Woot! Steelers win!

[Zeus]

Guess not too many Steelers fans here. I know that lurkin' old man is still jumping up and down, taking years off his already fragile bones :-)

Helluva run, too. To beat the three top seeds in their conference and the top in the other conference all on the road is pretty insane. Such a fan of the way they play.

Now, if the Bills will just win, I'll have actually watched all three teams that I follow win the Superbowl (Packers were the other).

[Eric]

It wasn't the most exciting or memorable of games, glad to see JB get his ring. Sad to see Alexander regulated.

[Flip]

Alexander still had a quiet, good game. Like 90 something yards, i think. The Super Bowl seemed anti-climatic this year for some reason. Was a fun season, though.

[Nev]

Sorry, did something happen? I was playing Curse of Darkness...

[Imakeholesinu]

WILLIE PARKER IS THE FUTURE!!!

[Ishamael]

Refs gave 'em the game. Tainted title.

In the words of Vader, "search your feelings. You know it to be true".

[Kupek]

This was the first full football game I've watched in many years (well, excluding two crappy W&M games I saw here when I was dating a cheerleader). I didn't think it was a good game. And I agree with Ish: so much of the game was determined by close (I say "bad") calls by the refs.

The touchdown the Steelers got when their QB dived for the endzone was iffy. Even after watching the replay a dozen times, I wasn't sure if the ball ever crossed the goal line, although I was leaning towards not. Then there was the interference call the Seahawks got when the receiver pushed off the man covering him. There was no way the Steelers player was going to catch that ball, the Seahawks man was on the inside, and it was just a tiny "I'm switching directions" push. Reversing those two calls could have made it an entirely different game.

Keep in mind that I had no favorites when watching this game.

[Lox]

This was the first full football game I've watched in many years (well, excluding two crappy W&M games I saw here when I was dating a cheerleader). I didn't think it was a good game. And I agree with Ish: so much of the game was determined by close (I say "bad") calls by the refs.

The touchdown the Steelers got when their QB dived for the endzone was iffy. Even after watching the replay a dozen times, I wasn't sure if the ball ever crossed the goal line, although I was leaning towards not. Then there was the interference call the Seahawks got when the receiver pushed off the man covering him. There was no way the Steelers player was going to catch that ball, the Seahawks man was on the inside, and it was just a tiny "I'm switching directions" push. Reversing those two calls could have made it an entirely different game.

Keep in mind that I had no favorites when watching this game.

That's basically how I felt: I didn't care who won, but the bad ref calls bothered me.

[Flip]

Not to mention a holding penalty against the Seahawks (of which even Madden says on air that he didnt see any holding) that would have put them first and goal inside the 1 yard line and instead made it 2nd and 20 from the 35.

[Gentz]

I'm happy for the Steeelers, being a Pittsburgher, but it really wasn't a very good Superbowl. Both teams played like shit, for the most part, the Steelers just managed to make a few good plays when it counted and the Seahawks really couldn't bring it together at all.

It's definitely a shame that the questionable officiating is gonna be the most memorable part of the game; though I've gotta disagree with Kupek and say I really don't think there were many bad calls. I don't really know if Roethlisberger broke the plane on that first touchdown (though somebody at work tacked up a freeze frame of the play on the wall, and it definitely looks like the ball's over the goal line), but at the very least, it would've been a lot more questionable for the ref to have overturned the call than to let it stand, given what he had to go on.

And that was offensive pass interference by Jackson, plain and simple. I mean, there's no such thing as a "tiny I'm switching directions" push-off - you either push off the guy or you don't, and Jackson did. I mean, sure, a lot of the time plays like that go uncalled, but that doesn't make it any more legal; especially when you do it right in front of an official during the Superbowl.

There were a few ridiculous ones, like that blocking below the waist thing and when that fumble got called back (though that one was actually against the Steelers), but as for those first two, they were close calls, but there was really nothing "bad" about them. If they had gone the other way people would still be complaining.

[ShyGuy]

Thank you Gentz.

The fact is Seatle brought nothing to that game and they left with nothing because of it. At least 1/4 or more of the steelers contributed with big plays. The Steelers didn't play their best game, but Seatle didn't even play. Chalk one up for the black and gold and remember that we went through worse officiating in Indy just to get to the superbowl. This game might have had a few questionable calls nothing more.