Tuesday, February 07, 2006
These Calls Weren't for the Birds
These Calls Weren't for the Birds - Los Angeles Times: "Holmgren termed the number of penalties against his team 'unusual.'
'Our team is not a very penalized team in general,' he said. 'And in Super Bowls, they've kind of let the guys play. When you put those two things together, it was a little unusual. And they were very, very costly.
'But anything I say sounds like an excuse. We had our chances.'
As for the officials, they surely weren't happy with their result either. Before the game, the NFL's Pereira told the Associated Press that an officiating crew's goal is 'to be anonymous.'
'What we want to do is to pick up the paper Monday and read about the game, not the officiating,' he said."
A win's a win and a loss is a loss, but it would feel better for all involved, including the fans, if the officiating wasn't what we thought about days after the result. The biggest thing the stripes did on Sunday at the Super Bowl was change the momentum. After two or three very questionable calls, Seattle was thinking more about that than the game. They should have played better after that, used the calls as catalysts to beat the Steelers, but they really didn't emotionally recover, it seemed. The Steelers played a great second half of the season, so we congratulate them. I was happy for Cowher and his guys, Bettis in particular. I just wish it had appeared fairer than it did.
'Our team is not a very penalized team in general,' he said. 'And in Super Bowls, they've kind of let the guys play. When you put those two things together, it was a little unusual. And they were very, very costly.
'But anything I say sounds like an excuse. We had our chances.'
As for the officials, they surely weren't happy with their result either. Before the game, the NFL's Pereira told the Associated Press that an officiating crew's goal is 'to be anonymous.'
'What we want to do is to pick up the paper Monday and read about the game, not the officiating,' he said."
A win's a win and a loss is a loss, but it would feel better for all involved, including the fans, if the officiating wasn't what we thought about days after the result. The biggest thing the stripes did on Sunday at the Super Bowl was change the momentum. After two or three very questionable calls, Seattle was thinking more about that than the game. They should have played better after that, used the calls as catalysts to beat the Steelers, but they really didn't emotionally recover, it seemed. The Steelers played a great second half of the season, so we congratulate them. I was happy for Cowher and his guys, Bettis in particular. I just wish it had appeared fairer than it did.
