NFL lays an egg...

[Larry Gude]

...too much referees.

That's what this game will be remembered for; Pizz poor job, refs. Pre-season ticky tack calls on the grandest stage of the year.

Congrats Steelers.

Better luck next time Seahawks. Next time, BYOR; Bring your own refs.

Get a clue, NFL. The refs sucked the life out of this game AND you put a bunch of cadavers from the UK up on stage at half time...in Detroit. Motown.

Perhaps the goal is to get everyone to change channels during the game and just flip back for the commercials?

Bad show.

 

[BuddyLee]

...too much referees.

That's what this game will be remembered for; Pizz poor job, refs. Pre-season ticky tack calls on the grandest stage of the year.

Congrats Steelers.

Better luck next time Seahawks. Next time, BYOR; Bring your own refs.

Get a clue, NFL. The refs sucked the life out of this game AND you put a bunch of cadavers from the UK up on stage at half time...in Detroit. Motown.

Perhaps the goal is to get everyone to change channels during the game and just flip back for the commercials?

Bad show.

Is it me or has this been the worst year of reffin'?

 

[Pete]

...too much referees.

That's what this game will be remembered for; Pizz poor job, refs. Pre-season ticky tack calls on the grandest stage of the year.

Congrats Steelers.

Better luck next time Seahawks. Next time, BYOR; Bring your own refs.

Get a clue, NFL. The refs sucked the life out of this game AND you put a bunch of cadavers from the UK up on stage at half time...in Detroit. Motown.

Perhaps the goal is to get everyone to change channels during the game and just flip back for the commercials?

Bad show.

I am not a fan of either team, I was hoping for Seattle to win it because everyone had giftwrapped it for the Steelers.

I have to say my Superbowl experience really sucked, officials, half time show,comercials, basically everything.

 

[Larry Gude]

I dunno...

Is it me or has this been the worst year of reffin'?

We'll get FromTexas to run some stats.

All I know is if it's the Superbowl and I'm in charge we MAKE sure, damn sure, to have a review with the Zebras;

Repeat after me: If it ain't blatant, the yellow thing stays in the pocket and your face stays off the TV. No one is paying to see you. The game, THE GAME, THE GAME.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[Bustem' Down]

We'll get FromTexas to run some stats.

All I know is if it's the Superbowl and I'm in charge we MAKE sure, damn sure, to have a review with the Zebras;

Repeat after me: If it ain't blatant, the yellow thing stays in the pocket and your face stays off the TV. No one is paying to see you. The game, THE GAME, THE GAME.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I think that instant replay may be one of the culprits. Some of the calls made I think were made simply because of instant replay.

Let's take Big Ben's touchdown for example. From the angles I saw, I believe the ball broke the plane. The ref hesitated on the call though. If he hadn't ruled it a touchdown, it wouldn't have been reviewable. Instant replay in my opinion is causing refs to make replayable calls to cover thier butts which slows the gameplay.

 

[dems4me]

...too much referees.

That's what this game will be remembered for; Pizz poor job, refs. Pre-season ticky tack calls on the grandest stage of the year.

Congrats Steelers.

Better luck next time Seahawks. Next time, BYOR; Bring your own refs.

Get a clue, NFL. The refs sucked the life out of this game AND you put a bunch of cadavers from the UK up on stage at half time...in Detroit. Motown.

Perhaps the goal is to get everyone to change channels during the game and just flip back for the commercials?

Bad show.

I agree the officiating was TERRIBLE... it made a mockery out of the entire national football league on the biggest game of the year and in front of millions of viewers. Just absolute BS.

 

[CableChick]

I am not a fan of either team, I was hoping for Seattle to win it because everyone had giftwrapped it for the Steelers.

I have to say my Superbowl experience really sucked, officials, half time show,comercials, basically everything.

 

[donbarzini]

Is it me or has this been the worst year of reffin'?

It was NOT you!!!

And what killed me was how much Michaels and Madden talked this crew up during the pre-game.

Of course, Madden didn't help much, contradicting the refs on two holding calls against Seattle that they got right:

1st was on the punt return. The replay showed the player(#35) trying to block Pitt's "gunner" at the line of scrimmage, and Madden says that HE didn't see holding there. Uh John, the flag was thrown during the runback on the opposite side of the "picket fence" you blathered about. The player knew he was guilty, 'cause as soon the flag was thrown he just dropped his head and walked off the field.

2nd call was on 'hawks right tackle(#75?). Madden said he didn't see holding on that play. I watched the same replay and clearly saw the tackle reach up with his left hand and grab the collar of the LB's shirt and pull him staright to the ground. John, a tackle is a hold. You need to take your bus to Canton, make your acceptance speech and then fade to black. Thanks for the memories.

 

[Larry Gude]

Bust...

I think that instant replay may be one of the culprits. Some of the calls made I think were made simply because of instant replay.

Let's take Big Ben's touchdown for example. From the angles I saw, I believe the ball broke the plane. The ref hesitated on the call though. If he hadn't ruled it a touchdown, it wouldn't have been reviewable. Instant replay in my opinion is causing refs to make replayable calls to cover thier butts which slows the gameplay.

Well, actually in defense of the Zebs, replay actually, the review of Ben did not show, conclusively, that he did not score. It was like the Alstott TD against us earlier in the season; he probably did not score but the rule says it must be conclusive to overturn.

And, like the Alstott call, the real mistake was in the initial call. Last night, the ref was pointing to a spot and making the call that he was down and then changed his mind right away. The last thing you want in a ref is uncertainty.

I can live with that one because I think they punch it in on fourth and an inch.

The game ruiners were the first Seahawk TD; The push off by Jackson gained him NO advantage. His man was already flatfooted and the push was nothing.

They make a field goal put it cost them 4 points.

Then, we get no replay of Ranadel El's ugly punt return where he threw his body forward and got folded up like an omelette. Did he fumble? Would have loved to see.

Next up is the hold called on Seattle in the middle of the fourth when the game could still be saved, the pass down to the 2 yard line. They called a hold on Seattles right guard in the first half negating a big play but the guy had a pretty good arm around his man and didn't let it go, so, like I said in the first post; only call the clear ones and that one was.

The 4th quarter one, however, was on Seattles right tackle and the guy BARELY had an arm around his man which was simply how they came together in initial contact and he INSTANTLY let him go, causing no advantage for Seattle and not impeding the Steeler at all.

BIG play.

Finally, the call against Hassellback for an illegal block on the INT return. I have no idea what they were looking at especially because it was not only clear Matt was trying to tackle the guy; he DID tackle the guy and there is no rule for 'illegal block' when making a tackle.

So, what we lost was the opportunity for a real challenge to Pittsburgh early and a chance to enjoy a tight game late.

Seattle played their part in inept handling of the clock at the end of both halves and Jeremy Stephens dropped what, 4 good passes, so, they make no claim to being the better team, they weren't.

Having said that, they still could have won and the game was not decided on the field.

We was robbed.

 

[donbarzini]

Finally, the call against Hassellback for an illegal block on the INT return. I have no idea what they were looking at especially because it was not only clear Matt was trying to tackle the guy; he DID tackle the guy and there is no rule for 'illegal block' when making a tackle.

Actually Larry, there is a rule about what Hasselbeck did. It is generally used during kick-off/punt returns. No player on the kicking team is allowed to hit a blocker for the return team below the knees. It was instituted to protect players in the "wedge". Prior to the rule you would have players screaming down the field and throwing themselves at the wedge

 

[Larry Gude]

Yes...

Actually Larry, there is a rule about what Hasselbeck did. It is generally used during kick-off/punt returns. No player on the kicking team is allowed to hit a blocker for the return team below the knees. It was instituted to protect players in the "wedge". Prior to the rule you would have players screaming down the field and throwing themselves at the wedge

...that's correct except for the small, inconvenient fact that Hassellback MISSED the guy without the ball and hit the guy with the ball.

When we start penalizing for what was meant, reading of minds, instead of what happens, I'm done.

The rule was mis-applied in my view.

 

[Bruzilla]

I must say that I find it amazing that I'm reading all of this righteous indignation coming from those who were in the peanut gallery, but saw little or no even mild indignation coming from the Seahawks or their coaches! I've seen Big Mike get the wrong end of a bad call and go ballistic, but he wasn't too upset last night. And for all these bad calls, when did you see the players getting up and pleading their cases? They headed off to the sidelines or the huddle instead.

Sorry Arm Chair Football Heroes, but the officiating was pretty good.

 

[Ken King]

I think that the Hasselback call was for using his lower torso to make a tackle attempt, ala tripping. Called it wrong but got it right.

The pass interference in the end zone negating the early Seahawk TD was clearly interference with the push off, but there was illegal contact just before it that went uncalled.

Holding calls will be holding calls, one of the stripers will see something that none of us will ever notice or see.

What I noticed about the Seahawks was their p!ss-poor clock management and getting away from what was working early on. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.

 

[donbarzini]

I must say that I find it amazing that I'm reading all of this righteous indignation coming from those who were in the peanut gallery, but saw little or no even mild indignation coming from the Seahawks or their coaches! I've seen Big Mike get the wrong end of a bad call and go ballistic, but he wasn't too upset last night. And for all these bad calls, when did you see the players getting up and pleading their cases? They headed off to the sidelines or the huddle instead.

Sorry Arm Chair Football Heroes, but the officiating was pretty good.

Did you see Holmgren's reaction after the ref said the TD "stands as called on the field."? I lost count of how many times he said: And you must not have seen Suzy Kolber chasing Holmgren off the field at the end of the 1st half. I thought he was going to have a stroke yelling at the ref. He was so mad that when Kolber actually got to ask him a question about poor clock management at the end of the half, his answer was "the people "upstairs" told me that he(Ben) didn't cross the line but they're saying he did.". Not even close to the question she asked.

 

[Bruzilla]

Yeah, but he wasn't complaining about any of the calls against his team.

I think what upset folks about the Roethlisberger call was that the ball was well away from the line when it rolled out from under him at the end of it. But it sure looked to me like the front third of the ball was over the line right as the Seahawk defenseman put the hit on Roethlisberger and pushed him back.

 

[Ponytail]

Yeah, but he wasn't complaining about any of the calls against his team.

I think what upset folks about the Roethlisberger call was that the ball was well away from the line when it rolled out from under him at the end of it. But it sure looked to me like the front third of the ball was over the line right as the Seahawk defenseman put the hit on Roethlisberger and pushed him back.

You would think that with Holmgrens experience, he would easily be able to move away from that with the very simple thought of "maybe the refs DID see something that the guys upstairs didn't, or could it be possible that someone upstairs was WRONG about what he saw?

I saw the same thing though. The ball did cross the plane. Where our illustrious announcers screwed the pooch on that one, is shortly after saying that the ball only has to BREAK the plane, Madden incorrectly stated that "it depends on where the ball is in reference to the goal plane when Rothlesbergers elbow touches the ground." Which orifice did he yank that from?

You could clearly see the front 1/3 of the ball broke the front of the goal line plane, and that's all that is needed for a TD.

This game pretty muched sucked. Refs killed any chance at a run of excitement. Neither team was able to get any kind of momentum going. And even the crowd was relatively quiet. I don't recall them being a factor in this, and I even tried to pay attention to it several times to see if the noise was a factor for play calling. It just seemed to be almost a non-event.

Definitely one of the most non-exciting games that I have ever seen for a SuperBowl matchup.

 

[Bruzilla]

If you thought the game wasn't exciting you weren't where I was last night! We were bringing the roof down with excitement. How could you not get excited about the Randle El - Ward pass??? I would have been happier if the Steelers defense had been playing as well as the offense, instead of watching the Seahawks receivers turn into a bunch of Plexico Burresses... but that's life.

The only part of the game I hated was the interception that led to the Seahawks's touchdown. I thought that even if we would have gotten a field goal there the Seahawks would have been through early. Instead I had to worry for another two quarters.

 

[Ponytail]

If you thought the game wasn't exciting you weren't where I was last night!

Where I was, the kids out numbered the adults, in a house that normally has NO kids. Bowl game, bored kids, no adults really cared one way or the other who won the game... I had more fun keeping the kids occupied (and aggrivating the shiat out of the other adults ) than I did watching the game.

 

[Larry Gude]

No, no it wasn't...

I must say that I find it amazing that I'm reading all of this righteous indignation coming from those who were in the peanut gallery, but saw little or no even mild indignation coming from the Seahawks or their coaches! I've seen Big Mike get the wrong end of a bad call and go ballistic, but he wasn't too upset last night. And for all these bad calls, when did you see the players getting up and pleading their cases? They headed off to the sidelines or the huddle instead.

Sorry Arm Chair Football Heroes, but the officiating was pretty good.

...and I was pulling for the Steelers.

The officials had bad game.

 

[mrweb]

...and I was pulling for the Steelers.

The officials had bad game.

And so did Seattle and Pittsburgh, however, in the end, five years from now all that will be remembered is that the Steelers won and the other team (if anyone will even remember who came in second) had a worse game. All the other arm-chair-belly-aching-the officials robbed us stuff will be long forgotten. Good and bad officiating is part of the game, like it or not. Ben may not have crossed the goal line, however they had one more play to do so. Game breaker, I think not. Illegal block by Hasselbeck I think not but still, not a game breaker...and a push off is a push off, regardless of the degree with which some advantage is gained. It didn't cause the resulting interception, poor pass execution did.

It is what it is, a win for the Steelers.