The silent majority..

[merc]

This issue is pretty easy.. regardless of the poll.

Part time employees who have other full time jobs are probably not nearly as good as full employees who are required to work at their ONLY job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, year round... AND are continually tested for their ability to do that job... impartially... and on a FULL TIME basis.

It is kinda like using a Redskins fan to make a part-time arbitrator decision on the best player from an opposing team in the Redskins own division....

We really DON't need ANY more freakin' fan-lawyers involved in determining the sporting event outcomes we love, IMO.

[MadScott]

So why exactly are people writing this off as such a boring super bowl?

The game stayed relatively close throughout. Seattle was moving the ball all day. We had big plays, we had trick plays, we had 180 degree momentum changes. I don't like either team, but I enjoyed this super bowl more than most I can remember.

Tough crowd I guess. No last second FG and everyone writes it off as a snooze-fest.

I disagree, there was the Willie Parker TD, and the Hines Ward TD from Randle-El. Both very exciting.

Apart from that it was crummy football. Dropped passes, missed tackles, and poor decision making by QBs. Plus penalties kept hindering Seattle's progress.

It was low-scoring but not a good defensive game. In its defence, it was a pretty close Superbowl, but I would rank it as the most boring since the Ravens-Giants. Oakland-TB was a blowout but there were tons of big plays. Even the Ravens-Giants game had the back-to-back KR TDs. And prior to that it was more boring to every SB I can remember (GB's win was when I first can recall).

How about Darrell Jackson catching a long TD and having it called back? Sure it's the call thing, but man you go from going nuts to cursing or vice versa. Same thing with the Seahawks INT, looks like Pitt is about to put it away and bam everyone is going nuts again and game on. Djax having two long passes just stepping out before the half, Roethisberger scrambling around on 3rd and 28 and then throwing across his body for a 40 yard pass down to the one.

Balti/NYG I didn't even watch the 4th quarter of, which I can't say for many super bowls, and I would've probably turned TB/Oak off as well if I didn't have money on the spread.

It was a low scoring game sure, but it wasn't just 3 and out and punts all day, teams were moving the ball, kicking long field goals, there were tons of suspensful moments, tons of jump for joy moments, and tons of punch the wall in anger moments.

Thanks for saying what I was thinking Bagel. This SB was ripe for the taking at any point and time. I think there were more huge momentum swings in this game (the INTs mainly) that I have seen in any recent SB. This shouldn't even be considered near the same poor game that was the Giants/Ravens SB.

Am I the only person(not wereing black&yellow) that thinks the refs made the proper call on that offensive pass interference? He used his arm to again seperation form the defender. Otherwise Hope (i think) is right in his grill on that catch. Sure it wasn't a major pushoff or anything, but he did something you are not able to do. Too many years in the NFL have the recievers gotten away with a lot of pushing and shoving. The reason this call is so blown out of proportion is because it was in the Super Bowl.

The officiating did seem to favor the Steelers, but the Seattle played a very poor game. The Steelers didn't do much better, but still were the better team Sunday.[/b]

It's probably not so much a matter of if it was technically right to call or not, it's that they made a call that most of the time in the regular season they don't make in the biggest game of the year. I would be really interested to see what percentage of plays occurred exactly like that during the regular season and even in the playoffs and what call, if any was made. Bottom line for me is you simply can't make that ticky-tack of a call in the SB.

[The Lung]

The entire Game Commentary forum was locked, methinks, because of this debate. I'm sure I'll be accused of being biased, but there's really no arguing with Holmgren's bone-headed time management at the end of the first half, Stevens' dropped passes, the Seattle punter who punted into the end zone for a touchback every single time, D. Jackson stepping out of bounds on the TD catch, and the Seattle defense that gave up a 75 yard touchdown run by Willie Parker and WR Randle-El throwing a TD pass to Hines Ward. They can say what they want about the referees, but in the end, the team only has itself to blame for the loss.

[Warhawk]

I thought it was locked because there are no more games to comment on.

[Free Bagel]

The entire Game Commentary forum was locked, methinks, because of this debate. I'm sure I'll be accused of being biased, but there's really no arguing with Holmgren's bone-headed time management at the end of the first half, Stevens' dropped passes, the Seattle punter who punted into the end zone for a touchback every single time, D. Jackson stepping out of bounds on the TD catch, and the Seattle defense that gave up a 75 yard touchdown run by Willie Parker and WR Randle-El throwing a TD pass to Hines Ward. They can say what they want about the referees, but in the end, the team only has itself to blame for the loss.

Honestly, I hate it when people say this kind of stuff. That is applicable to ANY game EVER. You can always list off stuff that they should have done and place the blame on that, but both teams are going to have that stuff, and when the officiating is the difference you don't just pretend it didn't happen because they screwed up somewhere else, because in a 60 minute football game no one is going to be 100% perfect 100% of the time, it's just not feasible.

Sorry again to all you Steeler fans for this fiasco stealing your joy. I know you'd rather this not be an issue. Whatever happened yesterday with the refs, well... they robbed you, too. Sucks for you that this is even a topic, but it is a topic and should remain a topic until somebody somewhere figures out, "WTF was that all about!"

I guess Steeler fans just need to decide whether they would rather have a Super Bowl championship with doubt and discussion about the refs that no one will remember 10 years from now, or if they would have rather not gotten the calls and probably not be Super Bowl champs.

[PACKman1144]

So why exactly are people writing this off as such a boring super bowl?

The game stayed relatively close throughout. Seattle was moving the ball all day. We had big plays, we had trick plays, we had 180 degree momentum changes. I don't like either team, but I enjoyed this super bowl more than most I can remember.

Tough crowd I guess. No last second FG and everyone writes it off as a snooze-fest.

I disagree, there was the Willie Parker TD, and the Hines Ward TD from Randle-El. Both very exciting.

Apart from that it was crummy football. Dropped passes, missed tackles, and poor decision making by QBs. Plus penalties kept hindering Seattle's progress.

It was low-scoring but not a good defensive game. In its defence, it was a pretty close Superbowl, but I would rank it as the most boring since the Ravens-Giants. Oakland-TB was a blowout but there were tons of big plays. Even the Ravens-Giants game had the back-to-back KR TDs. And prior to that it was more boring to every SB I can remember (GB's win was when I first can recall).

How about Darrell Jackson catching a long TD and having it called back? Sure it's the call thing, but man you go from going nuts to cursing or vice versa. Same thing with the Seahawks INT, looks like Pitt is about to put it away and bam everyone is going nuts again and game on. Djax having two long passes just stepping out before the half, Roethisberger scrambling around on 3rd and 28 and then throwing across his body for a 40 yard pass down to the one.

Balti/NYG I didn't even watch the 4th quarter of, which I can't say for many super bowls, and I would've probably turned TB/Oak off as well if I didn't have money on the spread.

It was a low scoring game sure, but it wasn't just 3 and out and punts all day, teams were moving the ball, kicking long field goals, there were tons of suspensful moments, tons of jump for joy moments, and tons of punch the wall in anger moments.

Thanks for saying what I was thinking Bagel. This SB was ripe for the taking at any point and time. I think there were more huge momentum swings in this game (the INTs mainly) that I have seen in any recent SB. This shouldn't even be considered near the same poor game that was the Giants/Ravens SB.

Am I the only person(not wereing black&yellow) that thinks the refs made the proper call on that offensive pass interference? He used his arm to again seperation form the defender. Otherwise Hope (i think) is right in his grill on that catch. Sure it wasn't a major pushoff or anything, but he did something you are not able to do. Too many years in the NFL have the recievers gotten away with a lot of pushing and shoving. The reason this call is so blown out of proportion is because it was in the Super Bowl.

The officiating did seem to favor the Steelers, but the Seattle played a very poor game. The Steelers didn't do much better, but still were the better team Sunday.[/b]

It's probably not so much a matter of if it was technically right to call or not, it's that they made a call that most of the time in the regular season they don't make in the biggest game of the year. I would be really interested to see what percentage of plays occurred exactly like that during the regular season and even in the playoffs and what call, if any was made. Bottom line for me is you simply can't make that ticky-tack of a call in the SB.

I don't like that whole "they wouldn't call it in the regular season argument." Because some refs would, some wouldn't. The thing is, it would not have been that big of a deal in the regular season. That type of call very well could be made this season, maybe it wasn't. But no one remebers because relatively only a few people were watching it in comparision to the Super Bowl. Every football fan, and a buttload of Americans watched the Super Bowl. All eyes were on that play at that time. Therefore it became a big deal.

So I don't think saying the call would not be made in the regular season is a valid statement, because you don't know, I depends on the refs.

[biju]

Here's my try at being unbiased regarding the Darrell Jackson PI call:

1. His arm(s) were outstretched which generally signals PI
2. The defensive back's momentum was moving away from Jackson
3. The defensive back seemed to make a plea to the back judge *after* the catch was made and the flag was thrown.

Now #3 is merely by memory, so I could be mistaken. The ref could have just as easily already been pulling the flag out.

In slow motion it certainly looks like Jackson pushed off, but in fast motion it appears he simply changed directions with his arms following through. The d-back was definitely moving the opposite direction at this time which *could* be the reason it looked like PI. Just the same it could have been that Jackson pushed off to gain that extra separation but I would question how quickly the d-back could have recovered regardless. The time between the direction change and catching the ball was pretty close. Again, I think it looks different in slow motion compared to game speed.

Do those seem like reasonable points? I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here (well, maybe slightly tapping it) but I think if everyone understands both angles it might help to eventually calm down some of these issues. Maybe I need to completely let it go but it doesn't appear to be happening on its own.

[Kensat30]

The only poll I want to see the result to is this:

Was this the worst Super Bowl you can remember?

YES
NO

This had to be the most boring hunk of garbage I can recall, so I don't even know how the officials did since I was focused more on the bean dip than the game.

That was some good bean dip huh? I also enjoyed the salami rolls with cream cheese and the toothpicks in them, the sweet pickles were a nice touch.

[MadScott]

Am I the only person(not wereing black&yellow) that thinks the refs made the proper call on that offensive pass interference? He used his arm to again seperation form the defender. Otherwise Hope (i think) is right in his grill on that catch. Sure it wasn't a major pushoff or anything, but he did something you are not able to do. Too many years in the NFL have the recievers gotten away with a lot of pushing and shoving. The reason this call is so blown out of proportion is because it was in the Super Bowl.

The officiating did seem to favor the Steelers, but the Seattle played a very poor game. The Steelers didn't do much better, but still were the better team Sunday.[/b]

It's probably not so much a matter of if it was technically right to call or not, it's that they made a call that most of the time in the regular season they don't make in the biggest game of the year. I would be really interested to see what percentage of plays occurred exactly like that during the regular season and even in the playoffs and what call, if any was made. Bottom line for me is you simply can't make that ticky-tack of a call in the SB.

I don't like that whole "they wouldn't call it in the regular season argument." Because some refs would, some wouldn't. The thing is, it would not have been that big of a deal in the regular season. That type of call very well could be made this season, maybe it wasn't. But no one remebers because relatively only a few people were watching it in comparision to the Super Bowl. Every football fan, and a buttload of Americans watched the Super Bowl. All eyes were on that play at that time. Therefore it became a big deal.

So I don't think saying the call would not be made in the regular season is a valid statement, because you don't know, I depends on the refs.[/quote]Like it or not, teams practice and prepare a certain way knowing how the rules have been called or officiated through the year. We all knew the enforcement of the chuck rule was going to occur last year and you saw teams adjust to it throughout the year. The problem with that call in the SB is that when you've been playing all season without that rule being called for the most part and then it's busted out in the biggest game of the year, and at the end of the year to boot, there's just no precedent for it and it totally changes the game midstream. Different tacts now have to be incorporated on the field, it takes teams out of normal things, things that they have been conditioned for all year. If you make that call consistently all year, fine, call it in the playoffs and the SB. For the most part though, you'll find that most refs tend to let things play out in the playoffs and the SB and to have such a ticky-tack foul is just bush.

[Timbathia]

Here's my try at being unbiased regarding the Darrell Jackson PI call:

1. His arm(s) were outstretched which generally signals PI
2. The defensive back's momentum was moving away from Jackson
3. The defensive back seemed to make a plea to the back judge *after* the catch was made and the flag was thrown.

Now #3 is merely by memory, so I could be mistaken. The ref could have just as easily already been pulling the flag out.

In slow motion it certainly looks like Jackson pushed off, but in fast motion it appears he simply changed directions with his arms following through. The d-back was definitely moving the opposite direction at this time which *could* be the reason it looked like PI. Just the same it could have been that Jackson pushed off to gain that extra separation but I would question how quickly the d-back could have recovered regardless. The time between the direction change and catching the ball was pretty close. Again, I think it looks different in slow motion compared to game speed.

Do those seem like reasonable points? I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here (well, maybe slightly tapping it) but I think if everyone understands both angles it might help to eventually calm down some of these issues. Maybe I need to completely let it go but it doesn't appear to be happening on its own.

Very reasonable points, though from memory as well, I thought from one angle you could clearly see the official reaching to grab the flag as DJax caught the ball. It was a tough call, and I would be p*ssed if I were the WR, but there was a basis for it to be made, it was not a "black-and-white" wrong call.