"Greatest Super Bowl Ever" Hyperbole Overshadowed By Overblown Officiating Controversy

If the early blog reports are any sort of indicator, then it appears that the biggest storyline of a very entertaining Super Bowl will once again be the lackluster officiating of the game. While MJD makes a very compelling plea for fans to rise above dwelling on any controversial calls, I'm sure he does so while realizing that diehard Cardinals fans (you know, the ones who just learned their head coach's name four weeks ago) and Steelers haters will find it difficult to let go of a few of the plays from that game. Cardinals fans would like you to think that had the final Cardinals' play been reviewed, and had it been ruled an incomplete pass (unlikely), then given one more shot, Warner would have chucked the ball into the endzone; and Larry Fitzgerald would have leapt up amongst five defenders and been the one to come down with the ball for a game winning score. Actually, that last part isn't so tough to believe afterall.

But The Hater Nation does bring up a good point. It does seem like historically, the Steelers do disproportionately benefit from the referees' decision making. (Perhaps that's what makes them the "model franchise in all of sports.") There certainly are some similiarities in the camera work between the Immaculate Reception and Santonio Holmes' game winning touchdown catch. It's amazing that with all of the cameras at that game, there wasn't a definitive shot of his right toe hitting the ground. Fortunately for NBC, much like in the Olympics when they couldn't get conclusive video of Michael Phelps winning the 100m butterfly, there are still photographs which verify that the correct call was made.

However my favorite diatribe about the officiating comes from Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports. What got my attention wasn't actually the enumeration of the controversial calls (and yes, the roughing the passer penalty was ridiculous, but not any moreso than 90% of all the other roughing calls made during the NFL season). No, what I found fascinating is that Chase took a screen grab from Warner's final play and then plastered a watermark onto it. Like this:

"Ooh...my DVR has a pause button. I better make sure nobody steals this image without giving me credit!" I know people want to protect their content, but is there really anything even remotely special about a screen grab from a play that was already seen by 300 billion (unofficial, logistically impossible estimate) people worldwide?

I'm not even sure what the picture is trying to prove. Since it's a frozen image, the viewer has no idea if Warner's arm is being cocked back or moving forward. I do think the shot of Santonio Holmes in the background is cool tho.

But Chase gave me an idea. Like everyone else on the planet, I was watching the Super Bowl too. And I happened to have a camera with me and took a few pictures during the game. Perhaps I could post some screen shots from the game with my website's name on them and see if anyone wants to use them on their blog to establish any points; and in the process, give me some free publicity (click for larger image).

For example, Sidebar: Why is Ben Roethlisberger wearing eye black for a night game?

Point: The Steelers are cheaters! Look at how the left tackle here is obviously lined up off of the line of scrimmage:



Observation: Look at the strange look in Ben Roethlisberger's eyes. Could it be that he was using nonverbal hypnosis to mesmerize the officials and compel them to call over 100 yards in penalties against the Cardinals?



Counterpoint: The officials weren't only throwing the flags against the Cardinals. Here's proof of a Holding call that went against the Steelers:



Lost Storyline: History tends to highlight the winners and bury the losers. There were quite a few great performances made by Cardinals players that will be forgotten in short time. For example, Darnell Dockett was in Ben Roethlisberger's face all night long.




As you can see, when you view game photos in isolation, you can make them say whatever you want. It's all a matter of perspective. For example, some of you may have been in such denial over the Cardinals' loss that you didn't even notice a football game being played in these photos at all. For those people, it's alright. The healing will come in time.


Special thanks to Madison Scott for being such a good sport. Be sure to check her out in all kinds of illicit content that I can't even consider linking to from here.

Tiki Barber Tucks Tail Between Legs, Conducts Interviews

Watching this video, I imagine Tiki had to be thinking the entire time: "NBC had to send me to cover this game? Really? Anyone watching the Today show at 7 am on a Monday doesn't care about the Super Bowl anyway. Couldn't you have sent Triumph the Insult Comic Dog instead?"

Meanwhile, his teammates are for the most part being understated in their answers so as not to rub in the fact that Tiki abandoned this team, but you know they're going to break out into laughter the moment the cameras are turned off.

Something I Ate Gave Me Visions of Elijah. Now I Finally Understand How Some of That Crazy Stuff Got in the Old Testament

Talk about bad timing- late Saturday night, out of nowhere, I came down with some sort of 24 hour illness that totally wiped me out and had on a seesaw of nausea and drifting off into a coma for the entire day Sunday. So instead of attending a Super Bowl party, I ended up watching the game from bed while sipping Gatorade and being grateful that we live in a day and age when a person can pause live TV for emergency sprints to the bathroom. Good times. I'm still not sure what caused it, although earlier Saturday night, I did have an ever-so-brief encounter with Erin Andrews, and she did seem pretty tired herself. And while we didn't exchange any bodily fluids, I did sense some sort of connection between us. Unfortunately, the connection wasn't strong enough to prevent her from pulling free from my grasp.

By the end of the day Sunday, my illness was affecting me to the point where I began hallucinating. At one point, I even thought I saw the Giants win the Super Bowl and Eli Manning named MVP. Crazy, I know.

A few other observations from Sunday that may or may not be true:

Jordin Sparks looked really nervous prior to performing the national anthem, considering that it appeared she had lip-synched the entire thing. Maybe they had trouble with her track skipping during rehearsals? Or it could be that the Giants were planning on using her as a linebacker and she couldn't remember all the blitzing schemes.

It all became moot with a Giants victory, but I have to say that at no point watching the game did I ever feel like I was watching one of the greatest teams of all time. Well, that's not entirely true. When Troy Aikman made his pregame locker room speech, I was reminded what an all-time great team looks like.

With the Patriots' loss, Tom Brady's name is now removed from the list of quarterbacks to start and win multiple Super Bowls without losing a single one. That club is now reduced to: Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett, Joe Montana, and Troy Aikman.

While Tom Brady is still certainly a lock for the Hall of Fame, this game basically destroyed the chances of another hopeful, and he didn't even play in the game. Tiki Barber, I'm sorry, but any grandiose speech that you may have been planning will have to be reserved for Al Roker.

People are ripping on Bill Belichick for leaving the game early, noting that it displayed a lack of grace, class, or dignity. But I think it was an illustration of just how dedicated to the game coach Belichick really is. Obviously, he was just trying to get an early start on next year's film study.

Was there really a commercial featuring Mickey Rooney and Rosie O'Donnell (ching chong, ching chong Salesgenie.com" as panda bears? I'm not the most politically correct person, but I think that could have been interpreted as demeaning by some. Although it could have been much worse. I heard the original version of the commercial had some monkeys walk in with the pandas yelling at them, "Hurry up and buy!"

Apparently, that wasn't the only commercial that offended people. This is an actual comment left by a Yahoo! reader on MJD's sports blog:
"PULL DORITOS AD

As a parent I will tell you this: that ad is unacceptable and I plan to voice that opinion in as many forums and venues possible including to the FTC and my Congressman. To have to watch that violence displayed so casually and for it to continue like that unstopped is so far from acceptable by anyones' standards that I am beyond upset. But I have the energy, and resources to hold them accountable. How does behaivor like that displayed in that ad get approve?. Well,its about time someone(Doritos) is held accountable legally and in the court of public opinion. Mistake......big mistake on Doritos part. I'm so sick of tolerating these decisions by their board of directors. Period.
Email: rqbisp@yahoo.com"

Here's the ad in question if you need a refresher:


At first, I thought this was an unbelievable overreaction to the "mouse trap" ad, but then I remembered that I was scarred by something similar when I was younger- except instead of a giant mouse, it was my wrestling coach; and instead of a bag of Doritos being taken, it was my virgin ass. So on second thought, you fight the good fight rqbisp@yahoo.com!

Ok, I can't end this post with the story of the first time I was anally raped. That just isn't fair to my readers. So instead, here's some behind the scenes footage from Adriana Lima's Victoria's Secret Super Bowl ad:

Free At Last

So I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about the social relevance of having two black head coaches face each other in the Super Bowl for the first time. But already, its impact is being felt throughout society. Just last night, the opening scene of PlayboyTv's "director's cut" movie featured a black starlet being nailed hard on a kitchen counter.

Opening scene. That's progress, baby.

...
I'm still hungover from my battle with the keg last night. Sadly, I fared only slightly better than Rex Grossman did yesterday. Hopefully after some more sleep and a few glasses of Tang, I'll be able to post some more Super Bowl thoughts later today...

Super Bowl Preview

I love football, but I hate the two weeks of fabricated hype that precede the big game, which is why I haven't discussed the Super Bowl much on this blog. But since the game is in two days, I suppose I better give my prediction now.

Here's what will happen Sunday:

Many people will get together and party, and many people will get drunk. And yet, few will get laid.

Also, Indianapolis 27, Chicago 13.