As a Steeler fan, I'd say too many calls went the Steeler's way...

[Junkdrawer]

Looked to me like the officials wanted a Steeler's win.

The "offensive pass interference" call in the 1st quarter was particularly stinky.

[Missy Vixen]

1. I'm a Seahawks fan

which automatically makes me less than unbiased, but the officiating SUCKED. You know it's bad when John "Pittsburgh is winning no matter what" Madden even starts mentioning that the calls are less than stellar.

Oh, well. We went to the Super Bowl. I waited 30 years for this. Now I'll get to wait till the Seattle Mariners get to the Series...

Thanks for a great game, Pittsburgh, and congratulations on winning it all!

Julie

[Broken_Hero]

3. I couldn't have said it better...

There is a big Seattle fan base in Alaska, my dad is from everett, WA...i'm biased also on this SB performance, a lot of calls took the wind completely out of Seattles sails...and like you mentioned, now its the Mariners turn to get into the big dance...and hopefully the sonics give it a good run...i think the last championship to be won by a seattle team was the Sonics in the late 70s...like 78 or 77....but Kudos to the Steelers good game, enjoy the win....

[Efilroft Sul]

34. Fatass Madden has never liked the Steelers.

His Oakland Raiders were the embodiment of "the criminal element" as Chuck Noll claimed; he's still pissed that Noll called him and Al Davis on it. Either that, or he still has nightmares of the Immaculate Reception.

[JVS]

40. yeah!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

49. The "Immaculate Reception" was another criminal call by the officials

The Steelers never deserved that win. They were outplayed by Oakland and didn't deserve it. The replay proves that Fuqua touched the ball before Harris and it was therefore an illegal reception.

The Steelers have been living on very bad karma over the years, but I see it hasn't quite caught up to them yet. I wouldn't want to be a Steeler fan when it does.

[Efilroft Sul]

51. Bad Karma, as you say, caught Pgh. in Super Bowl XXX when they lost.

That Immaculate Reception still hurts doesn't it? Criminal element got its karma that day.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

52. The Immculate Reception doesn't hurt me

I don't really follow professional sports anymore. But I did a long time ago and that particular game ending play just struck me at the time as being somehow not right, since I thought the other team had outplayed Pittsburgh and the referees didn't even seem interested in even thinking about whether it was a bad call or not. I think that's why that particular play became so often discussed and debated all across America for everyone who saw it.

The only sport I follow with any interest anymore is professional boxing and I get incensed with some of the goofy refereeing and especially the weird judging of rounds. I would almost think money was being exchanged under the table, but we all know that pro sports in America is as clean and wholesome as apple pie. Right?

I don't think the Oakland Raiders were any more of a criminal element than any other team. As I recall, it all started with their wide receiver Warren Wells, who had a criminal record and who I think was sent to jail for rape. And Oakland was the home of the Black Panthers in the late 60s, early 70s, when the media began painting Oakland and rogues and killers. It was a long time ago but that's how I remember it. Tatum was a hard hitter, but there have been a lot of hard hitters and dirtier players. Does Denver get branded as a criminal element for having had Bill Romanowski? No, because John Elway was a media darling. There might be dirtier players nowadays than Romanowski (I don't follow the game anymore) but he was one of the all-time cheap short artists. On the other hand, he was a hustling, opportunistic player who never quit on a play and was exciting to watch. After all, football is all about hard hitting and is not a tea-party. I think the fact that Al Davis has been uniformly hated around the league for going his own way has been part of the problem. Some owners are considered a "family" and goody-goody organization (like the Dodgers used to be). Some teams are the darlings of the referees and the sports casters and others are considered criminal and get too many penalties on close calls. I don't think it just happens to be because of the personality of the team, not decade after decade. But then I'm very much of a critic of the way money has warped all professional sports in America and I would tend to think that money and league pressures have something to do with the way the referees react. I don't believe that any pro sports in America is just a pure red-blooded example of good sportsmanship, and that goes for the refereeing as well.

[fishnfla]

2. There is honor

where it is, there is hope.

Your honesty is refreshing

[Broken_Hero]

4. A few of my...

Friends whom are Steeler fans are saying the same thing, I don't know if they mean it, or are just trying to be nice...i'm taking it to be that they are being honest....and thanks for you honesty....i know i'm biased, thats why i'm looking for other input, and POV...:)

[sendero]

5. It was ridiculous..

... the officiating ruined the game for me. I've never seen so many bad calls, calls where even on the replay it was clear they were wrong.

Asshole refs.

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. ...

[chookie]

7. Kiss my Steeler butt!

Ah come on -- you must be joking!

[shugah]

8. as a person who usually picks the losing team

and always tends to see things from both sides...

it looked to me like the steelers won the superbowl!

[Ravenseye]

9. I honestly don't think so

I think it was a very tightly called game, and when you call so tightly there are bound to be people who get upset. There were no "Polamalu's Overturned Interecption" level of bad calls, just lots of close ones.

Each one I could see why the call was made, and that's the difference. From that offensive pass interference in the endzone on seattle, to the non-fumble by Hasselbeck, I think the referees made a good attempt to call a tight game, and when you do that, people are bound to get upset.

Each call in that game I can see why it was called that way. I just can't compare this officiating with the officiating in the Indy/Steelers game or the Broncos/Patriots game.

[sendero]

10. That diving Steeler QB touchdown..

... wasn't. Period. Tons of bullshit holding calls, even Madden was questioning them, and he doesn't do that.

The officiating was crap. You can call "holding" on just about any play. And on many plays crucial to the Seahawks, that's exactly what they did. Bullshit.

[Ravenseye]

12. I disagree

When I first saw the diving touchdown as it was played I didn't think he got in, but the replay I think showed him breaking the plane with the ball as he was going down.

On at least one of these 'bullshit' holding calls the offensive player literally tacked the defensive player. Brought him to the ground with his arms around him. Not Bullshit there.

The offesnive pass interference was a crappy call, but it was a fair one. Sure he would have caught the ball regardless, but he did push off, however slight, to the defender, which he's not allowed to do.

Tightly called, with a couple of bad calls which are as otherwise posted 'the breaks'..

[Broken_Hero]

14. Fair?

offensive pass interference? give me a break, both of those players had their hands on one another, it was a no brainer, a no call, and a touchdown...the holding call in my mind, was in the 4th quarter I believe when seattle TE caught the ball, on teh 1 or 2 yard line...the call was a BS hold call, instead of 1st and goal on the 1st/2nd yard line...they backed the hawks up to about the 30yd line....the holding wasn't there...

[Ravenseye]

15. It was definately a crap call

But just because it was a crap call doesnt' mean it was unfair. What I saw at full speed, looked like the player pushing off and going for the ball. Slowed down, it looked like he patted him on the side like 'Hey thanks for the shitty coverage' and then sidesteped to catch the TD. If that call had been against the Steelers I would have been pissed, but i wouldn't have called it completely unfounded.

From what I saw of that hold, he grabed the player's jersey, if I'm thinking of it correctly. I taped the game, I'll go back and look at that one, it's not as clear in my mind. Still at best, including that one, there were I think maybe a couple bad breaks in the game, and there always are. If you can't get past them then you don't deserve to win. The breaks went against the Steelers against the Colts and they still pulled it out. Shit happens. If Hasselbeck hadn't thrown that interception to Ike Taylor it might have been a whole different game. SHit happens. You get backed up 10 yards. You still have to take advantage of it.

[Broken_Hero]

17. hmm...

the offensive pass interference call reminded me of the same call the refs had against Miami in the championship game against Ohio few years back, that call...helped Ohio win, big time...the call was hokey, it should have been a no call...I'm an idiot, not a pro ref for the nfl and i knew it was a hokey call...but its probably just my seattle bias, but anyways...:)

If the call happened to the Steelers instead, I would be saying the same thing, it was a bs call (but in my heart i would be saying, hey, we got away with one their)....the one hold that i thought was bad, it was late in the game, either late 3rd quarter or in the 4th...I believe the TE made a catch on the 1 or 2 yard line...but it was called back by a hold on either the RG or RT...their was no hold...I was just as pissed about the Pitt calls in the Colts game, as I am today....I don't like seeing bad calls, I don't think anyone does, really...:) And after that particular hold call...Hasselbeck threw an INT, and than got a personal foul for tackling the guy that INT his pass?....but anyways, Pitt, enjoy your win...:)

On edit: I wasn't a Miami fan either, I wanted Ohio to win, but I knew Ohio got a nice gift, because of that refs call....:)

[Ravenseye]

22. Ok I watched the game again

I just rewatched the game on DVR and high speed, slowing for the key plays and calls. I posted this in another thread but I just wanted your take also...

1) The Pass Interference was a good call. He did push off, and it did affect the coverage. There was some contact prior to that but it was incidental, on both sides. That contact though was definately Pass Interference. I think that penalty would be called 9 times out of 10, or more. Actually looking at it again fresh, made it seem even more of a foul than before.

2) Roethlisberger broke the plane. Barely, and not for very long, but he did. My DVR doesn't have the nice features the Instant Replay booths have, but it was able to slow it enough that it looked like he broke the plane by about an inch, for just an instant. According to my DVR though it happened.

3) The holding calls were all pretty valid. In the case where Madden made a comment about it he admited that there could have been holding from another angle. I saw holding though. He grabbed the jersey and pulled around on it. It was a lousy job of holding, but it was holding.

4) The block call on Hasselbeck was complete crap. That was completely and indisputibally a bad call. He was tackling Taylor. He never went for any type of chop block, he was going for a QB safe tackle.

That said I think that the calls weren't Seattle's problem. There were a couple of calls, but they didn't contribute to the loss as much as Seattle's inabilty to convert. They had been great at that, but they drove the ball so well then put put pffffff....died out around the 40. Pittsburgh played some of the worst football I've seen them play since the Indy game over two months ago in that first half, they just looked frazzled, and I think it was thanks to Seattle's great D. It just didn't hold though. The bad calls didn't stop Fast Willie Parker's run, nor did it stop the failed coverage on the Randel El option play. Seattle just couldn't finish off their drives effectively. That's what did it. Not the penalties.

Great game though. Probably better for me since my team won, but I still remember Superbowl XXX. Here's to hoping the Seahawks and the Steelers make it back to the show before Superbowl LX.

[chimpymustgo]

23. Can I have some of that? Can't be legal though...

That was the biggest load of crap officiating I have ever seen. Going in, I really didn't care who won the game, maybe gave an edge to Pittsburgh, cause of Cowher. But I was just enraged by the injustice.

Through with the NFL. More time to read.

[Broken_Hero]

25. hmm, again!...:)

I dont' have cable, or tivo, or dvr, or anything like that...i was watching with the uhf!...:) Seahawks lost, plain and simple, i saw some bs calls, that shouldn't have been called in the first place...my god, this is the god damn Superbowl, they should let them play...and not call ticky tack penalities...in truth, their is holding on every single play, and the holding they called on seattle was weak, i saw steeler lineman doing the same, if not worse...no calls....but anyways...:)

Pitt won, my team, Seattle lost...there is always next year...:)

[tigereye]

39. nice analysis

:thumbsup:

[tallahasseedem]

53. I got my DVR on Saturday...

and it came in pretty handy, just like you said. I for one thought the calls were crap until I watched them again.

[JVS]

21. Offensive pass interference balances Hasselbecks being tackled...

with a tap of a hand rather than fumbling

[Ravenseye]

43. Ben's Touchdown

[Balbus]

59. That be a touchdown.

[JVS]

60. IT'S GOOD!

[Aristus]

44. Roethlisberger was DOWN! When they did the slo-mo replay and

he tried to sneak the ball over the line when he was already down, it really pissed me off! He thought he was so slick. Trouble was, the stupid referees bought it. (Or were bought, I guess). They awarded the Steelers a totally bogus touchdown.

I'm so pissed. I didn't even really care that much when the game began. I didn't need a Seahawks win; I was just happy that they had made it to the Bowl after all these years. And then to watch the officials cheat the 'Hawks out of EVERY play that might keep them in the game ('cause the Steelers DID play well, even I have to admit that) was just too much. If they had lost fair-and-square, fine. But to lose it because of Supreme Court-level favoritism and fraud was just assholistic.

[Junkdrawer]

11. One or two close calls going your way is "the breaks"...

but aside from the no-fumble reversal, almost every game clincher by Seattle was reversed by a questionable call.

Given the bad officiating the last two games against us, it feels weird to see "The Fix" go our way.

[Ravenseye]

13. Questionable, not bad

They were definately tight and close calls, but I don't think overall the game was called badly. There were no obvious bad calls I don't think, just lots of little close ones.

[TheWebHead]

16. yeah the D Jack call

and the holding call before Ike's INT... You just can't call stuff like that in even a playoff game, let alone a super bowl. You have to let them play. But the Hawks just can't let themselves get in a position where one or two calls against you costs you the game. That first half they had so many opportunties to put it away and only had 3 points and it came back to bite us hard.

[Broken_Hero]

18. Agreed...

They had their chances, its a game, someone has to lose, someone wins...but i know the Hawks will be back again, gotta take the bad with the good...:)

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. I co0mpletely disagree: that was a GOOD call

You cannot push off the defender after the first five yards, period. The push off there is so clear that everyone in the stadium saw it. It was not stinky at all. It was an absolutely correct call.

[Quixote1818]

24. He did push off. The call could have gone either way.

If he hadn't pushed off though, I don't know if he would have had enough forward momentum to get to the ball.

[alcibiades_mystery]

29. He definitely pushed off

It was an illegal move that ended in a touchdown. In situations like that, you don't decide causality. You penalize the symptom, pure and simple. If he pushed off, it's a penalty, whether the push off actually caused the touchdown. You don't have the time nor the reseources to decide that. You watch the surface. That's the essence of what SHOULD be called, it seems to me.

[fortyfeetunder]

20. What an assessment.

Even though I thought the officiating sucked, I still thought the Seahawks had some fatal flaws that prevented them from capturing the prize.

So I am rather humbled when I read a Steelers fan thinks the game was rigged, so to say.

Congrats!

:toast:

[fortyfeetunder]

26. Holey moley, I went over to freeperland

-- there are also posts thinking the game was fixed.

[Broken_Hero]

28. damn!

Freeper seattle seahawk fans!...the horror!...:) Just kidding...:)

[PittLib]

37. Maybe they realize how outnumbered they'd be here ...

in the 'Burgh. 5 to 1 in the Dems favor. ;)

[Quixote1818]

27. I thought the officials did a good job

I am not sure the one on the line was a Steeler touchdown but the official did make the call and it was not clear if the ball broke the line or not in the replay. The Ref who looked at the replay had to stick with the original call if he could not decide if the ball broke the plane or not. It was a tough call either way.

As far as the Seahawk player pushing off in the end zone? It was very clear that he did push off and I don't know if he would have had enough momentum to get to the ball if he had not pushed off. If it had been me making that call, I would have seen the push off but I might have held off on making that call. That was a close call either way. Still, the Seahawks had more chances after that to get it into the end-zone and didn't.

Their were some close calls that could have gone either way but I thought it was called in a fair way.

[BobEPeru]

35. That's true

He did push off. It wasn't that flagrant but he did it right in front of the ref.
He had to make that call.
In all fairness though, the call against Hasslebecks tackle, and the Rothlisberger touchdown were iffy, at best. If the ref had called it down one inch short the call would have stood following a replay.
This doesn't qualify as the worst officiating ever, or even in these playoffs.
I think Indy/Pitt was worse.

[Bassic]

30. I agree.

That first Steeler touchdown was iffy at best.

[Junkdrawer]

31. Grammar question: What's the opposite of "We wuz robbed!"...

"They wuz robbed!"

"They robbed for us!"

"We wuzn't robbed!"

:shrug:

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

32. Bad officiating throughout the playoffs this year. Let's talk clock mgmt.

Do I wish the officiating throughout the playoffs this year was better...YES!

The players on the Seahawks did their part but WHAT the heck was the coaching staff on that team thinking with their clock mgmt. before the half and, most disturbing, at the end of the game. That was shocking to see an experienced coaching staff, like Seattle, mismanage the clock like that.

I just didn't get that at all.

[Robeson]

33. Outside of the bad officiating, which was bad, I completely agree...

...Seattle's coaching staff should take the brunt of the the blame for that game with respect to Seattle. It was a total meltdown from Holmgren. Made me wonder if his SB in Green Bay had more to do with him riding the talent of that team at the time, than himself....

[Giant Robot]

36. Just to add my two cents to this

I thought the officiating was very harsh against the Seahawks. Several of their big plays were suddenly overturned, for what I thought was questionable reasons. And the first Pittsburgh touchdown was shaky at best, but I can understand why they let the play stand as called. I don't know if that would have made a difference to the Seahawks game, or if they would have won if the officiating was better/went their way more. But I think that certainly did make a difference and put more than one nail in their coffin. I don't want to say it was fixed but to me it certainly looked like they were screwing the Seahawks. My caveat here is that I was cheering for the Seahawks; I'm not a Seattle fan, but just wanted them to win because they had never been to the SB before. On a more positive note, the Eagles are now undefeated!

[GalleryGod]

38. It was the only play I saw this morning in our hotel room! Jeez-us

I'm glad we skipped that MESS and.........


Did THIS instead! Jonathan Pryce was magnificent! a "tad" better than
the Ben & Bus show.

[kick-ass-bob]

41. My thoughts as (mostly) unbiased watcher:

I was rooting for Seattle, but not really invested in it:

Offensive pass interference: Correct call. The push off made the guy lose his balance just enough (a small hop backwards)
The TD: I still can't tell if the ball crossed the line (maybe the nose - not sure)
Late holding call on Locklear (pass to the 1 YL): I saw no evidence of holding - bad call.
Hasselback "fumble": By the rules, I suppose there is no fumble, in practicality, the touch by the defender was not what made him lose the ball (or made him go down).



Seattle's biggest problem: clock management. Not just the end of the halves, but at midfield with 6 minutes to go - did they really think they would get the ball back for 2 possessions? Why would you punt from midfield (making it a best case scenario of getting the ball back w/4 minutes to go). They (coaching staff) decided to not try to win the game on that play.

THAT was disappointing.

Congrats to the Steelers and especially Bill Cowher - a Wolfpack grad :thumbsup:

[Efilroft Sul]

42. FACT: Any Pittsburgh fan who feels sorry about how the Steelers won...

...would also feel sorry that JFK won Illinois over Nixon in 1960.

Christ, I think some Pittsburgh fans here are as wimpish about their team winning as the Hawks fans are whining about losing.

Just win, baby.

[JVS]

45. HELL YEAH. I never noticed some of these "fans" until today...

I think some of them are seattle sympathizers who are faking steeler-fandom :tinfoil:

[thinkingwoman]

47. The ends justify the means?

Not by my standards. Sorry.

Cheating to win is page one of the repuke playbook isn't it?

[Efilroft Sul]

48. Steelers didn't cheat. The Seahawks self-destructed.

I'm not apologizing for the Steelers capitalizing on Seattle's ineptitude and the referees' questionable calls. They did what they had to to win, and the Hawks didn't. There's nothing RNC about it.

[thinkingwoman]

50. I never said they did

I was simply responding to your post.

[JVS]

55. Are you calling JFK a cheater?

[thinkingwoman]

56. No, the previous poster did. nt

[JVS]

58. You are the one who mentioned cheating, not him.

[Name removed]

61. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JVS]

57. replied to wrong post

[Junkdrawer]

62. Well, silly me..I had the Sport thing all wrong...

Thanks.

[thinkingwoman]

46. I was rooting for the Steelers...BUT...

that touchdown WASN'T...and that pass interference WASN'T...and those weren't the only bad calls.

I think the officiating has been dreadful throughout the playoffs. Off the top of my head I can think of several examples but the one that tops the chart for me is the Colts-Steelers interception call that favored the Colts (who I wanted to win at that time). I actually thought that it would be bad for the Colts if they found a way to win that game because the taint from that call would be hard to shake. :eyes:

Honestly, are there no capable officials anywhere to staff these games?

[TheWebHead]

54. Leavy and Cowher sure seemed chummy before the game...

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, right, talks to referees Tony Corrente (99) and Bill Leavy before the Super Bowl XL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit.




... not that I'm implying anything :D

[flamingyouth]

63. Yeah, that was a stinky call

Yet, the game went the way the game went. Such is life, and congrats. :pals: