Epilogue Super Bowl XL

Paulie is spot-on with his analysis. Regarding the officiating (and I think I have mentioned this before), I am a bit suspicious, though I cannot fathom that the league would overtly want one team to win over another, and stated the Steelers must win. But covertly, perhaps, there might be subliminal messages sent to the refs about marketing and such (where the Steelers are far more potent than the Seahawks), though in the end I believe it comes more down to each individual ref. They are human, but they did err numerous times yesterday in favor of the Steelers to the point where it appeared almost blatant.

Sure, the Seahawks still had chances to overcome that misfortune, and didn't do it, and it wasn't the refs who didn't tackle Parker on that long run or cover Hines Ward on the option pass TD. Seattle has itself to blame for mismanaging the clock and, I believe in Holmgren's case, slightly overmanaging the game with his QB. But Big Ben's TD call was suspicious, because the ref seemed to change his mind, as he did when throwing the flag for pass interference on the Seahawks' first TD. And of course, that sequence in the 4th Q, with the bogus holding call, then the bogus call on Hasselbeck's tackle (which really set Steel up in primo position), changed the course of the game like few calls have in Super Bowl history.

Big Ben's TD might have been an offshoot of Tampa Bay's missed TD in the game vs. the Skins a few weeks ago. This ref decided to take the initiative and call a TD for Big Ben, with the knowledge that the replay would settle the close call. Only it didn't, and we were stuck with the original ruling. Replay is still imperfect.

Here here, too, for Paul's railing against the overhype, the halftime show, the blitz of commercials, etc. I, too, missed Janet J.'s halftime show two years ago, and we have watched the Puppy Bowl at halftime the last two years. In years past we watched several different things at halftime, including those claymation characters in boxing maches (Kathie Lee Gifford vs. Howard Stern, I think?).

Boo to the NFL for its overhype. They should simply let the Jackson State band entertain as it did last weekend at the Battle of the Bands at the Georgia Dome. Better entertainment, costs less, and everyone would be happy.

Revisiting where this one ranks in our Super Bowl list, I am still debating. Remember, there have been a lot of wretched Super Bowls, blowout games with little or no drama whatsoever that litter the bottom 10 of our list, so by default this one has to escape the bottom quartile. It was no Picasso, but I believe it was competitive enough and there were enough big plays to put it into the lower reaches of the top half. The memorable play factor might set it above Eagles-Patriots, and it was basically as close a game as last year's. I thought it a little better than our 19th rated game, Steelers-Vikings SB IX. Right now, I'd say it belongs in the neighborhood of last year's game, Steelers-Cowboys SB XXX, maybe Packers-Patriots SB XXXI, though Seahawks-Steelers had more drama than the latter. Still haven't reconciled how the poor officiating will impact things.

Paul's best point, however, regards the TD rule and replay. He is right, a different standard should apply to scoring plays. There should be definite evidence that the man scored. By that standard, Big Ben should have been ruled inches short, though in the current rulebook, it would have been hard for the refs to overturn.

I have watched this stuff long enough to not overreact all the time in regards to the refs, but I guarantee the stench in the aftermath of this one had the Seahawks, not Steelers, been beneficiaries of those calls, would have been overwhelming. I can imagine what the Eagle fans on the blog would have been saying were this a Philadelphia-Dallas game. with the Eagles in the role of Seattle!

Interesting recollection of yesterday's game was Madden reminding the TV audience that Seattle needed two scores when it embarked upon its final drive, and should go for a FG early and then go for the onsides kick, to give it enough time just in case it recovers the ball. Holmgren should have listened. It also recalls Madden doing just that in the 1975 AFC title game at Pittsburgh. Down 16-7 in the final seconds, Madden had Blanda kick a FG (and not a short one, either) to get within 16-10, then the Raiders actually recovered the onsides kick. And on the last play, the Snake hit Cliff Branch with a bomb down to the Pittsburgh 11, but the clock ran out. It almost worked for Madden that day, and it also helped the Raiders cover that pointspread (they were a 6 1/2-7 point underdog). And those were the last points scored by Blanda in his career.

Another reminder of how great the 1974 & '75 Steelers really were. They had to beat two of Oakland's best-ever teams in 1974 & '75 just to get to the Super Bowl.

Enough of the MSM and its characterizations of the teams and the cities, too! For some reason, Pittsburgh seemed to be the media darling of this Super Bowl, for reasons I cannot figure. I like Pittsburgh, too (hey, my dad is from Johnstown!), but the dominant storylines were heavily slanted Pittsburgh's way. Talk about overplaying stereotypes, about Seattle being isolated, etc! Sometimes you'd think Seattle was Nome, Alaska instead, reading this stuff prior to the game.

At least kudos are in order to Lake Catholic High for standing behind its man Joe Jurevicius. That some entity east of the Mississippi might have been cheering for the Seahawks is refreshing.

Bottom line is that these games should have a level playing field. In retrospect, for some reason, this Super Bowl didn't.