I realize that there is nothing that can be done about anything, but they should make the ref's keep the stripes on and just take them to the nearest Federal Penitentary and charge them with Grand Larceny. This is rediculous! However, we should have never been in the position where the ref's could take the game from us. We physically beat the "Stealers" butts up and down the field. That's ok....next year, we don't let up. We will be relentless in our pursuit of the title. Shaun is coming back, and we're going to Miami. The 12th man will lead the way! GO HAWKS!!!

This wasn't a Superbowl, this wasn't a game, and this was a gift, a gift to "the bus” that didn’t even play. First they give him the key to the city, then they say how great the Steelers are, and once the game started the gifts kept coming. Blown calls right and left. The Steelers didn’t score until 20min in to the game. Even the commercials were for the Steelers. They kept showing the bus, Ben Reohgdjflasburg (however its spelled), Hines Ketchup, and Potty Porter with the trophy. What’s that they didn’t even win yet but they show them with the Trophy. Give us a chance, give us respect, and give us the win. We will be back, Miami here we come, and this time we’ll pay the ref's. Paul get your check book.

Really, what's the use of instant replay and 1,000 cameras surrounding the field if the refs are blind? The NFL needs an independent observer who can overrule bad calls - or some other system to prevent this from happening again.

shame on the media for dissing the seahawks. what about that late interception hasselbeck threw? shouldnt even of happened but the refs called a just because holding call that didnt occur and seattle had executed the ball to the 1 yard line. so seattle was backed up again , then the mistake for hasselbeck. why should seattle play against those odds. what about jackson's touchdown in the 1st quarter that was called back? sure he put out his arm, but if you watch the replay the deffensive back"s hands were all over jackson during his route, hawks were backed up no offsetting penelty was called.even though the hawks made mistakes they were still good enough to win but the refs killed the opportunities at their most crusial points. yes alexander didnt get a td, but i bet if it werent for refs calling penaltie that didnt happened alexander would had a rushing td.bottom line the refs stopped seattle several times and why does the media say the hawks couldnt execute? when they did it was taken a way. the media should point that out because seattle would have blown out the steelers bad. think about it, if the calls were fair and just there would have been a different out come. the hawks play selections would have been different and alexander would have had well over 100 yards. so the media should'nt weigh heavy on the hawks the media should let everyone know how it really was ,,,,, thankyou

People Please. If you need to complain about the refs about not winning then your team is not good enough to be called the champion. I keep reading about bad calls, what about the call where the seachicken quarterback fummbled the ball, but because he was barely touched the ball was returned to them? Does that not seem just like when the chicken in the end zone pushed off? Both were barely there, yet they were there. Call went both ways. The chickens should of won it out right without nedeing calls to go their way. They were the beter team, yet they LOST! No respect, expecially if you keep bitching about the refs. And about the whole Miami next year thing, nope, will never happen.

I knew the game was fixed when we got our first touchdown and they took it away from us. It looked like a normal touchdown to me. They had one bogus touchdown. That was the most corrupt officiating I've ever witnessed. The superbowl officials should be ashamed and investigated! Our Seahawks really are the best. And anyone who had normal eyeballs watching the replays know it!

The game was a complete set up. Seahawks were going to win and you know it. Anyone and everyone knew that the Seahaeks were the better team out there and next year we will go to the super bowl and we will win. LET'S GO KICK SOME BUTT! GO HAWKS!

The Steelers won this game by their 12th Man...the Refs. If anyone deserves the MVP for the Steelers that person is wearing stripes.

What about the 6 commericals showing the STEELERS WITH the trophy compared to the SEAHAWKS 2 commericals??? Should have been even! Look at the statistics, Seattle won the game according to yards etc, but because of the calls we lost the game..... #7 of the Steelers touchdown..the ball did not cross the plain..... until he was down then he moved the ball across the line...... NO FAIR NFL

The Seahawks have showed what true sportsmanship is.I'm a wife whos just now learning about football.Tell me, this can't be right.How can a ref get by with thoughs calls ??? It's beyond me.

Not since Tyson's three second, single punch, boxing matches have I seen such blatant game fixing!

Look when or loose I'm not here to whine over the loss of a game.Lets be honest.Thoughs calls were wrong.

Anyone with eyes could see that the Hawks were the better team.
This is what happens when you pay off the refs first....Bahh!!

Even with all the bad officiating throughout the game, the truth is as follows.
If the Seahawks took back the touchdown they earned, and the Steelers gave back the touchdown they didn't earn, the final score would be: Seahawks - 17 Stealers - 14

Pittsburg may have won the Superbowl but, the Seattle Sehawks are the TRUE CHAMPIONS! And that's a fact JACK!!!!

I thought Ref's in the Super Bowl had to work up to certain standards, not throw the game for the opposing team to pick up.............sorry, Seahawks did not lose, they were thrown away by the officials.

There was also the NFL commercial thanking the fans - showing 1 Seahawks fan, and a whole busload of Steal-ers fans.

What a crock!!!! Let's review all the calls made by the officials and have them all in attendance watching their mistakes. The Seahawks deserved so many more professional black and whites on the field. WE WILL BE BACK...........WE ARE SO PROUD OF OUR TEAM. Matt, you were amazing the whole year.

The Biggest Game of the year should be a memorable event for the game and the players and not for the way the ref's played the game win or lose this game was decided by the ref's and that is not the way this sport was to be I am sorry for the seahawk fans and sorry for the stealer fans who get to have a game like this to talk about or brag about.

"Officials win the Super Bowl for the Struggling Steelers, and Seahawks lose"!
The statistics clearly shows the Seahawks had dominated the game but, due to the penalties; the outcome of the game is 17 points in favor of Seattle.
It's hard to have this game taken away and, the rest country also know's this but, next year we'll bring our own game & win in Miami.
Keo in Kirkland

STEELERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!

Look, this is it in a nutshell, the Steeler made some big plays, the Seahawks did not make as many but played WAY better over all. The clear better team was the Seahawks but we made enough mistakes mentally that we lost thanks to the poor officiating in the game, lots of blown calls. Most national media is saying that both teams were upstaged by the ref and that the Hawks were robbed. Sorry Pittsburgh, you can call us names for being mad at the officials of the game and I congratulate you on the win, but SHUT UP! You made plays when it counted, enough to win the game and we did too, just to have them called back by second rate officials. This year as a whole, the officials have had too much say in the outcome of games, taking what should have been good games and turned them into horrible travesties and the SUPER FRAUD was just the last of many this season.

We can't blame the refs for everything, we beat ourselves. Too many dropped passes, Defense giving up 3 big plays, and offense wasn't able too get it done in the red zone. But still a great season and I will buy my 7th consecutive season ticket too watch it all again.

To the person/people who was the Seahawks should have been able to win even through the bad calls -- one problem with your statement: You can't win if the refs take away your chances.

It would be like saying Starbucks should still be able to make good coffee even though their coffee beans are being ruined. The military should still be able to fight well even though they're using whiffle bats.

If every time the Seahawks got a chance to score, the refs negated it somehow, then how are they expected to ever win?

It's SOME consolation that even the major news outlets are having the guts to say what we all believe. The officiating was ATROCIOUS! and it went against Seattle every time. The Seahawks cannot, under threat of fines or suspension, say it themselves.. and they are too classy to outwardly blame the poor officiating, but they know in their hearts that it made a difference. The fact that the supposed "NEUTRAL" field for a Super Bowl, was actually a Steelers game X 10, was also disheartening. I thought Super Bowl tix were hard to get... how did one city get all of them?? I love the Seahawks, and am so proud of their incredibly well played, intelligent, precision game. There is no shame in Mudville today... only praise for our returning heroes!!

To the person saying we're classless:

In his postgame interview, Jerome Bettis was waxing poetically about how the win was a team effort. He then stated "Now I have a championship."

Class? I think not

I'm just glad this is getting some national media coverage. It is not just Seattle being "sore-losers". The ESPN poll shows that 3/4 of the country will remember this SB most for "poor officiating". If you Pittsburgh fans are so confident in your win, why are you even reading about this, and posting blogs? Perhaps because you know deep-down that your win was HANDED to you.

The Bus does have his Championship.
The steelers now have 5.
Seattle. maybe next year.
This time, do not ask for affciaitng help.
Stop dropping pases with your "best' offense.
Stop holding on the offensive line.
Stop pushing off in the end zone.
The maybe, ok will never happen, you can have your trophy as well.
I am not a Steelers fan, nor a Seahawk fan.
Teams should never leave it up to the refs.
Do it on the field, CLEANLY!

To seacrocks: "Such cry babies", "you stink you lost get over it" is very classless and quite hypocritical for someone who brought class into the issue.

I'm a college FB fan. But watched SB alone and, as a Seattle res., pulled for Hawks. In other words, NOT a rabid fan.

TURNED THE GAME OFF MIDDLE OF 4th QTR. in disgust and disbelief with officiating.

INVESTIGATION NEEDED!

Oh.. and to those that accuse us of "whining" and being "cry babies", then will you be calling ESPB, Washington Post, Kansas City Star, and other major news outlets to tell them that they, too, are whiney cry babies? Truth is, the refs are human, and they have favorites. Not one of them wanted to ruin Bettis' party. Sad, but true.

By my count:

Seahawks:
+ 4 (Seahawks TD called back on Off PI)
+ 7 (1st down pass called back on holding, later interception)
+ 3 (late 4th quarter FG on 4th down instead of attempted conversion)

Steelers:
- 4 (TD that did not break the plane)
- 7 (TD from drive that resulted from interception that resutled from holding call)

Final score: Seahawks 24, Steelers 10

What can I say in addition? The Seahawks played a better game but were mistake prone and it cost them the game. The officiating was criminal to put it mildly. If the Seahawks didn't make the mistakes they had they would have lost anyway. The officials would have found a way. The Stealers can change their names and thank the officials and the officials, and the officials, etc. What a shame to be known as the team who won the game which was fixed.

It's like the 1919 Cincinatti Reds saying "We won the World Series"

People that don't know how to write make me sick

To seacrocks:

Actually, i still think the national media are biased. I'm saying that if the biased national media say that the refs blew the game, it's a much bigger thing than if it were just Seattle people.

Seacrock can you backup your, "you didn't even belong in the game" comment? You are clearly not educated.

From Skip Bayless on ESPN : Steeling one: “Hawks Get Robbed” Read it on ESPN.com
Although these Steelers were favored by 4 -- and although I picked them 24-14 -- I'm not sure they deserved to win this game.
Trash talking Joey Porter, the loudest Steeler, was having the quietest game. But on this night, the Steelers had their own version of your 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw several flags. Hasselbeck was wrongly flagged for a below-the-waist block when he was trying to make the tackle. Walter Jones and Co. giving Hasslebeck time to throw. Blitzburg, schmitzburg. Your guys had continually knocked the bullies back on their heels and turned down the volume of a Ford Field crowd that looked and sounded more like a Heinz Field crowd.

I live in Cincy and in this Super Bowl I was rooting for the Steelers because they are from our division. But I've got to tell you, as I saw it, the officials took the game out of the players hands. The holding pentalty (which was bogus) prior to the Seahawks throwing the interteption, definitely changed the play calling by Seattle (probably wouldn't have called that play). The Stelers should have had to make a decision to either "go for it" on fourth down or kick a field goal in the first half because Ben R did NOT break the plane of the goal line. What a shame the game couldn't have been decided by the players.

Hey! I take offence to the latte comment, I drink mochas :-)

Whatever, this is like debating a six year old. Congratulations on your "win". Seattle, and the majority of the country know what really happened. The bottom line is that the NFL needs to be held accountable, and make CHANGES so this doesn't continue to happen.

Seacrocks troll.... go and spread your nastiness somewhere else. I don't think anyone here said we "love" the national media. We're just surprised to see for once, we're not alone in our reaction to a game. I believe that all you Steelers fans felt the same way after the game with the Colts. I'm sorry that you are so insecure about your "win" that you have to come here bashing us and calling us names.

To Seacrocks:

You keep creating this straw man that the Seahawks didn't deserve to be in the Super Bowl, but you refuse to return to the topic: the officiating of the Super Bowl.

I have been a hawks fan since Holmgren took the reigns. All I have to say is:

1) The league needs to look and investigate these referee's. These guys couldn't call a middle school football game let alone the biggest game in sports.

2) I hope the the refs get fitted for a ring too. The Hawks were playing against fifteen people all night. That's tough.

3) Hines Ward gets the MVP on one play. That tells you how worthless the Steelers played. Seattle beat them on every turn and because the refs wanted to give "The Bus" his ring, Seattle didn't even get to play. The Bus didn't even play, and when he did, was shut down like the broke down Bus that he is.

4) I would like an email address for the referees to call for an investigation into this game. It won't change the outcome of the game, but hopefully it will save it from happening again. This was a gift from the ref gods for the Steelers. Had it not been for the refs the Steelers would be ringless.

We'll be back in Miami 2007. We weren't the #1 seed for nothing.

I don't remember the day I found out Santa-Claus was a hoax....but I will never forget the day I found out the NFL was. The first blatant intervention I witnessed, was the attempt to change the outcome of the AFC Championship....Oh but no…. that wasn't good enough. Once it became clear that the Sweetheart team of America Colts, would not emerge the day, Steeler Nation was hatched as the NFL's backup plan/gift to the country. It was gift wrapped in dark horse lore and tied with a "Never Been Done Before" bow. (GAG)... Spare me the insult to intelligence......Congratulations to the Seahawks for doing what few gave them a chance to do and the display of class the entire team and staff showed after a RIGGED SUPER HOAX GAME SHOW. That alone shows they have the character and poise of a Super Bowl team and should be able to do it again. However I won't be watching, I wasted a lot of my time this year watching the NFL when I should have been doing other things. So long NFL!

Although these Steelers were favored by 4 -- and although I picked them 24-14 -- I'm not sure they deserved to win this game.
Trash talking Joey Porter, the loudest Steeler, was having the quietest game. But on this night, the Steelers had their own version of your 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw several flags. Hasselbeck was wrongly flagged for a below-the-waist block when he was trying to make the tackle. Walter Jones and Co. giving Hasslebeck time to throw. Blitzburg, schmitzburg. Your guys had continually knocked the bullies back on their heels and turned down the volume of a Ford Field crowd that looked and sounded more like a Heinz Field crowd.

Good Lord, pick me up off of the floor...Skippy Bayless actually wrote that???? That just shows me how bad the officiating actually was, we all know how he usually feels about us!

To Jake:
The offciciating was bad, horrible.
There were calls that went both ways.
Your quarterback funbled the ball, yet it was returned to you beacuse he was touched by a steeler.
Did that touch cause the funble, No, yet he was touched and that constitutes contact according to the league rules.
Just as the straight arm in the end zone by your reciever.
The rules is clear and both were called fairly.
The touchdown could not be 100% conclusive so it was not overturned.
The seahawks were the better team in most aspects of the game.
They were not the beter team where it matters, THE SCORE.
Not much else to be said.
They should of not left it up to the officials.
They should of won it desicively.
Better luck next year.

The Hawks have been treated like dirt by the referees!Its very disappointing to me.I am not even a Hawks fan but voted for them.Just based on the fact that they FINALLY made it so far,they should have won.They played extremely good and still got kicked in the head by the prejudice judges.Not fair!

Cory, please make sure you add this article from Fox Sports to your list!! Great job of reporting the travesty!!

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5310192

Did anyone find it astonishing that the officials for the game were announced two weeks before the game? That used to be sacred territory, they were flown in the night before the game and no one knew until that time who the refs were. Something fishy.

If you want to complain about the NFL referees see information on this link on how to do so:

http://www.provencehome.org/refsuck/pages/fightback.html

We each have a voice and can make a difference

Perhaps the Pittsburg Steelers should make sure the officials at the game get Superbowl rings too. They certainly deserve them! I do hope that in future Superbowls there will be a non-biased way of calling penalties. This was truly a bad day for all fans of football.

waaaaahhhhhhh!waaaahhhhh! you guys played like poop. and got outcoached. waaaahhhhhhhhhh. go pats!

Yes, the refs effected the outcome of the game. This is not the first time and probably not the last. Also this 5 NFL championship business is not close to the record with 12 NFL championships for the Packers, 9 for the Bears and 6 for the Giants. Frisco, Dallas, and Redskins all have 5.

"XL LETDOWN"?

A more appropriate Post Intelligencer headline today would be "SEATTLE SCREWED."

Given the officiating, or lack thereof, I can't think of a better one, can you?

Have any of you people who are complaing about the refs watched any of the last 10 "superbowls"?

Go back and watch Dallas got favorable calls and non-calls vs. Pittsburgh in SB30.

Watch how Baltimore was handled a their win over the Giants.

The most blatant one though was the Patriots win after 9/11 because we were all supposed to be "patriotic". The NFL handed them wins over Oakland (remeber the "tuck rule"), Pittsburgh and then St. Louis.

Please, be realistic about things, if your receiver pushes off thats a penalty, if the ball crosses the goalline its a touchdown.

The "holding" call I think was wrong but it didn't make Willie Parker run 75 yards either.

Reply needs to go, it has made the refs weaker and more reluctant to make calls as they happen.

Another GREAT article Jim. Thanks!

Hey Seacrocks,

The way it looked to me, the Stealers (mis-spelling on purpose)didn't deserve to be in that game. They were outplayed on every level, by the way Shaun had a 4.75 yard per carry average, I thought the stealers had a good run defense. The stealers starters played about as well as the Seahawks second and third stringers, I was more impressed with the Texans in the pre-season than I was with the way the stealers played yesterday.

And "ME" if you are going to come on a blog and talk crap make sure you are educated enough to make your thoughts coherent enough to understand and you can type well enough to be understood. My two year old daughter can spell better than you. A word of advice, go get a dictionary and read it.

The Referee's of Superbowl 40 should be investigated by the F.B.I. for game rigging..it's happened before and this game with all of the blatant bad calls after the review in which everyone saw should be investigated and the Ref's should never be allowed again to throw such an important game with such bad calls...whether the game was rigged or not.

Hawkfan37:

Talk about incoherent!

If you think that the Texans were more impressive then you just destroyed your credibility forever. They are the worst team in the last 10 years, at lease SF had some offense.

I guess the NFL purposely put the game as close to Pittsburgh as possible too.

The Seahawks are a great team, I like everything about them, except those colors, please have some class!

You Idiots (Seacrocks, Me, Hasselback Mountain) obviously are some little computer geeks that have nothing better to do then try to get some people worked up and start something. You probably have never played the game. Stevie Wonder performed before the game, and that was ironic because after the game he said that he even said the ref's were horrible. Even he saw it! You dummies obviously have no allegence to any team in particular. The fact of the matter is that we were robbed, we lost 168 yards and 2 most likely 3 touchdowns as a result. Not to mention the call on Matthew on the interception return that resulted in ideal field position for a bush league trick play. If we were to play that game 10 times, we win at least 7. You want to talk about not deserving to be there? if Nick Harper hadn't been stabbed in the leg a few hours before that game, you guys wouldn't even be there. But, you were a good story, you made money for the NFL because you're so close to Detroit (Nice city for a Super Bowl by the way) and that was in the NFL's best interest to let you win. And, don't give me that garbage that we didn't belong there...blah blah blah. First we had an easy schedule, then Wash played too many road games, then we won't be able to stop Steve Smith....what's next? You idiots need to learn a thing or two about football, and politics. We are so proud of our Hawks, We will be back next year, you can almost make the plans for Miami, because we're gonna do it. This time, hopefully we can get some NFL ref's. This Pop Warner crew will be busy.

Bottom Line is You guys mentioned above....you're idiots. I've been arguing with you Seacrocks for the last 4 weeks. You're obviously a loser with nothing better to do. Maybe you should walk your ass down to the unemployment office and find something to keep you busy.

That game was BS, but we made mistakes too but I think that was 'cause we were getting bad calls and that messed with our spirits. We have got to come back next year and prove that we are that Champions we are!! ALL that was politics, the game was already decided before hand, and fans from both sides saw that. And to the people who tell us to quite crying, pray for them. We are always gonna have haters, why do they hate us so much? Cause we are truly the "Best"? To my Seahawks, YOU guys are the best to me and always will be!! May the 12th Man live on !! KEEP YOUR HEADS UP!! SEAHAWKS, We will be back next!! Let the haters hate, Haters !!!

Seacrocks and ME,

What is the highest level of your education? You two are probably the most uninformed uneducated people I have had the displeasure of meeting. After reading your posts I want to pull my skull open and scrub my brain with comet and a scouring pad. Get off this post you are not educated enough to even be in this debate. Facts are the Seahawks outplayed the Steelers and beat there 11 players but could not play well enough to beat the officiating crew. When you have John Madden and Al Michaels scratching there heads at the calls that should be a sign.

WE HAD THE 12TH MAN. THEY HAD THE 12TH, 13TH, 14TH, 15TH, 16TH, AND 17TH MAN. CAN'T WIN WHEN THEY OUT NUMBER YOU BY THAT MUCH AND THERE EXTRA PLAYERS MAKE THE RULES.... HAWKS SHOULD BE THE CHAMPS YOU ALL KNOW THIS..

Exactly....and out coached? Are you serious?

Nobody is whining about anything. The Seahawks were not given a fair shake. The officiating at the game is a reproach to the NFL. The Steelers did not prove they were the better team because they won a game that was obivously fixed. This should be investigated by the authorities as certainly someone made a lot of money from this sham. We deserve better from the NFL.

Clinton:

If the game was fixed, why didn't the refs call the 'blatant' illegal block on the interception that setup the Seahawks only TD?

1. The offensive interference call was the correct call.
2. Roethlesburger scored the TD.

The only "bad" call I saw was the holding call.

If 1 bad call causes you to lose, there more wrong than that, like clock management.

At the end of the day, it is a shame that the calls these refs made COULD have changed the game outcome. I feel that the fact this discussion is even happening takes away from the joy of the sport, to have to sit there and watch benr CLEARLY not make it into the endzone and get a touchdown was horrific to see at this level of football. It should be about the game, there should not be a discussion about the refs at all. The people to look at is the NFL – fix this, as you can’t be blind. And btw --- fix it before next year as we will be back.

bottom line: it is really too bad we lost, but we did. The bad calls did not help our boys get the momentum going, and in the end they could not deliver. I feel proud of our team for keeping it clean, losing with dignity and remembering a great season -- that is good sportsmanship. I am proud to tell my son, who is five, that we still support our team in victory and defeat and feel good about players who act like winners no matter what the outcome of the game.

dodonfred,

I am glad to see that you have a sense of humor. Your personality is about as dry as a bucket of sand. My point was that the Steelers did not play well enough to be champions. The Seahawks won the defensive battle, the offensive battle, and the turn-over battle but since everyone wanted the Stealers to win they could not beat the guys who are supposedly "the best officiating crew" in the league.

HA HA HA HA HA! It's soooo funny how the seafrauds fans say the refs cheated them. They were simply calling the penalties that should have been called in the NFC Championship game. You guys didn't think you could get away with holding and pass interference in the Superbowl did you. So the nation was right... the frauds are SOFT!!!! Don't worry seafrauds... look at the bright side, you only have 22 years until you get to another one. GO PANTHERS!!!!

I've played both team and individual sports my entire life.
There have been many times over the years
that I felt like my team dominated a game (i.e. out shot the opponent, had more chances, etc.) however came up short when the scoreboard read 00:00.
When the Refs make a few bad calls it just adds fuel to the "Frustration Fire" after a game like that where you feel you were the better team 55 out of the 60 minutes. I'm sure some of the players are saying today "If I only held on to those passes" or "If I only recognized the reverse sooner" or whatever, then the bad calls don't play such a huge part in the outcome. Let's face it, blown calls and dropped passes will never equate into anything good.
Hard luck......Brilliant season.......Well done.

hey did you hear who was the Steeler's new MVP was? The Refs!!!
They suck so bad. The Seahawks dominated the whole game with a few mistakes. The Steelers suck! Screw the cinderella story, they got there on ref's luck all along I bet you. It is just not fair. the refs took at least 3 scoring drives away from the Seahawks. they should be fired, and exploited for being paid to tip the game.

The Seachickens managed the clock poorly at the end of both halves. FACT.

Their was a clear push off on the touchdown that was called back. If you don't want to admit that, then I suggest you set an appointment with the nearest optometrist. FACT.

The "bogus" Big Ben touchdown was too close to overturn. FACT.

The Steelers overcame questionable calls in key games on their road to the SB XL victory. The Seahawks didn't. FACT.

Good Luck next year. You guys still have a great team and should be proud of them.

What a freaking joke. The whole game was a waist of the Seahawks time. We won the game regardless of what the score ended up at. We outplayed the steelers the whole game. We will be back!!

I don't know alot about football, but what I do know is that game was rigged. The 12th man wore black and white stripes. He also got a beautiful superbowl ring. Very disappointing and frustrating for me to see the Seahawks come home without the Championship they won and deserve.

dodonfred,

Do you even know anything about football and NFL rules. If you do not have the intelligence to back up what you say you shouldn't be on this blog. There were six bad calls:

1.) a holding call on Chris Gray that took away a 16 yard pass completion.

2.) an offensive pass interference call on Darrel Jackson that took away a touchdown.

3.) the supposed touchdown by Ben Worthlessburger.

4.) the supposed holding call on Sean Locklear that took away the reception on the 1 yard line.

5.) they missed a call on Larry Foote being off-sides on the above mentioned same play.

6.) The personal foul on Matt Hasselbeck for chop blocking when he tackled the intercepting defender.

Than you can even say the chop block by Ben Worthlessburger on the WR option pass to Hines Ward was illegal, since he went below the knees and used his arms to grab Michael Boulware's legs.

I am finished arguing with people that obviously have no desire to put forth a logical debate. "Wahhh wahhh cry baby" does not even approach the realm of logic. I refuse to waste my time on you.

I will end with this:
1) The officials made many bad calls, most of which were against the Seahawks
2) The bad calls either directly or indirectly resulted in approximately 160 yards and 14 points lost by the Seahawks, and 7 or so points gained by the Steelers
3) The bad calls had a major psychological impact on the Seahawks.
4) Without the bad calls, and going from the most likely outcome of the plays, the Seahawks would have won: a) 24-10 (on my count), or b) 24-17 (including the debatable broke-the-plane call)
5) The strategies of both teams would have been different (the Seahawks would have gone for a FG at the end of the game instead of a TD/4th down conversion)
6) The Steelers had 2 plays in which they completely had the Seahawks: the 75-yard run and the reverse "gadget" play.

If you look at the face of the Steelers Quarterback as he moving the football out from under his belly to over the goal line you can tell that even he knew that he didnt score a touchdown! We need some refs that arnt 60 years old and that can actually see what the 1,000 different camera angles are actually displaying. The holding calls in this game were rediculous. The Seahawks go all season with the least amount of penalties and come the Superbowl we just get shafted. I wonder how it feels to know that the only reason that your team won the biggest game in the NFL was to cheat. If it werent for the bogus calls the Seahawks would have the trophy and all east coast people would be eating their words!

hawkfan37:

See, you're going into the "now I'll insult him" thing because deep down you know that you're wrong.

Come on, admit it to yourself, you'll feel better.

Bad calls and non-calls happen, they happened in SB40, both ways and on important plays for both teams.

I'd like to be able to blame the Packer's whole season on bad calls, but that would sound just as bad as this whining.

Panthers1,

Are you kidding me? Of all the people who should be on this blog it isn't you. Shut your mouth. Facts are your team sucked in the NFC championship game. The Seahawks dominated your team all four quarters.

Wow Jake that was so impressive, incorrect but impressive.

Hawkfan.....
good season.....
they tried but did not come through....
do not blame it on me....
as far as the education thing goes...read what you typed....and beat there 11 players but could....what is up with the there and not their.....YOU IDIOT....
Spell check or at least preview what you write before you try to sound of as edumacated....misspelled on purpose....
The seahawks had a great season....not to be blamed on the refs...they had THEIR chance...
Always next year.....

Hey Panthers Geek. How did it feel to watch the game yesterday? Kinda sad your team wasn't getting screwed over? Maybe if your Pussycats would have come to play, instead of allowing themselves to be dominated like they did...you'd have something to talk about...instead shut up and wait for next year. LOSER!

To Natalie Young:

I thought I told you to stay in the truck?

hawkfan37 sez it all. We got robbed!

dodonfred,

If you are insulted than it just proves that I hit a nerve with you. You know as well as everyone else on this blog that you know nothing about NFL rules or football.

Lofa Tatupu said, "They won this game. Make no mistake about it." A class comment by a class guy.

In virtually every NFL game there are calls that can go both ways. It's what you do to overcome if they go against you. The Seahawks made MANY mistakes that cost them the game.

Please have class, insults weaken your arguments and complaining about spelling and english misuse is so wussy.

The refs screwed up....but if the Seahawks were anything more than a mediocre team they would have won. They got to the Super Bowl due to the weakness of the NFC, and some awfully good fortune (benefitted from some very one-sided officiating in the previous two playoff games). This Super Bowl featured two of the worst Super Bowl squads ever and the Seahawks came up short. They won't be back. I can only hope that next year's matchup will be between two championship caliber teams.

Me,

I see you had your mom type your response, funny how that post was a total 180 degree turn from what we have seen from your other posts. And I think everyone on this blog knows who the idiot is. Anyone else in the Hawknation think that Me is the idiot?

hawkfan37:

I never said that I was insulted, that attempt was to weak.

Ok, esplain to me why there was no interference on the first non-TD.

The game yesterday was so rigged!!!! Somebody payed off those refs!!! There is no way possible that Steelers first goal was a goal. I taped it and watched it again today and he landed before the line. Also them taking away our first goal, what a joke. The bad refs just took away my faith of the sport!!!!I think we should get one more game, thanks to bad refs, I know it wont happen but yesterday was awful!! Great job Seahawks thanks for a great year. In my eyes you are THE SUPER BOWL CHAMPS not the Pittsburg Cheaters!!!!!

dodonfred,

What makes you wussy is when you come on a blog about football and wax philosophical and transparently try to be the class person. If you were so classy you would not even be on this blog. LOSER!

I'm reading comments about how the Seahawks SHOULD have been able to win despite the horrific calls by the officials. EXCUSE ME... Imagine this.. You are moving down the field, you are executing your plays, you score touchdowns and have them taken away, you make yards and they are taken away for penalties that are NOT penalties. The other team is handed a TD without even crossing the goal line. If you even get near the goal line, you are penalized (oh, except we'll give you a little field goal here, aren't we generous). If they even get CLOSE they score (NO PENALTIES HERE). Your defense is playing their hearts out and Pittsburgh didn't even have a FIRST DOWN until the second quarter. You KNOW our defense was playing fabulously well. You are not going to get a bit frustrated? You are executing your plays and STILL cannot get anywhere NOT because of what you are or are not doing but because of the officials. You are not going to wonder, what in the world CAN I do? You are not going to get just a bit FLUSTERED? I was also ENRAGED at the site of all the Steelers commercials. I saw exactly ONE with Matt with the trophy. Forgive me, I had to change the channel for a few minutes a few times. It's just entirely too much. I do agree with those who say Pittsburgh can call themselves champions, but I would not have wanted Seattle to win under those circumstances, and I think if they are truly honest with themselves, the Pittsburgh Steelers cannot feel like champions and have to know in their hearts it's just not quite right.

Thanks.

didn't think you could do it.

To say the Seahawks are mediocre is foolish. The Steelers had a tougher time with them than they did with the Bungles, Colts, or Broncos. Very solid on both sides of the ball, and an outstanding quarterback. They were beat by a team that was on a fantastic roll and would have been a much higher seed had they not lost Big Ben for several games.

hawkfan....
I am not insulted...
I can imagine your frustration....
All these years and no ring......
I, fortunately, come from a city where we do have a lot of championships.....PLURAL
If you ever want to know how it feels to win....
Try the lottery, you have a better chance there than on the football field....
Beter luck next year....
And by the way....my daughter is going to Shawn Alexander's niece's B-Day party next week, so if you are nice and appologize, I might get ya a signed jersey....I will have one soon.....
Did that hit a sore spot...
On this note I am OUT.....

I guess that's right, anyone who dares to say the truth has no class. Sounds like something king bush's people would say!

Its ok at the end of the season its Pittsburg pounding on thier steel while Seattle enjoys the good life that education brings!

Regardless of what anyone sais in this blog...the fact is that the game was lost by the Hawk's due to bad officiating...period

and it's time to hold the officials accountable

how can the Steelers be proud of a win like this?

Hey Cathy,

You're absolutely right. And, also you can see by thier celebration that they didn't deserve it. They know the truth.

GO HAWKS!!

The fact is that Darrel Jackson burned the corner in the end-zone so the corner grabbed his arm, watch the replay moron, so in the attempt to get free he put his arm on the corners chest. Also, Matt threw the ball in a position were only Darrel could get to it. The corner could not have made a play on the ball even if Darrel did not put his hand on him. Even a gu of "class" such as yourself has to admit that that was a ticky tack foul, John Madded, Al Michaels, and a slew of other commentators thought so.

Stephanine:

Have you ever heard of CMU? Look it up, you may be surprised.

BTW there are no steel mills left in the city of Pittsburgh, there haven't been for years.

I saw the replay over and over and a stiff arm to the chest is what I see.

And no, insults still don't work.

ME,

I already have several Shaun Alexander autographed items and have met him personally on several occassions since he attends my church regularly, so I do not envy you a bit.

learn how to spell Simonson, People will listen if you sound like you know something too much hate for certain individuals means biased views
(biased means one sided) like the game yesterday
If anyone feels the game was fair they watched some other game not the Stuperbowl.
(to stuper is to fumble and stammer)Like the Refs
Better luck next year

Yes, I am a Steeler fan. Whenever they lose, I always over analyze the officiating. Hawks, the push-off in the end zone was a penalty, OK. The ball was given back to Hasselbeck after it was turned-over. We're even there. Hawks receivers caught two passes that were out of bounce; one near the one yard line and another in the end zone. My point is "those were missed opportunities". Remember that Pittsburgh overcame officiating at Indy that was so bad that the official's boss couldn't defend the interception that was taken away, which spotted Indy 8 points. Pittsburgh won for one reason only and that is: They Were The Better Team That Day!

Nope...probably a reason for that. You obviously didnt attend any type of college...you cant even COPY the correct spelling of my name

Hey dodonfred,

What is CMU? is that a school? what does it stand for? Certainly Medeocre University? Get over it...Don't start in on her because she tells the truth. All the classy people live in Philadelphia, where the jobs are too. Unemployed losers!

dodonfred,

Yeah stiff arm to the chest becasue the corner grabbed his arm. Sorry Pal you've lost the argument.

So, not to reiterate my all the points made before me, and the points I made in the other Rigged Ref blog posted last night; this is as big or bigger than the Abramoff scandal. Once and for all it exposes the NFL to the world for what it really is.

You can complain all you want about how bad the Seahawks played and all the mistakes they made. But with the refs giving out penalties like they were free coupons what did you expect? Momemtum crashers like that caused needless mistakes to compounded on each other.

Sure the Seahawks weren't on their 'A' game, but they sure played better than the Stealers (I really like this new name). At least 60-70% of the mistakes the Seahawks made never would have happened if it weren't for the result of the criminal penalities.

The Seahawks can't say anything to the media, or complain about it because the NFL will lash out. They at least have some class to take it standing up, while the Stealers don't even recognize this one was served to them before kick off. Where's their class?

And Jerome Bettis? O-V-E-R R-A-T-E-D.

Instead of blaming the loss on the officials, Seahawk fans need to question the team on special team plays, clock management, and play calling.
Two missed field goals, three opportunities to pin Pittsburgh deep (behind 20 yd line)didn't help Seattle at all. Field goals from that distance a iffy, but in ideal conditions of a dome, they should be very makable. There is no excuse for the punt teams.
Hasselback's clock-management at the end of the game was patethic. There was no urgency with the Seattle offense; they gave up crucial seconds on their last failed drive.
The play calls on that last drive were simple "dink and dunk" plays getting a couple of yards, and the receivers did not get out of bounds. Mental mistakes, peiod.

Hey John,

You're trying to sound smart, but you sound stupid. If you looked at the game objectively (which you can't do. It's impossible to be unbias because of your allegence with Pitt) You would see that the officiating was horrible. You know in your heart that you're not the better team, Joey Porter got his mouth shut for him, and if Nick Harper hadn't been stabbed in the leg, you guys aren't even playing in that game yesterday. Get your mind right!

Wow that was so convincing.

BTW, thanks for the complement, I always try to show class.

OK, soince you're to blind to see that one clearly, what other bad calls were there?

Did you mean the illegal block on the interception return that set up Seattle's only TD that wasn't called?

We were robbed of the game. The officials knew exactly what they were doing, and made every attempt at not letting the seahawks win.
I can't believe nothing is being done about this.

If I were Paul Allen I would have marched into that locker room at 1/2 time & I would have looked at my team and said,

"I'm sorry boys that the refs have this game fixed, and there is absolutely no way to win. Lets show are sport spirit- if you can't beat them join them. So since we can't tackle the refs, thes help them. When we have the ball and Pittsburgh is headed for you, just hand them the ball, point to there end zone and says here you go 'run little fellow-run'"

And if I was Paul Allen I would have doubled their salaries just to see them do it!

There were bad calls both ways folks... goodness.

if the Sea Hawks were the better team, they would have played beyond the bad calls as the Steelers did in Indianapolis.. that's what Championship teams do.

You all had a great season and a great team, be proud of that instead of the whining routine that I'm reading on here.

Jerome "over rated" ? hmmm... #5 all time...

When espn can put a poll up regarding officiating mistakes affecting the outcome, and all but TWO states believe this is the truth, how can even a SteAlers fan believe that this was a clean game? 63% believe it to be a refs game.

SteAlers, be reminded of Porter's whine in a previous game. hmmmmmmm.

Ben:

If Bettis is overrated, I guess there are only 4 good backs in NFL history.

Clinton:

Please stop acting like a 4 year old. "You're stupid, no you are" debate the game.

The refs did not manage the clock at the end of both halves... The pick by Hasselback was what turned the game. I don't care if it was "set up" by calls made the refs, you cannot make a mistake like that. The officating was horrible all year... but I don't remember one Seahawk fan saying anything about it. Maybe that's because they were the beneficaries of bad calls all year long. Even with bad calls you need to do what it takes to win the game.... which the Seahawks didn't... Maybe if Jeremy Stephens could catch a pass...

Melissa:

The difference there is....

The NFL admitted that they were wrong!!!!!!

It's cool though anger is a part of the grieving process, so or later you’ll get to acceptance.

I'm stupid? I'm one of the only ones on here making sense. You saw the game, You know that the best team did not win. I'm not saying that there is some sort of conspiracy here, but there was definitely something going on. Otherwise, this is just one big coincidence. Hmmmm, what do you think?

And... regarding bad calls through the regular season this year, the refs APPOLOGIZED to the Seahawks regarding one game's poor officiating. I don't know how they can't repeat that appology.

Shannon

I complained about the refs all season...but until the Superbowl the calls hadnt actually swayed the outcome of a game

dodonfred,

The bad calls have already been highlighted for you, several times. It think it is time that you make your exit.

Let's clear this up. Bettis has had a great career, and yes he's #5 all time. He deserves that much. But seriously, for these last few weeks, Jerome Bettis has been the poster boy of the Stealers win. Such a sob story; coming home to play his last game.

If you want to complain about how bad the Seahawks played, then what did Bettis do in this Super Bowl? Run for like 50 yards and no TDs?

Bettis in this Super Bowl is what I mean by over rated.

did anyone catch that timeout called by the Steelers AFTER the play clock ran down to 0?

Did he even run for 50 yards?

This Blog has gotten stale. That's what happens when the truth comes out.

Ben:

Well thanks for clearing that up.

Still, Bettis had 43 yards, Seattle second back had 7. What's your point.

no they only gave him the ball with 2 yards left to run into the endzone or to convert to a 1st down. If I am not mistaken the Seahawks defense stopped him several time before Worthlessburger got handed the TD. BTW is HasselbEck not HasselbAck!

The STEALers whined about one bad call in one game. There were three very bad calls that took points off the board for Seattle, and one that gave the STEALers points.
Sure any great team can overcome a bad call, but not every time a key play is made. Enjoy your paper trophy Pitzburg, becuase that's all it is.

hawksfan37:

I didn't think you could defend that non-call.

How about Bettis being pulled down by his facemask?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/columns/story?columnist=smith_michael&id=2320683&lpos=tv1&lid=tab3pos1

Read this if you want some knowledge.

dodonfred,

Shaun had 95 yards on 20 carries. Let me break it down for you since I know you struggle with academics...that is 4.75 yards per carry! I thought the Stealers had a good run defense?

BIG money was riding on the SeaHawks winning. Officials and NFL should be investigated for Game fixing. FBI should get involved and solve this.

I hope Paul Allen will get owners to fix this blatent abuse by the refs and NFL front office.

The whole officiating stinks worse than the festering pit the Super Bowl was held in.

Jim:

That was pathetic.

Can anyone here actually debate what really happended and not just write attempted insults and cry?

What is stupid is everybody losing their heads over this game. YOUR A MORON IF YOU WATCH FOOTBALL AT ALL NEXT YEAR. This is been going on for years and THAT IS A FACT. It hasn't been about the best team in years.....only what makes the best story and oh yeah that measley 4 to 5 hundred million dollars on the game. The NFL is a joke....not to take away from the players but come on guys....get back to livin and quit this BS.

No one really knows the truth about the officials and what the outcome of the game truly could have been. One thing is clear this Seahawks football team bought a sense of pride and spirit and closeness to a city that hadnt felt it in awhile. We can all make predictions about "next year" but I for one will just enjoy each game one at a time with new friends and a stadium full of spirit like no other. Seahawks you made me smile, you made me laugh, you made me scream, you made me cry but most of all you made me proud. See ya next year -you rock!!! your #1 -12th man

you can't change your argument after the response.

bettis is not over-rated, his stats speak very clearly, and it is his stats that have "rated" him.

No, he did not have Bettis seasons the past two years, and no he did not score any points yesterday, but his "rating" is not based on one game, it is based on his career.

nice try though.

With your silly argument, I guess it could be said that your lil MVP is over-rated too.

You all lost... I'm sorry for that, I hate it for you, I know how it feels. Pittsburgh has its 5 super bowls, 2 stanley cups and 3 or 4 World Series titles, so we're kinda used to winning these things, however Super Bowl 30 didn't bring us the win, and so I can honestly say, I know how you feel...

With that said... I woke up the next morning and got over it instead of trying to cast blame on the league or whatnot... shameless.

Like I said before.. you had a wonderful season and a great Super Bowl performance. Be proud and hope your team uses this experience to spring an even better season next year.

hawkfan37:

Willie had 93 yards on 10 carries.

Let me break it down for you since I know you struggle with academics...that is 9.3 yards per carry!

I thought the Seahawks had a good run defense?

Now you are pulling crap out of your orifices. Show me where I can find him being pulled down by his face mask. Isn't it time that you look for employment in the classifieds and get off this blog? Oh yeah, I forgot there is no employment in PITtsburgh.

Oh, I thought I was debating what acually happened. I would have no problem if the refs didn't make the calls. But then Seattle would have had a better chance in winning.
The truth is Stealer fans whinned about one bad call in a game they had won.
There were 3 maybe four bad calls that resulted in scoring or lack there of. Those are the facts I'm DEBATING about, if you think that's pathetic enjoy your paper trophy!!!

hawkfan...

personal attacks are silly... get over it (they are funny though)

dodonfred,

93 yds on 10 carries is pitiful considering 75 of those came on one play. Take that run away and he has 18 yds on 9 carries. LOSER!

Look at all the headlines at the top of this blog, its not just Seattle fans complaining about bad refs. What a terrible way to win..cheating

If you really felt like the Stealers won, then why are you on a Seahawks blog defending them???

Mark,

Was I talking to you? No, so shut up.

dononfred may be a loser, but he's wearing a brand-spanking new chapionship Tshirt because his team won!

.. and the paper trophy is better than no trophy at all, and it will look odd next to the other four silver ones.

aww, hawkfan

I'll let you borrow our paper trophy to wipe your tears.. poor fella

If Seattle won the S.B., and I thought they won becuase of how they played, not how the refs called the game the last place I would be is on a Stealer blog!!!!

hawkfan37:

Why do you assume that I have no job?

Because I am typing on here? Does that mean you don't have a job?

There I run rings around you logically!!!

Hey Mark,

Why don't you let me borrow one of those terrible towels...I need something to wipe my ass with.

I came on here to read the other side of the story. I didn't know there was such hatred for the officials on your end until I got on here, it's been a fun read, so I wanted to get involved.

What's the point in having a blog if there are no counter-arguments?

Jim:

I would say that I'd enjoy all 5 trophies, but that would sound like gloating and as hawkfan says, I've got to much class for that.

Mark:

Thats what I've been saying, good luck wit dat.

Sorry I can't send you a T. Towel... I gave them all to the refs as a "thank you" gift.

Why get into childish name calling over this...let's just admit that the game was terrible due to blatant bad calls by the officials and move on to next year

You poeple insulting eachother is rediculous

The fact of the matter is, you know in your heart that if you play this game 10 times, you guys maybe win one more. If you say you win more, then you're a liar, and you know you are.

LOL, Mark....that was funny!

I don't blame the fans for what happened in the game. The refs were throwing the falgs. I have no ill feelings for the fans of Pit., but I would have loved to see them as a no factor in the game, especially how the game turned out. If Seattle had won the game that had four calls like that I would be happy, but I would be saying they didn't win on their own merit...I would have to say, thanks refs, you were on our side.

Clinton:

Most normal people go to the store and buy this stuff called "bathroom tissue". I think it would work better than a towel, especcially one that has printing on it. That might hurt you since you seem so sensitive.

I work in the IT field, for you people from PITtsburgh that means Information Technology so I have the freedom to work on the internet whenever I please. But you guys found our blog trying to get to hotjobs.com. Type that in the address bar and you will get to the right place.

I could be wrong, but most sports games are only played once, winner take all.

.. and I don't know that in my heart... 11 points is a pretty good spread considering the bad calls both ways.

I appreciate the fact that you're all upset that your boys lost, but this silliness isn't going to change it... but I must admit, it's pretty darn entertaining!

I've complimented your team three times on here, I can't say it enough, they had a great run, don't take away from that with your petty sore-loser stuff, it's not very becoming.

You wouldn't know it since you live in Penn, but believe it or not, up her in the Northwest, our asses are tough. Just ask the Stealers, they feel it today. trust me.

LOL.. IT

you may want to do your research on Pittsburgh a little more... Pittsburgh has become a technology hub in the past 15 years .lol..

I think you're thinking of the 1970's Pittsburgh, but that's ok, consider yourself educated now.

.. ever heard of google?

hawkfan37:

I work in the IT field as well, didn't get that yet?

See if you can do something then logically so can someone else.

Your attempts at insults are getting weaker, though more creative, must be desperation.

Much of the media is now saying that Seattle got screwed, it's not just the fans here. Why is that if there's no truth to it? Especially concidering these are the same members of the media who thought the Steelers were so great, and the Seahawks were so bad.

Mark,

You have complimented our team three times because you know deep in your heart that we out played you in every facet of the game and you know that you guys got away with the crime of the decade.

.. and yes, I did use "LOL" twice in the same post.

I apologize to fans of both cities for that

I am resending this. Someone from Seahawks and the national media defintely needs to stand up and speak up against the travesty happened last night in 'Super Bowl XL'! I am still sicken by the blatant officiating bias against Seattle. The Seahawks were totally robbed plain and simple. Yes they did not play a perfect game and made a few mistakes. The bad calls defintely affected their performance during the game. In no way they were beaten by a more superior team. The refs' calls were against the Seahawks the entire night and it killed their momentum with at least 4-5 bad calls that gave The Steelers chance after chance. The Jackson's push, Rothelisburger's non-touchdown, Locklear's holding,... The NFL and the media want Pittsburg to win and it is painfully obvious. The NFL owes the Seattle Seahawks and football fans across the world at least an explaination! The league needs to be investigated.

What's worse? Saying it's "their" fault we lost? Or being the LOSERS that won the game undeservedly? I think the latter...

hawkfan37,
I didn't see you on the field, did I? Are you Jeremy Stephens in disguise???
JK, but when you said "we outplayed you" makes it sound like you were on the field...

Clinton:

Why should I ask the Steelers how your asses feel, is that because they bent you over and rammed it home?

By the way seagate and CMU are also here.

good point Dr. D..

but... if its so much better being in your shoes, why complain about it?

PITtsburgh a technology town? Yeah and Detroit is the financial capital of the US. By the way since I work with Google in the IT industry this is there headquarters:
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
phone: (650) 253-0000
fax: (650) 253-0001

Pretty far from PITtsburgh huh?

Jim:

and the media is always soooooo right. Bush's puppets!

Read this and then tell me the fix wasn't in on this travesty of a game:
Loser: Sports Illustrated cover jinx
But only barely. The magazine screwed up when it started selling its "Steelers Championship Package" on its website before the game even started. If you typed in "www.sipittsburghoffer.com," up came an order form for all sorts of Steelers championship junk. But there was no such Seattle package. In fact, when you typed "www.siseattleoffer.com," the Pittsburgh one came up.

Bent me over and rammed it home...yeah that's kinda what it feels like..with no vaseline.

Nice comment STUPID!! Isn't the unemployment office open yet? Go get a job. Maybe your dumb ass could be an NFL official. Obviously they're just bringing them off the street.

Jim,

Is that the best you got? At least you admit that "we" beat you in every area of the game.

hawkfan:

Must not be good at this IT thing.

Try a "seach engine" the can help.

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/051215-151841

...and I was thinking the refs were Bush's puppets. I do hear you about the medea though, but I'm talking about the same reporters dogging Seattle the last two weeks saying that the Hawks were robbed. Even a writer in Washington who smacked Seattle the most during the playoffs.

I'm sorry... I stand corrected...

I meant to type Lycos.. but similiar to your hawks, I made a mistake, only I am recovering from it.

Im furious, the game was HANDED to the weakest team. Charity is what it was

Hawkfan:
I am a hawkfan, I have been saying the Hawks got screwed, I was just pointing out that you were 2500 miles away from the game. I don't like people saying we and they unless, THEY were the players...

I'm not complaining, Mark. But, how can you be proud?

um... I'm proud because my team is the winner of Super Bowl 40...

next question...

Clinton:

I agree that the refs suck, replay has much to do with that.

I got a job, why wouldn't I? Please explain this logically.

Because you said they closed all the steel mills, so what does that leave for all you fat, harry, unemplyed, smelly, greasy, steel mill/mine dwellers to do?

Next question: HOW can you be proud? False pride?

What is all this about who has a job???
I don't have a job becuase I made a fortune in the 90's, so I sold out and retired before the crash....Is that supposed to make me feel bad????I don't think so...Thank you Microsoft.

dodonfred,

That made no sense! Since I am bad at "this IT thing" what do you do for a living other than wishing PITtsburgh was a great city to live in and blogging?

hawkfan37,
Man, you should really seek some counseling, I am really begining to think you have a deep seeded anger management problem.

Maybe a little too much time looking at computer screens without blinking enough, maybe? Another key is that you keep switching your argument basis, from officiating to personal attacks? Hope you don't have any kids yet. You should really limit the personal attacks, it ruins any credability you might have had.

I could recommend a good thearispt in the Seattle area (where I live). The Seahawks have no one to blame but themselves. Neither team played great (even good), but when opportunities presented themselves, Seattle failed to take advantage of them.

Poor officiating or not, by the way it's been horrible all year. Would you expect anything less in the final game?

Seahawk and Steelers fans alike know the truth about the bad calls in the game, at least anyone with vision. I know VERY little about football but I can see when a ball is over the line or not. Any Steelers fan that comes on here and bad mouths the Seahawks or the fans for being angry about the bad calls needs to remember their own players whining when bad calls were made on them, and it wasn't even the Super Bowl. Seattle made their share of mistakes, however, they outplayed the Steelers, hands down. Just the two errors with touchdowns would have changed the entire out come of the game. But as Seahawks fans, we are big enough to admit that we didn't win because of some mistakes we made instead of bragging about a win that we are not entitled to.

do you folks always lose this sorely?

and no Jim, you should be proud of your wealth (just a random side-note)

You all need a serious dose of humor, you're going to die young if you always act like this when things don't go your way.

Did you do alright after the 04 election?, apparently not.. this could explain the tiny fan-base the hawks have.

sarah, it's obvious you're not a football fan, like you admit... the ball does not have to cross the line, it has only has to touch "plane" of the line.. any part of that plane.

Mark,

Again you are wrong

Lycos, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
100 5th Ave
Waltham, MA 02451
main number 781-370-2700
HR fax 781-370-3415

Sorry admit that PITtsburgh is an ancient, out of touch, decripit, dying city.

Clinton:

I never had to work in a steel mill, though if I had I would have been proud to do so.

Like I said before, now read carefully, I work in the IT field too.

See there are other places where that "IT" stuff gets done. Maybe you have heard of "Silicon Valley" or "New York City" etc.

Do some research on Pittsburgh instead of repeating the same old lines, act like you have a brain.

I quote Vince Lombardi "You show me a good loser, I'll show you a loser!" We're not losers, we're fighters, and we'll be back!

Mark:
We know about planes, and plains, and the ball did not cross the plane...But we could sell the Steelers a nice 777 for the team$$$

So, Mark. I guess you'd have to agree that it was a bad call. Being that it never did cross the "plane" during the play.

no, I am not wrong my friend...

Lycos was born as a student project at CMU in Pittsburgh...

( just to let you know, many times, corps are born in one place and sold, or move to another place)

;-)

Yeah, and they will all end up as a part of Microsoft...

Sorry,

Bill (Mr. Gates) just got here, so I have to leave this worthless conversation. I have an executive board meeting. Maybe if you guys stay on your magic carpet, you can see us next year in Miami, we'll be there. Best of luck to you.

Have a nice day Hawk Fans!

Go Hawks!!!

hawkfan37:

Again, I didn't think you could follow logic.

Dale,

Since I am the one that is ruining my credibility by make personal attacks what does that make you? I doubt that you live in Seattle, you know nothing about me or my family life, and I know you can recommend a good therapist because you have to go all the time because of your megalomaniacal, bi-polar, anti-social disorder. Not to mention your Oedipal Complex.

Dr. D... as we all know, the official at the line thought that it did, the replay did not show otherwise, and by rule, that means, that indeed, it did come within that plane.

.. now about that 777... was that supposed to hurt in some way? or take away from our victory?

I'm happier with our paper trophy than I would be with a 777.

Mark:

Kinda like Boeing's now in CHICAGO.

It was a joke...Who needs the sense of humor????I thought it was funny, and not a personal attack. get it???
It's all about the plane man...The one that didn't get crossed.

just for the record and for complete disclosure:

the paper trophy I refer to, is not really "ours" as I am not a steeler, nor do I work for the steelers.

I did not want to confuse anybody.

You are as blind as the refs if you think that ball the crossed the plane of the line. Video doesn't lie, but, apparently SteAlers fans do!

wow hawkfan37 looked up SOMETHING on the net.

BOING the corp is in Chicago, BOING the planes are still made here. Who needs a bunch of CEO's clogging up the freeways in their beemers anyway???

But, you do agree it's a paper trophy. We're making progress.

Dr. D

You said it "Video doesn't lie" thats why the call stood.

Why isn't Lycos still there? Oh yeah PITtsburgh sucks. Anyway who ever said that Lycos was the pinnacle of the Technological world? That is why Google, Yahoo and MSN has made it a search engine for third world countries.

Stop it all !!! All these personal attacks are taken away focus from the real issue here.

BOTTIOM Line Folks -
Its not about 'bad ref', 'fixed game' or 'payoff'. It is all about NFL knows they would make more money and prosper more if the Steelers win. The refs would get a fatter bonus check too. Seahawks is the outsider looking in. This time they pay their dues and will be treated better by the league and the refs next time around if they swallow this pill and keep their mouths shut.

Ask dream "executive board member" clinton

In all seriousness and honesty, I thought it crossed the plane as did the viewer on my left, however the viewer on my right would agree with you.

but since the video is inconclusive, so you can't complain about it because the refs went by the book, and did not over-turn the ruling on the field.

and the push-off.. I admit that would not normally be called, however, by rule, it was a push off, and interferrence... that cannot be disputed.

You know the Seahawks are keeping their mouths shut. I'm not a Seahawk, I'm a fan, I can run my mouth as much as I want to...And I'm not making personal attacks, just having fun with both sided that are making the attacks.

good point Al.

Now someone larger than I am needs to tell THAT to Joey Porter.

I don't agree that it is a paper trophy, they said it was pretty heavy while being interviewed in the locker room.

I just like using the term, because I wanted to feel like part of your little gang.

I think it's awesome that all 12 hawks fans stick together so well!

dodonfred,

"wow hawkfan37 looked up SOMETHING on the net."

No that was pure education, thank you though. At least I know how to look stuff up on the net if I have to.

After reading some of these comments,it appears many steeler's fans vocabulary seems to end at cry-baby.When you almost lost to the colts I was outraged by the non-interception call by paulomamaloulou,( I make fun of his name,but he is an awesome player). I wonder what you would have said about the ref in that game, had the colts won,even though the steelers out-played them?

keeping thier mouths shut???

better let the coach in on that one.

If the ball had in fact crossed the plane or even come close to it, then worthlessburger would not have had to pick it up from under his belly and place it on the line!

hawkfan37:

Ok prove it then like I've been asking you to.

yes, we were upset aout that call (a call that the NFL even said was wrong), but guess what... the steelers (in championship fashion) did not allow that to determine the game... they won it anyway!

I think you're starting to understand now!

Someone want to explain physics to Stephanie, I gotta go back to the party.

Bye all I was hoping for the Seahawks to make it and they did, maybe next year too.

Mark:
What if it were 4 bad calls in one game that took points away???That's almost impossible to overcome.

excuse me...I think I know my physics I am a science major! Someone want to explain the importance of getting your eyes checked?!?!?!

none of the calls took points away.

if your guy had not pushed off, the points would have been assessed, that's not taking any points away.

You cannot deny that he pushed off.. you can dispute whether that call is typical or not, but by rule, that's not a catch.. we all know that.

The other calls you are upset about didnt take points away either

You can tell Holmgren was boiling inside and ready to shove it to the league and calls it quit. Remember he got 'spanked' by the league during the season for disclosing his 'conversations' with the league after some bad calls against the seahawks? He has a family to feed and Hall of Fame to look forward to so he has no choice but to swallow this, along with all his players.

uhh...did you see the Steeler with his hands all over the Seahawk?

Time for lunch, gotta go. Enjoy the "championship" stealer fans. As one eastern reporter said, "This was an XL middle finger to the nonsteeler fans.

I agree with the fact that this game was a damn fraud. How can the Steelers take credit for this win? It seems to me the Seahawks were against the world in this situation. What disgrase officiating i witnessed, I tell you they better cut trophy in half and give it to Bill Leavy after all he was a more deciding factor then the opposing team was. I am nether a Seattle fan nor Pittburgh fan but I truely feel sorry for Seattle and their fans you guys got robbed in every sense and as for you (Steal)ers fans shame on you!!!

Hey all, it's been fun, ...

I want you to know I am just trying to have a good time and lighten up this little blog... but now I have to go... try not to miss me too much.

I sincerely understand the frustration of not winning the big game, I've been there (only once, but i've been there).

You had a great team all season, be proud!

Now, I depart.... G'day

Mark,

I just checked the employement office in PITtsburgh and they are now interviewing. Hurry, better get down there before they close.
See ya loser!

Hey all you loud mouthed, moron "Steelers" fans. When the refs AND video reply completely screwed you in the Colts playoff game, ( P's interception, no fumble) we all KNOW you were screaming your heads off at your televisions. All of us here in Seattle watching that travesty of officiating once again were thinking "Pittsburgh is about to get screwed by the officials and may lose the title game, that is wrong!" We were on YOUR side. It was just as wrong then as it was to us in the Super Bowl. Where the hell is your integrity? Or are just willing to prostitute yourself for a trophy?

The NFL mind as well be a reality show....the producers plan the winner from second one!

To all the unhinged Seahawk fans and happy Steeler fans: At the end of the day the records will highlight Super Bowl XL like all the rest. As much as it would satisfy all of the Seahawk fans, SB XL will never be overshadowed by the officiating. It is in the record books as an offical win for Pittsburgh. The Seahawks will only get there by posting the most points on the scoreboard when the game is over.

LOL...

thanks, but i'm happy with my job as AD for a major global firm

Read my lips!! Big Ben did score! Look at the slid on the Seattle paper--he was over. the hawks shot themselves in the foot and faltered when it counted. Go STEELERS

Too much emphasis is on the bad officiating, while not acknowledging bad mistakes by Seattle. There was a blown call in the first half when a Seattle receiver made a catch, took 2 steps then got hit by a Steelers defender. That defender would have recovered the fumble had the whistle for an incomplete pass not been called, but the official blew the call, and the defender stopped and didn't bother to pick up the ball before the ball rolled out of bounds. It would have given the Steelers much needed momentum. Still, Seattle punted after that, so this missed call that went against the Steelers doesn't get much attention.

I taped the game, and reviewed the Ben TD over and over. I hate to admit it, but I believe it was a TD - just barely. His hands were clutching the ball and his hands were in front of the line before the Seattle defender knocked the ball back. Break the line at any time and it is a TD - and that is what happened, by a fraction of an inch. I honestly cannot say that it was a bad call. Had the call not been made, the Steelers would be complaining. Anyway, the Steelers would have the ball with just a fraction of an inch to go - they would have most likely scored anyway had the call for a TD not been made.

As far as the push off. Hate to admit it, but the Seattle player did push off blatantly in the end zone. Yes, both had their arms tangled, but the Seattle player did a much worse push off. Do that in front of an official 100 times and 100 times it gets called. Yes it happens all the time without getting called in other games - but those times it doesn't get called because an official is not nearby. A penalty is a penalty. I cannot review that play over and over and not conclude that it was an offensive pass interference call.

We all want to claim that the officiating was unfair. But do we want it to be unfair for Pittsburgh? These were tough calls that I described, but in all honesty I think they were the right calls. Change them and then it is unfair for Pittsburgh. Now the holding penalty in the 2nd half. That probably was unfair. But remember, the Steelers did have that fumble-no call go against them in the first half, which nobody talks about.

This game was won by the Steelers making big plays when they had to. And it was lost by Seattle making mistakes at bad times. Big Ben had a terrible game - but the strength of the Steelers is that they can win with a bad performance by the QB. Hate to admit it guys, but Seattle cannot win in this game without a big performance by the QB. That is one thing that people are not giving the Steelers credit for. And Hasselbeck only had 53% completions. And Seattle only gained 57 more yards than the Steelers and that with the Steelers trying to hold on to their lead which they traditionally do when they have a lead. They hold on and sacrifice yards.

Too much blame is given to the officials. I understand the frustration. Really, the game was what it was: big Steelers plays, big Seattle mistakes. And that will not win a Super Bowl, bad officiating or not.

It is a sad day in sports when cheating is not only permitted but celebrated.

hawkfan 37,
Great News!
The Steeler fans feel so bad about winning lastnights SB (knowing that their team made absolutely no effort contributing towards any gains on the field), they're presenting the Lombardi Trophy to the city of Seattle.
Good job.
Apparently all the whining and boohooing has its rewards.
Way To Go

What a terrible win..The Steelers are so bad they have to pay the officials to throw the game their way!

As it was said----Steelers Champs of XL Super Bowl. Who did they play???

Stephanie: Clue, it has ALREADY been overshadowed by the crap officiating. This is the most hollow "victory" in Super Bowl history. Get out of this blog and read the national media postings. It is unanimous, the Seahawks were screwed, the officials lopsidedly dominated the game and became a part of it, changing the outcome. The TRUE score? Seattle 17, Pittsburgh 14. Everyone with a brain stem knows it.

The real winners

BD,

Wow, that is suprising analysis coming from a Stealers fan! We wouldn't expect you to say anything less than that. Hasselbeck played bad compared to whom? Certaintly you are not comparing him to Worthlessburger? What were his stats like? You do not know crap so do not try to wax intelligent to us on this blog.

The real score is Steelers 5 and the Seehawks 0

John,

This just in, Seattle residents do not accept the Lombardi from PITtsburgh residents who have a heavy conscience because they know the game was rigged. But in a positive note: Bill Gates and Paul Allen just bought PITtsburgh and is turning it into a landfill.

Do all the Seahawks fans want some cheese with that whine?? You guys are soft. The Steelers played their worst game of the year and STILL won. Great teams find ways to win. The refs had nothing to do with Stevens dropping ball after ball or Alexander running scared or Tatupu being a non-factor or Hasselbeck's clock management or Jackson disappearing after the 1st Qtr. or Holmgren choking , again in a big game. Stop the whining. The NFC was very weak this year and the Seahawks did not beat anyone this year. They wouldn'y even make it out of the 1st rd. in the AFC. Your whining is quite pathetic. ONE FOR THE THUMB!!!!!!!!!!!

The only Seehawks will get the Lombardi is to have someone give it to them.

The Hawks did an awesome job this year and I truly enjoyed watching this season!! No one (not even the refs) and nothing can take that away from the true fans! However, the way Seattle was treated during this road to 40 was very disappointing and unfortunate... it reminded me too much of an old-school Rocky movie: Everyone acted as if the Steelers were representing "America" and Seattle was the enemy from "Mother Russia".

Gereard (PITtsburgh),

Did you even watch the game? The Seahawks trampled all over the Steelers. You should ask them if they think we are soft. What happened to Blitzburgh? Hasselbeck grew a beard he had so much time in the pocket. Alexander had a 4.75 yard per carry average with 95 yards on 20 carries. Admit it, the Steelers needed all the officiating help they could get to win this game. LOSER!

Boo Hoo!!!!! Stop the crying already. Big Ben played terrible and still has a ring. Hope you guys enjoyed this year because it will be a long wait till next time. Maybe Paul Allen can buy a Lombardi Trophy to hold because you will never earn one yourself. A lot of rainy days in Seattle lie ahead. I'VE GOT A FEELING, PITTSBURGH'S GOIN TO THE SUPER BOWL.

Gerard, The Moron from Pittsburgh. Supporter of a SIXTH seed, barely made the playoffs, can only win when the refs step in, second rate team Soft? Get some REAL officials on a field and the Hawks will kick the Steelers butts EVERY time. They outgained and outplayed them for nearly the entire game. Gaget plays and crap officiating is how you win in Pop Warner, not the NFL

Gerard (PITtsburgh)

The collective comment from everyone on this blog:

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU IDIOT!"

There was contact by both players on the Jackson TD. However, the contact gave neither player an advantage. Poor call on ticky tack contact.

Its also amusing how Faneca is given all this credit for wiping out DD Lewis on Parkers long TD run. Hmm, isn't tackling a linebacker considered holding?

All the time Hasselbeck had in the pocket did him a lot of good didn't it?? Maybe instead of growing a beard he should grow some hair on his head. Maybe when Big Ben shaves on Letterman tonight he can donate it to Hasselbeck for his head. I am not the loser but the Seahawks and their 12th man are. Boo Hoo!!!!!

It was Seattle's game. I wonder if the ref's were bought off by the Steeler's coach to win the game. I say rematch. The ref's were wornf on all calls.

Being 6th seeded in AFC 15-5 win loss record is exactly liking being #1 seed in NFC. The senior conference has lost ground to the AFC. As was said even with a bad performance the sacks of Hasselback came at the right time. His timing was off most of the game and you can see the pressure of the big game got to the hawks--maybe next year they will get there again----

Have your win Steeler fans... I wouldn't want it, not this way.

Hey LJM.....You make no sense...If you are a 6th seed then you aren't supposed to win the Super Bowl?? All you 12th (wo)men can shut up and watch our victory parade tomorrow at 11:00 am EST not PST. We played horrible and STILL won. I can understand why you are all mad and upset. Have fun in the rain.

How bad are the Seahawks? Big Ben beat them with the worst QB rating - 22.6 of all time in the Super Bowl!! Steelers win despite not getting a 1st down until 4 min into the second quarter!! Bottom line 21-10!!

Gerard from Pittsburgh....You are right. I am a Seahawks fan but the refs were not the reason we lost. We had our chances but we didn't capitalize on Pitt's mistakes. Plain and simple.

To all the Steeler Fans:
The Seahawks are not cry-babies, nor are we, in any way, losers!! Unlike Pittsburg, we like to play a FAIR game and if throwing the big game was what you all needed to feel better about your stinky team, than I supposed you can have it. WE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR!! And we'll still play a fair game to win. But we should have known this was all going to happen when we played against a bunch of STEALERS!!!

I found some other great links not mentioned above. One is just a poll, but the other is another article written by someone who predicted the Steelers to win who says "I've never felt so empty being right. I feel dirty. I wish I'd been wrong. The Steelers did not deserve to win this game. They were not the better team. O'Connor was right. Seattle was the better team." ~Kevin Hench (FoxSports.com)

Poll: How would you rate the officiating at Superbowl XL?
"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. " ~FOXsports.com

Hey Texasscuba,
"How bad are the Seahawks? Big Ben beat them with the worst QB rating - 22.6 of all time in the Super Bowl!! Steelers win despite not getting a 1st down until 4 min into the second quarter!! Bottom line 21-10!!" I wouldn't be proud of that at all. Worthlessburgers suck and is overrated and the whole world saw that yesterday.

Don't blame the refs. Jerramy Stevens cost you the game. He proved he is soft!!!

Gerard (PITtsburgh)

Ben Worthlessburgher has that much hair because he can not produce enough Testosterone so he has to take hormones.

Hawkfan37 - Not proud, just the facts. Seahawks moved the ball great between the 20s. You have to get it in the end zone to win!!!

Oh I do live in the Seattle area. I have for nearly twenty years. I know the town very well.

As for the theropist, I was simply looking in the Yellow Pages on MSN.

I didn't attack you on a personal level, I just merely suggested that your tone in previous e-mails was coming off a little negatively.

Seattle has always had a reputation for being fair weather "johnny come lately fans". You guys are living up to that liberal reputation that I saw when you went to bed election night 04 thinking Kerry won, and woke up to your worst nightmare, but that is another story.

I just got sick and tired of hearing all the b.s. from Kathy Gertsin on KOMO, Paul Silvi, and a host of other "johnny come latelys" brag about how nice the weather was going to be for a victory parade. Well, at least they got the weather right.

Regardless of the calls, and there were plenty of non-calls to go both ways, the Seahawks made too many other mistakes to overcome anything the officials did. From special teams, dropped passes, receivers not knowing where they were on the field, clock manaagement, and play calling killed them.

Your right, the Steelers win was not a pretty one by any respect, but a win is a win. The stars of Pittsburgh's D were silent, but the D played as one.

Seattle has nothing to hang their head in shame about, they just made too many mistakes to win. They gave it their best, but it wasn't enough last night. Obviously you didn't watch KOMO's post game show last night with all the interviews, such as Tatupu's. He and others admitted they did not perform as they should have.

It's too bad, but that is how the football tumbles. I am sure that Boeing or Home Depot won't have to buy any tickets this year so the first home game can be televised.

Gerard (Pittsburgh)
maybe if we pay the refs we can EARN the trophy as well

"The 12th Man"

Maybe now us Seattle fans can feel Texas A&M's pain. After all, we were just violated by the use of a "12th Man" of sorts ourselves. Only this time, the 12th man was actually on the field for the Steelers. He was even dressed like a true Steelers fan, wearing a black and white striped shirt and waiving a little yellow flag. He started waiving it in the first quarter and never stopped waiving it. He supported his team to the very end, and ultimately led them to victory.

Make no mistake, the officials had everything to do with the outcome of this game. Holmgren will be a good NFL man and avoid any fines. He'll say things like "great teams overcome adversity" or "we had our opportunities". However, sometimes that adversity is unfairly induced and can't be overcome, and those opportunities are taken away by yet another bad call. Every questionable call in this the biggest game in Hawks history came on a meaningful play. Granted, every play in the Super Bowl is meaningful, but lets face it, few calls at all went against Pittsburg. I'm not one to complain about officiating, but this was bad. We were not given a fair shot or a fair fight.

Go ahead, take away our first quarter touchdown on a late flag brought on by a complaining DB. But don't make a questionable holding call on a Hasselbeck strike that would have left us on the 1. Even Madden said on live TV that he didn't see holding. I'll give Big Ben his questionable touchdown, but I'll also give him a delay of game penalty later in the game that was so obvious my grandmother could have called it correctly. The Steelers own center knew he needed to snap the ball and did so. The replay afterward showed that both were to late, the snap and the timeout. The flag should have come out, and the time-out refused. Finally, there was the Hasselbeck tackle that was called an illegal block. Someone please give me the reasoning for that call. All of these blown calls had implications that cost the Hawks opportunities. They all went the Steelers way. 7 Hawks penalties to 3 Steelers penalties. Come on now, Seattle was the least penalized team in the league this year.

In my opinion this was designed from the beginning to give Seattle their Super bowl appearance and Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis a Super bowl Victory. I'm not ready to say that the officials were paid off, but I believe they felt the pressure to make correct their own previous officiating blunders against the Steelers. As well as the added pressure of the Steeler crowed, the media, and the moment. Players need to get their heads in the game. Why not the officials?

Stephanie the only trophy your team will ever get is the 12th man award for whiners of the year
Steelers 5 Hawks 00

You want some cheese with your wine Seattle. You complain about the big Steeler crowd,,,guess what the 12th man had the same opportunity to buy tickets to the game and you came up short. Just like MVP with 95 meaningless yards. Stevens heard footsteps all day and played "soft". One sack from the sack leaders. All punts came back to the 20...terrible clock management at the end of both halves. At least you still have the WNBA Championship to boast about.

I'm sorry (but not surprised)that this blog has gotten so mean-spirited. In the interest in bringing it back to the real controversy, here's what I saw after reviewing the key plays on slow-mo TIVO:

1) Jackson's touchdown negated on the Off. PI call: The defender had his hands on DJ before he turned the corner and DJ swiped his hands away before breaking on the ball. The contact could just as easily been called Def. PI.
2) Roeth.'s touchdown looke good. He was holding the ball up high on his chest when he got hit, and the ball was across. It was only as he came down that the ball came back into the field.
3) Block on Roeth during Herndon's INT run-back was a clean push to Roethlisberger's shoulder.
4) The holding call on Locklear, which negated a first-and-goal on the one and probably was a 14-point revearsal, was truly what John Madded termed a "chinsy" call. In fact, a similar "holds" were non-called all game.
5) But finally, after watching it all, it was 4 dropped passes and one case of bad footwork, all in or around the end-zone, that determined the outcome. The questionable officiating MIGHT have cost the Hawks the game, but their own mis-plays ABSOLUTELY cost them the game. Too bad the refs had to even be a factor.

Next year our rallying cry will be: "One for the middle finger!"

read the national headlines...."Seattle was robbed" "Pittsburgh’s one-for-the-thumb Super Bowl will be remembered as the game when physically overmatched referees and heads-buried NFL executives flipped non-Steelers fans an XL middle finger."

This is the saddest win in superbowl history

Oh - and one more thing. The Hasselbck "fumble" that was reversed on review. His elbow clearly hit the turf before the ball, which by rule made the play dead at that moment. The incidental contact by the Steeler defender had nothing to do with the play.

Dale The Doofus: "A win is still a win"? The last time I a saw a "win" like Pittsburgh's sham trophy, was in the 1972 Olympics. The "Officials" took three tries but they finally stole the Gold medal from the U.S. men's basketball team and corruptly handed it to the Russians. And just as NO member of that USA Basketball team will ever take possession of the Silver Medal that they tried to cram down their throats, Seattle will NEVER accept that Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl. The TRUE champions reside in Seattle...The Seahawks. How hollow does it feel Dale, to know Pittsburgh was GIVEN a title?...how lame

Accodring to the stats the Seahawks have the number one offense in the NFL! The only one thats over rated is Bettis!

One of the unfortunate things about the officiating is that it was bad for BOTH teams. The final score says the Seahawks lost and the Steelers won. Steelers fans can shout from the rooftops that they are the champions, but we know their hearts, the pits of their stomachs and their consciences HAVE TO BE telling them a TOTALLY different story. I think the quote goes, "It all depends on what the meaning of the word 'champion' is." What a hollow "victory."

Hawkfan/Steph......and all others whinning about 12th man.....

Seattle has a lot of money, we are more sophisticated, educated, better employed than those in the 'burgh? Why did all those who you claim are under educated, under-employed, poor from a dried up city out number the 12th man by a factor of 9 to 1?
Where is all that money you and your 12th man could have spent supporting your team? The Seattle times reported less than 5000 season ticket holders bought tickets they were offered in the lotto, compared to over 10000 in the burgh? What gives?
There were so many Steelers fans present, and yet you knew before sending the team that they heavily relied on your support, Pittsburgh had a true home field advantage. Sorry, but you guys have so much to learn............see you at tacoma hooters next season, as a member of the black and gold express........

Mike, If you're going to comment, read the blog correctly. I was making reference to "the 12th man" being the officials. (Sorry, I may have shot over your head). You're crowed was great, they were exactly what they should have been, 100% in the game for their team. It's the officials who are supposed to be biased. Clearly they were not.

umm lets see how far is Seattle from Detroit? and how far is Pittsburgh from Detroit...that may have had a factor..that and We had to get up Monday morning and go to WORK.

I just had an "AHA!" moment. I keep hearing all day from some people here and in the media that they just played a bad game, and that's why they didn't win. That all the bad calls in the world wouldn't help you if you are playing badly, making mistakes, etc.

WRONG. If playing badly meant you would lose the game, then the Steelers would have lost. They played badly. THey had a few cute plays, but the Seahawks really dominated them, and were ahead on all the important factors. So, if a team simply played badly and therefore should lose, then it would be the Steelers. They did NOT outplay the 'hawks. They were given gift after gift by the refs, and that made ALL the difference. No team should HAVE to overcome bad calls. If the best man wins, as they say, then it shoulda been the Seahawks.

Excuses, excuses......I will no longer stoop to your whinning and conspericy theories. I am really surprised that no one (from Seattle, Fremont, Queen Anne, Bothel or elsewhere) has really tried to blam this on Bush.

You liberal just don't get it.........never have, never will. If you really can't get over this and accepty the hawks made some crucial mistakes, then just drive on down to the Tacoma Narrows, park the car walk out to mid span and end it all with a "go hawks" shout on the way to the water.........

Was there a game last night?

Did the Steelers win?

Who did they play against?

Cathy,

Before you comment about education, you should learn to spell..
Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Tacoma Hooters.. how precious!

Dale, you assume all Seahawks fans are Liberal. You know what happens when you assume. And whoever said 94 yards are meaningless. You better get back on the Buss... Talk about meaningless yards. The man is a class act and deserves a trophy. But I'm sure even he would have liked to have earned it. He couldn't even get in from the 3. Hangin' around for a Retirement Trophy turned out well for him. I'm glad he got one. It's just to bad he didn't earn this victory, this day.

Cathy,
Come on, let me guess, you are one of those numerous Seattle single mothers, pushing your kids stroller, talking on a cell wearing sweatpants to cover your latte drinking fat a##.

How did you purchase that latte anyways? Food Stamps?

I keep reading that there were bad calls and noncalls for both teams. Please point out the bad calls or noncalls that hurt the Steelers.

Hey all you idiot anti-Seahawk fans out there:
I seem to remember not just the Steeler fans whining, but also the Steeler players, when they had crappy calls against them in the Colts game.
The NFL officiating this year was the worst it's ever been and with enough outrage maybe something will be done to change it.
The Seahawks were clearly the better team and the Steelers were clearly the favored team. The NFL glamorized the Steelers right from the get go. Oh well, kinda like corporate America, isn't it? Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you work & sweat, it's how many asses you kissed.
See you in Miami next year, Seahawks. You guys are definitely on your way there.

I am no expert in the game of football, but it does not take an expert to see that many of the calls against the Seahawks and for the Steelers were egregiously wrong.

Had the outcome been reversed, you Steeler fans would be feeling the same way, so stop criticizing (with with vehement hypocrisy) Hawk fans for being disappointed !

I watched a travesty unfold on Super"BULL" Sunday. It was my very first and it will be my last. There is nothing I hate more than blatant favoritism and injustice. Too bad we cannot change the true outcome. Such is life. All I am left to say is, better better luck next year to the Seahawks...and, this too shall pass.

Fan,

I think you are mistaken about which message you are reading. I said NOTHING about education or Tacoma Hooters. That was the GUY who posted after me, Dale, I believe. How about an apology?

Thanks.

Well it has been interesting reading what everyone has to say. I could have cared less about who won the game because my team was no where near going to the Superbowl. With that having been said, I do think that the NFL should be embarassed if not sickened by the state of officiating this year. The Referees had progressively gotten worse during the playoff, with the pinacle of being the Superbowl. The way I see it, the NFL either needs to get full time referees that perform to the high standards of professional football or they need to limit technology so that the referees don't appear to be incompetent.

Seems like most of Seattle is taking the low road. Complaining and whining about the refs. If Seattle would have won the game, would you still be whining? This is why your team and city will never be respected by the nation.
YOU DON'T DESERVE RESPECT!
The Seahawks got away with just as much as they got called on. You can't face the facts-
Dropped passes, ineffective running game, interception, missed field goals. Try blaming your team, just stop whining about losing.

Seems like most of Seattle is taking the low road. Complaining and whining about the refs. If Seattle would have won the game, would you still be whining? This is why your team and city will never be respected by the nation.
YOU DON'T DESERVE RESPECT!
The Seahawks got away with just as much as they got called on. You can't face the facts-
Dropped passes, ineffective running game, interception, missed field goals. Try blaming your team, just stop whining about losing.

Football Guy-
well said. My comments at 11:49 am echo yours.

Wow, Dale, that was really nice. I have not gotten personal with people, nor will I. Why do you think you have the right to attack me like that? You are wrong on everything you say. When you have nothing else, attack people personally. I think that says more about you than me.

The only way the Seahawks make it to Miami for Superbowl XLI is if the rest of NFC plays like San Francisco did this season.

The Ref's beat the Seahawk's in Superbowl 40!! not the Steeler's..but we must just accept it and move on to next year..hopefully this type of excessive bad call's by the ref's will not continue into next year, but it probably will..take the bad with the good

Why do you have to critize my 49ers like that.
Where they not the first team to get to 5 Superbowls and win them all!
All teams go through rough times.
There is always next year.

Don't be sad because it ended....
Smile because it HAPPENED!

Sucky ending but a fabulous season.

Hey John "Complaining and whining about the refs.",
How 'bout we put the shoe on the other foot and see what the outcome is?

The Seahawks and Steelers play the same game except:

The Seahawks get the two TDs that the refs 'took away'...
1) No ticky-tack offensive pass interference call in the endzone on Darrell Jackson.
2) No phantom 'holding' call on Sean Locklear on the pass to Jeremy Stevens at the Steeler's two yard line.

And instead...
1) Willie Parker's TD run is called back on the same kind of 'hold' called on Locklear.
2) Hines Ward is call for offensive pass interference for some ticky-tack contact on the gadget play he scored on and the Steelers end up settling for a field goal instead.

Final score: Seahawks 21 Steelers 10.

And what do we talk about this morning? How long and how much money it will take to rebuild Ford Field after the Steelers fans burnt it to the ground and whether the officials were able to escape Detroit to enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.

Really, the only thing missing from this game was the refs presenting the Lombardi Trophy to the Steelers after the game. That would have been the truest reflection of what took place on the field.

Was this Superbowl rigged by the Officials?....It can look that way after yesterday's game...now let's look into it and find out why the Ref's saw what everyone else knew was many bad call's against Seattle...was there a motive for that or just bad luck? Time to look into it and especially come down on these ref's that blew it in Superbowl 40...regardless if they meant to do it or not

Dale,

Like you should talk about Cathy, my sister-in-law works for the state and she told me that you picked up your government check last Friday. How much do you weigh? We all know that every Stealer fan is an overweight, self indulgent, middle aged, unemployed, uneducated moron.

Dale,

Also that is no way to talk to a lady. Do you beat your wife? Oh yeah no one will marry your sorry ass.

hawkfan,
No I don't beat my wife, I don't play for the Seahawks or Colts.

To all of you morons that seem to think you must disparage Pittsburgh to make yourselves feel better, here are some facts: Carnegie Mellon University is one of the world's top computer science schools. It has consistently ranked number one in the US beating Stanford and MIT. Two, many high-tech companies are either already in Pittsburgh or coming--at CMU we already have Apple, Intel, Seagate, and now Google. Yes, Lycos was born at CMU as was FORE Systems. Also, some of the best actors come from CMU as well as shows like "Godspell" that we're written here. Finally, read a newspaper once in a while--your own Seattle PI on February 3, 2006 extolled the high-tech virtues of Pittsburgh, and ironically pointed out that more Seattleans name themselves "blue collar" than Pittsburghers. (Your paper also pointed out that Pittsburgh has not one world class university, but two--CMU and the University of Pittsburgh. The PI also pointed out that Seattle has NONE.) Further, CMU is about to build "Gates Hall." Seems as though Bill Gates was so impressed with CMU that he gave us money to build a new Computer Science hall. These tired old, overplayed rants about Pittsburgh being smoky, dirty, blue-collar, unemployed etc. are played-out and unoriginal. Yes, there was bad officiating in the game, but that has been rampant in the NFL this year. And, Pittsburgh has often been on the losing end of that bad officiating. The fact remains that Seattle didn't act like champions and got beaten on some trick plays. That kinda stings. We didn't need one for the thumb--we've won in every major sport, but this is icing on the cake. And if Seattle was really behind its Seahawks, you sure wouldn't have known it. Don't disparage the Pittsburgh folks because we support our teams and travel well. Learn something from it.

Stop all these bad-mouthing guys ! We all know who should've been the Champs. Steelers fans know it too. That is not the point here.

Other than money the other driving force for yesterday's disgrace is POWER. Nobody seems to bring it up this interesting point. Don't think for a second these little skinny old men run around in black and white stripes we called REFs want to be invisiable. They know they have power and they show it sometimes by pushing their will and calling it 'their' way. Coaches on any sports in any level would know the importance or a 'relationship' they need to cultivate with these little-known power figures.

Anonymous,

We do not care anything about CMU or what halls they are building there. Facts are Pittsburgh is the capital of the rust belt, it is out of touch with the 21st century. It is the fastest shrinking city in the US and I doubt highly that CMU beats MIT in any category.

hawkfan..........they lost, get over it.....

They f'in lost and there is nothing you can do about it, except wallow in your own pity.

Shut up about CMU...no one cares, no one has heard of the school and probably because they have only about 5,000 students!

All these 'My team is better, you team sucks' and 'My city is better, you city sucks' really makes me laugh. Can someone have a clear head and take a lesson on how things work in our world and move on?

They can't and won't........they don't know how. Someone always picked them up when they stumbled before and said: "it's ok Johnny, it's not your fault"

Enabled for life.........

Everyone is talking about allof the bad callls and all and just to add to the fix theory. No one has even mentioned the NON-delay of game call. At that point if we stop pittsburg we still have a chance. 3 and 6 is a lot easier to make than 3 and 11. Especially when you can't throw the ball.

Let's face it. If anyone paid off ther refs it had to be the Las Vegas bookies. Do you realize how much money they stood to lose if Seattle had only lost by less than 4 points let alone win the game? I think the FBI and Congress need to do some of their famous investigations here and now of the NFL front office and referees.

Thank you for proving my point, hawkfan37. Another "fact" that people like you misstate. The CITY of Pittsburgh has lost population, but the region of 2.3 million people is fairly stable. Pittsburgh weathered one of the worst job losses in manufacturing history and has reinvented itself as a high-tech, medical, and educational mecca. I'm sorry if living in Seattle (which BTW is where my family is from) has clouded your ability to speak the truth, but again, your pathetic attempts at disparaging Pittsburgh simply because it slapped your Seahawks (and what kind of name is that anyway?) are played-out. I love professional sports because morons like you feel that the only way to avenge a loss is to talk crap. You know the best way to avenge a loss--shut up and field a WINNING team next year and if you do, go get some fans to support them. Pathetic.

This is the first year that my kids actually got into football. We have always tried to explain to them the corruption in politics and now I have to try and explain corruption in the NFL. How sad that corruption has founds its way into sports as well.

Seahawks.....the other other other white meat

Anonymous,

Metro: 2,358,695 (2000)
2,394,811 (1990)
2,571,223 (1980)
2,683,853 (1970)
City: 334,563 (2000)
369,879 (1990)
423,959 (1980

Notice the steady decline. Oh yeah Seattle has been voted the best place to live the past 5 years by an independent polling company.

Isn't it funny how 2 weeks ago Steelers fans thought that the refs were the worst and they were calling for thier heads.....but now.....oh that just he way the game goes.

Bottom line the refs were and are bad. You can't honestly watch any of those plays and say thier wasn't some bias.

It's almost like watching the movie remeber the titan's there was no chance of the hawks winning.

HATERS HATERS!!! WHINERS WHINERS!! ACCEPT THE CHAMPIONS!! IT'S NOT YOU!!

If the Super Bowl had been a horse race, it would be investigated.

Anonymous,

"You know the best way to avenge a loss--shut up and field a WINNING team next year and if you do, go get some fans to support them."

Is that the best you got? You obviously have never been to a Hawks game in Seattle have you.

Michael Smith on ESP.com -

"Here's what referee Bill Leavy's crew did, point blank: It robbed Seattle. The Seahawks could have played better, sure. They could have done more to overcome the poor officiating. We understand that those things happen and all, but even with all the points Seattle left on the field, there's a good chance the Seahawks would have scored more than the Steelers if the officials had let the players play."

Read the whole article, and stop haranguing us Hawks fans for complaining about the bad calls. You guys would do it too if were your team (and, Pittsburgh fans, you AND YOUR PLAYERS did complain after a game that you WON!).

Pittsburgh has a right to claim the title, and Seattle has a right to vent.

the fan,

Wow that was quite on argument, I concede. As a matter of fact I am shaking to death from the fear. Maybe you can hire Joey Porter to Jerramy Stevens in the ass.

The government, Corporate America, the institutions, NFL...you name it, they all want you to think we are blessed by God and everything is good and fair in our good old America. As in facts we are more corrupted than ever. It hasn't changed. We just do it in a more 'civilized' way and the powerful and well-connected get away with it.

The only winners here were the Las Vegas bookies. Pittsburgh DID NOT win the game. Yes, they ended up with more points. But, the Refs took the game away from Seattle. After these bad calls it is understandable why Seattle would not be playing with all their heart in the game. How can you win the game when the unnamed players (the refs) actually have control of what happens? If I were the Pittsburgh players, I would be ashamed to where that ring.

Anyone who doesn't think that sports are fixed is a fool. It happens all the time. Every sport. Even in college.

If you are a sports better and you really watch games you know what I'm talking about.

Seattle's 12th Man: their fans
Pittsburgh's 12th Man: Ref Bill Leavy and his crew

You could compare the Superbowl to WWF...... the Steelers were supposed to win and the refs were there to make sure it happened.

SUPER BOWL XL - SEAHAWKS vs STEELERS:
Let me start by say I'm glad the Steelers won. For financial reasons (insert wink and nod here), I was definitely cheering for Pittsburgh. That said, the Seahawks were robbed. Super Bowl XL showcased a classic example of NFL officials who got too involved in a game and directly affected the outcome. It is an ongoing problem in the NFL and will not change unless enough fans, writers, and sportscasters point out the problem and demand change. The Steelers had a great year and deserve to be champions. But who know how the game would have turned out had the officials backed off and let the players determine the outcome.

First, with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's 16 yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson was nullified on a bogus offensive pass interference call. Yeah, Jackson touched Steeler safety Chris Hope. And Hope touched Jackson. Neither contact had any impact on the touchdown catch, but that didn't stop the officials from jumping in and making the first big call of the game. During the halftime show, Michael Irvin described the call as "ticky-tack". Steve Young simply said "That is an absolute touchdown". Both are correct. It was a bad penalty that had no business being called...not in a game of such magnitude. It is very interesting to note that way back in the Week 2 match up of Chiefs at Raiders, Raider receiver Randy Moss was flagged on a nearly identical offensive pass interference call that wiped out a Raiders touchdown. Guess which officiating crew blew the call back in week 2? C'mon...I know you can say it...Bill Leavy's crew! The NFL later apologized to the Raiders and admitted the interference on Moss was a bad call. I wonder if they'll issue a similar apology to the Seahawks?

As bad as the offensive pass interference call was, the holding call against Seattle's Sean Locklear was perhaps even more devastating. Trailing 14-10 early in the 4th quarter, Hasselbeck hit tight end Jeremy Stevens on an 18 yard completion to the Steelers one yard line. Unfortunately, a holding call negated the catch. Replay showed no hold, at least not any hold that doesn't occur on virtually every single pass play in an NFL game. Said commentator John Madden "I didn't see holding". Again, on a marginal or "ticky-tack" situation, an NFL official throws a flag and negates a huge play, directly impacting the outcome of the game. It's the Super Bowl! Why are you throwing a flag on a play where no holding is visible? It's almost like cops on the freeway. Everyone speeds, but they occasionally pull someone over just to let us all know they're watching. It sure seems like NFL officials get into the same routine...occasionally calling a random, marginal, or imaginary holding just to remind the offensive line they're being watched.

And, of course there's the absolutely horrible low block call on Hasselbeck following his interception. Shortly after the huge holding call, Hasselbeck was picked off near the goal line by Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor who brought it back to the 29 yard line. For some preposterous reason, Hasselbeck was penalized for a low block call on the play where he made the tackle. "We think that is a bad call" said announcer Al Michaels following the replay and commercial break. Yeah, you think? It's perfectly legal to tackle someone at the knees; you just can't block someone at or below the knees. But since Hasselbeck was clearly the guy who tackled Taylor, how could the officials possibly believe he was blocking and not tackling? It was a horrible call that moved Pittsburgh near midfield where they soon after put the game away on a trick play. "The officials thought they saw something they didn't see" said commentator John Madden.

One final play worth mentioning...the Roethlisberger touchdown run. If you saw the play, you know what I'm referring to. Simply, Roethlisberger scored on a 1 yard touchdown run where it didn't appear the ball ever broke the plane of the goal line. While I never saw any replay showing the ball break the plane, there is a moment on the replay where you just can't tell. The replay rule clearly states that there must be "incontrovertible visual evidence" to overturn a call. Given that the original call on the field was a touchdown, the call had to stand.

Overall, I cannot recall a Super Bowl with more officiating controversy. It's truly a shame the officials played such an integral part with numerous bogus calls against the Seahawks. Nobody pays to see the officials. I want to see the PLAYERS determine the outcome. Perhaps one day, the NFL will take note and the Super Bowl champions will actually be decided by the teams on the field and not the guys wearing stripes.

taken from http://www.provencehome.org/refsuck/pages/annualawards.html

I think it's possible that the refs want a bigger piece of the NFL pie from the league and they haven't been getting what they want. So they are more bold than over to take the matter in their own hands and get rich by rigging games and f*cked the league.

A observation after re-watching the Super bowl on TiVo:

Both teams did not come with their best games, and struggled, but Seattle had the clear edge on both sides of the ball. The game came down to a few big plays made by both teams: Pittsburgh's three big plays stood, but three of Seattle's were negated by calls that had the neutral announcers scratching their heads.

It's a shame bad officiating ruined the Super Bowl but we shouldn’t blame the Steelers as they did not cheat the Seattle. In order to regain some confidence in officiating we need 1) to have instant replay challenges for penalty calls, it should at least reverse most obvious bad calls like the hold that ended up turning the game around. 2) If the referee screws up a video replay they need to be suspended/fired, they will think twice before making any sentimental decisions.

One last point from me. I just checked out some of t he local Pittsburgh newspapaer stories......and go figure not a 1 article on the bad calls. It's funny how just about every paper in the entire country has an article on how bad the refs were except for the pittsburg papers. that just goes to show you they know they got away with one and they are just trying to let it pass and letting the attention die down.

Way to go NFL..how pathetic that this so called league can display officiating so bias it's crazy to see anyone actually saying the Steelers are champions,
this is one Super Bowl that will go down as the Sucker Bowl..the Seahawks & fans were sucked in..the Bettis story it should have been called.
If any Steelers fans out there are proud of having ref's cheat for you? shame on you all...
& shame of the NFL head office for having this final turn into a farce.

I watch a lot of football and I know that bad calls happen. And yes may just maybe some of the ticky tak call against the hawks were a penalty but when you look at the the body of work......every tick tak call was in favor of just one team!!!!

hummmmmm

if it looks suspecious it probably is.

In the ideal world the NFL should have backbone, stand up and address the issues they have with their referees and the travesty happened yesterday. Of course it won't happen since so much money is at stake. It will be forgotten and shoved under rug.

Anonymous

The Seahawks won more games this season then the Steelers, and we have an open stadium here yet we still have the loudest fans...Porter talks more crap than all the seahawk fans combine!

You will not be able to count on anyone who make their fat living from the game of Pro-football (or any levels) to step up and put pressure on the NFL (including the Seahawks). It has to be a grass-root effort from the Seattle fans which are the most devastated.

I flippin' LOVE Mike Holmgren....the man has balls. At the "Welcome Home" Rally he said "I knew we would be playing a great Pittsburgh Team, I didn't know we'd be playing the guys in the striped shirts too".

The fans went crazy!!! If he needs any money to help pay the fines.... just look me up!
Way to tell it like it is!

GO HAWKS!

Dale,
Grow up! The best part about living in the Northwest is that we are not fair weathered fans of our teams.

As for your comment about support and why we weren't there in force...we were limited as to how many could buy super bowl tickets (7000 in all. A far cry for the other 60+ thousand that entered that stadium. Also, we didn't have the 4 hour bus/car ride to Detroit that many Steeler fans had.

Despite all of this, Seahawks have come home to a winning team welcome back party because the Hawks won the game...they just didn't take home the trophy. The Northwest has a great deal more class than any place I have ever lived...and I have lived in a lot of places.

Again I say to all, this too shall pass and will too soon enough be forgotten.

I may have been born in Washington PA, but my home is Washington State! Way Go HAWKS!

I would ask "how does it feel to win the Super Bowl?" but, YOU DIDN'T REALLY WIN!!! it was nothing more then a gift given to by the ref's, because they were either paid off, or knew that the Steeler's and their fans couldn't handle the truth, the SEAHAWK'S played better football period.

Let put some heat on NFL !

Johnny,

Not true... I mentioned the delay of game in my blog above entitled "The 12 Man". In my opinion, the "delay of game no-call" summed it all up. Let's just turn a blind eye to the obvious. Clock 0 + ball not snapped + late time out = a delay of game penalty every other game of the year. But here it does not add up for some reason. It goes against all logic and reason.

I am no longer an NFL fan. I'm done with the T. Owens crud, I'm done with the media hype, I'm done with the officials, I'm done with Free Agency. It's all a waist of time, and if things continue like last night, many more fans will feel the same way and the NFL will reap what they have sewn... I hope NFL officials find that it was worth it. Handing the trophy to Bill Cower and Jerome Bettis and the rest of the Terry Bradshaw glory days starved Steeler fans. Next time put a younger, quicker, confident officiating crew on the field and let's have a fair fight.

Pittsburgh has a great team and they have great fans, and should be proud. But even Steeler fans need to open their eyes to what this means. A corrupt or inept NFL, (depending on your view), isn't in any of our best interest.

Congrats Steeler fans on your Championship. It's yours and none of us can take it away from you. Not this blog, not the media, not the officials, no one. What is done is done. But search your heart and try to look at things through an unbiassed and an un-Bettis eye. If you do, you will see that yesterday in the NFL was as dark as your helmets.

I agreed. Let's put some pressure on the NFL and demand an answer.

I challenge the KING5 station to honor the fans' wishes and defend fairness and Integrity of the game of football by formally demand an investigation to the NFL and the Congress.

The Seahawks were robbed plain and simple and the outcome of the game was determined two weeks ago. The blatant horse collar tackle on Alexander was completely ignored by the officials. Once again, this would have put the Hawks in position to score.

And, to correct those of you stating that “our quarterback” (his name is Matt Hasselbeck – I know you Steeler fans have trouble spelling) was given the fumble back because of contact, that is incorrect and simply in addition to the fact that he would have been given the fumble back anyway because his elbow had touched the ground before the ball came out therefore he was down, negating the fumble. The NFL got their headline so it is you, the Steelers fans that need to SHUT UP! And, if you don’t like our sports teams there is a simple solution for you, that I, as a born and raised Washingtonian, feel more then authorized to give you…LEAVE!

This is the first and last football game I will ever watch.We should not be surprised that the seahawks lost the superbowl. Historically speaking, officials do not like any sports franchise from the pacific northwest. Look at what happened to the 2001 Seattle mariners. They were not even televised when it came to tying the 116 games won by the 1906 chicago cubs, or when Ichiro broke the hits record. Lets face it, Teams from the North west have to fight officials, bad press, and everything else. They will never be given a fair shot. They have to win despite the east coast prejudice. Its the same with the Vancouver Canucks. Just watch any sporting events with the Northwest teams and then watch any events with east coast games ie New York Yankees, Boston Red socks, Clevand Indians in Baseball. In Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers, New York rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Then Make your own opinion.

Ya know, the NFL, ABC, and the crooks that officated the game all had it set two weeks ago that the squealers were going to win. Hell even vegas got in on that.

I second, (or third?) al's challenge to KING5. Let's out some serious heat on the NFL. I think it is only American to demand justice.

Perhaps a petition is necessary to get the point across!

http://new.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nfl12006

Watching Super Bowl Faulty reminded me of olympic boxing,or ice dancing,or pehaps the WWF.It's hard to imagine what was going through the ref's heads.In a game where a flag could be thrown on every play,it seems absurd to think that only one team could be guilty of holding,pushing-off or a miriad of other penalties.Perhaps the media blitz of "Jerome coming home" was too much for the zebras to handle? Maybe when the ref was looking into the replay of ROT HIS BURGERS touchdown he was actually checking out the beer commercials. Oddly enough there seemed to be an awful lot of yellow on the turf almost every time the hawks had a good return,or big play.During the whole game I was hard pressed to find any holding calls on the Steelers O-Line.Wow they must be really good!! It seemed for a while that a Seahawk would be in jeopardy of a penalty for even tackeling an opponent who had the ball. One could see plainly, after some of those calls that the Hawks seemed hesitant to even block for their kick returner. Maybe the refs looked into the crowd waving their little yellow towels, and did not want to be left out. Regardless of the horrible officiating,Seattle, had some problems with their offence. Then again it's hard to get into a rythym when your momentum gets broken repeatedly by penalties. Stevens dropped some crucial passes. Then again I wonder if a late flag would not have been thrown if he had made these catches? I think the officiating coupled with the pitt- hype, for the last week or so really made people wonder!! Bottom line the refs took too much control of the game! Both teams deserved to be there,neither team had their best game, but both teams deserved better officiating.To win a championship is every players dream. To have the occasion marred in such a way is sad. It was a hard fought battle by both teams,the refs turned the championship game into Super Farce Forty!!

As a Seahawk fan north of the border in Vancouver, I would like to join in the displeasure of being ripped off. It does not seem to matter which sport we watch wether it is baseball, hockey, football..etc, there is a disconnect with the refs. They have the power to decide who will win and who will lose. The refs seem to think that we come to these games to watch them play with our brains. Every time a Seahawk play that seemed to be a game breaker occurred there seemed to a flag going against Seattle. I am not going to suggest there was a conspiracy but how about the refs putting their flags away until they were needed. Anyone who has ever played football will tell you there is holding or pass interference on practically every play. Let the boysplay so we don't have to put up with this type of manure on one of the biggest stages in sport. Refs go hang your head you gave Seattle's game away.

Can anything be done about the bad officiating in the game? I feel like I never want to watch another NFL game as long as I live. It is so blatantely obvious that the officials weren't going to let Seattle win. Both teams that got in are my 2 favorates but I have never seen a worse officiating game. I live in California and made the trip to Seattle to watch the playoff games. That was the highlight of my month. While there watched the Steelers game on TV. I was so excited both my teams got into this game. Now I am just sick that neither of my teams won the game fairly. The officials should get the trophy.

Week after week players and coaches sit down and watch game film, why? so they can get better. the NFL should make that stripes crew watch the tape of superbowl XL, we all know they did not see it the first time.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5310192

I invite all those who dont believe the Seahawks should have really won the Superbowl to click on the above link and read this article!

Listen....Steeler fans - it's ok to come on to our blog and try to justify why you think your pathetic team won. If I had a team as bad as yours I might do the same thing. Actually, no I wouldn't because I am from Seattle the place that has class. Your clearly trying to defend your team, city whatever it is but you can never defend the game that happened yesterday...no matter what you say and deep down you know it. You know your team only won with the ref's help otherwise you wouldn't be over here trying so hard to defend them. It's hard to lose but it's harder to know you wouldn't have won without the ref's help. How sorry you are. Next year the Seahawks will be there in Miami and the Steelers will have to stay home and go around doing a fundraiser for the new "NFL Ref's throwing the game fund". Just take a look at your QB's face when he hurredly puts the ball over the line while looking at the ref in hopes that he would call a TD. FRAUD...and he knows it. I am sad that we lost but at least I am not him knowing that everyone knows that he JUST DIDN'T MAKE IT!!! To boot that's not the only bad call....well it's a sad thing the way the NFL has turned out. I miss the old days....I was wishing my dad was around to finally see the Hawks go to the Superbowl but I am glad he didn't have to see them make it and loose to the men in stripes. I'm proud of Holmgren...he's the one with real guts!!

The Seahawks went into the game committed to winning. They brought it onto the field. In the first quarter and a half they battled a hostile crowd, a bewildered and struggling Pittsburgh defense and... the refs. Bill Leavy and his wrecking crew changed the tempo and changed the outcome of the game! Perhaps they were caught up in the Bettis hype... perhaps they were caught up in the 5th. Steelers win or the "Get Cowher a win" hype. Either way, they blew it! They blew it BIG and should be held accountable... somehow, some way! The 'Hawks had this one in the bag after the first quarter. Now it's history.

Scary to see someone with my same name writing such nasty stuff about the Seahawks and their fans, and "liberals". My posts earlier were supportive of the 'hawks, the fans, and people of all political affiliations. Sad that some folks feel the need to pretend to be someone they're not, and to attack others for their political beliefs, when this is about football. Pathetic.

As a long time Seattle sports fan, Ive gone through my fair share of dissappointment regarding sub-par seasons from mediocre teams. However, this Seahawks team deserved to win the superbowl and were robbed of many chances to do so. The bad calls that were against Seattle came at pivotal times in the game. Jacksons "touch off PI" which should have resulted in a TD, Roethlisberger's "crossing the plane" which should have taken the Steelers to 4th down, a few erroneous holding calls and the unforgettable Hasselbeck "illegal block below the waist" all lead to the undeniable notion that the strips were just a little too touched by the heartwarming Jerome Bettis homecoming tale- or treading softly because of the ridiculously blown calls the same officiating crew made during the Steelers v. Colts playoff game. Other than a few missed opportunities (which i will admit arent becoming of a Superbowl team) the Seahawks had quite a decent offensive game and did a great job at stopping their opponents running game which contrasted quite obviously with the Steeler's lack-lustered performance. Steelers fans know deep down that they were given the Lombardi trophy by the team in black and white but few will admit it. It's difficult to see the practically unrecognized and disrespected Seattle Seahawks and the entire state of Washington robbed of their first professional sports championship title. I challenge those who disagree with me to add up the Steeler's press time (in comparison to Seattle's), fan fare, Bettis' retirement, the terrible calls, and the blatant disrespect shown to the Seahawks and tell me that this was an unbiased game which was decided on the field and not in the official's huddles. NFL fans can only hope that Tagliabu has the fortitude to do something about these crooked superbowl officials.

To those babies that keep saying "quit your whining" I say, why is it really only Seattle that was penalized? 70 yards to 20.... c'mon. The refs were either blatently anti-'Hawks/pro armpittsburgh or they are just totally incompetent and need desperately to re-examine the rule book. They should have had the refs do the pre-game show and let Stevie Wonder do the officiating. At least he would have called it honestly. I agree with Cory at the top of this blog, the refs should have left the stripes on. At least then we would know before hand that wewere going to get robbed.

The SEAHAWKS played the game of there lives and in my opinion WON the SUPERBOWL. If we cant get good refs then lets just stop the SUPERBOWL,the whole game was the biggest JOKE of the year! By the way what is the going price for a ref?

I used to complain about slow moving games due to instant replays and long reviews of every call. I'm a changed man--this was the biggest load of !@#$ I have seen since we invaded Iraq. Bring back the excruciating multi-camera reviews of every play--at least for the superbowl!

On another note: we are all licking our wounds like we we were just beat up or something... WE WENT TO THE SUPERBOWL! And, we ALMOST won!

GO SEAHAWKS!

_jason

I think Steelers demonstrated Sunday that they were fully capable of beating the struggling Seahawks without any help from the referees. You Pittsburgh fans should be angry that they were not given the chance.

I think the Seahawk's fans are really upset about the fact that Cowher made them wear those ugly "A" oil-slick-colored uniforms. Hell, if I was a ref, I would have a hard time being objective too. How does the pimply faced girl become the prom queen?!

I watched with such hope but as I read all the comments it sounds like all the Steeler fans had it out for the Hawks we may be a lot of things but they played good this season and we made it to the superbowl and that has to say something. and I feel that the refs were wrong on 3 major plays, but they held there heads high and God bless the Seahawks and I hope that we will be seen as a good nfl team in the years to come. GO HAWKS

Todd - I'm a Steeler fan and I like what you said.
However, we were disenfranchised too a call and non-call. So, it was not completely one sided. I think the bottom line is the #1 seed missed some opportunities and did not live up to their billing. It's just my opinion, but I think that is one of the reasons why there is so much heart ache in Seattle.

John - I can't disagree. Most of us don't want to take anything away from the Steelers; they played hard, clean, and made the big plays that counted. They played the game that came to them, and they won. To deprive the Steelers - even in spirit - of their rightful claim to this title because their opponents came out on the wrong side of some key calls would be an even greater injustice than the one we Hawks fans feel we were dealt.

To say we would have won if only that ticky-tack Locklear call hadn't happened ignores the very real possibilities of the game: Score 17-14 Hawks. Pittsburgh takes the kickoff to the 30, succeeds in a few plays to the 43, runs it's "gadget" play, and then it's 21-17 Steelers, and all we have is one gripe about one bad call in the endzone early in the game, which by itself is nothing.

In any regard, the game will have a tarnish that the Steelers did nothing to deserve.

I really think those officials should be forced to take lie-detector test... I bet most of them wouldn't pass, some might, because they are probably dumber than a bag of hammers! Who knows, check their bank accounts and the accounts of their family members and friends… you just might find something their that wasn't there before!

The Seahawks WON Super Bowl 40 but LOST the big game in “Referee Bowl 40”

keo:
apparently you can't spell, so what makes you think you know what you are talking about!! the seahawks won that game 17-14. the ref's made horrible calls. it was like watching a nightmare in person. the seahawks are the best team in the usa and don't you forget it!! we did WIN the superbowl...the ref's gave the trophy to the other guy...we played the guys in the stripped shirts...not the steelers. WE LOVE ALL OF OUR SEAHAWKS...GREAT YEAR AND WE WILL BE BACK...WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!!

The yellow flags in the refs pockets were terrable towels, the NFL should be ashamed of this game... I was sick watching this robbery on national TV, and have lost all respect for the game.

OK! The Seahawks lost the GAME! YES the GAME! Even if the so-called bad calls went the other way, maybe the Seahawks would have or could have won the game? I guess we'll never know......AT LEAST NOT FOR ANOTHER 30 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you all kidding?

Super Bowl 40 will have no tarnished rememberance at all.

If Seattle had lost by 4 or five points instead of 11, you might have a little gripe, but clearly, you did not out-play the calls as true Champions do.

I completely understand your frustration with the calls. The calls were bad all season, and bad in the Super Bowl, but they were bad both ways, but they didn't change the game. Seattle, with it's "best offensive line" had three quarters to make up for that touchdown. If they were worthy champions they would have done it.

The Steelers made the most of the hawks' mistakes and calls, while the sea hawks didn't, that is all there is to it.

As far as the tarnished rememberance... forget it, nobody will remember the details of the game two years from now, that just the way it goes.

I totally respect the sea hawks, and respect most of your opinions, but the "bad calls" and cheating officials routine makes some of you sound foolish.

I feel almost as though you al had a good season and made the big game, and felt as though you were entitled to the win. The win has to be worked for. Both teams played like crap, neither played their "A" game, but the Steelers played good enough to win, and are now back in the burgh getting ready to enjoy a great party tomorrow.

60% of 230,000 fans that voted on Fox Sports Website say that the most memorable thing they will take away from the game is the questionable calls. The NFL has a huge credibility PR nightmare on their hands.

Whats done is done. A plan of action from the NFL going forward is what is needed. Please remember that these referee issues have been at isssue the entire season.

They saved up the best for last. Bravo NFL!

Sign em up for the next episode of the Keystone cops!

Oh, the irony of this article posted on YahooSports, February 1st ---

"...In a postseason filled with questionable calls, the spotlight will be harsher than ever for referee Bill Leavy and his officiating crew when Pittsburgh plays Seattle on Super Bowl Sunday.

"What we want to do is to pick up the paper Monday and read about the game, not the officiating," said Mike Pereira, who oversees NFL refs. "We all want to be anonymous."

That can be tough sometimes. With more than 130 million people watching the Super Bowl in 234 countries around the world, a wrong move can lead to outrage..."

To All Stealers ... who have the least amount of sportmanship that I have ever seen. There is no disputing the false calls which were completely obvious to all who saw the game on Sunday. No matter what, the Seahawks are the true winners of the game. Take away all the bad calls and false touchdown errors and Seattle won. Have this win... We wouldn't want it to be ours if we had to win by BAD CALLS. Not just BAD- DISASTEROUS! Enjoy this day for now... We have not lost any faith in the Seahawks.

I should clarify....

I don't mind the "bad calls" discussions, I just don't like the cheating officials discussion.

Yes NFL officiating needs reviewed and fixed ... ie. full time officials instead of part-time weekend employees.

Hell, even some rules need looked at... ie. cross the plane instead of breaking the plane (sort of like the NHL's rule for goal scoring), that would be great. ... I know that probably sounds strange coming from a Steeler fan.

That's all a given.. the officiating sucks, but don't fall into the "the officials were bought and paid for" crap. Next thing someone will be saying is that Karl Rove was behind the whole fiasco.

Seahawks were robbed by the refs. The refs should be investigated.

The worst Superbowl in 40 years, by far! There should be a Grand Jury investigation of the NFL!

I've never seen such poor sportsmanship.

Lose like professionals folks, it'll make you better people.

I don't think any Hawk fans felt entitled to win, but we do feel we were entitled to a game that was fairly officiated. It's not true to say the bad calls went "both ways" when the Hawks - tied for least penalized in the NFL - lost a net of 161 yards on penalties.

It's not true to say that those penalties were inconsequential - only two of them account for as much as an 18 point swing (4 points end-zone Pass Interference; holding negates 1st-and-goal on the one (7 points), leading instead to Interception converted into TD by Steelers.

That said, the Steelers were playing well enough to win, and the Seahawks were playing poorly enough to lose. But we'll never know for sure how a competently officiated game would have turned out.

that's all true.. but...

the offensive interference did happen... it's clear my friend, and while it is not a call that is regularly called, it is against the rule, and therefore cannot be complained about.

the holding happened as well, I contend that it was not blatent, but by rule, it was a hold.. so instead of blaming the refs, the blame needs to be laid upon the players who committed the infractions.

My only point is, that if the Hawks were deservant of the championship, they would have overcome the calls. The touchdown was in the first quarter, why didn't they make up for it later?

The Seahawks are touted, righfully so, of having the best offensive line in the NFL this season, yet they only got one touchdown in the game that counts. A championship team would have done more to get past the calls.

How many dropped balls were there? How many missed field goals? These are the things I am talking about, championship teams don't drop the balls or miss the field goals... there's six points right there just with the missed field goals, the dropped balls, would have given you a couple more first downs, more than likely leading to touchdowns.

.. yet you blame the officiating

yeah, we the fans of the seattle seahawks are whining about the officiating. so is the rest of the country. [except for pittsburgh]

SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

The refs and whoever paid them to throw the game should be ashamed. The Steelers are indeed, the inferior team if they felt they had to cheat to win. I think they didn't want to get beaten by the underdog, so they had to win at all costs . The Hawks camp and their fans should rest assured that absolutely everyone saw through the crap and know that they are the true winners. Unless honesty is brought back to the officiating and the game is not for sale anymore, the Super Bowl will fade into history because no one will pay to watch a game when the winner is decided before the kickoff

sigh... one trip to the super bowl in your existance and suddenly you're experts... lol....

apparenly this blog is for self-pity and wrongful blame... which means I clearly don't fit in here.

I hope for your sake that this season was not a one-hit-wonder for your hawks, I thought they seemed like a classy bunch and worthy opponent. You fans on the other hand surprise me.

What ever happened to "Congratulations" ?

instead all you can say is "whaaaaaaaaah"

give me a hollar when you all get your five trophies (four silver, one paper).. I may respect you all then

THE PEOPLE IN SEATLE NEED TO GROW UP!!!!
NO WONDER THEY GET NO RESPECT ITS BECAUSE THEY ARE A BUNCH OF CRY BABIES.

Bill Leavy should be put in prison. His bank account needs to be monitored for the next few months. I can not believe some of those calls. If the game would have been officiated fairly then Seattle would have won its first world championship. Period.

what's that i hear...

"WHAAAAAAAAHHH"

I can't believe the petty calls, this is the superbowl let the players play and give something exciting for the fans to watch. The refs made it a bore.

No seahawks fan should blame the steelers. They were just on the right side of a poorly officiated game, that is all, when you steeler fans realize that then you realize that we would have beat you and should have beat you...

Congrats on " winning " the superbowl...

and oh yea its not just us seahawks fans, if you havent noticed their is stories all over about how bad the officiating was... or maybe we cried enough that the east coast biased media is paying attention... NO... Madden even said half the calls were BS... were you watching the game on mute with a blind fold on?

oh yea... CONGRATS...

thanks Thom!

WHAAAAAAAAAH

... OH WAIT! DID YOU SAY MADDEN EVEN SAID THE CALLS WERE BS... OH!!!!!

IN THAT CASE, IT MUST BE TRUE....

WHAAAAAAAH

you all took losing lessons from Mr. Gore didn't you?

ok, I'm done, I'll leave for real this time

in all seriousness, Congrats to you hawks fans and the hawks, for a great season and a great run up to the big game!

Fans like you are pathetic...

Madden is a HOF coach, he might know what he is talking about... look at the instant replay... he didnt hold... watch almost every play from O for the steelers and there is a hold that didnt get called

Grow up enjoy your fake championship

For those of you who haven't already - get a copy of the game and watch it again. Both teams made mistakes, both teams had miscues and missed opportunities. The difference in the game - by any honest viewing - is that when the Steelers made one of their few big plays, it was allowed to stand. When the Seahawks made one of their few big plays, the refs called it back on what we can all agree was at least a close call.

We can argue whether the calls were good or bad, but this idea that they had no impact is ludicrous.

Folks –

There is no point analyzing the plays and the bad calls and the touchdown or not,
There is no point arguing about who has a better team and who has a better city,
There is no point taking about what the score should’ve been and would’ve been....

The Seahawks were clearly the better team yesterday. However they did not win for the following reasons:

#1: Professional Sports such as NFL are Businesses. They are in the entertainment business. Their goal is to make money - Huge sum of money. The peoples at stakes are NFL officials, owners, coaches, players, refs, broadcasters, radio announcers, street vendors; suppliers…may be even you and me. Fair competition is only secondary within the scope of economics. If you don’t know it by now, Wake up and smell the latte.

#2: The Pittsburgh Steelers is clearly the favored team and the chosen team by the NFL in Super Bowl XL. Why? They have a better storyline. They have the Bus and Big Ben. They represent hard working middle America. They are the storied franchise from the 70’s. Where is Seattle? Who are the Seahawks? The national media knows it too and play along with its favoritism also. Remember, their economics are directly tied to viewer/listener ratings.

#3: Because of that, Bettis and Steelers are therefore perceived as the ‘good guys’. Over 80% in U.S. who cares about the Super Bowl wants to see Pittsburgh win. We do love a good story and the hero to win.

#4: Steelers win mean MUCH better merchandise sales, Higher TV ratings. What’s good for the Steelers becomes what’s good for the NFL and what’s good for America.

#5. Paul Allen is not a football man and he is way out in South Alaska. A geek with riches has less chance to be in the NFL inner circle than a whore to enter heaven. Seattleites and Paul Allen are relative easy and vulnerable targets.

#6. The Seahawks play a great first quarter and dominated offensively and defensively. They had a great chance to take early lead and blow out the Steelers. But the refs make sure that didn’t happen. Early blowout by the Seahawks means lower TV ratings and lower revenue from the half-time commercials next year. The Seahawks could have overcome all the forces and won had they play a flawless game. They did not.

Have you seen the Washington Generals beat the Harlem Globetrotters? They don’t, they are not supposed to. People paid to see the show. The Steelers winning Super Bowl XL was THE SHOW. It is entertainment after all.

Yes, the Seahawks coaches and players are crushed. They are competitors and they wanted it bad. But they are not the ultimate losers. They know in their hearts they make millions and enjoy great lifestyle playing this game and have chance to continue as long as they play by the rule and not rock the boat and bite the hands that feed them. The ultimate losers are the fans, the loyal fans who not only spend their hard earned money but their heart and souls and tears for years and years.

Call it corrupt? No, it’s just business.

-Wise man

I guess I'm not cynical enough to believe there was any kind of intentional collusion or even any isolated intention to favor the Steelers over the Seahwaks. I think people in general are far too incompetent to pull off even minor conspiracies without getting caught.

In my opinion, the refs called several penalties in a way that ended up tilting the playing field against the Seahawks. An honest viewing of the game cannot doubt that fact.

We Hawks fans believe many of those calls were just plain wrong (incompetence, corruption... whatever)

This is the same thing that happened to the Steelers when they squeaked by the Colts three weeks ago (and - do I have to remind those of you calling us "whiners" that yinz were quite vocal back then). Imagine the outcry (natch, "whining")from Pitt over the refs if Roethlisberger hadn't made that fabulous tackle. In that case, the bad call didn't change the outcome.

The difference is this: The bad/questionable calls happened enough times in the Super Bowl that may very well have changed the outcome of the game. And we have a right to complain about that.

Rest assured, Mike Holmgren's video guys are quietly putting together a tape for the NFL just as Cowher's guys were doing three weeks ago.

The Steelers are national champs, and the Seahawks are second place. That won't change, and well it should not. All I hope to get is an apology from the NFL for tilting the field against my team; I personally recoil at the thought of denying Pittsburgh's victory.

Turns out the Steelers needed the NFL provided yellow flags on the field more than the NFL provided yellow towels in the stands.

Stop using the words "poor officiating" the correct term is "corrupt officiating"

such a shame to see the way some of the fans in seattle, including the coach, have disgraced themselves. there were close calls that went both ways, but in the end, the officials were good. get over it. you lost. pittsburgh won.. GO STEELERS!

* It's ashame that the ref's took the game from the Seahawks and the luster off the Steeler's 5th ring. That "One for the thumb" will not match the other four, because it will be forever tarnished. As a football fan and as a proud American I'm ashame of the NFL for employing such poor Officials. The Steelers and Seahawks respresented the best of their conferences. Was that the best crew the NFL could put together? Both teams and cities deserve better. Seahawks deserved a fair shot and the Steelers and Bettis deserved to go out as true champions. In many eyes and hearts around the country it didn't happen. These players have been through so much physical and emotional pain just to get to play in this great american game we call the, Super Bowl. The fans have put in their time and their money supporting their teams. Both cities are full of great people who make this county great and in the end we were all cheated in defeat and in victory. Shame on you NFL for ruining a great Hollywood script...shame on you for ruining the dream of a team and city who have not won such a great game. This game goes in the record book with an asterisk *.

Momentum is everything in sports. Everytime the momentum starting go the Seahawks way, the refs would make a questionable call to get it to swing back to the Stealers (mispelled on purpose), AND THAT'S THE FACT JACK! The supposedly super tough Stealers got the crap beat out of them all game long on both the offense and defensive lines. THIS WAS THE BIGGEST FIX IN PRO SPORTS SINCE THE PRIMO CARNERA HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTS IN THE 1920S!!!!

Please see this article. What an omen.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/nfl/20060203-9999-1s3nfcnotes.html

I challenge anyone who's stated here previously that the "calls went both ways" and were 'fair' to go back and watch the game over again and then come back and honestly state that those penalties were not a difference maker in the game, and that the vast majority of the 'close' calls went against the Seahawks.

Having myself watched the game again, I'd even like someone to show a single close call that went against Pittsburgh (and no, that Hasselbeck fumble was not close on tow points: technically, he was touched on his way down so it was no fumble; and most importantly, the ball was clear-as-day knocked loose when his elbow hit the ground).

The Pittsburg Post Gazette papers took a poll. Out of the 18,000 who voted 52% of the home town newspaper voters said it was fair officiating? 48% said no. This is from their hometown paper!!!!! Please, any Pittsburgh fans just realize even in your hometown your on shaky ground. Just think how everyone else in the country is looking at this.

Fellow Hawks fans: We DID NOT win; the Steelers scored more points. The most points we could claim without speculating on plays that never happened are 4, and that's not enough. The Steelers are a class team, they did not cheat, bribe or play dirty, and they deserve the title "National Champs."

Steelers fans: We're not whiners any more than you are for having challenged the officiating in the Colts game. The penalties tipped the balance of an all-around poorly played game against the Seahawks, and it's not just us but the national media is calling the offciating incompetent. Watch Sports Center, Fox Sports, et al, and then tell us we don't have a right to vent some frustration.

Well I posted earlier and I am disappointed in how far this blog as fallen. Personal attacks. Accusations of conspiracy. Name calling. What happened to stating your opinion and then agreeing to disagree. Instead you have to act like 4th graders. Next thing you know you will be threatening to have your Dad beat my Dad up. This is not a Steelers/Seahawks issue. It should be an issue of true football fans wanting to have the best game with the best teams and the best officiating. The officiating for the playoffs sucked. Not just the Superbowl but every single playoff game. Maybe someone should remind the referees before they take the field next time, to remember to retrieve their balls from their wives handbag before they leave home.

You won't see an admission like this on the **Official NFL** website every day:

"DETROIT (Feb. 5, 2006) -- Most games come down to certain plays, and I think there was one play in particular in the first quarter that really made a difference.

Darrell Jackson scored an apparent touchdown from 16 yards out. On the play, Jackson was whistled for offensive pass interference, and based on the contact, it's not a call you see that often."

http://www.superbowl.com/news/story/9210824

To say that a championship team should overcome unfair and erroneous one-sided calls is ridiculous. Sure, overcoming the adversity of terrible calls that hinder a team's chance of victory is an extremely valuable talent to have (especially in the current NFL...), but not one that a team should be required to have to win- did Pittsburgh have to overcome any bad calls? (no "holding" calls against them all game by the way). The game should be officiated in a non-biased fashion, needless to say. It's easy for Pittsburgh fans to write Seattle fans off as "whiners" since the vast majority of the calls went their way, but the game the Steeler's played was lack-luster. Ive always liked Pittsburgh as a team but would never root against my Hawks, and I honestly was not impressed with the way they played on sunday. I was, however, impressed with the honorable and modest fashion in which the Seahawks took their loss. Its a tragedy that today in the NFL, teams must add "overcoming bad calls" to their practice scheme. Im not about to accuse Leavey and his crew of being "paid off" or anything like that but I am saying that officiating like Superbowl XL had better come to a screeching halt or the NFL will notice a gradual deterioration of fans and an abundance of hate mail.
So please dont do professional football an unjustice by making the bold statement that a championship team should be able to overcome horrible calls- how many bad calls did the Steelers (who are being hailed with quite a bit of over-positive press) have to work around?

What we all have witnessed was highway robbery. Those refs SCREWED Seattle out of any opportunity to win the Super Bowl. Every time the Seahawks tried to build any kind of momentum, BAM, Bill Leavy and his wrecking crew was doing their damnedest to screw them over. I didn't know they wanted to play for the Steelers so bad; maybe the Seahawks players should have been allowed to tackle the refs too.

You know, I was sitting there watching the game with my family and I said, "You watch, those refs will give this game to the Steelers." Well, I guess I was right. The NFL wanted the Steelers to win. Hell, they showed all those TV spots with the Steeler players holding the trophy, like they had already won the damn thing before the game was over. They only showed 2 TV spots with Seahawk players holding the trophy. The whole thing just smacked of fraud. The NFL seriously needs to look into their officiating department. What those refs did was nothing short of grand larceny, and if it were up to me, I'd lock those bastards up in a federal penetentiary and throw the damn key away!

Granted, Seattle didn't play their best game, but they still outplayed Pittsburgh; the Seahawks are the REAL champions!

Seattle got screwed once, but they'll be back in the Super Bowl next season.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!!

Again, it's not just us biased Seahwaks fans. Here's FOXsports:

"Okay, maybe by the narrowest, most picayune interpretation of the rule, you could make an argument that D-Jack pushed off. But in the real world, on a broken route, when a smaller wide receiver is hand-fighting with a much bigger safety, this exchange does not constitute offensive pass interference."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5311162

Why are people still saying 'poor officiating'? With the power and money of the NFL they could correct 'poor officiating' in a hurry. Instant replay is supposed to minimize that. So called 'poor officiating' is just one way NFL use to influence the outcome of a game. In the case of Super Bowl XL it was blatant.

And it's not just the big plays that were called against the Seahawks. Football, as we all know, is a game of inches - and of seconds:

"When Leavy granted Ben Roethlisberger a timeout after the play clock had run down to zero late in the game, it was the final nail in the Seattle coffin. Spared the five-yard delay of game penalty, the Steelers were able to convert the first down and burn up more clock. The one-second grace period Leavy gave Roethlisberger had Al Michaels and John Madden chortling..."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5311162

A trend developing?

"Just when it looked like the Seahawks might weather the offensive pass interference call on Jackson and a suspect holding call on a big punt return and take a fourth-quarter lead, Leavy came to the Steelers' rescue. Matt Hasselbeck had delivered a strike to Jerramy Stevens, which the nervous, footstep-hearing tight end had managed to haul in for a first-and-goal at the 1. But wait. Leavy wiped out the play by calling a holding penalty on Locklear. Replays revealed that Locklear had used a popular technique called "blocking" to keep the Steeler pass rusher off his quarterback. With yet another certain touchdown taken off the board, the Seahawks were dead."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5311162

"The 15-yard penalty on Matt Hasselbeck for merely tackling Ike Taylor on the subsequent interception return may have been the worst call in the entire postseason. But with so many other major officiating mistakes happening around it, it kind of got lost in the wash of yellow laundry."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5311162

Those 4 "bad" calls described above were quoted from FoxSports' "worst 10 calls" of the post-season. 4 of 10 against the Seahawks.

Like I said earlier, just as the Steelers don't deserve to have this shadow cast across a title that they won, we Seahawks don't deserve to be called "whiners" for expecting the NFL to apologize for stacking the deck so heavily against us.

Let's say you are the head NFL referee and went to a league meeting of some sort. You learned from some NFL marketing analysts that Steelers win mean additional $150 million projected revenue in three years and some offical said to you 'It would be real nice if steelers win...we all get fatter bonus check..' What would you do? You probably would talk to your crew, right? Guess what could happen next? Some 'poor officiating'?

The NFL is going to have to answer for this. They may try to circle the wagons, but the problem has been laid bare. The Superbowl was just the lowest point to a disaterous decline in the quality of officiating, which the league is going to have to correct it.

It's A Sad Time in the world of the NFL to be a fan. How many times can an official blow a call? The answer is: as many as they can earn. Now we have to admit that The Hawks played as well as Ike Turner performing with an C- grade for a domestic violence class-but never the less the Steelers MVP would have to be Bill Leavy. Anyways, it doesn't matter since The Hawks will be there in Miami 2007 and be World Champs pending a thourough ethics reform in the NFL officiating industry.

I find the conspiracy or pre-existing bias stuff pretty hard to imagine. I just think refs get caught up in a kind of momentum of their own creation during a game.

You see it happen with major league umps all the time - stretching the strike zone for a 'hot' pitcher. And most MLB umpires are head-and-shoulders more competent than most NFL ref's, in my opinion.

Mark,
Since you saw fit to make sure you pointed out that I was not a true football fan, I will respond by saying that no where in my first statement did I say that the ball had to be completely over the line. It does however have to cross the outer line or "plane" as it is called. Had the ball not been stuck under his big belly, it might have actually crossed. But since it had not, he had to purposfully move it over the plane. If he knew he had it over, he would have left it where it was at.

Todd -
I would buy your argument if the bad calls went both ways. But in this case it was like 8 against Seattle and 0 against Pittsburgh...I studied statistics..the odds are not random..

I'd say the Seattle Seahawks offense and defense let Seattle down. Weak play on both sides of the ball, blame them, not the refs.

Last comments before I hit the sack: Cowher, Bettis, Roethlisberger, Ward... the Steelers are a team that earned everything that came to them this year.

There isn't a game in sports played where one of the teams doesn't have a few more close calls go against them than the other side. As a Seahawks fan first, and a sometime Steeleers fan second, I could have lived with a little lopsidedness, ut this game was too much.

I just wish they hadn't called that chinsy 'hold' on Locklear, letting Stevens' catch at the 1-yd line stand. Let the Steelers then take the kick-off middle of the 4th qtr down with the score 17 to 14. Nothing I saw tells me the Steelers couldn't have made a drive to the 43-yd line to set-up their game-winning "gadget" play. And nothing I saw tells me the Seahawks couldn't have stopped them.

Either way, win or lose, it would have been one helluva finish. Too bad we didn't get to see it play out.

Next year Seahawks -- Miami! Win one for the middle finger!!

Spearing by Seattle player call missed, fumble by wide receiver that was missed. Forearm to Wards head missed. The hold by seahawk lineman that wasn't missed, watch replay carefully and watch for linemans rignt hand and arm around the linebackers right arm, it appears for a second and shows the hold. Pittsburgh safety was pushed back, by receiver who had to regain balance. Watch for Bens hand near goal line, then while he's on the ground, check for position of ball in his hand. the nose of the ball broke the plane.

King 5 News should run a artical on how officals are selected for the super bowl and how the entertainment is selected.The two best teams went to the superbowl but the worst ref.'s and entertainment were there. I am surprized that the advertizers That spend big buck do not pull out becauce of the NFL's poor choices.

I thought this was a SEAHAWKS blog. WHY are Pittsbugh fans posting on this blog anyway? I would think if Pittsburgh fans felt so confident and righteous in their "win," this would be the LAST thing they would have on their minds. I would think worrying about what the Seattle fsns were thinking and saying would be totally unimportant as they basked in their "championship" and received the accolades of the rest of the country and the world. OR, could it be a little guilt, KNOWING this was not exactly right? Sorry, just had to ask. It seems a little bizarre to me. If not guilt, WHAT?

They could have just as well put a striped shirt and a whistle on Stevie Wonder to get those rulings by the referee's.

Sarah, my dove,

You said you knew very little about football... I didn't make that up

If Mike Holmgren can be fined for his comment which affected no game, the referees should be fined doubly for every blown call which directly affected the outcome of the game. If Mike IS fined, I propose that anyone who believes in fairness and that we got a bad deal, donate $1 toward Mike's fine, he should not have to pay for putting nicely what we all were thinking.

Yeah, I hope they don't fine him. I'm not a fan of leagues fining coaches/players for speaking ill of officiating or other league issues.

I guess there is something we all agree on.

As a Steeler fan living in Seahawk country, I can emphasize with how everyone is feeling. Was the officiating bad? For the most part no; but for a few calls yes, it was. Even with the three or four questionable calls, the Seahawks failed to execute when they had opportunities. All season long Seattle’s “chink” in their armor was Special Team play. It really came to light Sunday.

Josh Brown had a horrible game, period. Two missed field goals that are well within his range (especially in a dome). Both should have been made. The punter and punt coverage guys were not in the game mentally. There had four opportunities to pin Pittsburgh deep (inside the 10 yard line) in their own territory, and he kicked every one of those four into the end zone, or the coverage team failed to down the ball. So much for “coffin corner”.

Great players, Hall of Fame Players, know where they are and where they need to be on the field during the “big game”, Darrell Jackson fell far short of that standard. Yes, a questionable call on pass interference, but he met the minimal criteria for the official to toss the flag. More importantly, Darrel missed a TD bomb (first half) because he didn’t know where he was on the field. He got his left foot down in bounds, but failed to get his right foot on the end zone front pylon.

Then we have Jeremy Stevens don’t we. Enough said? I think so (so would he by the way).

Do I need to address Hasselback’s clock management skills? I was very nervous when Seattle got the ball with 2 minutes left in the game. Memories of the Dallas collapse in Seattle came screaming back. There was so much time wasted by the lack of urgency. During the last 2 minutes Seattle literally gave the game away without a real fight. Mentally they were through; the Jurevicius catch deep up the middle was like bringing a patient back to life in the ER, and then the subsequent four plays you simply sat back and watched the patient die on the table.

Does it hurt to watch a team do that, yes it does. It really stinks that Seattle was the better team outside of the “Red Zone” and wasted opportunities to win the war. They are not a bad team; both have the potential to be great teams, but they both played like rookie teams at the big dance.

So people can parse the nuances of the actual language, here are the rules the NFL will be applying this week as it reviews the Darrel Jackson Offensive Pass Interference call:

>>>>
It is pass interference by either team when any player movement beyond the line of scrimmage significantly hinders the progress of an eligible player of such player’s opportunity to catch the ball.

Actions that constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to: Initiating contact with a defender by shoving or pushing off thus creating a separation in an attempt to catch a pass.

Actions that do not constitute offensive pass interference include but are not limited to: Incidental contact by a receiver’s hands, arms, or body when both players are competing for the ball…

If there is any question whether player contact is incidental, the ruling should be no interference.
<<<<

http://www.footballscrimmage.com/nfl/pass-interference.shtml

I am from the Bay Area and a Niners fan. My feeling is the game was rigged, the refs were paid off. Seahawks didn't have a chance from the get go.

LOL..So tired of listening to Mitch and his crew on KJR AM950 already doing their good soldier thing protecting the NFL and preach the fans to look forward to next year. Of course it is at their best interest to keep the interests and hope of the fans and to continue listening..

I have always been a huge Steelers fan. In fact I was almost lynched by a hostile L.A. crowd for being the only fan to cheer Lynn Swan's touchdown in the Super Bowl, so long ago.I should have remembered I was in Carlsbad Ca. at the time.The thing that gets to me is how many Steelers fans can have such verbal abuse of the Seahawks,and their fans.Naturaly there is a lot of dissapointment,their team fought hard for the prize,just as our Steelers did.As we watched the game unfold,we were in awe of the way the Seahawks were able to move the ball so easily against what we all know to be a very tough defense.When we saw Jacksons Touchdown in the first,we thought it was a sign of things to come. When it was called back we were relieved, even though it did seem like a pretty slak call.Little did we realize that the only sign of things to come were some more questionable calls!While the game was not a Highlite Reel,it was very exciting because up to the last minute the outcome was in doubt.The game was however definitely marred by some of the worst F'n Ref'n we had ever seen.While in the beginning we cheered the flags against the Hawks,after awhile it really started to take the fun out of the game.It's great when things go your way in a game but this was more than just good luck.No one will ever know the outcome of this game had the officiating been even reasonable,I do know that it would have been far more excitng than it was. I think the officials tarnished the victory for Jerome and the boys,and both teams deserved better.Anyone (other than a RABID RETARD),could see that the calls were very one-sided!As for some comments in an earlier blog about the lack of a Seahawks running game,the whole play selection of the Hawks was changed as they fell behind.As it was Alexander had 95 yards on 20 carries.That is a pretty good avg. especially against the Steelers!!I remember when it was thought that 100 yds. in a game was Great!What's the standard now? 140? Neither team had their best game,but great defenses have a way of making good offenses look bad!We almost lost because of 1 really bad call against the Colts,but we survived in Steeler fashion,I can only wonder what would have been if there had been 3 or 4!!To say that either team did not deserve to be there is B.S.and quite frankly,some of the comments by Steelers fans bring shame to our team and city!!!The Steelers won the championship,that much is true.That will never change,but there is no pride in rubbing salt into the wounds of Seahawks fans.I wonder how well we would have " Sucked it up" if the shoe was on the other foot!I think that both teams were robbed,but even more, Tens of Millions of NFL fans were robbed of what could have been a truly great championship game! At this level of cometition,we expect our teams to perform at their best,and it's hard to believe that this officiating did theirs!!

Here's the rule for holding:

>>>>>>>
Pass blocking: Hand(s) thrust forward that slip outside the body of the defender will be legal if blocker immediately worked to bring them back inside. Hand(s) or arm(s) that encircle a defender—i.e., hook an opponent—are to be considered illegal and officials are to call a foul for holding.

Blocker cannot use his hands or arms to push from behind, hang onto, or encircle an opponent in a manner that restricts his movement as the play develops.
<<<<<<<<

http://www.footballscrimmage.com/nfl/use-of-hands-arms-and-body.shtml

Were some of the calls bad.. yes.! Did Jeramy Stevens drop some key passes.... YES..! Neither one of those alone would have lost the game for us, however, it was a combination of both of those that really killed us. I am a staunch Seahawk fan... but can't help but believe that if Jeramy would have caught those passes we may have overcome the bad calls by refs.. either way something must be done to correct the referee problem.

I wish the Steelers fans would stop, uh, - whining - about our complaining. We have the right; Joey Porter certainly claimed the right three weeks ago. And I wish my fellow Seahawks fans would stop accusing the Steelers of stealing the game.

The fact is, the Steelers played well enough to win, and the hawks played poorly enough to lose. In my opinion, the bad officiating was a significant factor in the loss, and it COULD have been the difference in the game, but truth is our team had plenty of opportunities to overecome this obstacle, and failed to execute.

That's the way it goes. I'd like to get an apology from the NFL for tilting the field, but will not a SHOULD NOT diminish the rightful champions - the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I cant believe that it took all this time for poeple to figure out that the nfl is fixed.
that game was a super rip-off!! I am sick and tired of fixed games!! the nfl is a turning into a joke!!!!!Seahawks had it in the bag and the nfl screwed them!But this is crap!!
we need some new refs. now 90 million people know the nfl is a joke!! you cant hide it no more!!! have a nice day! hope you feel good about your selfs

What world are you from? Seattle had it in the bag? What? If I remember right, they only lead they ever had was 3-0, and the only TD they ever scored was when Pittsburgh threw an INT that was returned to the 20. Yeah.. sure sounds like they had it in the bag for me. Pittsburgh won. GO STEELERS!

"Entertainment: an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention." Okay, apparently, a lot of the people who have posted here have been well entertained by the this year's Super Bowl. Me, too. Mission accomplished, NFL! But now? Hey, I'm going to the movies (at least THAT'S something for which I can AFFORD A TICKET...).

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

FACTS: Both the Seahawks and the Steelers are excellent football team and they both deserved to be in the Super Bowl and compete on a fair ground.

My Opinion: I have no doubt in my mind either the NFL or some of the referees have fixed the game. There should be an investigation of fraud. NFL, if you are guilty yourself stand up for what's right for the game.

b,

That is why your QB had the worst rating in Super Bowl history. The Hawks dominated the Stealers in every area of the game. Check the stats, moron.

I have waited 30 years for the Seahawks to go to the super bowl then the black and whites make fools of the whole thing. boooooo nfl . you people pay for the domes yourself

hawkfan37:

Give it up man, you haven't come up with anything but stupid "unemployment office" and "bad ref" comments, that prove that you know nothing about Pittsburgh or football.

Go lay down on I-90 like that other guy.

how many points did seattle put on the board? 10? from the highest rated offense in the league? how many TD's did alexander, the league mvp, score? none? how did seattle score their only touchdown? when they got the ball on the steeler 20 yard line because of an interception? check. certainly sounds like the steelers defense dominated the seahawks offense. how many punts did your punter kick out of the back of the endzone? too many, while gardocki pinned the seahawks deep in the 4th quarter. how many field goals did josh brown miss? 2. certainly sounds like the steelers special team dominated seattle's special teams. as for on ben.. he didnt have a great game, but he had a really nice pass on THIRD AND TWENTY EIGHT, and a couple really good runs (the TD, which was a TD, and a first down run to ice the clock in the 4th). Also, seattle's defense completely bit on the Antwaan Randle El reverse pass. Also, where was the defense on willie parkers record setting run??? doesnt sound like seattle dominated the steelers offense. try watching the game, not looking at the stat book, moron.

HEY B! It's sad indeed that people like you care so much more about a win than how it was achieved.To actually comment on how the game looked,without taking into account WHY it looked that way is Grade School!!( You know,that's the place you should have been attending,to raise your I.Q. above 50.Instead you were off having sex with your sister!!)Steelers are a good team,but some of their fans spend too much time playing the Banjo and making each other squeal like pigs!!

also, read this

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2322300

sex with my sister? playing the banjo and making each other squeal like pigs? not even going to stoop to that level. thats just ridiculous. seriously dude, you're way out of line.

its really sad actually. i make a few good points about the game, instead of saying your own thoughts, you stoop to personal insults. i hope not all people in seattle are like that.

GEE B! Didn't mean to upset you so! I"m sorry!It's just that your account of the game is bias just like so many Steelers fans.Calling Hawks fans LOSERS and Whiners,like they don't have a right to complain about the crap that passed for officiating? My GOD... What game were you watching? I've always been a Steelers fan! Furthermore I was Rooting for the Panthers when the Hawks beat them soundly! To have some of these people go off about how Seattle didn't even deserve to be there is an insult, not only to Hawks fans but to anyone with a brain cell! Didn't mean to get you caught up in the mix.I was all for the Steelers to beat Seattle, but as the game progressed I became disgusted with the BIAS B.S. then to hear some of the comments by couch potato fans was just too much. NO humility,No Pride.The Ref's tarnished Jeromes Ring! And for Steeler fans to say it isn't so,well you know,back to the pigs!By the way,I live in Detroit.At least I'm not a Hypocrit!

i never said seattle didnt deserve to be there. they were the best in the nfc. and you know what, if you think there were bad calls in the game, so be it, but dont take away from what the steelers accomplished. good teams rise to the occasion and overcome bad bounces, bad calls, whatever you have. and the league came out today, after the reviewed the calls, said they weren't wrong. but don't disrespect the steelers because you think the refs screwed up. it wasn't the steelers' doing, they went out there, played a hell of a game, and won the super bowl.

and you know, your comments were still uncalled for. most hawks fans are indeed whining right now, but they lost the game. despite all the "bad" calls, they still had opportunities to win, and they didnt, they have no one to blame but themselves. and as for your hypocrite comment, i dont really get that. i personally am from PA, never been a seahawks fan, but i don't dislike them. they are clearly the best team in the nfc, for what that is worth. they just didnt get it done in the super bowl, pittsburgh did.

That's the whole point your not getting.How can you get it done,whenever you make a good play, it comes back? Think back a couple of weeks ago,what if instead of one bad call there were 3or4?Steelers overcame 1 bad bounce,what if they couldn't have overcome several more? Maybe we would have been watching the Colts!How many bad calls can any team overcome?I would never disrespect the Steelers,just the fans that turn a blind eye to the obvious!If the Steelers would have been knocked out by the Colts in such a fashion I doubt you would agree with the leagues review.It was two great teams coming to do battle and the Refs took it away.And if you read all the commentary on this and other sites you would see the hypocricy.All you hear is how the Steelers would have overcome the calls.No one seems to agree that the calls were questionable.If there were 4or5 bad calls in the Colts game Porter would have lost it and probably strangled a Ref on the field,and the Hawks fans would have cheered that justice had been served!

To: National Football League
We, the fans of the NFL, will no longer stand by and allow our pure game to be corrupted by blatant bias. Superbowl XL was the culmination of the most poorly officiated playoff ever. This is completely unacceptable and unfair to us fans who pay money to NFL teams in merchandise and ticketing sales with the assumption that the product put on the field is by no means fixed. As a result, I encourage all fans of the true pure brand of football to sign here, with an identification of which team is it is that you support as well as suggestions and comments of how this problem can be corrected.

http://new.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?nfl12006

Smiley,

Very well put. There is no way to predict who would have actually won had the calls been fair. Everyone's mood would have been affected differently and the outcome could have been the same. The truth is that we were ALL robbed of a really good football game.

next year i think the refs should be required to wear knee pads for when they are blowing the games. I am a hawks fan, but ill admit the steelers were screwed with the palamalu call vs indy. That was because the ideal storyline was for the colts and tony dungy to win. Since the Colts messed up that opportunity with a missed field goal, they became the ideal storyline with jerome bettis retiring winning the championship in his hometown. This all leads to Seattle never getting any respect all year, let alone a call in their favor (the giants game, when the NFL came out and admitted they blew 2 TD calls) and them not even getting a chance to really play the game we all love.

I say everyone that feels the Seahawks were robbed boycott all NFL games next season EXCEPT Seahawk games. Let the NFL try to figure out how to deal with the loss in revenue. But hey, they hired the refs that officiated the game so they can't be all that smart. I think the NFL owes everyone an appology and that the ref's should be fired, IMEDIATELY! If I made that many mistakes that made that many customers angry within a 4 hour period at my job, I would have to dig my bosses shoe out of my a** on the way out the door. We are all paying customers to the NFL and we deserve the product we pay for; a football game free of bias refs. Seattle will never get over the anger of this game and the Steelers will ALWAYS be remembered for the game they took home the trophy for but didn't deserve. This is a shame for both teams!

I would have to agree with that - WE WERE ALLLLLLLLLLL ROBBED OF WHAT DEFINITLY HAD THE POTENTIAL OF BEING A REALLY GOOD FOOTBALL GAME. THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT PEOPLE!!! NO MATTER WHAT TEAM YOU SUPPORT, SEAHAWKS, STEELERS, OTHERS... IT DOESN'T MATTER. THE NFL FIXED THE SHOW AND IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AND I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL SOMEBODY CAN TELL ME WHAT THE "F" HAPPENED - BECAUSE WE CAN NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN - NOT TO OUR TEAM - NOT TO ANY TEAM - NOT TO US FANS (PAYING OR NOT)!!!

Now as for all the dumb name calling and bashing from you Steelers people on here - GROW UP ALREADY - you have our rings, our trophy and now you can PARK YOUR BUS on a LOW note!!!

If you cared at all about football and where it is going you would have the balls to stand up for what is RIGHT. We all know that no matter what happens this game will not be overturned (even if it should) - you can keep your false victory - WE ARE BIGGER THAN THAT - WE WOULDN'T SETTLE FOR A FALSE VICTORY!!! But you could be fair to yourselves and be fair to the game by telling the officials to be FAIR TO US ALL!!!

ENOUGH SAID

http://photo.wahila.com/public/steelers-rally/index.php?12

Hines, that's just wrong.. lol

others....

If you had lost by 4 points (which is all you lost on the re-called touchdown), you would have an argument,.. but you lost by 11 points... in a few weeks you'll look back and realize how silly this all sounds.

dodonfred,

You talk a big game, I wonder if you can back it up. Do you want to meet me at I-90? Then we will see who will be laying in the middle of the interstate.

Portion of an article written by Gene Wojciechowski ESPN.com 2/8/06...

No one can deny there were questionable calls during the game. But before Holmgren and Latte Nation start whining about playing "the guys in the striped shirts as well,'' perhaps a history lesson is in order.

The striped shirts didn't cause tight end Jerramy Stevens to drop four passes. The striped shirts didn't cause the Seahawks defense to give up a Steelers first down on a third-and-28 situation (which later led to the Roethlisberger disputed TD). The striped shirts didn't cause the Seahawks defense to give up the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. They also didn't cause Etric Pruitt to sprint up from his safety position, only to be fooled by the trick play that resulted in Randle El's 43-yard TD pass to Ward (and by the way, if everyone knows the Steelers like to run gadget plays near midfield, don't you think the Seahawks knew it too?). Or cause Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to throw a killer interception with nearly 11 minutes left in the game and Seattle trailing by only four points.

Enough already with the whining. The Seahawks had their chances. Plenty of them to overcome the Steelers and, if they insist, the refs, too.

Holmgren, who didn't exactly distinguish himself in the waning minutes of both halves, is no doubt suffering some post-Super Bowl anger. Perfectly understandable, especially in front of the thousands who greeted the team upon its return to Seattle. But days, weeks, months from now, when he's able to think more clearly, he'll realize the only people to blame for the loss were wearing Seahawks metallic blue, not black and white.

First of all, to Steve, there was more than just one questionable call at the end of the colts-steelers game. There was a series of Pass interference, holding, and pass completion calls that were bad, not to mention the play with Polamalu. But, after every call that went against them (notice i didnt say BAD call, they were questionable, and went the other way), the steelers brushed it off, went back out there, and took care of business.

You are the one that isnt getting the point. Read the article above. Seattle had chances to get themselves in the game. They didn't.

And I posted this somewhere else, and I'll copy it here. The 'what if' game is a stupid one to play, but if you want to go at it, here you go:

Here's how I figure the game would have went, if all of the "close" calls went the other way:

I'll give Seattle the Pass Interference in the end zone. +7 points for the seahawks. I'll give you back the holding penalty, assume you make a touchdown, and assume the steelers come back down and get a touchdown. +7 for the Seahawks. Now, since I've given you the pass interference in the endzone, a nitpicky call that was technically correct but probably had no effect on the play, The Steelers get the Hasselback fumble that was overturned, because Foote finger grazing hasselback had no effect on the play. The Steelers go down the field, get a TD probably, but I'll take a field goal. +3 Pittsburgh. Also, Stevens caught a ball, took 3 steps, fumbled it, but it was called an incomplete pass on the field. Pittsburgh, here, gets the ball, returns it for a Touchdown. +7 pittsburgh. We'll say that Bens TD wasnt a TD. Pittsburgh goes for it on fourth and a hair, still gets a touchdown. So now we have +14 for seattle, +10/14 for pittsburgh. So we now have 31-24 Pittsburgh. Now, with this being a close game, pittsburgh is more concerned with scoring, ben is more focuses, and instead of throwing the INT that was returned to the 20 and eventually led to a Seattle TD, he completes the pass to Wilson for a TD, +7 pittsburgh, -7 Seattle. Now the score is 38-17 Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, when they get a lead, sits on it. They don't try to run up the score, they run run run, punt the ball, and play a defense that forces the other team to take a lot of time off the clock in order to score. They give you the little 5-10 yard passes, but nothing more. If the game is close, the defense tightens up, the offense opens up, and they go down the field and score more points. Thats the Steelers game plan.

But please, go on and boycott the nfl. The nfl is probably better off without fans who think the nfl is fixing it anyhow.

Jean,

Couldn't come up with anything original on your own? Why not plagiarize other empty suit media morons who agree with your point of view? Remember for every one of the so-called experts in the media that agree with you there is one that agrees with us. Also 70% of NFL fans polled agree with us.

b,

That was probably the most retarded analogy I have read all week! I will say this to you just like I told your p.a.l. dodonfred:
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it."

actually most of the people outside of seattle would think you the fool for claiming the game is fixed. use some common sense. does the nfl care who plays in the super bowl? maybe. does the nfl care who wins? no. once two teams are in the super bowl, they couldnt care less who wins, because the ratings for the super bowl are set regardless of who wins. and needless to say, they don't fix the friggin game. has everyone in this country lost their common sense? obviously, a lot of you have. and i'll beat you to the "didnt you see the calls on the field? wheres your common sense" comment that is forthcoming. Every game there are close calls, questionable calls. Refs have a split second to make these calls. We have the luxury of watching them over and over again in slow motion, they do not. Still, they do a damn good job of getting them right most of the time, and good teams are able to over come bad bounces and bad calls. Thats a fact of life buddy, deal with it.

b,

No it isn't just the people residing around Puget Sound that think the way that I do. Don't forget 70% of the people polled on ESPN agree with us. (let me save you from your fourth coming remark that may go something like this: "Web polls don't mean crap, you can vote multiple times on them." No you can't vote multiple times on them, since they log your IP address.) I have read hundreds of statement from people all over the nation saying the same thing that we are saying on this blog. When you are wrong you are wrong and that a fact of life buddy, so deal with that and SUCK IT!

Dear Jean -
Saying "The Seahawks had their chances. Plenty of them to overcome..." is like saying to our soldiers who lost their upper limbs and say 'You can still feed yourself with your feet, So don't whine'. You need to have a conscience.

comparing football to war? please.. thats comparing apples to oranges. and if the espn poll was a scientific one you might have a point, but it isnt. most people who know anything about football would agree that pittsburgh would have won no matter what. you are just in denial. the trophy is in pittsburgh, the steelers will get the rings, and pittsburgh is again the city of champions. seattle is.. rainy. and you still fail to comprehend that there were close calls in that game that went against the steelers, one of which could have completely changed the game around as well as the calls you are whining about. its over with, just accept the fact that seattle lost.

Get a life, b. By the way do you have a real name or too much of a coward to reveal? You have been on this blog all day badmouthing and trying to prove your point on shaky ground. I think your guilty conscience have spoken to you but you are to stubborn to admit it and trying to convince yourself otherwise. People from all over across the nation with a conscience and intelligence are speaking up against the blatant obvious bias, one-sided offiating and possible fraud against the Seahawks. There is not much you can do to change the truth.

Stealer fans, quit your whining about the Seahawk fans rightful complaints about the refs. Obviously, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH. If you look at it carefully in slow replay you will see that Darrell Jackson's second touchdown was also a legitimate touchdown. The 2005 Stealers will always be the "champion" with an asterik by their name.

Truth: in accordance with fact or reality...

Steelers 21 - Seahawks 10

The only asterik is the one which denotes that nobody has more Super Bowl championships than this year's winner.
(Dallas and SanFran have the same asterik of course)

HEY ETHAN : b, does have a real name,b is the abbreviation for BUTTHOLE!!!

b,

"and if the espn poll was a scientific one you might have a point, but it isnt. most people who know anything about football would agree that pittsburgh would have won no matter what." I thought I saved you from this comment. Have you ever been outside of Pittsburgh? You know there is other things outside of it. I think that you are the one in denial about the fact that everyone thinks that the Steelers were given this game. Seattle may be rainy, but at least it isn't an antiquated, decrepit, dying city. You know why Pittsburgh has a large contingent of fans across the nation? It is because everyone is trying to get the hell out. Can you say the Las Vegas Steelers? Look for it in the next couple of years. How dare you take a shot at a vet who posts his opinion on this poll, you are a coward and a loser. There are other people you can aim your megalomaniacal rants at other than a brave soldier, you jerk.

lol... Las Vegas Steelers... you clearly know nothing of Pittsburgh.

Sure, you may see the Las Vegas Penguins very soon, or even the Las Vegas Pirates at some point... The Steelers will still be in Pittsburgh 40, 60, 80 years from now, and you'll still be without an NFL championship, and still probably whining about your loss in 2005.

I'm actually an import to Pittsburgh... it's an amazing city with tons of appeal. It's not in the top 3 fortune 500 cities as it was in the mid 70's, but it is still an awesome place with more colleges and universities per square block than seattle has coffee-shops.

It's also the transplant cap. of the world, and one of the premier medical/science cities in the country.

The exedus from the city has more to do with its crazy high taxes than anything else... it is one of the highest taxed places in the country for no apparent reason. ... and a large percentage of those who leave the city, are moving into the suburbs and neighboring counties.

And Steeler football will always be here.

Being a brave soldier doesn't isolate one from being wrong, and being called out on it when they are wrong.

I have a confession to make...

I come here to read what you all say, with no intent on posting, but I can't resist.. i hate it.. it's addictive!.. i have a problem

Mark,

Have you ever been to Seattle? No, I didn't think so. If you had been here you would realize that there is a Starbucks strategically placed every two city blocks. I doubt that there are colleges every two city blocks. Unless you were hyperbolizing but I do not think you are smart enough to do that.

Where did you up-root yourself from to plant yourself in Pittsburgh. Probably somewhere crappier in terms of economy and such. Maybe from West Virgina or Louisiana. Transplant capital of the world? According to who?

what about all the dropped passes the refs had nothing to do with that

hawkfan.. why so hostile...

as far as starbucks.. it is called sarcasm my litttle friend.

and i uprooted myself from Chicago

transplant cap of the world according to those in the medical field....

if you're gonna try to tear me down... try a little harder please

Kelly,

The dropped passes and missed field goals are the only things the refs had nothing to do with because they were positive for the stealers. If they had made the field goals I am sure the would have found a penalty for that. Notice how all the important catches made by the Seahawks got called back on penalties. Oh the irony of it all.

Mark,

Hostile? Hardly you are still able to be on this blog aren't you. I can't tear you down because I do not know how to put things mono-syllablically for you to understand what I am trying to say. I got no beef with Chicago it's a cool place. But why leave there for Pittsburgh?

oh of course. we'll make a big deal out of the few calls that we're questionable, but lets not blame seattle for anything, those perfect little football players. they went out and executed perfectly, and the big bad refs took everything away from them. oh poor seattle.

and i'm sure seattle is a perfectly nice city. never been there, and i'm sure you've never been to pittsburgh, but pittsburgh really is quite nice now, and its getting better every year. and while i have all the respect in the world for members of the armed forces, the fact that they are soldiers doesnt mean that they can't be criticized. the only reason you think people all over the country side with you is because the only people that get any press are those who speak against the norm.

look for the las vegas steelers in the next couple of years? you know nothing. pittsburgh just built new stadiums for the steelers and pirates.. the pirates will be there for at least 30 years, and the steelers will be there forever because the rooneys will never sell the team or leave pittsburgh. even when there was talk that pittsburgh wasn't going to fund a new stadium, the steelers were going to move to washington... washington pa, very close to pittsburgh.

and you know, dont tell me i'm a coward because i dont post my real name.. i dont think "hawkfan37" is a real name either.

and still.. and i'm just saying it to rub it in now cause you guys are losers.. pittsburgh won. PITTSBURGH WON. hahahahaha

and now you fans have given me a reason to hate the seahawks.

b,

If you had read my other posts you would have known I have been to Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia. But you haven't been here, so why talk.

I never called you a coward for not posting your name, that was someone else.

You can't rub anything in, your victory didn't count. It would be different if the Steelers dominated but they didn't so it doesn't hurt at all.

Steelers fans are capable of hating without motivation, it has been there creedo their entire existence.

victory didn't count? look in the record books in 5 years, it counts baby.

and now you are just playing the same sad tune. you can keep the anger and negativity and be bitter, or you can celebrate the best season in seahawks history. you know, tonight, wvu (where i goto school) lost to pitt. there were some close calls that went agaisnt us. do i blame the refs? no, wvu didnt hit the shots, pitt played a decent game, and won. and no wvu fans will whine about it, we'll just get geared up for the next game. thats how most normal fans act. maybe you could learn a lesson from that. (and let the stereotypical wv 'redneck' jokes fly from the ignorant, as i'm sure they will..)

b,

Your comparison to the Pitt, WVU game was as irrelevant as telling us where you go to school. No one on this blog cares where you go to school. In five years we will ask people what they remember about this Super Bowl and see what they say.

To All Steelers Fans and Hawk Haters,

Thank you all for your versions of reality and megalomania. It has been cathartic, antiseptic, analgesic, entertaining and refreshing. I think it is time we move on and focus our attention and energy on supporting our olympiads and the US in the Olympics. See you on the grid-iron in September.

in 5 years, jerome bettis will be being inducted into the hall of fame and everyone will remember the game as jerome winning his final game in his hometown. a fitting end to an incredible career. the only people that will remember the officiating will be seahawks fans and a few random reporters here and there looking for attention.

1. The Refs didn't give up the longest run in SB history...Seattle's
defense did.
2. The Refs didn't bite on a 43 yd trick play, Randle to Ward for a
TD...Seattle's defense did.
3. The Refs didn't allow Ben to scramble around on a 3rd and 28 and
complete a long pass to the 2 yd. line...Seattle's defense did.
4. The Refs didn't miss two field goals, that was Seattle.
5. The Refs didn't fail to step out of bounds late in the 1st half
to stop the clock in Pitt territory in a crunch time
situation...Seattle's offense did.
6. The Refs didn't let the 1st half clock tick down from 48 seconds
all the way down to 13 seconds before finally running their next
play at Pitt's 36 yd line...Seattle's offense did.
7. And on this play, 3rd down, 53 yds away from a FG, it wasn't the
Refs who tried and failed to go deep for a TD rather than a safer 5-
7 yd play and timeout setting up a much easier FG attempt....that,
again, would be Seattle's offense.
8. The Refs didn't get confused by Pitt's zone defense and throw an
INT...that would be Seattle's QB.
9. The Refs didn't let a little physical contact intimidate them
from catching 4 very catchable passes...that would be the Seattle TE
Jeremy Stevens.
10. With approx. 20 seconds left in the game, knowing they need a TD
and FG, in no particular order, and in easy FG range on 4th down, it
wasn't the Refs who ignored the FG and elected to throw up a prayer
trying for a TD...that AGAIN would be Seattle.

And Seattle if you're Steel salty and still reaching for excuses...

11. The Refs didn't constantly punt deep into the end zone,
repeatedly giving Pitt the ball at the 20 yd line...that of course
was Seattle.
12. It wasn't the Refs who received a Christmas gift wrapped easy
INT lobbed in perfect position to return deep into Pitt
territory...the lucky beneficiary of that break would be Seattle.
13. It wasn't the Refs who got a break when a Steeler DB dropped an
easy int early in the game...that too would be a break for Seattle.
14. It wasn't the Refs who caught a break when a Steeler WR dropped
a very catchable TD pass...that break again would go to Seattle.
15. It wasn't the scapegoat Refs that received a break when a WR
caught the ball, turned, stepped, was hit hard enough to cause a
fumble, and then ruled INCOMPLETE...that would be of course, another
chance for Seattle.
(this was an interesting call considering that after Troy's famous
overruled Int, the NFL stated that it WAS a catch. If so, than this
definitely WAS a catch)
16. The Refs werent the ones who caught a break when at the
conclusion of a 2nd qtr play, as a Pitt DE was walking away, the
Seattle Center blindsided the defenseless player, leveling him to
the ground. This mysteriously unseen crime was again another break
for Seattle.
17. It wasn't the Refs who got a break when Pitt QB Big Ben was
blocked in the back as he pursued the DB who he'd tossed an int
to...that again would go to Seattle.
18. It wasn't the Refs who stopped Seattle RB Alexander in a few key
situations. That would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
19. It wasn't the Refs who converted many of their 3rd downs yet
stopped their opponent on 3rd down often...that would be the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
20. And the very bottom line is this...On plays when there wasn't
any penalties...One team made plays and one team didn't. The end
result was the final score, 21-10.

Get over it Seattle, lose with a little dignity.

Congratulations to the Super Bowl XL Champion Pittsburgh Steelers!!!

Next years halftime show will feature Pink Floyd singing and performing an up-to-date version of "Money". Here's a sample: New Car, Caviar..4 star daydream..think I'll buy me a football team..and some refs to make sure we win the superbowl..it won't be cheap but it will happen.

Don't quit your day-job Scuzbucket

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Seattle was lucky the Steelers were tight early in the game with all the pressure from "One for the Thumb", and "Win one for the Bus" and "Win one for Cower, and Ben becoming the youngest to win it. We sacked you three times, you held our linbeackers with your Tackels and full backs, our back side pursuit of Alexander was great. Any time Hasselback tried to strech the field it was incomplete. We knocked two of the Stephens passes from his hands. We made you have to attempt long field goals, which you missed. You could not stop the big plays, We made the big plays you did not. The calls, except for the one on the Hasselbeck "Low Block" were by the book, and that was a meaningless post possesion foul. Look up Offensive Pass interference and Holding in the rule book. Jackson gained an advantage by extending his arm and using the DB's body against him. If a DB does the same thing to a receiver it's a flag all day. Hasselbeck was going to get sacked and probably have a fumble forced when Haggins was pulled to the ground by the Closed fingers, not opened, of Shawn Locklear. Learn where the plane of the goal line is, it's the tip of the white chalk, not the green. Ben got the tip of the ball to the white for a split second while air borne. It would have been 4th and goal from the half inch line anyway. You have to agree that he did move it closer than it already was. Seattle only moved the ball well from time to time until Pitsburgh forced them in to 3rd downs, which Seattle was 5 of 17 on. If the Refs were there for the Steelers then they would have thrown a flag when Ben got blocked in the back during the interception return. That would have placed the ball 15 yards back from the spot of the foul, which was the 30, ball placed at 45 instead of your sole TD drive starting at the 20. Speaking of which, if Ben puts a little more air under the pass that was picked, it's 21-3 with the gadget play coming. Final 28-3. If the Refs were there for the Bus then they would not have thrown a flag on the Steelers that negated a five yard gain by Jerome, of all people. Especially on a drive where we were finally moving the ball. They also, would not have picked a flag up off the field that was thrown against Seattle that was a non reviewable play, on a hlement to helment on Heins. You had crappy clock management and hoped your over rated West Coast Offense would make us jump routes and over pursue on tackels. So the Seattle ChokeHawks can cry me a river

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