Seahawk fans: Get over it!
Did you get the same e-mail I did? The photo that has Super Bowl referee Bill Leavy peering into the replay monitor, and he's wearing a shirt with black and yellow stripes?
Or the one that's my personal favorite: Bill Cowher is simultaneously screaming at an official and handing him a wad of $100 bills.
To answer your next question, yes, both photos were cleverly doctored.
I'm writing this against my better judgment, because it's been a whole week since the Super Bowl. Yet, I see the bonfire about the officiating still raging.
Allow me, the trusted voice of reason, to help hose it down.
It's over. Done. Move on. The beloved Seahawks (beloved, that is, until they finish 6-10) had a wonderful year. It's time to recognize it for what it is.
Still, too many hang on to the conspiracy theories: The refs lost it. The NFL wanted this for The Bus. Seattle? Isn't that way out near Ketchikan or Minsk or someplace?
The blaring is primarily about four calls, which we'll address here:
* Replays showed that Seattle receiver Darrell Jackson did push off on Chris Hope in the end zone. He was called for offensive interference. Does what Jackson did always warrant a penalty? No. But to me, Jackson gained an advantage because he stopped Hope's momentum toward him, which means Flag City.
* The first touchdown of the game came when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rolled to his left on third down late in the first half. He appeared to come down just short of the goal line on a head-on hit with D.D. Lewis. The original call was a touchdown and Leavy didn't see enough incontrovertible evidence to overturn it. Fair enough. Can we all agree it was incredibly close? In fact, after looking at replays ad nauseum, it appeared to me that the tip of the ball barely brushed the plane of the goal line just before Roethlisberger fell to the turf. Sorry, kids.
* A holding call on Sean Locklear in the fourth quarter wiped out an 18-yard pass play from Matt Hasselbeck to the beleaguered Jerramy Stevens at the Steeler 1. It put Seattle in position to take a 17-14 lead with 12 minutes to play. That one hurt the Seahawks - not to mention their fans - most because of the circumstances of possibly getting the lead back. Replays were inconclusive, but only because of the camera angles. Someone saw something, or thought he saw something, and threw a flag. Does it automatically follow that the official is on the take? No. It was a call at a crucial part of the game and it went Pittsburgh's way. That's football. Besides, Locklear held, grabbed and squeezed more in the game alone than Hugh Heffner does in a month.
* The one I can't figure out was Hasselbeck's personal foul after he threw an interception to Ike Taylor. In one of the toughest plays I've seen a quarterback make, Hasselbeck not only brought down Taylor, but also a blocker. Yet, back judge Bob Waggoner dropped the flag and called a low block on Hasselbeck. Wow. Take down the ball-carrier and it's a tackle, not a block. Lame call. It gave the Steelers a great head start on a drive that pushed the score to 21-10.
The zebras didn't force Stevens to drop as many as four passes. They didn't force Hasselbeck, with an assist to coach Mike Holmgren, into simply horrible clock management at the end of the first half, when they couldn't figure out what to run. The zebras didn't give up Willie Parker's 75-yard TD at the beginning of the third quarter or Roethlisberger's 37-yard heave on third-and-28.
So enough of the whining, and that includes Holmgren, who rightfully should reach for his wallet after his crack about having to fight both the Steelers and the guys in the striped shirts.
It's done, people. Chill. Cuddle with a loved one and listen to "Ribbon in the Sky" by Stevie Wonder. Look on www.davebarry.com and read terms that would make great names for rock bands (examples: "Weasel Nostrils" and "Jimmy Music and the Stomach Contents").
Considering everything, the Super Bowl may have been one of the more decently officiated games of the playoffs. Ask Troy Polamalu. The uproar comes from the importance of the game and the vast television audience.
Still, the average NFL athlete has become too fast, too intelligent and too skilled for mere mortals to detect at full speed. It was easy to call Chuck Bednarik for a head-slap in the 1960s because he was glacially slow, comparatively speaking. Joey Porter can get away with it.
The replay rule has helped, but it's not enough.
Once the NFL stops its practice of yanking America's bankers and custodians out of their regular jobs and hires them full-time - with rigorous training curriculums in the off-season - we'll get the same controversies year after year.
It won't be perfect. We're working with humans here, remember.
In the meantime, let's all take deep, cleansing breaths and move on.
Or the one that's my personal favorite: Bill Cowher is simultaneously screaming at an official and handing him a wad of $100 bills.
To answer your next question, yes, both photos were cleverly doctored.
I'm writing this against my better judgment, because it's been a whole week since the Super Bowl. Yet, I see the bonfire about the officiating still raging.
Allow me, the trusted voice of reason, to help hose it down.
It's over. Done. Move on. The beloved Seahawks (beloved, that is, until they finish 6-10) had a wonderful year. It's time to recognize it for what it is.
Still, too many hang on to the conspiracy theories: The refs lost it. The NFL wanted this for The Bus. Seattle? Isn't that way out near Ketchikan or Minsk or someplace?
The blaring is primarily about four calls, which we'll address here:
* Replays showed that Seattle receiver Darrell Jackson did push off on Chris Hope in the end zone. He was called for offensive interference. Does what Jackson did always warrant a penalty? No. But to me, Jackson gained an advantage because he stopped Hope's momentum toward him, which means Flag City.
* The first touchdown of the game came when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rolled to his left on third down late in the first half. He appeared to come down just short of the goal line on a head-on hit with D.D. Lewis. The original call was a touchdown and Leavy didn't see enough incontrovertible evidence to overturn it. Fair enough. Can we all agree it was incredibly close? In fact, after looking at replays ad nauseum, it appeared to me that the tip of the ball barely brushed the plane of the goal line just before Roethlisberger fell to the turf. Sorry, kids.
* A holding call on Sean Locklear in the fourth quarter wiped out an 18-yard pass play from Matt Hasselbeck to the beleaguered Jerramy Stevens at the Steeler 1. It put Seattle in position to take a 17-14 lead with 12 minutes to play. That one hurt the Seahawks - not to mention their fans - most because of the circumstances of possibly getting the lead back. Replays were inconclusive, but only because of the camera angles. Someone saw something, or thought he saw something, and threw a flag. Does it automatically follow that the official is on the take? No. It was a call at a crucial part of the game and it went Pittsburgh's way. That's football. Besides, Locklear held, grabbed and squeezed more in the game alone than Hugh Heffner does in a month.
* The one I can't figure out was Hasselbeck's personal foul after he threw an interception to Ike Taylor. In one of the toughest plays I've seen a quarterback make, Hasselbeck not only brought down Taylor, but also a blocker. Yet, back judge Bob Waggoner dropped the flag and called a low block on Hasselbeck. Wow. Take down the ball-carrier and it's a tackle, not a block. Lame call. It gave the Steelers a great head start on a drive that pushed the score to 21-10.
The zebras didn't force Stevens to drop as many as four passes. They didn't force Hasselbeck, with an assist to coach Mike Holmgren, into simply horrible clock management at the end of the first half, when they couldn't figure out what to run. The zebras didn't give up Willie Parker's 75-yard TD at the beginning of the third quarter or Roethlisberger's 37-yard heave on third-and-28.
So enough of the whining, and that includes Holmgren, who rightfully should reach for his wallet after his crack about having to fight both the Steelers and the guys in the striped shirts.
It's done, people. Chill. Cuddle with a loved one and listen to "Ribbon in the Sky" by Stevie Wonder. Look on www.davebarry.com and read terms that would make great names for rock bands (examples: "Weasel Nostrils" and "Jimmy Music and the Stomach Contents").
Considering everything, the Super Bowl may have been one of the more decently officiated games of the playoffs. Ask Troy Polamalu. The uproar comes from the importance of the game and the vast television audience.
Still, the average NFL athlete has become too fast, too intelligent and too skilled for mere mortals to detect at full speed. It was easy to call Chuck Bednarik for a head-slap in the 1960s because he was glacially slow, comparatively speaking. Joey Porter can get away with it.
The replay rule has helped, but it's not enough.
Once the NFL stops its practice of yanking America's bankers and custodians out of their regular jobs and hires them full-time - with rigorous training curriculums in the off-season - we'll get the same controversies year after year.
It won't be perfect. We're working with humans here, remember.
In the meantime, let's all take deep, cleansing breaths and move on.
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