Super Bowlsh*t

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselback played well enough to win

This year's Superbowl was supposed to be won by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They came from the superior AFC conference, had the momentum and underdog status throughout the playoffs, are America's team, were playing in a stadium close to their hometown, etc, etc, ad naseum. They were supposed to win, but it was the refs that made sure of it. Seattle has been screwed before on the national sports stage (See the Seattle SuperSonics Western Division Championship game 7 against the Phoenix Suns back in 1993, when the league was determined to create a Barkley vs. Jordan finals.) This time, it was just as egregious. Early on Pittsburgh was given a gift touchdown when they should have been held to a field goal (+4 points for Pitt.) Meanwhile Seattle was robbed of two touchdowns; one on a lame offensive passing interference call on Darrell Jackson, and another on an even more ridiculous holding penalty. It could be argued that the second only guaranteed a field goal, but anyone who has watched Shaun Alexander waltz into the endzone whenever Seattle has the ball inside the 5 knows better (-10 points minimum for Sea.) So, as far as I can tell, the refs gave the Steelers at least 14 points in bogus penalties and a bad touchdown call. Since Pittsburgh actually won the game 21-10 (a margin of 11 points) I'd say Seattle should have won by a field goal.

Actually it didn't feel that close. Seattle punished Pitt up and down the field. The great Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for a pathetic 123 yards with zero TDs and 2 pics. Seattle won the total yards contest by about 60 yards, and the time of possession battle 33 to 27. Over and over again, I kept saying, "Why are the Hawks losing this game... they are dominating on the field." Timely penalty calls, and three improbable offensive plays by the opposition; one a 70 yard TD run, one a broken play that miraculously turned into a 30 yard completion and lastly a flea-flicker trick play that created Pittsburgh's 3rd touchdown. I tip my hat to the Steelers for making some great plays, but play the same game 10 more times over the next 10 weeks, and Seattle wins 7 of 'em.

The saving grace for me was that after the game, I got a good start on the recording project. I finished one role, a robot voiced by Andres Springborn. Then Mel recorded her much longer role. She did an admirable job giving life to Wonder Woman... even willing to act in front of silent observers, Diane and Andres, and unafraid of scaring the neighbors with her battle cries.