I said my goal was to get into work, and survive for 8 hours. Mission Accomplished.
I expressed my concerns about slanted officiating, and those certainly came to pass.... Sadly. I would have LOVED a shot of Mike Holmgren at some point, whose Seattle Seahawks were robbed by the officials 3 years ago vs the Steelers... Would have LOVED it. Al Michaels made a brief passing reference to Coach Holmgren during the broadcast, but nothing came of it. Where are the producers, directors, people in trucks... do they have no sense of the delicious irony that was playing out there?? You have the coach from the LAST Pittsburgh SB win sitting RIGHT THERE, with the mic on, camera right in front of him... a dude who, along with many others, made no secret of his disappointment with the officiating.... Not ONE of these guys thought "Hey, watttaminutehere, this could be good, throw it to Coach Mike for a second...." Not one?? Kinda disappointing.
I'm not gonna do a blow by blow of bad officiating, but I can't let it go, sorry.
Look, #1. This has been sticking in my ass for a few years, and the more I think about it, the more I don't like it. Each coach gets 2 challenges. Fine. If you win a challenge though, I believe you should still have 2 challenges. The rule should be 2 LOSING challenges. If you keep winning 'em, you keep 'em. Real simple. Whisenhunt was 2-0 on challenges, so he gets "1 more", like some consolation prize. That's weak. If the crew is gonna call it, like, ohhh, the way they called it yesterday, for example, the only recourse a coach has is to keep challenging, and hope for the best.
#2. That last play was not a fumble. Ever since the infamous (or to Patriots Fans, "blessed") tuck rule call, these crews have apparently lost all ability to tell if it's a fumble, incomplete pass, UFO sighting, or wardrobe malfunction. That was clearly an incomplete pass.
#3. We've been reviewing ad nauseum in this game, because, ahem, they couldn't seem to see what was going on on the field right in front of them. Now, after 5 months of football, of reviewing everything, to make sure we get it right, it's like, okay, that's enough, Steelers ball.... I'm sitting there waiting for the review, and there's Big Ben, spiking the ball, game over, confetti cannons, commence firing. Whaa? Wh-wh-wh-whaaa? Uhhh, where is da frickin' review, fellas??? What'd I miss here?? VCR run out of tape??? Huh?
#4. The part that's being missed here is that the pass was incomplete. Still Cards ball. There was a personal foul on that play, removing the helmet, on Pittsuburgh. So now you're gonna give the ball to Warner and Fitzgerald on the 35, with a shot at the end zone. Ummm, I think I wanna see that play. I think that play could succeed. Maybe there was time for 2 plays, who knows. I think's it's safe to say that the next snap could well have changed the outcome.
Ridiculous.
That being said, the Cards certainly had their chances, and blew them. The pick at the end of the first half was brutal, although I really take my hat off to (Pittsburgh D co-ordinator)Dick LeBeau on that one... great defensive call there, to fake blitz and drop into the lane on that inside slant... But still, someone has to make that tackle. You can't let a dude rumble 100 yards. You can't. And again, the refs have to call the blatantly obvious illegal block in the back on that return near midfield, right in front of the ball carrier, which again would negate the TD...
And the other one is, Warner and Fitz delivered them the lead with 2 minutes to go. 3 points. Just. Stop. The. Touchdown. As a defense, you HAVE to be able to stop one drive. Come on. Early in that drive, it was 2nd and 20, deep in Pittsburgh territory at one point. You have to stop that. You must. 3 guys in the corner of the end zone, you can't allow that completion. You can't. Somebody bat it down. Somebody pick it off. There's no force out rule anymore, somebody hit Holmes. Somebody! Take the PI call, whatever, you can't allow that completion!
Ugh.
Warner was 31-43, for 377 and 3 TD's, rating of 112.3. I'll take that. If I tell you that Friday, you can't wait to get to the window and get down on the Cards... Oh wait, I DID tell you that. Cards and the Over, 2 gold plated picks for you. For free, no less. Your scuzzy broker charges waaaay more than me, and he hasn't given you anything like that in awhile....
On the postseason, I was 11-8, well above .500. Without that little hiccup against the Fraud that is Eli Manning, it could have really been great.
September 5th, 2009... My sources indicate this is the date of the NEXT Professional Tackle Football Game of any significance.... Seems like forever.
Hmmm... (scratching my head)... What DID we used to do without Football??? I'm lost here....
Well folks, it was a great season. Enjoy the offseason, see ya next year!
