Super Bowl????
What an awful Super Bowl! The game sucked which is not uncommon. There have been many games where the result is determined by the third period and the actual play of the teams has been below par. BUT normally the entertainment value is still high due to great commercials, enthusiastic players/fans/commentators etc. This game reminded me of a bad sunday night game during the season. You know, when NFL is still on at night during prime time and you feel obligated to watch. Seriously, what will you remember from Super Bowl XL? Anyone, anyone, Buehler?....It was an awful game where a receiver threw to another receiver and a running back ran 76 yars unabated to give the Steelers an easy win. In the words of my buddy Ryan...Is there any doubt that the Colts on their "A" game wouldn't have beaten both teams by at least 45 points? Of course not.
Major Disappointment...though that one commercial with the monkeys was funny.
Major Disappointment...though that one commercial with the monkeys was funny.
posted by Eric at 10:15 p.m.
2 Comments:
I'm not a huge Hawks fan. Although I'm from Seattle, I helped build a very small anti-Shaun Alexander bandwagon, and I was as surprised as most East Coast sports fans that Seattle made it to the Super Bowl.
I'm also not a huge "the refs cost us the game" kind of guy. I rarely if ever rail against refs. At games, on televison or wherever else, I generally identify with those people who say You Have To Win No Matter The Calls. I absolutely do not believe that The League ever tells refs who the winner should be.
That said, the referees screwed Seattle. I think they did it by accident, but they did take away Seattle touchdowns, 1st and Goal at the 1 yard lines, and any hope Seattle had. The Hawks were jobbed.
I don't know if I've ever watched a game where I've felt more frustrated. Forgetting that there wasn't enough evidence to overturn Big Ben's first half TD dive, why did the ref take seven steps (thanks, Tivo) with his hand up, signaling fourth down before calling it a TD? What was that? Almost every challenge in the game featured a call that, on the field, went Pittsburgh's way. At no point was Pittsburgh depending on overwhelming evidence to keep from being hosed.
Watching the game, I could have kissed John Madden and Al Michaels. They seemed to be all over it: They questioned the offensive pass interference, the multiple sketchy holding calls, and the blatant horse collar that stopped Alexander short (which was immediately on the heels of a brutal holding call, and which forced Hasselbeck into 3rd and 18, when he threw his only INT of the game).
Seattle didn't play great, but Seattle played better than Pittsburgh. From Michael Smith, espn.com: 'Consider: 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."
On the season, Seattle was penalized the second fewest in the NFL. We also led the league in Red Zone TD conversion percentage. The refs took those two advantages away from us in brutal fashion.
Ugh. What could we do? We didn't have big plays, but we never needed them. All game long, we moved the ball as we pleased.
I don't feel like the refs had been told to let Pittsburgh win. I don't even believe the refs wanted Pittsburgh to win. But I do believe that, had the game been officiated fairly, Seattle would be champions.
Here's solace for the disappointed Seattlities...
Right now, espn.com's Sports Nation poll question is: "Do you think officiating mistakes affected the outcome of Super Bowl XL?"
Yes: 61%
No: 39%
Only Pennsylvania and West Virigina say No consistently. Every other state, and the rest of the world says Yes.
(As they should).
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