Sorry for the delay here. Been sick this week.

Can't find the fun odds, like who will score first and stuff because most gambling websites are blocked by our web filters here at work. I could turn them off, but don't want that in the firewall log.

Get better before Sunday, so you can enjoy the drinking and chowing down that accompanies the game. :p

Not sure about the rest of you? but IMHO that was one badassed Halftime performance. Guess there is a reason they call you the Boss!!!!

Was a great halftime show. And the game was worth watching as well.

I loved that he slid off the stage crotch first into the camera man - that was the best part :)
The game actually was leagues better than I ever expected, with a sad final minute :(

Noooo I had to leave for work right before the half time show. I really wanted to see the boss :(

Well once again we got to see just how in the tank the league is for thier little "Darling" team's.
Take all the ticky tack BS calls outta that game and no way the Stealers win. roughing the holder???WTF???

Well once again we got to see just how in the tank the league is for thier little "Darling" team's.
Take all the ticky tack BS calls outta that game and no way the Stealers win. roughing the holder???WTF???

That was NOT a ticky tack call. He drilled the holder, and you could see it in Dockett's face that he knew he fucked up. Both teams had boat loads of penalties. That game was not decided by the refs, and anyone who says that it was just doesn't know shit about the game.

The Seahawks game a couple years ago had some very bad calls. I don't know if it was enough to make up for 21-10, but the refs fucked up a bunch. Last night was a well called game, and the two bad calls were overturned by replay with no wasted time outs.

I'm surprised that Bruce was able to get up so readily after sliding into a camera. He walked it off pretty readily.

And his voice didn't change. Can you say lip synching?

As for the game itself, the penalties were getting a bit much towards the end. I'm not so sure about a few of them, but the ones I thought were bogus didn't have much impact on the game.

And a 100 yard run by Harrison is nothing to sneeze at. However, that unsportsmanlike conduct penalty should have gotten him thrown out, IMHO.

Go STEELERS!!!

And his voice didn't change. Can you say lip synching?

As for the game itself, the penalties were getting a bit much towards the end. I'm not so sure about a few of them, but the ones I thought were bogus didn't have much impact on the game.

And a 100 yard run by Harrison is nothing to sneeze at. However, that unsportsmanlike conduct penalty should have gotten him thrown out, IMHO.

Go STEELERS!!!

If the game had been called otherwise, I might agree with this. The first play of the second quarter though, a Cardinal threw a punch at a Steeler and didn't see a penalty, let alone an ejection.

There were good and bad calls made for both teams, and while it wouldn't have been unprecedented to throw Harrison out, there were players on both teams all game long pushing and shoving. It's hard to make a call to kick a player out that close to the end of a very close game when players from both teams had been very physical all game long.

I'm surprised that Bruce was able to get up so readily after sliding into a camera. He walked it off pretty readily.

Adrenaline :) He must have been pretty buzzed and really psyched to be there. Did you see some of the splits he was doing? (The one he had trouble getting up from was funny)

That was NOT a ticky tack call. He drilled the holder, and you could see it in Dockett's face that he knew he fucked up.

He tripped, and was trying to regain his balance. And the nfl rules state that when a player trips or is blocked into another player it is not roughing. So yes it was a bad call.

That game was not decided by the refs, and anyone who says that it was just doesn't know shit about the game.


No, it wasn't decided by the refs, the cards lost cause their D choked and then warner choked (that was a blatant incomplete pass, but he should have gotten rid of the ball before it happened). But the officiating was downright terrible in that game, with almost all of the bad calls going against the cards. Anyone who says that it wasn't just doesn't know shit about the game.

It wasn't as bad as the seattle/pitt superbowl, but that's like saying the pile of shit on the left isn't as bad as the pile of shit on the right.

As for the half time show, I can see why big Springsteen fans would have loved that, but it bored the hell out of me.

He tripped, and was trying to regain his balance. And the nfl rules state that when a player trips or is blocked into another player it is not roughing. So yes it was a bad call.




No, it wasn't decided by the refs, the cards lost cause their D choked and then warner choked (that was a blatant incomplete pass, but he should have gotten rid of the ball before it happened). But the officiating was downright terrible in that game, with almost all of the bad calls going against the cards. Anyone who says that it wasn't just doesn't know shit about the game.

It wasn't as bad as the seattle/pitt superbowl, but that's like saying the pile of shit on the left isn't as bad as the pile of shit on the right.

As for the half time show, I can see why big Springsteen fans would have loved that, but it bored the hell out of me.

I concur. It was meh.

He tripped, and was trying to regain his balance. And the nfl rules state that when a player trips or is blocked into another player it is not roughing. So yes it was a bad call.




No, it wasn't decided by the refs, the cards lost cause their D choked and then warner choked (that was a blatant incomplete pass, but he should have gotten rid of the ball before it happened). But the officiating was downright terrible in that game, with almost all of the bad calls going against the cards. Anyone who says that it wasn't just doesn't know shit about the game.

It wasn't as bad as the seattle/pitt superbowl, but that's like saying the pile of shit on the left isn't as bad as the pile of shit on the right.

As for the half time show, I can see why big Springsteen fans would have loved that, but it bored the hell out of me.
So ignoring all but two holds on Gandy against Harrison weren't calls that helped the Cardinals? Ignoring a punch thrown by the Cardinals at a Steeler early in the second quarter wasn't a call benefiting the Cardinals? Ike Taylor getting pushed by a Cardinal player on the Cardinal sidelines and Taylor getting the only flag didn't help the Cardinals?

The final play of the game was a fumble. Whether you like it or not. Woodley pushed Warner's arm forward, and by definition that's a fumble not an incomplete pass. The play WAS reviewed (quickly) and wasn't overturned. The NFL verified the call yesterday (and they have been quick to point out mistakes all season long, so they do have credibility).

Dockett plowing into the holder not a penalty? Come on, could you be any more biased against the Steelers? Dockett knew he fucked up after the play. He didn't complain about the call. He knew it was a flag and took it like a man.

I'm not saying the Cardinals got more calls than the Steelers. I'm just sick of the revisionist history after games that the Steelers win being called cheating/cheap/or whatever. Both teams had calls that were right and wrong. Both teams had things that were penalties completely ignored. And both teams got fucked.

Roethlisberger's TD at the beginning of the game shouldn't have been overturned. I'm not saying it was a TD. I'm also not saying it wasn't (Hartings pulling Ben to the goalline isn't reviewable). There was still a shadow under Ben's knee at the point they called the ball down after the review. His knee wasn't quite down there. The problem with the play is it's not definitive that his knee was down before the edge of the ball touched the plane of the goalline. It has to be definitive by rule to overturn the call on the field. I'd be saying the exact same thing if they'd called it not a TD at first. I just can't see from the replay how they could overturn anything they called on the field. It was just too close.

Now, did overturning that call benefit the Steelers or the Cardinals? Really...

How about Warner's first "fumble" that got overturned? I agree that his arm was moving forward and that they made the right call in overturning it. The problem I have with this play is that intentional grounding should have been called. His limp noodle attempt at a pass had no one in range of where he was throwing it, and he wasn't out of the pocket. So... if they hadn't called it a fumble at first, the Cardinals would have lost down and distance instead of just the down for the incompletion call. Now, with the replay in the rules, they can't go back and enforce grounding. Who benefitted from this call? It sure wasn't the Steelers.


The key here is, if you want to find bad calls that benefit either team in any game you can find it. If you go through the entire game and look at the entire body of the calls, no one team gained benefit over the other team in this Super Bowl.

I'm just sick of the revisionist history after games that the Steelers win being called cheating/cheap/or whatever.

If you're actually defending the last steelers super bowl here, bringing up bias might not be the best idea for you.

There were some bad calls in the Seahawks game. Where have I denied that here? All I said was I don't know if it would have made all the difference in the outcome of a 21-10 game.

Using that as an argument for this game though? Come on. There were just as many bad calls for either team in 43. The only thing I'd use as an argument that 40 had an impact on 43 was the overturn on Roethlisberger's TD in 43. I think that got overturned without sufficient evidence because of 40.

It was a great superbowl to watch..... running into the holder was a bullshit call.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ499YVH2nU

He did not get pushed into the holder. He did not get blocked into the holder. He didn't try to pull up. And he wasn't going for the ball.

I'd love to hear your explanation as to exactly how that wasn't a penalty.

The NFL rule is that the holder is a defenseless player, and a defensive player can't even touch him. Though I was wrong in thinking it was Dockett, and it was Wilson.

Here's a video from Mike Pereira, the VP of Officials for the NFL:
http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80e8fa89

The first thing mentioned is the no call on Santonio Holmes for using the ball as a prop which definitely should have been called for an excessive celebration penalty. That one was definitely missed. Right before Holmes does the talc move emulating Lebron, you can see the official that was there looking the other direction. I don't think it was a nefarious no call, but it was definitely a no call that should have been called.

He then discusses the fumble at the end of the game. He discusses that the play was in fact reviewed, and that it was in fact a fumble. He discusses the process that was followed for that play. He does say that given how important the play was, it probably should have been reviewed further even though it wouldn't have changed the result. He shows a slowed down video and discusses the ball turning in Warner's hand before his arm started going forward, therefore it was a fumble.

The final thing they discuss is the running into the holder play. It's about 6 minutes into the video. He discusses that there are three types of roughing penalties: Roughing the Passer, Roughing the kicker, and roughing the holder. You can have roughing the kicker or running into the kicker, but there is no running into the holder. You can only have a roughing of the holder. This is in place according to Pereira because he's a defenseless player. He said "certainly the fouling player was not coming off a block. It was contact that merited Unnecessary Roughness, but indeed unusual."

Here are rules from the NFL rule book in reference to roughing the holder:



Article 6 No defensive player may run into or rough a kicker who kicks from behind his line
unless such contact:
( a) is incidental to and after he has touched the kick in flight;
( b) is caused by the kicker’s own motions;
( c) occurs during a quick kick;
( d) occurs during a kick or after a run behind the line;
( e) occurs after the kicker recovers a loose ball on the ground; or
( f) is caused because a defender is blocked into the kicker.
Penalty: For running into the kicker: Loss of five yards from the previous spot, no automatic
first down. (This is not a personal foul). For roughing the kicker or holder, loss
of 15 yards from the previous spot. (This is a personal foul, and also disqualification
if flagrant).



Article 7 There shall be no piling on (3-22).
Penalty: For piling on: Loss of 15 yards.
Note: An official should prevent piling on a prostrate or helpless runner before the ball is
dead. When opponents in close proximity to such a runner are about to pile on, and further advance
is improbable, the official covering should sound his whistle for a dead ball, in order to prevent
further play and roughness. See 7-4-1-d.
A. R. 12.15 The holder of a Try-kick is run into or piled on and the act is not incidental to blocking the kick.
Ruling: Unnecessary roughness. Such a player is obviously out of play unless the kick is
blocked, and even then until he arises and participates in play. See 14-1-14 and 14-6-Exc. 6.

Article 7 There shall be no piling on (3-22).
Penalty: For piling on: Loss of 15 yards.
Note: An official should prevent piling on a prostrate or helpless runner


Damn, Sheila is going to be pissed when she hears this.