Refs Suck

[Boobie Lover]

Seattle's getting fucked over by the refs. I know everyone wants the Steelers to win, but damn this is just so terrible.

[omahilo]

let me just say wow...

I hope the MVP goes to the refs because no one on the steelers deserved it.

where can I start at? Ok...

DJacks TD catch that was called off because of offensive pass interefence, very weak call.

The call that changed the whole game was the holding call when the seahawks caught the ball at the steelers 2 yard line. the score was 14-10 and that was a sure TD which would of been 17-14 but instead the holding call pushed them back and Hasselbeck ended up getting picked off and the steelers scored on the trick play.

14 pt turnaround that changed the entire game.

[studiopet]

Was the Superbowl on tonite?

Hmmm...maybe next year....

[Zybomb]

[Talking Poker]

That was a joke. Someone at my party actually made the exact same comment about the Refs getting the MVP award, since they completely determined the outcome of that game. Was the entire crew from Pittsburgh or something?

[eejit101]

I didnt believ the calls they were getting. In the UK we dont get much coverage, so i check out ESPN alot for rules and evrything on the game, but the superbowl ehre is pretty big. Watched it all, and im wondering how much the refs will make from the obvious fixing of that game. Seahawks penalties were all big calls at crazy times, the pass interference was IMO a shit call, and there IS NO WAY ALIVE that ben rothilsbergre or whatever he is called got that ball over the line, no way, 4th and millimetres was the decision. Its bollocks (and im saying this and i support the falcons, so im not biased)

[lightfungus]

That a boy! But I must say I think Ben got a TD on that one. The ball crossed the line. Either way the ruling on the field could not be overturned. As for the rest of the stuff, it was a little one sided. It was definately a weird superbowl, and if you watched it without seeing the actual scores, I dont think you could pick a winner. Seattle deserved to lose after the way they handled the ends of the half and game...you can't tell me they handled those well.

[Robbie Robb]

I disagree there. True, the ball DID cross the line, BUT it touched the ground about two inches before the start of the goal line before it touched the ground. There is absolutely NO way that ball couldn't have touched the ground at the angle he was holding the ball before the line. The one camera angle seemed to clearly show this. It's unfortunate that the ref seemed to miss this angle after watching the replay.

For the record, it's been mentioned here before, but let me re-iterate: I really do NOT have much interest in football. I watched a bit of the game before dropping Raiders of the Lost Ark into the DVD player and happened to catch this play. I had no real favourite in this team. In a previous post I stated that I was rooting for the Steelers as they had stated they were going to choose to play in their black jerseys. Liars. I also stated I *should* root for Seattle since Paul Allen owns the team.

So as an unbiased observer - that ball did NOT cross the goal line before hitting the ground.

[PShabi]

I take pride in my sports knowledge, especially the enforcing of rules. I'd make the world's best replay official.

#1 - By the rules of the game, the pass interference on Seattle was just that. The WR extended his arm and made contact with the defender. The defender's movement was impeded and the receiver caught the ball. Pass Interference, all day, everyday.

#2 - Ben was in. It doesn't matter where you or the ball hits the ground. It matters if the ball crossed the plane of the goal line. That plane starts at the very edge of the white goal line and extends vertically to infinity. While airborne, the nose of the ball gets to the goal line right before he is hit. Once hit, yes he moves backward and lands behind the goal line.

Also, it was called a "TD" on the field. To overturn that call, they would need indisputable evidence that it WAS NOT a TD. No one can say that the video provided that evidence.

Both of those calls were spot on and if Holmgren is watching the tapes today, I guarantee he would not argue.

[PShabi]

Seattle botched the end of the 1/2 and the end of the game. Holmgren and Hasselback fucked up time management and it really hurt at the half.

Then Holmgren tries to deflect the blame by trying to criticize the refs about the play that happened w/ BR.

Pitt deserved to win.

[Penguinfan]

So I still have TP in my bookmarks and click it by accident so I decide to scroll down to the Sports forum to see if I have missed anything, and I just can't believe this thread.

Let me give you guys some advice about betting on sports, learn to take a loss without blaming someone else, blame yourself. I could point to other forums where I posted about being on Pittsburgh VERY BIG! Seattle did not belong on the field with Pittsburgh.

Now, what your saying is look at what happened Seattle would have won if not for the refs (which I will get to in a second). You are wrong, Pittsburgh was able to play their worst game of the playoffs BY FAR and STILL win by 11 points. So while you are blaming the refs you should be blaming yourself for betting on a team that played a WEAK schedule in an INFERIOR conference.

BTW, did TP delete the thread about the botched interception call that went against Pittsburgh in the INDY game, I can't seem to find it. Or was everyone on INDY so the selective blindness comes into play here, agian, learn to see what really happened if your gonna bet on games.

Now let's talk about all the "Bad calls", first off is the interference call that the Steelers had to lobby for, do you know the rules? He had his hand on the defenders chest with his arm fully extended, what do you think that is? Look at the replay and you will see the official IMMEDIATLY goes for his flag and misses it and has to reach back for it, he didn't reach for it after Hope lobbied for the call. I'll bet after you see the replay you still won't see it that way, but thats what happened.

The holding call that brought back the pass to the two yard line: WHEN YOU HAVE A GUY AROUND THE NECK FROM BEHIND IT IS HOLDING!

Roethlisberger had the TD, the rules state if ANY part of the ball crosses the goal line it is a TD, that CLEARLY happened. For those that don't know the rule the very first part of white chalk you see is considered the goal line, not the back half of it, thus it was a TD.

If you really want to complain about a call then complain about the call on Hasslebeck for the low hit in the interception return. Keep in mind that it was after the interception and it would have still been Pittsburgh's ball and that exact same call was made against Pittsburgh in week 5 so the rule is on the books.

I suppose on Willie Parkers TD run to start the second half the Refs were blocking for him as well and somehow the refs pushed those FG's wide, and yet again they are guilty of making the Seattle corners bite on the reverse fake that everyone saw coming, then they had the audacity to make Stevens drop those balls that hit him in the hands, damn refs.

If you handicapped this game using something besides the media and your dislike for Pittsburgh then there is no way you could be on Seattle in this game, learn from it or you will never make in the world of sports betting.

You had one team that had the luxury of a soft schedule and home games in the playoffs against soft competition and one team who went on the road and beat the 1,2 and 3 seeds in thier conference and never gave up more than 18 points doing it. Ever hear the term "defense wins championships"?

Handicapp games with stats, strenghts, weaknesses, tendancies, etc... Not with the media or your like/dislike for a team. Next season when the Seahawks miss the playoffs maybe some of you will look back to this thread and see I was right, but then again it will just be easier to complain about the refs than actually learn something.

Take care all, honestly hope everyone is doing well..........

[Reel Deal]

Completely agree with Shabi and Penguin.

[Robbie Robb]

Ah, thank you sir. As I mentioned I know almost nothing about football. I was just going by what the commentators were saying at the time: that the ball had to cross the line BEFORE touching the ground. Football fans may have very easily understood what they were meaning, but I, being a non-football fan, was rather clueless.

I stand corrected - the way you describe the rules, you're absolutely right - it was clearly a TD then as the ball did cross the line in the air before being pushed back a couple inches.

This is what I get for sticking my nose in a thread I know nothing about! Consider me schooled.

[rookette22]

Me 3...
(posted this earlier but just noticed it didn't post) so here it is once again.

Bottom line?... Ball got over the line...end of story. Seahawks messed up the only chance they might have had, at a win, when they got intercepted in 4th quarter.

But hey...what do I know; I'm just a 'gurl'.

[Talking Poker]

How random for Penguinfan to disappear for months only to "accidently" click on a link to TP and then make some huge post about the Super Bowl. You should probably delete that bookmark, Penguin, so you don't "accidently" land here again. Oh, the horror!

Sorry to sound bitter, but I don't understand that comment at all or where it came from. But whatever.

Oh, that's right, the last time you left us was when you stormed out of here because someone signed up with the name "Osama" and you tried to stage some sort of mutiny/forum boycott unless I immediately banned him. The funny thing about that, that I guess you never noticed, is I had already changed his username, like RIGHT AWAY... and the back and forth arguing and all that kept going on and on and on.

Regarding the Refs, it wasn't just those two calls.... it was the entire texture of the game. Every chance they could, they were penalizing Seattle and NOT Pittsburgh. Yes, most of the calls they made on Seattle were legit, but how about the ones they overlooked on Pittsburgh? Same effect. Also, how about the ball spotting all game long? Seemed to me that ball was being moved in the same direction (once again, for Pittsburgh) all game long.

And btw, I don't think anyone here was even talking about betting on the game.... just how annoying it is when the Refs are so clearly biased towards one team. Can't we just let them play?

I also disagree that Seattle didn't belong on the field. Other than the very end of the game, Seattle outplayed them the whole way. The Steelers had 3 plays - the crazy across the field pass, the Randel El TD pass (vn play, btw), and the long TD run (botched D by the Seahawks). That was it. 3 plays. The rest of the time, they sure didn't look like a SB team to me. 3 and out, 3 and out, 3 and out.

Now that I've rambled on this long, let me address the two plays you have all been focusing on:

1. It was a TD. I think he crossed the line, personally, but it doesn't matter. That was SO CLOSE that whatever the ruling on the field is was going to stand. The problem I have with that play was when the ref came running in with one hand up (I see it, I've got the call) and the other hand down, pointing to the ground. He was about to rule Ben down (which would have also stood) and then al lof a sudden it was like he remembered the Steeler Edge factor (the wad of bills in his back pocket, maybe?) and he threw both of his hands up in the air. It was crap. If he called it a TD from the start, I would have been fine with it, but he changed his mind after a good 5 seconds.

2. The offensive pass interference in the end zone. Yup, I saw it. But was I the only one that saw the defensive pass interference BEFORE it? Where was the call??? How about some offsetting penalties?

All in all, it was a disappointing game.

[thrash1294]

Notice they did not call a penalty for the pick play when seattle scored their td.... So there.

[Talking Poker]

Ummmm....

Well said. I think.

[kmb13592]

There is no denying that the officiating was bad, however the play of Seattle was worse. It may have been a contribution to the way the game went, but it did not determine the outcome.

Sure that holding called back the long passing play, but the refs did not make Hasselbeck throw the interception. And look at what Pittsburgh did in the playoffs, they overcame the worst call I've ever seen on the Polomalu INT but they overcame it and did what they had to do to win. Seattle did not do what they had to do, and ultimately lost the game theirselves.