SUPER BOWL LIVE THREAD, Sunday February 5, 2006 (Steelers Win 21-10)

February 5, 2006 | seattle conservative

[Seattle Conservative]

Are you ready for some football????!!!!

Seattle Seahawks v.s. Pittsburgh Steelers ABC 6:15 ET February 5, 2006

SUPER BOWL XL

VS.

6:30 PM EST on ABC
Pregame coverage begins at 2:30 PM

Catch all the action on ESPNRadio
Catch the game on ESPN Scoreboard

For more pregame coverage, tune in to ESPN for Sunday NFL Countdown: Super Bowl Edition
For highlights of previous Super Bowls, tune in to ESPN2

[The Foolkiller]

Bad calls on critical plays. There is nothing more depressing than when the officials take the game out of the players' hands.

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We all know, being realistic, holding could be called on virtually every snap of the ball in the NFL. The reaon it isn't-it would make the games about 8 hours long. The refs always seem to wait until critical plays. The steelers may have deserved to win this, but the score should have been more like 21-20.

[Barney59]

Just wondering what happened at the end of the game when Bill Cowher was just standing there looking around for Holmgrin to show up and shake hands? Looked like Seattle left the field?

VO guys just kept talking and cut away to a commercial...

I can't believe Holmgrin would bolt without the handshake!

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

My MVP for the Steelers would be the whole officiating crew.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

check out these posts on a sports blog from around the country. Some are local Seattle people, but many are people living in different states and fans of other teams. Seahawks fans aren't the only ones digusted by the officating in this superbowl.

It's tough to lose a game like this, but it seems so fitting. Seattle wasn't destined to win Super Bowl XL. If you disagree with me, tune in to any channel and watch the Jerome Bettis show, or simply as the referees who blatantly ruined numerous Seattle drives. Jackson pushing off? Locklear holding? Hasselbeck cut blocking the ball carrier? Joey Porter's horse collar tackle. Seattle needs to make one goal. That being to keep this team and coaching staff together... especially Hutchinson and Alexander. On to next year. Go Hawks.
— Kyle M., Anchorage, Alaska

I thought only Baltimore was plagued by lousy calls. I have never seen a Super Bowl decided by lousy holding calls, on the line, and a chop block on your quarterback. Give me a break. The NFL sold out to have the Steelers win.
— Nino C., Baltimore

As a Seattle fan in Denver, I was excited to see the Seahawks go to the Super Bowl. If it wasn't for the multiple bad calls by the officials, I'm sure the Seahawks would have had a chance to actually win the game. I'm sure each of the officials in the game received a nice fat check from the Steelers. The only good outcome is that the team is young, and has great talent on both sides of the ball. It is only a given that this team will return to the Super Bowl.
— Larry N., Denver

I am neither a Steelers or Hawks fan but it appeared to me that the fix was in. How many calls can the refs blow against one team? I was astonished that Madden and company barely mentioned the blown calls and unbelievable mistakes by the refs. How can a quarterback who tackles a player who just intercepted him get a call for a low block? It was a travesty and all I can say to Seattle is that you deserved better.
— Perry M., Chicago

I am not a Seattle or Pittsburgh fan but I think the officiating crew gave the game to the Steelers with several bad or controversial calls. It makes you wonder how legitimate the games really are when the refs can control it like that.
— DMR, Spring, Texas

The TV coverage was so pro-Steeler that it was difficult to watch. Jerome Bettis got more camera time than Budweiser and he didn't do squat all night long. Did anyone notice that EVERY ad with a player/coach in the first half with the Super Bowl trophy was a Steeler? There were at least four of them. One Seahawk in the second half, and one with players from both teams, although the majority were Steelers. 7 penalties against the Seahawks. Only 3 against the Steelers, and 2 of those were in the opening half. All this ranting from me and guess what? I'm a not even a Seahawks fan. That should tell you how bad it was when a neutral party is ... off about the TV coverage and officiating. Looked to me like the NFL wanted the Steelers to win.
— Rodney R., Lincoln, Neb.

It's a shame that the officials determined the winner of this game. It cheapened the victory for Pittsburgh. I'm sorry Seattle, you guys were robbed by a one-sided officiating crew. Although nothing can be done about the outcome now, if enough media attention focuses on the poor officiating it can at least go down as the most fraudulent super bowl in NFL history.
— Mike J., Jacksonville, Fla.

I hope they leave enough room to etch Bill Levy's name on the trophy. I hope that crew never sets foot on a football field again.
— Trevor R., Calgary, Alberta

The NFL is no better than the WWF. They chose the winner before the game and made sure that the officiating went Pittsburgh's way. The NFL is fixed.
— Tom D., Tucson, Ariz.

Remove the zebras from the game and the real score was 21-17 Seahawks. Several referee decisions at critical times should have been now calls or were subjective against Seahawks. But the Seahawks did not bring "A" game. Pitt looked worse despite capitalizing on gadget plays. Bad clock management also by Seahawks. And Jerramy Stevens is Mr. BOBBLE.
— Jon S., Sonora, Calif.

I am a Viking fan. I found the officiating disturbing to say the least. Bring in another group of officials and Seattle might have blown Pittsburgh out of the water. When is the last time you saw a penalty on a QB for making a tackle below the waist.
— Dan B., Minneapolis

I am not from Seattle nor am I a Seahawk fan. The game in my humble, objective (I don't care for either Pitt or Seattle) opinion was the worst officiated game in my recollection. Good luck Seattle maybe next year you will have an objective officiating corps.
— Steve, Albuquerque, N.M.

The Steelers obviously deserved to win today. We could whine about officiating, interceptions, etc...but the Steelers deserved it.
— Pete, Seattle

John Madden thought the calls were bad, ESPN called it bad. The Seahawks are the better team, everywhere but the final score. The headlines in the Times should read "Controversial calls ruin Super Bowl."
— Kelly H., Snohomish

Am I alone in believing most all pivotal calls went in favor of the Steelers? It even took a challenge to get one against the Hawks right! In spite of it sounding like sour grapes, you can't beat the zebras.
— Steve F., San Diego

Another example of the NFL picking the winner prior to kick off, and the media that will let them (the NFL) get away with it. I'll stick to NASCAR from now on!
— Bill, Port Orchard

I will have a tough time being a fan of the NFL after that. That game was fixed.
— D.L., Lynden

I feel your pain. Did the Seahawks make mistakes? Yes. But I think the NFL officials made more at critical points in the game to put the game out of reach. Let it be known a majority of Cincinnati Bengals fans were rooting for the Seahawks after a similar experience with NFL officiating that ended our playoff hopes and our quarterbacks MVP season. Also we support our local talent, namely Shaun Alexander. I hope to see you back in the playoffs in 2007. Long live Largent & Zorn.
— Dale S., Cincinnati

[Allegra]

Wow. Reading all of this makes me wish I had seen the game. Was it really that obviously controversial?

Maybe I'll catch a replay. All I got was the score this morning. (I'm time-zone challenged - game was on in the middle of the night.)

[Michael.SF.]

Did anyone else find it odd, that a group of male dancer's featured with Stevie Wonder were all using White Canes (an no they were not blind)?

[Michael.SF.]

Was it really that obviously controversial?

Only from the perspective of a hopelessly loyal Seattle fan.

I had no dog in the hunt and saw some bad calls that went both ways (the fumble, the touchdown), but felt that they evened out.

[Richard Kimball]

I don't think it was fixed, I just think it was poorly officiated. I've seen two games that I thought were fixed. One was an Oklahoma game with Nebraska when Switzer was coaching. Oklahoma was not in the title hunt, Nebraska was. A Nebraska win meant an Orange Bowl berth and a chance to play for the national title. That meant a LOT of money for the Big 8. Oklahoma was down on the goal line, and Nebraska players clearly interfered on three straight plays. Nebraska went to the Orange Bowl. They were Big 8 refs. There was another game I didn't see, but it involved UNLV.

I forget the exact circumstances, but there had been a lot of money bet on one side, so the Vegas bookies would have lost a fortune. In the second half, it became obvious the game wasn't going the bookies way, and the stadium lights went out. They called the game. Vegas declared it "no game" and refused to pay.

Watching the NBA playoffs, it became obvious that Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan could have shot people and not fouled out of a game.

As to the NFL, I've seen some AWFUL officiating, but nothing to make me suspect a game was fixed.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

"but felt that they evened out."

I believe Hillary is looking for accountants like you to manage her campaign financing.

[The Foolkiller]

Amen, brother. The Seattle fans are a hoot! There's less "whine" in France, Italy, and Napa Valley combined.

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I thinks its just that NFL fans want a championship to be
won, not annointed.

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Bingo.

[buckleyfan]

Who the hell says "hey, lets go to pittsburgh!"

It's funny you say that, because I haven't heard anyone, anywhere, EVER say "hey, let's go to pheonix!"

LOL. Sure, maybe it's a good place to get gas on the way to Cali or the Grand Canyon. Airplanes have to stop there sometimes. I bet you can hit all the chain restaurants in a row if forced to stay there overnight for some reason.

Anyway, I'm not in an "Eastern hell" as you call it, as I noted in my last post, I'm in the south. Specifically Texas. So I know all about nice weather in the winter, been in the high seventies and low eighties lately. Well, good for us! So what. It'll be hot as hell in no time, and then the folks in Pittsburg can laugh in their 70-80 degrees.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Bad call after bad call, all against the Seahawks at key times. Seahawks scored the first TD only to have it taken away by offensive pass interference. Later a holding penalty that Madden said wasn't holding eliminated a Hawk pass to the 1 yard line. Over 3 times as many penalties on the Seahawks as on the Steelers, plus the yards taken away as a result. Seattle was penalized on almost every if not every offensive drive.

Cumulative total of all this was what made it that bad.

[cherry]

"Only from the perspective of a hopelessly loyal Seattle fan"

actually, if you look around on the internet you'll find fans from all over cursing the refs....with good reason, too....

I think the Stealers should enjoy their big Superbowl win .....*wink*...* wink*...

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Giant and Jets fan here, not Seattle.

[FredZarguna]

We own Ohio, we haved owned Ohio since 1970, and we will always own Ohio for as long as you live.

Now you know "who dey" are, and all your whining isn't going to change the outcome. Seattle's "league leading" offense was effectively held to 3 -- count 'em 3 points.

Pushing off a receiver is pass interference, and it's called too infrequently. As for the "bad" holding calls, Seattle decided to keep the Steelers out of their backfield the old-fashioned way: by holding the Defense. The 'Hawks were holding constantly during that game, and should have been called more--not less. On several plays during the drive you questioned, they tackled the Pittsburgh linemen and got away with it.

A 75 yard run from scrimmage is not a gadget play; it's a breakdown in the defense.

A scrambling quarterback passing for 43 yards to a separating receiver is not a gadget play; it's a breakdown in defense.

A gadget play used against Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Denver ALL for touchdowns and again tonight is a breakdown in defense and in Holmgren's staff preparation for the game.

When a team moves the ball betweens the twenties and doesn't get the ball into the end zone, they SUCK. Period. The only thing Seattle had going in this game was a solid defense, which spent so much time concentrating on the line of scrimmage they couldn't stop big plays. Because of that, they gave up 21 points--which no serious person can challenge.

Get over your whining. Seattle LOST. And next year we're going to own Ohio, again.

[willgetsome]

I'm a fan of neither team. That being said...

Congrats to the Steelers on their win. Seattle didn't bring its best game. The refs were horrible, IMO. To all of you folks who say "stop whining"....get real. There were some REALLY, REALLY bad calls. Did these bad calls prevent Seattle from winning? Nope. Seattle beat themselves in the end. Did the bad calls make the game hard to watch? Yep. I think the NFL needs to send its refs back to school.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

Think that was in 2001, the game where the lights went out, a football game. Maybe I read about it when it happened that it was due to a fix, but I forgot all about that UNLV game.

Thank you for reminding me of that one.

[Freedom of Speech Wins]

That 75 yard run play was a bad play by the Seattle coaching staff as there was only one middle linebacker on the field for it, due to the Nichol defense.

Tatupu got blocked and there was noone else around on it.

[My Favorite Headache]

Could be quote of the year thus far!

[The Foolkiller]

God, that babe that does their commercials is ULTRA-HOT!