First half thoughts

Very disappointing performance by the officiating crew and it's impacting the game.

The offensive pass interference call cost Seattle 4 points. Terrible call.

Roethlisberger should have been called short of the goal on the field, and the replay would have upheld the call. The ref showed complete lack of cojones in not overruling the call. I know the business about "incontrovertible evidence", but this is a case where judgment should have come into play: it would serve the interest of fair play to give the Steelers 4th and an inch from the goal line and let them earn the TD rather than give it to them on a ticky-tacky call.

The receiver on Seattle caught the ball, turned upfield, then fumbled. The only saving grace on that blown call was that the field position, assuming a Steeler recovery, would not have been much different from where it was after the punt.

There have been a multitude of iffy calls that have ticked me off. This is the Super Bowl and they have a Division III officiating crew. Very bad.

Now, as to the game itself:

This one has a bad scent of last year, with the Seahawks taking the place of the Eagles. They outplayed the Steelers in the first half, but like the Eagles last year, the scoreboard doesn't show that. Also, the Seahawks use of the clock at the end of the half was as frustrating as the Eagles 4th quarter molasses drive in Jacksonville when they needed to be moving quickly. Bill Walsh didn't have this problem, but two of his disciples in consecutive SBs have shown horrible clock management, costing the Eagles a chance at tying the game, and the Seahawks a chance at adding 3 to their score.

One other thought: I had visions of Archie Reese as the Steelers lined up for their 3rd-and-goal - Archie did his thing in Detroit, remember.

And a random note: in the video intros that the players do, Joe Jurivicius did not name Penn State, but instead went with his high school alma mater: Lake Catholic HS, which is located around the corner from my in-laws in Mentor (check out the home page, where they have a photo tribute to JJ). How does this guy, a premier possession receiver, move from team to team? Obviously, the Eagles have no use for a sure-handed receiver like him.