The Steelers Win - darnit

As Super Bowls go it wasn't one of the best, especially since I wanted the Seahawks to win. But as the whistle blows a play dead, so the refs blew the Seahawks some bad calls.

Holmgren was, by any standard, not up to the task of coaching a team at this level last night. That isn't to say he isn't a good coach because I believe he is, it's just last night he seemed to be making some errors in play calling at critical times, like at the end of the first half and the end of the game.

But the thing that kind of darkened the game for me was some very obvious errors in the refereeing. The call at the goal line when the quarterback for the Steelers, Roethlisberger, tried to run the ball in but was stopped short of the line where he fell on the ball and then, in full view of the cameras, pushed the ball across the line. His forward motion stopped short of the goal line and since he was carrying the ball waist high it never broke the plane of the goal line. Several camera angles showed this to be true but in the 'instant reply review' the head ref said it did.

A shot on the side lines of the Steelers coach and Roethlisberger laughing and shoving each other said a lot to me about what happened at the goal line.

Second was the touch down catch that was called back because the receiver used his hands to redirect himself against the defender as he reached for the ball was not a good call by any standard. And the block by Hasselbeck on the runner after he throw the interception drew a penalty because he hit the runner low was totally incorrect.

In any case, the Steelers were more organized through out the game and earned the win. It's just would have been better to have the Steelers win without the interference of bad calls by the refs. And of course it would have been even better if the Hawks would have won - heh