Poor Officiating Tarnishes NFL SuperBowl

[tilefish]

Two bad touch down calls cost the Sea Hawks a 14 point swing. One has to wonder if the NFL was looking at the larger Pittsburgh market asbeing a more valuble SUper Bowl winner!

[tman_ndsu08]

You mean the larger east coast time zone in general?

[lili462]

i thought the game was officiated fine... I'm sure one of the touchdowns your talking about is the one where ben jumped to the endzone...it was in. I know it, my dad knew it, everyone watching knew it, and the ref knew it. I know refs make bad calls everyonce in a while, but they tend to review things better and make better calls in the superbowl, its one of the biggest events of the year. I knew pitt was gonna win the day they played the colts. Everyone thought they were gonna lose..that game turned around so many times in the end it wasnt even funny, but pitt came out on top. Alot of people didn't think they would beat the broncos,but they did(didnt watch that one)..i can tell you why pittsburgh won: because they wanted it bad enough.

[Chris]

See my comments in the Superbowl thread.

[gr8fuldaniel]

Its criminal. And the gods of Superbowl have been busy scrubbing articles that criticize officiating. I an sure threats of lawsuits have forced this major news outlet to purge dissent: Google News Search for criteria "superbowl officiating" brought this results:

Steelers Win Superbowl 21-10 WZZM, MI - Feb 5, 2006 ... potential scoring drives by the Seattle Seahawks to win Superbowl XL. ... drive, as several time management miscues and questionable officiating calls prevented ...

The words "as several time management miscues and questionable officiating calls prevented ... " are nowhere to be found in the article.

Because everybody knows, if it isnt in the news, it didnt happen. It will be forgotten by the time they need more money from us for the next con game.

Its the profiteers that won the "Big Game".

If the Seahawks were allowed to run all over the "Stealers", that would take the partisan crowd out of it early.

The crime was committed at WZZM Channel 13 at this time:

Created: 2/5/2006 10:38:23 PM Updated: 2/6/2006 3:52:12 PM

[Chris]

The real score IMO

Seattle 17
Pittsburgh 14

[tman_ndsu08]

Seattle never technically scored. They were on the 1 yard line.

[Chris]

Were you watching the game? That was a TD and everyone agrees it was. We are talking about the BS call early in the game. Remember?

EDIT: Talking about this:

On their third drive, the Seahawks looked to take a 7-0 lead when Jackson separated from Chris Hope in the end zone and Matt Hasselbeck delivered a perfect strike to his outside shoulder. The back judge looked uncertain — sound familiar, Patriots fans? — then finally jerked his flag out and called offensive pass interference to wipe out the touchdown. The replay showed receiver and defender hand-fighting, with Jackson getting the slightest push into Hope's chest before turning to catch the ball. ABC's John Madden thought the call was dubious. FOX analyst and all-time great offensive lineman Brian Baldinger had no doubts, calling it "absolutely horrendous" on his FOXSports.com Super Bowl Instant Analysis. ESPN's Steve Young and Michael Irvin also had no uncertainty, dismissing the call as ticky-tack and insisting the Seahawks got robbed of a TD.

and this

The Seahawks were on the verge of taking a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter when officiating disaster struck. Hasselbeck had drilled a pass down the seam to Jerramy Stevens to set up first-and-goal at the one when suddenly Leavy appeared in the middle of the screen to call the play back on account of holding on Sean Locklear. No less a source than newly minted Hall of Famer John Madden came right out and said it was a bad call.

[Chris]

Says it all:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/

FOXSports: 'The Steelers did not deserve to win this game' This from Kevin Hench at FOXSports: "The Steelers did not deserve to win this game. They were not the better team. ... Seattle was the better team. "So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle? "Like a crazed CIA analyst running through the halls of Langley screaming into open offices about some impending calamity, I've been shrieking hysterically about the terrible officiating in the NFL and warning that some day the brutal calls were going to affect the outcome of the Super Bowl. "That some day was Sunday. "Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks."

full story

[lsbskins1]

Not being a Seattle nor a Pittsburg fan, this would be my take:

Seattle Dude (Jackson?) pushed off like Michael Irvin in the end zone. My eyes and your eyes saw his hand touching Pittsburgh dude and his arm extending while his hand was still touching defender, gaining seperation. That is offensive interference. Sorry. We are not debating how you wish they would call that, we are debating if it is illegal and it is.

Did the ball break the plane on Big Ben's dive? I can not say definitively. Was it over the plane when he hit the ground? No. Is that the beginning and the end of the question? No. Did replay provide me with indisputable evidence that when he was in the air that the ball did NOT cross the plane, which is what the rule requires to overturn the ruling on the field? No.

If anything, it would be easier for my ego as a Skins fan if the team that defeated my team had gone on to win the whole enchilada. They just did not make as many clutch plays as Pittsburgh did.

[brien]

Quote by: tilefish Two bad touch down calls cost the Sea Hawks a 14 point swing. One has to wonder if the NFL was looking at the larger Pittsburgh market asbeing a more valuble SUper Bowl winner!

I saw the game and think that some officials made mistakes. This begs the question, why? Some may be honest mistakes, but others appear to be purposely made by the official. This begs the question, are they crooked? Well. It does not matter whether they are or they aren't at this point. What matters is that the viewing public is questioning their calls, their credibility, and ultimately their honesty. It does nothing but impune the integrity of the game. Glad I didn't take the 4 points offered against the Steelers.

Now, on to NASCAR! :) :) :) :) :)

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: |Chris| Were you watching the game? That was a TD and everyone agrees it was. We are talking about the BS call early in the game. Remember?

Oh. That.

I didn't even consider that one to be questionable. It was clearly a push off.