Your tears are delicious!
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."
Play the game even and Seattle won the game 24-21. Play it your way and mental disease is exposed!
I guess Seattle fans want to handle the Super Bowl the same way they handle elections.
I wish you Seattle fans would start serving some cheese with your WHINE.
You latte drinking wienies would have a better chance of winning the Brokeback Bowl.
The need to have a spritz and get on with their lives.
Your post is pathetic. Take a hint!
Not really. We had bad calls against Indy and still won.
You can bet one thing Petro... Forever this will be tainted to all but you ironheads.
Unfortunately, the Super Bowl isn't like a Washington election where you keep doing it over until you win. One for the thumb!
They stole 7 points from the Seahawks and gave the Steeler's a TD they didn't earn. But I'm fairly confident that with the ball on the 1 yard line, they Steeler's would have gotten the TD anyways. That's why I think it was about 10 points taken away (where I think the Seahawks could have made at least a try for a FG with the misc. penalties).
I should note that I was watching the game closely but took frequent smoke breaks so I might have missed another dubious call. But this is what I remember: 3 horrible calls (others are minor), where 2 affected scoring but one would have resulted in the Steeler's TD anyways.
Somehow Seattle isn't responsible for idiotic clock management or two missed field goals or atrocious punting or constantly kicking off through the endzone or dropped passes or just generally being outscored. What about converting 5 for 17 on third down? What about getting completely fooled by the gadget pass by Randle El? The missed tackles on Willie Parker?
Isn't Seattle responsible for anything?
Seattle fans need to get a life and step away from the "Selected, not Elected" rhetoric. All this counting of penalties and adding/subtracting scores sounds just like David Boies before the Florida Supreme Court. You're one step away from blaming the loss on instant-replay machines built by Diebold and scoreboards by Halliburton!
Disputed calls are one thing, but when I taped the program and took the time to review, pause an step-through frame by frame the ball spotting by the refs, they repeatedly, especially when it counted most, shorted Seattle and advantaged Pittsburg. The most obvious case was the one where Hasselback ran for what was clearly sufficient for a first down. When the refs moved (spotted) the ball, sure enough, you could see they moved it back about a foot at least from where it should have been so that it ended up short by 6 inches or so. A picture tells it all. Way beyond the perhaps arguable bad or missed calls, the "fix" was dialed in for Pittsburg from the start.
One thing these threads show well is the collective graciousness, class, and attitude of Pittsburgh fans.
There ain't much.
Have some cheese and crackers with your whine.
Sorry dude, you got punked by the NFL- the fix was on to pay Cowher back for 13 years of dragging the best talent in the league into oblivion. You were just the Washington Generals in this one. The Huskies will take the PAC 10 before the Seahawks are back in the Game. Forget the NFL- you can never beat the refs. I'm from Cleveland- we tried & they just banned beer bottles in the stadium.
Your tears are delicious!
you're wrong.
The rule states that when the QB slides FEET FIRST, the spot is where the slide BEGAN.
I know the play you are talking about. The Wife asked the same thing and she knows nothing about football.
I demand a recount! Call the Florida Supreme Court!
I REALLY didn't care WHO won this game...
Oh ha ha ha ha ah aha hahahaha hahahah!
Riiiiiight.
I saw the same thing too.
This was scripted, and all the Squeeler fans can post "crying baby" pictures all they want, but the fact remains that the rest of the league, and the rest of the fans will always look upon this "victory" as a farce.
20 years from now, NFL films will still talk about the ASTERISK.
And Joey Porter pissed and moaned like a girl, after winning the game, about the officials post-game.
If that game had lasted another five minutes, you'd have lost. After the Palumalu non-interception call, your team gave up a TD, fumbled on the two yard line, and had to pray a novena for a missed field goal to avoid overtime.
So much for handling missed calls well.
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