God damn stupid officiating. I don't mind my home team losing. I expected it. I just hate losing due to something like that.

Really bad officiating all this playoffs. Officiating shouldn't be noticed. It really shouldn't. Just...crap.

Boring, boring game, marred by horrible officiating. But my Brownies weren't there, so whatever.

That National Anthem was a f**king train-wreck. Who told either of them that they could sing? Why is it so hard to find someone who can actually sing that damn song?

Mick and his fellow nursing home latecomers just need to quit. He was huffing and puffing so hard I thought a nurse or doctor was going to need to do a "Start Me Up" to his heart.

Fav commercials? Magic fridge, clydesdales, streaker sheep, and airplane "sex" for Ameritrust.

I remember at the end of Franco Harris' career when he was a SEAHAWK. I had sort of forgotten about him playing for a little while with Seattle. I was sure he would root for the Steelers - but it made me think about the players who have played for more than one team, and may have been at one time or another on both of the opposing Superbowl teams. (Now there's a sidebar that might be interesting, since they seem to report every other useless statistic during the broadcast!)

And, we Seahawk fans from way back know the verb, "to Seahawk" which comes from doing great, up until the end, and then losing in the last quarter. It is a devastating thing. Still, even 30 years of conditioning didn't prepare me for yesterday. It would have been easier to take if the officiating had been a bit more even.

But, the thing that really got to me was the broadcast production choices. How many shots of Mike Holmgren did we need to see of him trying to talk into his mic? I didn't notice it so much in the first half, but good gracious! during the second half, it started to feel like surveillance of his play-calling. In comparison, I only noticed one similar shot of the Steeler's coach, and when the camera picked up that he was speaking into his mouthpiece, the camera dipped below his chin.

Since I am completely intrigued by the cloak and dagger aspect of things, it made me wonder if ABC was mad at Paul Allen or something.

Maybe newly empowered Steve Jobs was giving the finger to Microsoft.

The airspace does indeed count and that's why the call stood.

The rest of the game was poorly officiated and it's a shame because I think the Stillers would have won without the help.

Ya, seahawk. From the Swedish, mariner v. - to tie an all time season-wins record and still suck lutefisk when it "counts".

Thanks Kalbear and Joel33. Airspace counts. Got it. So here's my follow up. If it had not counted, then what would have happened? Wouldn't they have most likely scored on the next play? Or were they out of...whatever you run are out of in football...tries?

This has probably been mentioned somewhere, sometime already - but maybe Paul Allen had the famous Hendrix anthem playing in his box? Xtina has a great voice and would do a great anthem if instructed to stay close to the melody line, but AI-ing the anthem has become such a tradition, I think the actual tune has long been forgotten.

eta - Regardless of the outcome, those calls changed the game for the worse. Win or lose, it would have been much more fun (isn't that the point of a game?) - had the momentum not been interrupted by bad vibes.

Yes there were some bad calls, but they were not the sole reason the Seahawks lost. They also lost because they couldn't make field goals, couldn't place a single punt inside the twenty and had horific clock management at the end of both halves. Hell, I've got no shame, as a Steelers fan I'll be glad to take the win no matter how it occurred.

Sharpy - probably. The Steelers probably would have been able to convert it. Or Bettis fumbles. Who knows? We don't, now, because the refs decided it for us.

The Seahawks made some bad plays and didn't do it when it counted. I agree with that, xaxat. I'm not blaming the refs for Seattle losing. I'm blaming the refs for doing a good job of ruining my enjoyment of that game. As I've said before, I don't mind if Seattle loses. I do mind it being called in an unfair and bad manner.

I'm confused. I read in the Boston papers today that he was there, and got "some of the biggest cheers of the game." I figured they didn't show it because he works for a competing network. Does anyone know which story is right?

I also agree it was silly to have Tom Brady do the coin toss, especially when people like Joe Namath were there. But I'm actually kind of surprised that ABC didn't insist on Jerry Rice doing the toss - you know, with a special Dancing With the Stars themed coin or something, and then voiceovers telling us to watch and vote four "our favorite [pseudo]-celebrity."

Ok Bradshaw had an understandable reason for missing the ceremonies. I know his depression lead to him losing touch with the Stealers for a while, so it's good to know he's doing better and wouldn't miss an important event for the team.

Speaking of the Stones getting bleeped, who was hoping they'd sing Bitch? Or if I wanted a real trainwreck "black girls like to fuck all night". Ron Wood has surpassed Keith for looking near death.

No one wants Up With People back?

Yes, unfortunately it does. But replay after replay, I still did NOT see that the ball actually broke the plane. His helmet sure did but not the ball.

I hate the "breaking the plane" rule anyway. You get a receiver/runner completely out of bounds but because they stick their hand out at the end, it "breaks the plane" and it's a touchdown. Wimpy wimpy wimpy, bring back some good, real football, dammit!!

I thought the pass interference call on Seattle was questionable too. Could have been a completely different ball game because of these two calls, +7 for Seattle and -7 for Pittsburgh.

Rolling Stones - go roll away in your wheelchairs. Ugh! Never could stand them!

Aaron Neville is a great singer - for ballads - but not for the Star Spangled Banner unfortunately. He completely mangled it. And I thankfully missed anything Jessica Simpson ~ hooray for me!

Looks like lots of people agree with the fishyness of calls. Again, I was kind of rooting for the Steelers for Detroit's sake - maybe some of the happy fans will go back there...maybe invest....who knows. I don't really want Seattle to become a football town - though as long as we are paying for the stadia, the neighborhood businesses might as well benefit from their post-season play.

Does anyone here watch Pardon the Interruption? Maybe there's a thread for it.

And gee I am happy that the ...spread? was covered? (or whatever), so Diddy could make another pile. Lord, but he was giddy on Kimmel last night after the game.

The thing that bugged me about the Rothlisberger TD was the sideline ref running in to apparently mark the play dead then signaling TD once he got there. It was obvious from the replay Ben was NOT in the endzone when he hit the ground, so the ref had to be going by "the plane" which normally would have meant an instant TD signal. It seemed to me he decided it would be reviewed either way and signaled TD on a hunch. To me this is a problem with the replay system. The refs tend to go a certain way with a lot of calls because of they know it will be reviewed. In this case if he had said no TD I doubt the call would have been reversed due to lack of "indisputable video evidence". As it was, it wasn't reversed for the same reason. Unfortunately (for Seattle) the burden of proof was to show it wasn't a TD. I would rather, when they cannot tell what happened based on their view, send to the replay with nothing pre-determined "on the field". That way they get the call right without having to disprove a refs poor eyesight/judgement. Of course, no system is perfect and these arguments will go on forever no matter what the system.

I don't buy into the conspiracy but Seattle did get the short straw on most of the critical calls yesterday. Did this effect the outcome of the game? Who knows, but I would much rather hear about what the players did than what the refs did or didn't do.

I found Micheals and Madden to be good yesterday. They didn't dwell on the ref issues and didn't make the game about themselves (no Turdunken references, last game on ABC, etc...), like I had feared might happen. Good on them.

Overall I found the commercials weak with AB still head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. I miss the Frogs, though.

Heh. That's one thing about this. In a lot of ways, this loss (and the way the Hawks lost) is going to be a big instigator for creating the fanbase that Seattle has never really had. There is nothing like crushing disappointment combined with a perception of unfairness to drive people to being fanatical about a team.

I think in 6 months you're going to get a lot of 12th man flags on opening day, a lot more rallies and events, and a lot bigger of a fanbase.

My thing on the Rothelsberger TD. I think he got in and the Hawk knocked him out. That said if he's ruled short the Stealers are a pube away from the endzone on 4th down, with short time in the half. I think they go for it and convert, hell maybe even Holmgren "let's" them score. It may have been Bettis that converted and can you imagine how much more insufferable the hype would be if he punched one in last night?

I loved that during the MVP Parade Ray Lewis was booed. Not guilty my ass.

The national anthem, which should have been amazing given all three performers, was painfully bad. Just horribly, painfully, why the hell did you do that bad.

Was there bad officiating? Absolutely. Is there always? Absolutely. You still have to overcome it to win the game. I thought the Hasselbeck penalty was worse than the Roethlisberger TD call.

I think blowout games are far worse than "boring" ones, good defense isn't as obvious as smash mouth offense. Which would give the Steelers D-line the MVP award, except the Seahawks O-line held up well. So who really deserves it? Jerammy Stevens for not being able to hold on to the ball?

As for commercials, loved the FedEx Cavemen, and the streaking sheep.

Exactly. That asterisk will always be there. It sucks for Pittsburgh (players and their fans) - that because of some bad refs, they will be having to defend their win for a long time. Not really a great win.

Here is a more temperate version of the earlier petition - not accusing corruption outright, but asking for a review of/changes to some of the practices BananasFoster mentioned.

Heh, I just heard it being likened to a Globetrotters-Generals game, with the outcome never really in doubt.

vildachaia, I'd have to give the MVP to Willie Parker. I get why Hines Ward got it, and that's not unreasonable - he had two huge catches and a big run - but Willie Parker broke a record and really lifted the Steelers.

I have to say that I'm so glad the whole "wardrobe malfunction" thing happened now. If it means that MTV no longer gets to produce those awful halftime shows designed to promote whatever record label paid the most to get their artists on stage, all of whom have more dancing talent than singing talent, don't play instruments, and are very probably lip-synching the whole way, while being "provocative" and cheesily awful, and instead we get honest, genuinely live performances from the likes of Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, then it's all for the better. I've never even particularly liked either McCartney nor the Stones, but they are an unquestionably important part of music history.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm enjoying Super Bowl halftime shows again!

The game itself makes me sad, but oh well.

What was their explanation for why he was chosen? Because he has pretty boy good looks? I just don't get it. If anything, he shouldn't have done it because of conflict of interest. After all, he was also competing hoping that his team would be where Pittsburgh was. I would have loved to see Joe Namath, or gosh, even new HOF inductee Troy Aikman get the honor. But instead, we get TomFreakinBrady. Doesn't matter if you retire Brett Favre, because the NFL has already selected the next guy that they will stroke.

Still annoyed that Montana demanded $100K. The nerve. I wish they would have announced it... "San Francisco great Joe Montana declined to be here because we wouldn't give him a lot of money that he doesn't need."

On the MVP appearance issue, I heard on Mark & Brian/KLOS this morning that the $1,000 offered to all invited was to cover incidentals/out of pocket expenses (so it was not an appearance payoff, per se), and that each MVP in attendance would also get airfare for two, hotel, Cadillac for use while in Detroit, tix to SB-XL (natch), and also two tickets each to three of four pre- and post-game Par-Tays...AND the NFL would help coordinate other paying appearances if the MVP wanted. What Montana wanted was a guarantee of $100k in such appearance money, which the NFL wasn't willing to pony to. A caller phoned Mark & Brian; he had apparently worked with Montana as a translator on a trip to Japan or China, and the caller verified that Montana has a major beef with the NFL in general and just wanted to put the screws to them; I guess as an organization they are known for being very cheap. And if you think about the parties MVPs were "invited" to basically equating to FREE appearances (though they didn't mention if attendance was mandatory), it does seem a bit like Montana and others attending are possibly being taken advantage of. I don't know if the NFL $ells tickets to those parties but one would assume so, to major corporations and so forth? And no doubt they lure buyers by dropping names of all the MVPs who will be in attendance?

There you go, PTI thread...

I have no problem with Montana shaking down the NFL. The NFL is a wonderfully run organization that has been very successful - I think some of their success though has been at the expense of the players. Montana is retired and the only revenue stram he has is based on his image and appearances and he just rated his time as worth more than the offered honoraium.

Not like that—not in the Super Bowl. Think back. Can you remember the last SB where the officials were even a topic?


Aaron Neville is a bit of an acquired taste, but do you really have to ask who told the Queen of Soul she could sing? Sadly, she's lost more singing ability than most people will ever have. (And if you think that was bad, avoid her rendition of "A House Is Not a Home" on the Luther tribute at all costs. Scary!)


Considering that same #6 team also beat the top 3 teams in the AFC, I'd say that doesn't count as proof at all. That being said, the AFC has been the better conference for a few years at least.

Ray Lewis was probably booed because he plays for the Ravens, and there were mostly Steelers fans in attendance.



I think the touchdown rule has ALWAYS been that the ball has to break the plane. And if your knee is down or you're out of bounds, you can't just stick the ball out at the end. The refs thought the ball broke the plane when Roethlisberger was in the air. Unfortunately, we didn't get a good replay because ABC didn't give us one, and you need conclusive evidence to overturn a call on the field.

I guess when you become a big NFL star that the public adores, you forget the real focus of why you played the game: for the love of the game, for the competition, and for the fans. Instead, you become an egotistical multimillionaire who will nickel and dime the very organization that gave you your wealth and celebrity status in the first place. Just sad. I have lost all respect for Joe Montana.

For some reason, Montana wanting to put the screws to the NFL doesn't really bother me all that much.

It's very possible, however, that I am riding a Montana-love high after watching the ESPN marathon of the Super Bowls all weekend. Those NFL Films of Super Bowls past are amazing. So cheesy and yet so good. After watching them, I think I love all the Super Bowl teams... even the Cowboys.

Thanks, Da23rd. I wonder what they'll have to say about it tonight.

Case you want to see them again: Conveniently packaged SB ads. I was really searching for footage of Ben's plane-breaking, but.

ABC cut it, but the The Stones came out for an encore, just for the refs "....One for the thumb...a goal that was... a first-down .... *Mick stops to take Aleve* .....Under my thumb.... ref's eyes..... are just kept to himself...

I got the strangeness of them playing Bittersweet Symphony when the Stones were due up that a postewr noted earlier, but here's [from Slate's take: It did seem quite cinematic though, which is what you want if you're gonna lose anyway.

The last time the Super Bowl was in Detroit, Cincinatti went for it on 4th and goal from the one, with their super short yardage back Pete Johnson, and they got stuffed.

There's no guarantee that Pittsbugh kicks, and there's no guarantee they get it. Just like there's no guarantee that Seattle scores from the one if not for that phantom holding call.

But dang, I really would have liked to see a 4th and goal.

Most of the time, I would agree. But some things you have to do, just because.

Regarding Joe Montana's no-show:
"Every time I call it a game, you say it's a business. Every time I say it's a business, you call it a game!" - O.W. Shaddock, North Dallas Forty

I agree (full disclosure: 49er fan). As a matter of fact, he might have read all of this board's jokes about Detroit having a crowbar as the key to the city and been scared off. And it's not like he blew them off completely. He did do that weird Dr. Seuss thing with Harrison Ford that was ultimately a lot more embarassing.

Outrage at Montana "breaking the continuity" of the MVP parade is as silly as getting mad at Liam Neeson because he rightly thought Star Wars Episode I was a shitty movie and wouldn't have anything else to do with the franchise.

In addition to Ray, the other people that got noticable boos during that segment were both Patriots players and Staubach and Larry Brown. I think that's a definite indication as to how many Steelers fans there were in the stands.

I'm not sure if Harvey Martin has a widow or any kids, but he should have been acknowledged in some way. Say what you want about the people running MLB, but they usually do these type of things right.

I was pissed (but not surprised) at ABC jumping to a commerical so fast after the players were announced. It's a shame they never gave us a full shot of all the MVPs standing together.

They were lined up with all of them standing under huge banners with thier names on them on both sides of the aisle when the teams came out and they surrounded the coin flip.

Tom Brady was in on the coin flip becuase all the MVPs were standing around the coin toss and until they handed that trophy 4 hours later to Ward he was still the reigning MVP.


Ive have had a lot of dealings with Montana and know alot of people that also have. He is the kind of guy that finishes something, puts it behind him and moves onto whatever his new venture is. When he left College for the pros he never wanted to go back there. When he left football and got into horse breeding he put footabll behind him. They had to drag him back kicking and screaming for jersey retirement. Every year the 49ers have an "alumni game" where they drag out every former 49er still sucking breath to make an appearance and he is never there either. Its full of guys like Jesse Sapulo that have nothing in thier lives other than being "former 49ers". I dont know why anyone thinks he somehow owes his presence every time the NFL requires it. Noone retired from any other company in the world is at their former employers beck and call for TV appearances.

As for Mark and Brian and thier "caller". He could be anyone anywhere in the world. Its not like they verify anything they just plunk down the next caller and pray someone is still listening. Are they still on the air somewhere. Last I heard even the Spanish stations where kicking the crap out of them so I wouldnt put it past them to try and make controversy over a nothing subject that anyone having any dealing with either Montana or the NFL knows is a non story.

On The Herd this morning, they said Bradshaw, like Montana, held out due to the NFL not meeting his appearance fee. This made me sad, because I like TB. I hope you guys are right instead.

Technically, yes - the score would have been 14-10. But not only did they give Pittsburgh the Ben R. TD, they took one away from Seattle earlier. I'm not saying that was the only factor - Seattle definitely should have made the critical field goals and managed the clock more efficiently. But I don't think you can discount the influence the officiating has on emotion and momentum. Maybe if they had correctly reversed the ouchdown, the Seahawks would have been pumped up enough for a goal-line stand and the tempo of the entire game might have shifted.

Maybe, might've, coulda/shoulda/woulda ... we'll never know. But like others, while I can live with my team losing legitimately, it sucks that it happened this way, and that the officiating played such a visible, prominent role. And even though I hate that they beat my team, I honestly feel bad for the Steelers that so many people, myself included, don't feel they fully earned or deserved this victory.

Ooooh, Figaro1, I'm going to have to go all Texas A&M on you! I'm quite sure this must have been adapted from "Coug'ing It" or "Well, they sure Coug'ed it again" - which, for those of you not from the great state of Washington, refers to the WSU Cougar's ability to lose, in spectacular fashion, a game which not only appears locked up in the final quarter, but the final minute or two. (The 1989 Dad's Day game vs. USC and this past season's Homecoming game against UCLA spring to mind, mainly because I was in the stands for those catastrophes.)

After all, the Cougs have been doing this since before the 'Hawks were even a twinkle in the Northwest's eye! : )

However, as any loyal, long-suffering Cougar will tell you, we wouldn't mind someone taking this dubious distinction from us - we just don't want it to be our other team!

Trust me - the Seahawks have been Hawkin' it for far, FAR longer than the Cougs. There was a great article on ESPN about how it was so bad that you couldn't even list the top 10 horrible ends to games for the Seahawks - there were too many to choose from. So he just gave the 10 from this millenium. And they were horrible - that Dallas MNF game, the horrible St. Louis game, that Ravens game...gah.

They didn't do it this time, that's for sure. Too bad they never really had the chance.

Is that something I haven't heard, or a legit typo, Irish? In any case, so apropos.

I really can't judge Montana for any rumor or speculation about why he didn't show because honestly? I don't know the truth about why he wasn't there. It could have been the money, it could have been about what Buddy said, it could have been that he wanted to stick it to the NFL. There are a lot of former NFL players and players' families who have been treated quite shabbily by the league in retirement (find the story of Mike Webster if you don't believe me).

Word, Cleo256, I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks to Janet's right titty, we don't have to watch all this manufactured, flavor-of-the-month, syrupy pop bullshit at halftime anymore, and get some actual rock legends instead. You see a breast on network television, only to get quality music afterwards -- it's a win-win situation!

Okay, you are talking about a Patriots team that was already banged up entering the game, and proceeded to suffer more casualties during the toughest opening 6 game schedule in the history of the game, and they were playing in Pittsburgh by the way, and they still beat the Steelers. I don't care how much momentum the Steelers were riding on, there is no way that the Steelers were going to come into Gillette Stadium and beat the Patriots, now that they had gotten healthy and were playing well.

I think that people need to recognize that a combo of totally uncharacteristic blunders combined with some shitty officiating destroyed the Pats season. They laid an egg, no doubt. But there is no way that they were going to lose the AFC title game at home. No way. They own Pittsburgh. They own Indy. And Seattle would have been made an example of in the Super Bowl. No 3 point win this year, it would have been a blow out. I know, Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda. But again, next year, the Pats have a softer schedule, and will coast into the playoffs, probably have a bye, and then hopefully get to host the Colts again. Because there is nothing I enjoy more than watching Peyton Manning cry. Cry for me Peyton. Cry!

I don't hate Pittsburgh by the way, I was rooting for them to win the Super Bowl, but the reality is, they weren't a true 6 seed. A true 6 seed is when some team that really isn't that great backs their way into the playoffs, and then gets stomped out in the first round. The Steelers, if they had Roethlisberger healthy the whole year, would likely have ended up the 2 seed, and The Patriots, if healthy, would have likely been the 3 seed. I don't know if it's as simple as saying that the AFC is so much better than the NFC as much as it is that the best 3 teams in the league (Colts, Pats, Steelers) were in the AFC and that no team from the NFC realistically had a prayer against them.

I would now correct that, however, because I think that it's clear to everyone that the Colts are incapable of winning a big game. They just can't do it. But man, do they look awesome in those Pro Bowls!

I'm from Pittsburgh and I'm glad the Steelers won although I think they did so by getting very lucky while the Seahawks were very unlucky. I guess all this Steelers love means Swann may actually have a shot at being governor.

Has anyone seen the Seahawks coach? I remember at halftime he seemed really ticked off about the questionable TD. And at the end I didn't see any of the post-game handshakes.

Is Seattle really bitter? Because I know if it had gone the other way, under the same circumstances, there would be rioting on the streets of Pittsburgh.

There were a lot of nice narrative conclusions that make the win satisfying but some of the questions and the playing leave me with an odd taste in the mouth.

Deion Branch won the MVP last year. Which makes the decision for Brady all the more perplexing.



According to Mike & Mike, Holmgren had an issue getting across the field after the game due to the crush of people on the field. He went to the Steelers locker room as soon as he could to congratulate Cowher.

Ha! So true, Irish Mermaid.
My husband and I looked at each other in the fourth quarter and he said "Shit, they're Cougin' it".

One sportswriter said we were all throwing lattes at our screens. Lattes, cha! Right!

Okay but mine's technically a triple espresso.

But I think, really, since just getting there was such a novelty to most Seattleites, people were resigned to simply basking in the warm glow of "Finally!!". That a majority of fans of other teams are questioning the calls makes it easier to bear, I guess. If Pittsburgh, being expected to win (and having a more-or-less home-field advantage) had those calls, yeah, I could see great bitterness there. The bratwurst juice (or whatever they sip during commute) would be running in the streets.

Debra Anne and Irish Mermaid You may be right about the Cougars, but I come from WSU stock waaaayy back, and the first time I heard it was regarding the Seahawks. Though, in my family's rabid love for all things Cougar, they may have sheltered me from the sadder side of cougardom. Someday they MAY forgive me for marrying a Husky (U of Washington) - who, by the way, is always taking credit for starting the "wave."

There's a lot of bitterness. A LOT. Not at Pitt, but at the officiating. I don't think Seattle's being particularly poor sports about it either. They've got a lot of legitimate gripes.

They mentioned this on Pardon the Interuption too, and I didn't watch the trophy presentation, so I have to ask this, did they bring any of this up last night? The last shot I saw was Bill looking a little confused, clearly saying "Where's Mike?"

I'm not implying by any means that Holmgren just blew off the postgame handshake, and Mike Wilbon on PTI made a point of saying that the field becomes, understandably, a little chaotic after the game ends, but I do wonder if ABC touched on it at all on Sunday night.

That's quite an interesting selection, but I can't agree. Last year, the Pats and Eagles were two of the most injured teams and still made it to the Super Bowl. The bottom line is this year's Pats weren't good enough. I can't imagine under what criteria they'd be considered one of the NFL's (or even the AFC's) 3 best teams.

They weren't one of the three best teams during the regular season, but having followed them, I can tell you that they were truly decimated by injuries and had a ridiculous opening schedule, as they progressively got healthy towards the end of the year, they got better, and better. Then they made an example out of Jacksonville, and if any of you watched and paid attention to the Pats/Broncos game, you would clearly see that the Patriots (and to a lesser extent, the refs) handed that game on a platter to the Broncos. The Broncos did not win that game, the Pats lost it. The Pats never turn over the ball, Brady never makes stupid picks in the end zone that get run back 100 yards (only to be fumbled out of the endzone, no matter what that ref said) Viniateri never misses a field goal in a big game.

All of these things just went horribly wrong at the wrong moment, but the point is, who is better than the Pats? Name an NFC team that is better than the Patriots. You can't. I mean, the only team that even remotely enters the argument is the Seahawks, but they got to play Arizona, San Fran and St. Louis twice. As for the AFC, you have the Steelers, who we beat on the road this year, even while injured. You have the Colts, who we lost to, while decimated, but who we clearly have owned come playoff time, and you have the Broncos, who, as I said earlier, could not hope to beat us. We gave them that game.

There is no doubt in the mind of any Patriots fan, that had the Patriot's had played a normal average game in Denver that day, they would have three-peated. This is only made all the more clearer by how shitty Pittsburgh and Seattle played when the spotlight was shining down on them.

I give Pittsburgh all the credit in the world for coming back from their own injuries, and winning out the regular season to get into the playoffs and then reeling off 3 consecutive road wins, but there is simply no way that they would have strolled into Gillette Stadium for the AFC title game and beaten the Patriots with the roll that they were on. They couldn't beat the Pats when the Pats were hurt and they were at Heinz Field. Why would they be able to beat them when the Pats were healthy, on fire, and at home?

Because the Pats weren't all that?

Denver beat the Pats handily. The Pats were on a roll by beating NY Jets twice, Tampa, and Buffalo. Right before that and when they had all their injured guys back, they went and rolled over and died to Kansas City - where KC's vaunted defense(ahem) picked Brady 4 times.

Seattle was consistently better than the Pats this season. The Panthers were better than the Pats when the Pats were healthy, and they beat them - at Gillette.

You say that the Pats 'never' do these things. Guess what - they DO do these things, and even more accurately they _did_ do these things. Brady does occasionally have a bad game, and does occasionally make bad throws. Remember that game last season against the mighty 3-13 Miami team? In that game, when the Pats were competing with Pitt for home field advantage, Brady threw 4 picks. Against Miami. Pressure does occasionally rattle him, and receivers occasionally make mistakes. Even more importantly, occasionally other teams play better than the Pats did. I know, it's crazy. But it's true.

You can blame injuries on some of the losses, but things like the abysmal showing against KC when everyone's happy and healthy? Yeah, sorry, no dice.

I'm sure there's no doubt in the mind of a Pats fan though. There are very few absolute truisms in the world, but one is certain: the Patriots will always be the best team in the league despite all evidence to the contrary to certain types of Pats fans.

I'm a big Patriots fan, but I think it's pretty silly to insinuate that had they not handed the Broncos that game, they would have won the Super Bowl. The fact is that they DID make tons of mistakes, and Denver took advantage. Yes, the officiating also blew, but that's apparently par for the course. The Pats aren't going to win every year. I'm not convinced that Seattle wouldn't have beaten them had they gone to the Super Bowl.

I hate the Stealers (love that homophone!), I hate whiny bitch Ben, and I don't like their fans as an entity (but then I don't really like any team's fanatic sports fans in large groups). Naturally, I was rooting hard-core for Seattle, whom I like quite a bit. It would follow then that I would be really upset about this win, but I'm really not because the officiating was so god-awful that any objective fan could tell. Sure, Seattle should have not made a lot of the mistakes they made (um, Jerramy Steves, would it KILL you to catch the damn ball???), but the officials took away at least 11 points from the Seahawks for bullshit penalties. I think it's a shame they basically decided the outcome, but I'm hopeful that it effects some real, meaningful changes in how games are officiated. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't either. I don't really blame the Stealers because it's not their fault the officials were blatantly biased. Both teams played some seriously bad, ugly football. It was a really awful game.