub: No intelligent person, and that includes Pittsburgh fans, watched the Steelers 21-10 "victory" and believed it was well-officiated. Period.
And every -- EVERY -- call went against the Seahawks.
Seahawks fans promise to stop being paranoid just as soon as the NFL proves it isn't out to get them.
The Seahawks, who were tied for second-fewest penalties in the NFL this year, were flagged seven times for 70 yards. Three were critical. Two were dubious. Another flag was so stupid the official explanation didn't actually make any sense.
As for head linesman Mark Hittner's oh-what-the-hell delayed touchdown call on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's 1-yard touchdown dive? Think the officials want that tape taken to the FBI crime lab?
The Steelers, who were tied for sixth-fewest penalties this year, suffered just three horrible hankies for 20 yards. Two were false starts on their first possession. The third was offensive pass interference on rookie tight end Heath Miller deep in Seattle territory in the second quarter. That call will inspire no wringing of hands, even from Miller.
Thereafter, apparently, the Steelers felt guilty and decided not to break the rules for the next 35 minutes. Jerome probably wanted it that way.
Apoplectic Seahawks fans are not alone. ESPN.com's Michael Smith pointed this out Monday in a story ripping the officials: "The Seahawks lost 161 yards to penalties when you combine the penalty yards (70) and the plays the flags wiped out (91). By halftime alone, when it trailed 7-3, Seattle had had 73 hard-earned yards and a touchdown eliminated."
Let's rewind.
Matt Hasselbeck hits Darrell Jackson for a 16-yard touchdown pass for a 7-zip lead?
Nope. The incidental contact that occurs on nearly every NFL passing play was, actually, offensive interference -- at least the officials decided so after safety Chris Hope stomped and huffed and demanded a flag, perhaps insisting that Jerome wanted it that way.
Beleaguered tight end Jerramy Stevens makes a spectacular catch inside the Steelers 2-yard line setting up what surely would have been a Shaun Alexander touchdown run and 17-14 Seahawks lead early in the fourth quarter?
Nope. Seems that offensive tackle Sean Locklear's incidental hooking (which occurs on nearly every NFL play from scrimmage) on his block of Clark Haggans (who was offside) was too dastardly to ignore.
Maybe the officials were calling the game tightly.
Nope. Only two plays later, Steelers linebacker Joey Porter used an illegal "horse collar" tackle on Alexander, and the officials decided to let it slide, even though that would have transformed a third-and-18 on the Steelers 34 to a first down on their 19.
"Penalties, as much as anything, were the story of the game," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "That's unfortunate. And that might be the first time I've said that in my life."
Here's the comic relief.
After the no-call on the horse collar, Hasselbeck tossed a critical interception to cornerback Ike Taylor. Hasselbeck then, apparently, forgot which team he plays for and tried to throw a block in order to spring Taylor. Only he threw a "low block," according to the game's official book.
So not only does he toss a pick and then try to block for an opposing player, but he also gets called for a 15-yard penalty.
Most folks would figure that Hasselbeck was trying to TACKLE Taylor. Seeing Hasselbeck is a quarterback lacking tackling skills, he went low. But the officials decided it was a block. Only Hasselbeck was credited with a tackle on the play.
(The official explanation is he went low on a guy trying to block him, which is against the rules on a change of possession. But the fact that he made the tackle erases, at least for a reasonable person, his potential motivation based on the result. It was a tackle.)
Like we said: Stupid.
Steelers fans should be angry, too. For one, they know how this feels, see their playoff game vs. Indianapolis, when they were the interlopers ruining the heartwarming tale.
Moreover, the execrable officiating cheapens their championship because it's what folks are talking about now, not the glory of Bettis.
Is all this an accusation -- J'Accuse! -- like Porter's ranting about the terrible officiating in the Indianapolis game?
Yes. No. Who knows?
It's just too bad -- for everyone -- that the officials made sure Super Bowl XL wasn't "Extra Large," as the joke went, but "Extremely Lame."
When I go on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" will you be my SPORTS info telephone call. (Poll the crowd, remove half the choices, CALL A FRIEND!)
Time reveals the Referees were from seven (7) different officiating crews. Time reveals the main subject of SB XL was the sub-standard officiating.
Time for full-time officials.
Too bad you haven't been watching the NFL long enough to know the rules.
But that has been the trend for all the whiners and crybabes. There was one true bad call -- the Hassleback supposed illegal tackle. But the way the Steelers were playing, I doubt the 15 yards made any difference.
I heard that BigBen said on Letterman (Leno?) last night that he didn't think he scored.
Even HE didn't like the officiating.
There were two bad calls in the Colts/Steelers game. There was the catch/fumble/recovery that was called incomplete but was called obviously wrong even after instant replay. That was the problem, the ref and the audience at home were watching the same footage and he still got it wrong. There was also the metaphysical impossibility: the Colts' D line running into the Steelers' O line with nary a penalty called.
I saw the Seattle rally ... I don't know how, but I missed a few parts of Holmgren's speech? He blamed a lot of people ... he just didn't acknowledge his part in not providing the Seahawk players with the needed tools to be successful.
#1 his apologies for such poor planning and missing standard Pittsburgh gimmick play were missing?
#2 his lack of planning on running a basic two minute drill with clock management was missing?
#3 Seattle's inability to move a FG kicker into better field position through short yardage play calls was missed>
#4 Why would a defense provide the Steelers an eight man front with shooting gaps knowing the only RB in the game has 4.3 forty yard speed? That resulted in a 75 yard touchdown run by Parker.
#5 Seattle failed to consistently exploit the corner-man coverage after the 1st quarter
#6 No one corrected the miserable punting game to emphasize field position and not strictly endzone kicks.
#7 Why didn't Seattle move the offensive waggle plays AWAY from a struggling and obivously nervous TE (Stevens)
#8 Why didn't Seattle run the NFL MVP behind a future Hall of Fame lineman all night long??? Why didn't they try?
Why didn't Mike Holmgren tell Matt Hasslebeck that his commercial sting with Rogaine was a failure?!?!
They just showed him admitting it on the Letterman show last night.
I have no affiliation to Seattle. Anyone who thinks those were good calls never played football, likes Pittsburgh, or had money on Pittsburgh. The only people defending the NFL are yes men whose careers depend on the ignorant masses believing that professional sports are legitimate. The Super Bowl was an embarassment. Not one person has actually said the calls were right. They just throw out red herrings about Seattle failing to capitalize. It is difficult to capitalize when the game is fixed by the refs.
The calls were close enough not to make a huge deal about it. But the calls did go mostly against Seatle, but that's part of the game.
Do you know the answer to my clip/tackle question. IIRC, Hasselback committed a clip and a tackle on the same play. Does that result in a penalty by rule?
There will be one basic measure by which to assess the officiating. If one or more of these officials are fired before next season, then you've good a very good indication that the calls were downright miserable.
Should be repeated.
LOL
yes I have some questions about that call as well....as well as the holding call before that (when they got down to the 1 yard line).
But the calls the Seattle fans are screaming about were either A) textbook or B) inconclusive upon review.
There's nothing to be done.
Seattle fan needs to start worrying about signing Shaun Alexander. The rumblings already are that he doesn't want anything to do with them now unless they pay him bigtime. Seattle doesn't want to do that because at his age (29) he's almost out of time.
LOL
works for me :)
You haven't been paying attention.
So is the era when Alberta's Child wastes one Sunday evening every year watching increasingly mediocre Super Bowl games. You're absolutely right.
I honestly thought that the supposed clipping occured because he was going for the tackle and the Pittsburgh guy without the ball kinda ran into him.
Generally that doesn't get called on a play like that. I have seen it before, but honestly I didn't think it was right at the time.
I thought I was the only one who noticed?
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