Public Letter to the Media, Coach Holmgren, and the Steelers
Dear Media,
How dare you? How dare you try to make a respected, venerable franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers feel bad for winning the Super Bowl? The game wasn’t exciting enough for you, so you have to invent controversy in order to have something to talk about. It would be fine and even right if there was any truth to the charges that the referees made bad calls that cost Seattle the game. The problem is- there are questionable calls in every game and even some bad ones. In fact, I will give you one in particular- the personal foul against Matt Hasselbeck. But what about the other disputed ones? Let’s take the offensive pass interference against Jackson that took back a Seattle touchdown. The idea that an official should decide not to call an obvious foul because it’s a “ticky-tack” penalty is ludicrous. Either it’s a penalty or it’s not. The fact that this is the Super Bowl is even more of a reason to expect a mistake-free, clean game from the players, not, as some commentators have suggested, a reason to allow teams to get away with shenanigans. Jackson pushed off against Hope, restricting Hope from making a play on the ball. The only reason Jackson was open to make the touchdown catch was because he committed the foul therefore you have to throw that flag. Not to mention that it happened directly in front of the official.
Okay, you say, but what about the Roethlisberger touchdown? The key to that play was that it was called a score on the field. The booth had to have conclusive evidence that the ball never crossed the plane in order to overturn it. At a certain point, you have to trust what the guy on the field with a clear line of sight saw (and guess what- watching it frame by frame you can clearly see the ball cross the plane- just barely, but it does make it).
In another symptom of what’s wrong with the media these days, the propensity to use hyperbole in everything (see what I did there?) is extremely frustrating. I highly doubt this was the “worst Super Bowl ever”. I hardly think one bad call and a few questionable calls is “horrible officiating”. While Ben’s QB rating was indeed the worst for a winning quarterback in any Super Bowl (numbers, unfortunately, do not lie), he did not play like he did in last year’s playoffs, during which he fell apart and never recovered. Passing isn’t everything- Roethlisberger ran in a touchdown, had several key first downs, and provided blocking for the gadget play that led to another 7 points. And let’s not forget the huge completion to Hines Ward after being flushed out of the pocket and being so mindful of where the line of scrimmage was.
The bottom line is this- it was a sloppy game. Neither team played their best. But in the end the Steelers had fewer mistakes, managed the clock better, and scored more points. The team that deserved to win did. And no matter what you say will take that Lombardi trophy away from them.
Dear Coach Holmgren,
Shame on you. After the game you said that the only call you had a problem with was the Roethlisberger touchdown. But in front of your players, you implied that it was the refs that cost you the game. Sure, if the refs were in Seahawks uniforms dropping passes, throwing an interception in the red zone, missing field goals, punting into the end zone every time, making costly mental errors, and squandering the clock. What happened to accepting responsibility?
Dear Pittsburgh Steelers and fans,
Don’t let these people bring you down. You guys played your tails off in every game and deserved to not only be in the Super Bowl, but to win it. Enjoy your success and we’ll see you in Miami next year.
How dare you? How dare you try to make a respected, venerable franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers feel bad for winning the Super Bowl? The game wasn’t exciting enough for you, so you have to invent controversy in order to have something to talk about. It would be fine and even right if there was any truth to the charges that the referees made bad calls that cost Seattle the game. The problem is- there are questionable calls in every game and even some bad ones. In fact, I will give you one in particular- the personal foul against Matt Hasselbeck. But what about the other disputed ones? Let’s take the offensive pass interference against Jackson that took back a Seattle touchdown. The idea that an official should decide not to call an obvious foul because it’s a “ticky-tack” penalty is ludicrous. Either it’s a penalty or it’s not. The fact that this is the Super Bowl is even more of a reason to expect a mistake-free, clean game from the players, not, as some commentators have suggested, a reason to allow teams to get away with shenanigans. Jackson pushed off against Hope, restricting Hope from making a play on the ball. The only reason Jackson was open to make the touchdown catch was because he committed the foul therefore you have to throw that flag. Not to mention that it happened directly in front of the official.
Okay, you say, but what about the Roethlisberger touchdown? The key to that play was that it was called a score on the field. The booth had to have conclusive evidence that the ball never crossed the plane in order to overturn it. At a certain point, you have to trust what the guy on the field with a clear line of sight saw (and guess what- watching it frame by frame you can clearly see the ball cross the plane- just barely, but it does make it).
In another symptom of what’s wrong with the media these days, the propensity to use hyperbole in everything (see what I did there?) is extremely frustrating. I highly doubt this was the “worst Super Bowl ever”. I hardly think one bad call and a few questionable calls is “horrible officiating”. While Ben’s QB rating was indeed the worst for a winning quarterback in any Super Bowl (numbers, unfortunately, do not lie), he did not play like he did in last year’s playoffs, during which he fell apart and never recovered. Passing isn’t everything- Roethlisberger ran in a touchdown, had several key first downs, and provided blocking for the gadget play that led to another 7 points. And let’s not forget the huge completion to Hines Ward after being flushed out of the pocket and being so mindful of where the line of scrimmage was.
The bottom line is this- it was a sloppy game. Neither team played their best. But in the end the Steelers had fewer mistakes, managed the clock better, and scored more points. The team that deserved to win did. And no matter what you say will take that Lombardi trophy away from them.
Dear Coach Holmgren,
Shame on you. After the game you said that the only call you had a problem with was the Roethlisberger touchdown. But in front of your players, you implied that it was the refs that cost you the game. Sure, if the refs were in Seahawks uniforms dropping passes, throwing an interception in the red zone, missing field goals, punting into the end zone every time, making costly mental errors, and squandering the clock. What happened to accepting responsibility?
Dear Pittsburgh Steelers and fans,
Don’t let these people bring you down. You guys played your tails off in every game and deserved to not only be in the Super Bowl, but to win it. Enjoy your success and we’ll see you in Miami next year.