One for the Thumb
Hallelujah!
Kind of a sloppy game, but the Steelers were able to hold a potentially explosive Seattle team to just 10 points.
Phew!!!! Excuse me while I go over to CVS not for Prozac, but instead several crates of tissues.
* sniff *
posted by Mikey at 11:13 PM
10 Comments:
Save some of the tissues for Holmgren. What a crybaby!
Go Stillers!
ysgmkqmd
Sorry, I had to delete a comment from what a presume was a bitter New England Patriots fan. I'd keep it around, only their opinions are just so uninformed as to sound, well, simpleminded.
What a waste of space and my time.
ycnqxkw
Mike,
I find it very telling that you automatically delete all comments that disagree with your point of view. It is your blog, so you of course have the right to delete anything you want. However, you should be open to other's opinions, even those that you find disagreeable. And dismissing those comments out of hand as simpleminded, well, I'd have to say is simpleminded of you. I'd say the majority of people who watched that game who were not Steelers fans would agree that it was probably the worst officiated Super Bowl in recent memory. Granted, Seattle played horribly, and didn't deserve to win. But that doesn't change the fact that the refs were totally biased towards the Steelers. I'm very happy for Cowher, Bettis, and Big Ben, but I'm just pointing out that the game was awful, and if they played that way against a well coached team they most likely would have lost.
Hope you take the time to read this before you delete it out of hand for not agreeing with your point of view............
Mike, was "Fucker" really your verification code?
Cool.
qisfcs
Wowey zowey Mike. I have to admit, the anonymous postings are from me. I'm secretly a football superfan, but I have to disguise my lowbrow pursuits to keep my D&D-club cred at a maximum. Sorry to have tweaked you brother. I didn't realize you were such a hard-at-the-ball player.
Ciao,
K. (a.k.a. The Fucker)
mfityqqg
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!
Kinjo just punk'd me!!!! You're the Master.
Mike, was "Fucker" really your verification code?
I know - fate works in mysterious ways :)
qdkykdo
BWA HA HA HA HA, Mission Accomplished! Mike, if I'm the Emperor, you're Annakin Skywalker. You just completely blew all hope of remaining on the light side of the force. And all I had to do was poke fun at your favorite football team!
One more point, by the way. As for the "rules", here's the thing about NFL games. If refs called every single thing that is considered a "penalty" in the nfl, each game would last about 12 hours, because a minor penalty is committed by someone on almost every play. So refs usually only call major infractions, or in simple terms, those that potentially give the person committing them an advantage. When, in the course of the biggest game of the year, the refs call several "penalties" of the minor variety, which do not give the player committing the penalty any advantage whatsoever, and every single one of these "penalties" is against one team, that is horrible officiating. So don't spout that crap about "show me the rules, and document how they were wrong each time".
By the way, as for the majority opinion, this is from espn.com:
1) What grade would you give referee Bill Leavy's officiating crew for Super Bowl XL?
48.1% F
25.9% D
14.2% C
9.3% B
2.6% A
2) How do you rate the overall state of officiating in the NFL?
33.6% Bad
33.5% Average
19.6% Good
11.1% Abysmal
2.2% Excellent
3) Did the officiating in Sunday's game unfairly favor one team?
75.3% Unfairly favored the Steelers
18.0% The right calls were made
6.7% Unfairly favored the Seahawks
4) Which played the biggest role in determining the outcome of the game?
54.5% Officials missing calls
28.7% Seahawks not making plays
16.8% Steelers making plays
5) Do you think the official made the right call on Darrell Jackson's offensive pass interference in the endzone, negating a Seattle touchdown in the first quarter?
70.2% No
24.3% Yes
5.5% I'm not sure
6) Do you think the football broke the plane of the goal line on Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown run in the second quarter?
57.2% No
28.7% Yes
14.1% I'm not sure
7) Do you think the official made the right call on Sean Locklear's holding penalty in the fourth quarter, negating an 18-yard reception to the one-yard line by Jerramy Stevens?
70.7% No
18.9% Yes
10.4% I'm not sure
8) Do you feel that you understand what constitutes a ''football move'' on plays involving potential fumbles?
66.7% Yes
33.3% No
9) How much would creating full-time officiating positions, instead of the current part-time positions, help improve the quality of NFL officiating?
44.0% A little
43.5% A lot
12.5% Not at all
10) Which major sport has the best officials?
43.7% MLB
24.9% NHL
19.5% NBA
11.9% NFL
Total Votes: 172,851
Here in Seahawks territory, people who I didn't know were Hawks fans are acting like I ran over their dog. On Sunday night a frustrated Hawks fan at the STEELER BAR that I go to accused me of being, and I quote, "a fucking bandwagon fan." This time, I DID tell him that I've been a Steelers fan for longer than the Seahawks have been in existence. Then he accused me of lying about my age.
Everyone keeps saying these calls affect a team's momentum and morale. I don't buy it. Both teams are prepared to grind it out for 60 minutes in a close game. They wouldn't have made it this far otherwise. Hypothetically speaking, if Seattle kept its touchdown, and Roethlisberger's touchdown is reversed, the Steelers either kick an easy field goal or go for it on fourth down. Say the score is 7-3, Seattle, at the end of the half. I don't think either team has momentum at that point. During the half, I was actually questioning Seattle's time management and decision to go for a long field goal, and hoping Pittsburgh does a better job of controlling the ball the second half.
All things being equal in the second half (I think the holding and cut block calls are perceived more as adding insult to injury than actually impacting the score, as in the first half), wtih one touchdown by Seattle and two by Pittsburgh, at best we end up with a 17-14 final score in favor of Pittsburgh.
I think anyone who watched the game, whatever their allegiance, felt frustrated with the mostly sub-par play by both teams. And a lot of people are frustrated by the failure to get into the end zone, by what seemed to be a statistically stronger Seattle offense.
Offensive stats are simply a measure of certain aspects of the game; they don't determine who the winner is. Kinda like how in baseball, you can get more runners on base than your opponent, but fail to score enough runs to win the game.
Both teams made mistakes and missed opportunities; the Steelers made the plays that mattered to the outcome of the game.
Anyone who still feels that the game was badly officiated, I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it; the officials' job is to make a timely decision on plays that could be called into question. Some of their decisions will be controversial. Go ahead -- embrace your outrage, your feeling of being disrespected.
Welcome to being a football fan.
uadya
Mike,
Chill, baby, chill. We're talking football here, and you're resorting to calling me pig, bitch, weakest link, etc. Get a hold of yourself. I have to believe that you're being facetious here, because I've never seen you get this worked up about anything before. The other explanation is, you know you're wrong, thus you're reacting emotionally instead of logically.
Oh, and is there any doubt the Pats would've absolutely DESTROYED the Steelers if they'd reached the AFC championship? Big Ben and his .2 QB rating would not have cut it in Foxborough.........
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