OT: Holy Terrible Super Bowl Officiating!

[october]

I am not dodging anything.

 

Of course you are. When I say the game was ruined by the officials, you ask "do you think Seattle deserved to win?"

 

What does that have to do with my enjoyment of the GAME?

 

I will say it one more time slowly. Those were tough calls. They would have been controversial either way they went. The officials had to decide SOMETHING didn't they? What do you want from them? Should they have talked amongst themselves and say "well, the first close one went againt Seattle so we will give this one to them even though I think we shouldn't". The officiating didn't ruin anything. They were close calls. Get over it.

[october]

What does that have to do with my enjoyment of the GAME?

 

Who are you kidding? You dont enjoy anything.

 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

From Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders:

 

In fact, what sucks is that the Steelers just pulled off this amazing awesome accomplishment and the fans of the other 31 teams will never give them full credit for it. This will always be the Super Bowl that the officials screwed up. And we don't know -- perhaps if the officials had called a good game, Pittsburgh still would have won and then there would be no questions. But there are questions. I just can't look at this game without wondering, what if. If Seattle goes up 17-14, do they win, or does Big Ben march the Steelers down the field to win and become an even bigger hero? I feel like the fans of the other 30 teams got cheated more than Seahawks fans because we got cheated out of an awesome close finish between two great teams that would have decided an unquestionable champion.

 

I have never seen anything like this in terms of neutral fans of the other 30 teams taking to the internet and complaining. People who had nothing to gain from the Seahawks winning. People who PICKED THE STEELERS in many cases. This should not be happening. Fans of the other 30 teams are not supposed to complain about the result of a Super Bowl.

[Psiknight]

I am not dodging anything.

 

Of course you are. When I say the game was ruined by the officials, you ask "do you think Seattle deserved to win?"

 

What does that have to do with my enjoyment of the GAME?

 

I will say it one more time slowly. Those were tough calls. They would have been controversial either way they went. The officials had to decide SOMETHING didn't they? What do you want from them? Should they have talked amongst themselves and say "well, the first close one went againt Seattle so we will give this one to them even though I think we shouldn't". The officiating didn't ruin anything. They were close calls. Get over it.

 

The officiating ruined something for me.

[Illiterati-migration]

I am not dodging anything.

 

Of course you are. When I say the game was ruined by the officials, you ask "do you think Seattle deserved to win?"

 

What does that have to do with my enjoyment of the GAME?

 

I will say it one more time slowly. Those were tough calls. They would have been controversial either way they went. The officials had to decide SOMETHING didn't they? What do you want from them? Should they have talked amongst themselves and say "well, the first close one went againt Seattle so we will give this one to them even though I think it shouldn't". The officiating didn't ruin anything. They were close calls. Get over it.

 

Amen.

 

(But hell, the way things are going, NO team will ever be responsible for losing "The Big Game" in ANY sport EVER again. It'll be asterisk city, baby!)

[october]

What does that have to do with my enjoyment of the GAME?

 

Who are you kidding? You dont enjoy anything.

 

Exactly. Who's surprised that Joe is latching on to the latest Big Negative Story™ despite his affirmed non-affiliation with either team involved?

 

Seriously. Why feed his anger and bitterness any more than we have to? I am out.

[joe_collector]

They were close calls. Get over it.

 

If you think penalizing someone for an "illegal block" when they are tackling the ball-carrier is a "close call" then you need to "get over" your total lack of NFL knowledge.

 

Some of these calls were just bizarre. Twilight Zone level bizarre.

 

For the record, you don't think the offficials made any mistakes?

[Scheradon]

Sorry guys...but it looks like the national media is disagreeing with you.

 

In addition to Wilbon, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star (and ESPN contributor) is also seeing things pretty clearly.

 

Article.

 

Jason Whitlock is a insufficiently_thoughtful_person. I have the great misfortune of reading his articles every other day in the Star, and I have to tell you, he's a laughingstock. He's on the "national scene" in things like ESPN because he's a loudmouth insufficiently_thoughtful_person who never, EVER retracts a statement nor does he concede a point.

 

He's a bit like the Rush Limbaugh of the sports world (purely coincidental that Rush got his start in the KC sports scene, mind you). They both make a living being "larger than life" (both literally and figuratively) characters who take the hot-button issues and ride them like a crew of sailors on Deathlok's mom.

 

In closing, Whitlock is a insufficiently_thoughtful_person who has been calling for the Chiefs to pick up Jeff George for the last eight or nine years. If that doesn't tell you something about him, I don't know what will.

 

Exactly

[Illiterati-migration]

They were close calls. Get over it.

 

If you think penalizing someone for an "illegal block" when they are tackling the ball-carrier is a "close call" then you need to "get over" your total lack of NFL knowledge.

 

Some of these calls were just bizarre. Twilight Zone level bizarre.

 

For the record, you don't think the offficials made any mistakes?

 

For the record, was this the first NFL game you've ever watched? If that is the case, then I can certainly understand your wonderment.

[ronm3-migration]

Yeah but come on. JC was Black hearted Dwarf.

When BHD was banned I waited to see how long it would be until JC would post.

Check it out.

JC you silly little man. You need to find a job or something. Come and work for me we can discuss comics and I will try and help you figure out exactly where the anger started.

[Illiterati-migration]

Yeah but come on. JC was Black hearted Dwarf.

When BHD was banned I waited to see how long it would be until JC would post.

Check it out.

JC you silly little man. You need to find a job or something. Come and work for me we can discuss comics and I will try and help you figure out exactly where the anger started.

 

No he wasn't.

[october]

They were close calls. Get over it.

 

If you think penalizing someone for an "illegal block" when they are tackling the ball-carrier is a "close call" then you need to "get over" your total lack of NFL knowledge.

 

Some of these calls were just bizarre. Twilight Zone level bizarre.

 

For the record, you don't think the offficials made any mistakes?

 

*Sigh* Can you point to one game where a HUMAN didn't make a mistake? Last time I checked they were people and entitled to make a mistake or two without having their credibility called into question. Have you ever WATCHED an NFL game? "Bizarre" calls happen all the time. Virtually every game in fact.

 

I bet you are one of those dads who screams and curses at the 12 year old umpire at his son's little league games. There is always one or two who expects people to make the "right" call 100 times out of a 100. Do you do that well at your job? Are you perfect?

[mar-vell]

Yeah but come on. JC was Black hearted Dwarf.

When BHD was banned I waited to see how long it would be until JC would post.

Check it out.

JC you silly little man. You need to find a job or something. Come and work for me we can discuss comics and I will try and help you figure out exactly where the anger started.

 

:

[Scheradon]

Can you name me a single critical/controversial call of any significance that went against the Steelers? Any?

 

I think the Hasselback fumble that was correctly reversed upon further review went against the Steelers.

 

How about the Jerramy Stevens fumble that was called incomplete? Looked like he had possession, made a football move and had the ball knocked loose.

 

 

 

shh, that doesn't fit the "conspiracy theory". If it had been the other way around, I'm sure it would be noteworthy.

[Psiknight]

Just as a point of reference: ESPN.com has a poll running right now.

 

"What will you remember most from Superbowl XL?"

 

38% Poor officiating is leading the pack. It could be nothing but Seattle fans voting but nearly 30k people have voted...

[joe_collector]

I think I've wasted enough time hammering on 50-year old part-time officials, whose low-paid status makes it pretty easy to be bought and paid for. If I were a Vegas or Russian mobster, I'd be on those NFL refs like white on rice.

 

Could you even imagine what a "guaranteed Super Bowl winner" would be worth? Billions. And all that money is in the hands of some part-time NFL contractor.

[FlamingCarrot]

I the Hasselback fumble that was correctly reversed upon further review went against the Steelers.

 

Jesus, the CALL went against the Seahawks and the coach was forced to lose a valuable challenge to reverse that biased call. That it was reversed was a no-brainer, as teh NFL has access to the same tapes as the TV stations, and they know what millions of people saw.

 

Once again, was there was contentious, tough to game-breaking ON-FIELD CALL that went against the Steelers.

 

 

He asked for a call that went against the Steelers. THE CALL WENT AGAINST THE STEELERS!!

 

 

Are you saying a FIRST QUARTER pushoff by Djackson was 'gamebreaking'?

 

You want gamebreaking calls? How about Parkers 75 yard run untouched into the endzone? How about the Steelers running a reverse with Randle-El and completing a touchdown to Ward that left Seattle fans in shock? That's gamebreaking stuff in my book.

 

The Steelers crushing Hasselback on a 3rd down play with 7 minutes left to for a punt was game breaking. The Steelers forcing the Seahawks to use up their timeouts with 3 minutes left AND STILL CONVERTING the first down was game breaking. Those were the kind of plays that make or break true champions.

 

Did you guys see Lofa Tutupu being interviewed after the game? He was being baited by the reporters to tell them how the Seahawks got ripped off, but Tutupu said the Seahawks were beaten, plain and simple. He didn't offer any conspiracy theories or blame the loss on the refs. He just said his team got hammered.

 

Don't worry Seahawk fans. Your team will be back in the playoffs next year. Just look at that God awful division you guys are in!!

[ronm3-migration]

I think JC is visited by Aliens. No seriously, I think he is.

[mar-vell]

I think that makes 7 out of the last 9 super bowl trophies going to the AFC -remember when people were saying the AFC was so bad that the NFC should split off from them? Go AFC!

[mar-vell]

I the Hasselback fumble that was correctly reversed upon further review went against the Steelers.

 

Jesus, the CALL went against the Seahawks and the coach was forced to lose a valuable challenge to reverse that biased call. That it was reversed was a no-brainer, as teh NFL has access to the same tapes as the TV stations, and they know what millions of people saw.

 

Once again, was there was contentious, tough to game-breaking ON-FIELD CALL that went against the Steelers.

 

 

He asked for a call that went against the Steelers. THE CALL WENT AGAINST THE STEELERS!!

 

 

Are you saying a FIRST QUARTER pushoff by Djackson was 'gamebreaking'?

 

You want gamebreaking calls? How about Parkers 75 yard run untouched into the endzone? How about the Steelers running a reverse with Randle-El and completing a touchdown to Ward that left Seattle fans in shock? That's gamebreaking stuff in my book.

 

The Steelers crushing Hasselback on a 3rd down play with 7 minutes left to for a punt was game breaking. The Steelers forcing the Seahawks to use up their timeouts with 3 minutes left AND STILL CONVERTING the first down was game breaking. Those were the kind of plays that make or break true champions.

 

Did you guys see Lofa Tutupu being interviewed after the game? He was being baited by the reporters to tell them how the Seahawks got ripped off, but Tutupu said the Seahawks were beaten, plain and simple. He didn't offer any conspiracy theories or blame the loss on the refs. He just said his team got hammered.

 

Don't worry Seahawk fans. Your team will be back in the playoffs next year. Just look at that God awful division you guys are in!!

 

I totally agree!