Super Bowl Pool II

[Bloody Anus]

Who Will Win The Coin Toss
Seattle

What will the first score be
FG

Who will score first
Pittsburgh

How many total points will be scored by both teams by halftime?
20

How many total points will be scored?
48

Who will be MVP?
Alexander

Which QB will get sacked first
Hasselbeck

What will the highest scoring quarter be?
4th

Which QB will pass for the most yards?
Roethlisberger

Will the game go into OT
No

Who will win?
Seattle

[diceisgod]

wow 3rd and 28. big ben the man. white man

[Adolf]

what a stinker

[fbd]

my unofficial score is 57...one less than i had last year. should be 3rd-4th ish, i'm guessing

[Galt]

that Superbowl was

1) the worst produced game in the history of the planet.

I was watching it in a bar that didn't have a very good sound system; and I had no idea what down it was the vast majority of the time; I had no idea how many timeouts any one had; how many yard sanyone had -- when I found out that Ward had 130 yards, I was baffled. How hard is it to just put in some stats? There was none of that.

2) horribly officiated
The D Jax interference call was bullshit; that Hasselbeck fumble was bullshit, some of the holding calls were bullshit; at least the Rothlisberger TD was correctly called.

3) really boring

4) Like an EA Madden game where one team gets their ass handed to them and pulls a few lucky plays out of their ass and wins in a bullshit way

[fbd]

ward had 130 yards? shit. i had him picked as mvp after that TD, but none of the 10 other people here agreed....since nobody had any idea how many yards he had

[The Jays]

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Stealers
How the referees handed Pittsburgh the Super Bowl.
By Robert Weintraub
Posted Monday, Feb. 6, 2006, at 3:11 AM ET

A media meme emerged late in the long, two-week march to the Super Bowl: Since everyone had basically handed the game to Pittsburgh, Seattle was sure to shock everyone and win. Unfortunately for underdog lovers, no one briefed the refs about this scenario. Remember all that screaming about the Troy Polamalu pick that wasn't against the Colts a few weeks ago? Well, the Steelers got so much payback last night that I'm sure Steelers fans have found it in their hearts to forgive the men in black and white.

Four critical calls stood out. A rinky-dink offensive pass interference flag wiped out an early touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Darrell Jackson, forcing Seattle to settle for three instead of seven. When Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger lunged for the goal line near the end of the first half, replays indicated a close play, but a clear stop by the Seahawks. Nope—touchdown, Steelers. Then came the pivotal double shot that ended all hope for Seattle. With the Seahawks trailing 14-10, a phantom holding call negated a completion that would have given Seattle first and goal at the one yard line. Three plays later, Hasselbeck was picked off by Ike Taylor, a mistake he partially made up for by tackling the Steelers CB. Sadly for Seattle, tackling now brings a 15-yard penalty—the zebras somehow called Hasselbeck for a "block below the waist." The last call set up Pittsburgh for the clinching score.

Even John Madden, as reliable an apologist for the NFL as there is, started questioning the calls. The videogame pitchman sounded especially miffed after the phantom hold/illegal tackle sequence. He wasn't quite as persistently loud and angry as Billy Packer in the 2001 NCAA basketball finals, sounding off on a series of laughably pro-Duke calls. But this was eye-opening stuff coming from the usually see-no-evil Madden.

Before I start sounding like some embittered Seahawks fan—for the record, I'm an embittered Bengals fan—let's go through Seattle's flurry of mistakes and near-misses. Several key drops by Jerramy Stevens, who the bored media (and the bored Joey Porter) inexplicably cast as Terrell Owens after an innocuous "we'll win" comment. Two bombs caught just out of bounds by Darrell Jackson, who might have been MVP but for a few inches. Grant Wistrom tripping over his own feet rather than sacking Roethlisberger on a third-and-28 heave to eventual MVP Hines Ward.

Give the Steelers some credit. For sublime blocking on Willie Parker's record TD run. For Chris Gardocki's excellent punting. For speedy pursuit from the linebackers that kept Shaun Alexander to a quiet 95 yards. And, of course, for continuing their remarkable streak of successful trick plays. For at least one play every game—when Antwaan Randle El flicks a perfect pass downfield as the defense reacts just a few seconds too late—the Steelers look like the boldest, smartest team that's ever laced them up. As for those other 100 plays…

Maybe Randle El should have played quarterback the whole game. Ben Roethlisberger played like he knew the game was fixed, completing a mere nine passes for 123 yards, and throwing a critical interception when a touchdown would have iced it. He also got clobbered during that Kelly Herndon interception return, a sad irony after his memorable, game-saving tackle against Indy.

Then there was the Most Valuable Backup. It may not be Jerome Bettis' fault that he became the centerpiece of this storyline-deprived Super Bowl. Nevertheless, his self-absorption was astonishing. First, Das Bus turned the player introductions into a dig-me moment, waddling out a few seconds ahead of everyone else. Unfortunately for him, ABC missed the memo, and its cameras stayed on the team. Four hours later, Bettis turned the Lombardi Trophy presentation—which was held atop a bizarre, teacup-shaped, UFO-like structure—into a self-love session, essentially saying the team won it all for the glory of Jerome.

Seattle's role as afterthought to the pre-ordained Pittsburgh coronation was confirmed when ABC didn't even bother with the traditional losing coach interview. But perhaps Seattle brought this on themselves by coming out of the tunnel to The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony." Note to the Seahawks: That's probably not the best choice of pump-up tunes. Next time, why not just play Beck's "Loser"?

Also absent was any mention of the industry gossip that Madden and Al Michaels will be reunited at NBC next season. Michaels is expected to weasel out of the contract he signed with ESPN to broadcast the cable network's Monday Night Football package—apparently, Sunday night is now the bigger stage. My favorite moment of the broadcast came at the very end, when the two glumly shook hands in a bit of network blazer kabuki, as though they would never see each other again. Here's hoping that when the long-lost pals meet again to call the Super Bowl for NBC, the officiating won't be the only thing worth talking about.
Robert Weintraub, a freelance TV producer/writer based in Atlanta, writes about sports media for Slate.

Article URL: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.slate.com/id/2135435/">http://www.slate.com/id/2135435/</a><!-- m -->

Copyright 2006 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC

[Hoon]

I didn't care who won.. both teams deserved to be there but the officiating was abhorant.

[QuickStop]

i only actually payed attention to the last 10 minutes of the game. i screamed for both teams to not score cause i had 1-0 in a box pool. thank god they kept the clock going and didnt go for a field goal or i'd be $100 poorer.

[Tequila]

That was one of the most bullshit officiated games I have ever seen. The NFL should check the bank accounts of every ref to see who made money on the Steelers.

[diceisgod]

So where's the tallies? So we start a game and don't finish? Sir O must be getting tugged around by his ball hair from his bride to be.

[Galt]

I'm pretty sure that I finished in negative points. But at least I beat Arpi

[The Sleeper]

I don't think the game was lost on officiating, though the steelers clearly got the better of the calls. the game was lost on time mismanagement, bad safety play, and that hasselbeck INT

[Galt]

That Hasselbeck INT wouldn't have happened were it not for a bullshit holding call that negated a Seahawks first down inside the five.

[Arpikarhu]

ben's touchdown was not a touchdown

[diceisgod]

it's like the ref said to himself that was pretty close but lets see here, hasselback rhymes with black, so touchdown.

[Mad]

All he had to do was break the plane of the goal line, which he did, IMO.

[Arpikarhu]

he did not

[Mad]

When he threw himself forward he broke it, then the impact of the hit pushed him back. TD.

[Hoon]

It was erroneously called a touchdown.
I don't think he broke the plane of the goal line..
Even the replay was very close / bordering on NOT being a td.

I know it has to be clear to over turn the ruling on the field but in my opinion, if you're officiating a fucking Superbowl, you better be damn good & sure that ball broke the plane of the goal line.

The only thing CLEAR about the replay is that the official guessed and gave the benefit of the doubt to Pittsburgh. A seven point benefit of the doubt is unacceptable to me.
It was NOT a touchdown.

Then you have the bullshit blocking below the waist call, then you have the SEA touchdown called back because of interferance?
A call the ref was not going to make until the db got up and said, 'you ain't gonna call that'??

Pathetic from top to bottom.