Posted on 02/07/2006 6:24:19 AM PST by bikepacker67
So the Super Bowl wasn't so super. The team that played the best didn't win, although use of the word "best" must be considered relative when you consider how poorly both teams played.
On the other hand, the NFL got the ending it wanted, which was another Super Bowl championship for the Rooney family and a fairy tale send-off for Detroit native Jerome Bettis.
It is amazing how often the NFL gets what it wants out of these Super Bowls, isn't it? And given the very questionable calls by NFL officials that all seemed to go in favor of the Steelers, it almost makes you wonder if the Steelers' Joey Porter didn't touch a nerve when, after Pittsburgh knocked out the heavily favored Colts in round two, he complained the officials were trying to take the game away from Pittsburgh.
To suggest the game was fixed would be improper. But a friend of mine who played in the league for years believes he can tell you who is going to win the Super Bowl by who gets the break on the first questionable call of the game, including Sunday, when Seattle's first touchdown was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Darrell Jackson. It's amazing how often that's true.
"That's how it is when you're going against the world," Jackson said afterward. "It just seems all our big plays like that somehow, some way, got overturned or called back."
Last year, NFL-licensed products reportedly exceeded $3.4 billion, the profit from which all teams share. It won't hurt those numbers that Pittsburgh came out victorious. The Steelers are the third-most followed NFL team in terms of merchandise sales, while Seattle ranks 21st.
Pittsburgh's Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger rank in the top 10 in individual merchandise sales, while the Seahawks' Shaun Alexander managed to hit No. 10 in jersey sales only because the sale of Seattle merchandise jumped 62 percent during the Seahawks' playoff run.
Everyone in the NFL - Seattle included - will benefit financially from a Pittsburgh victory.
Still, as the Steelers demonstrated in overcoming questionable calls that didn't go their way in Pittsburgh's victory over Indianapolis and NFL-marketing favorite Peyton Manning, the game comes down to players making plays.
The judgment of the officiating crew does not affect the ability to catch passes or kick field goals or manage the clock at the end of the first half. Seattle had its chances and blew it.
On the other hand, with all the money the NFL makes, why does the league still rely on part-time but incredibly well-paid officials? The NFL is a huge business, with the livelihoods of players and coaches resting on the outcome of these weekend games.
Don't they deserve to have the rules of the game interpreted by full-time, paid professionals instead of butchers and bakers, lawyers and candlestick makers who work NFL games on the weekends?
Don't fans deserve to know the game is being managed by professionals, not left in the hands of some neighborhood insurance agent?
The NFL got what it wanted from the Super Bowl.
Can the same be said for the rest of us?
Super Bowl V was a masterpiece compared to this one.
Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 15..........
Thank God.
Then why suggest it?
The greatest four words of any winter.
I agree. I'll never watch an NFL game the same way again.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Wanna use an asterisk? Go right ahead. it's not like your opinion means anything.
Other than a questionable penalty call for a low block, the game was fairly and accurately called, and I'm not a real fan of either team. The only conspiracy is in your own mind.
No matter what the NFL does they just can't seem to get Peyton Manning into the Super Bowl. They tried to take out Pittsburgh, and when Manning decided to pitch another huge choke, Bettis was the "next best story".
Your team SUCKED, and was damn lucky to have the zebras lookin out for you.
Whatever. The Seahawks couldn't stop Pittsburg from converting a 3 and 28. Then they let themselves get burned on the most obvious gadget play in the world. Then they totally mismanaged the clock and cost themselves points at the end of both halves. Was that part of the NFL's conspiracy?
In San Francisco, pitchers and catchers report every day. :)
I wouldn't put this one in the top forty.
Gentlemen Start Your Engines!!!!
Daytona 500 Feb 19!!! WOOHOO
A poorly officiated game, yes, but not the only reason the Seahawks lost. Dropped passes, poor time management, missed field goals, & yes, penalties (not all of them were some evil NFL conspiracy) were other reasons Seattle lost.
Watching the "show" while making sure the mute button stayed depressed, I was reminded of the joke about two hookers, one of which had serviced Mick Jagger.
"What did Mick taste like?"
"Depends."
I have never seen so many commericals crammed into three hours.
I suggest a few less beers before watching the next game as it certainly affected your eyesight.
The suggestion that the NFL would enlist an entire squad of referees, risk totally destroying their multi-billion dollar sporting monopoly, and hand the game to their chosen team, in order to sell a few thousand more shirts, is beyond ludicrous.
It ranks up there with a faked moon landing in terms of plausibility.
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