thedrifter
02-07-06, 11:33 AM
Super for NFL perhaps, but not so for fans
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
al.com
So the Super Bowl wasn't so super. The team that played the best didn't win, although use of the word "best" must be considered relative when you consider how poorly both teams played.
On the other hand, the NFL got the ending it wanted, which was another Super Bowl championship for the Rooney family and a fairy tale send-off for Detroit native Jerome Bettis.
It is amazing how often the NFL gets what it wants out of these Super Bowls, isn't it? And given the very questionable calls by NFL officials that all seemed to go in favor of the Steelers, it almost makes you wonder if the Steelers' Joey Porter didn't touch a nerve when, after Pittsburgh knocked out the heavily favored Colts in round two, he complained the officials were trying to take the game away from Pittsburgh.
To suggest the game was fixed would be improper. But a friend of mine who played in the league for years believes he can tell you who is going to win the Super Bowl by who gets the break on the first questionable call of the game, including Sunday, when Seattle's first touchdown was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Darrell Jackson. It's amazing how often that's true.
"That's how it is when you're going against the world," Jackson said afterward. "It just seems all our big plays like that somehow, some way, got overturned or called back."
Last year, NFL-licensed products reportedly exceeded $3.4 billion, the profit from which all teams share. It won't hurt those numbers that Pittsburgh came out victorious. The Steelers are the third-most followed NFL team in terms of merchandise sales, while Seattle ranks 21st.
Pittsburgh's Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger rank in the top 10 in individual merchandise sales, while the Seahawks' Shaun Alexander managed to hit No. 10 in jersey sales only because the sale of Seattle merchandise jumped 62 percent during the Seahawks' playoff run.
Everyone in the NFL - Seattle included - will benefit financially from a Pittsburgh victory.
Still, as the Steelers demonstrated in overcoming questionable calls that didn't go their way in Pittsburgh's victory over Indianapolis and NFL-marketing favorite Peyton Manning, the game comes down to players making plays.
The judgment of the officiating crew does not affect the ability to catch passes or kick field goals or manage the clock at the end of the first half. Seattle had its chances and blew it.
On the other hand, with all the money the NFL makes, why does the league still rely on part-time but incredibly well-paid officials? The NFL is a huge business, with the livelihoods of players and coaches resting on the outcome of these weekend games.
Don't they deserve to have the rules of the game interpreted by full-time, paid professionals instead of butchers and bakers, lawyers and candlestick makers who work NFL games on the weekends?
Don't fans deserve to know the game is being managed by professionals, not left in the hands of some neighborhood insurance agent?
The NFL got what it wanted from the Super Bowl.
Can the same be said for the rest of us?
E-mail: rmelick@bhamnews.com
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
al.com
So the Super Bowl wasn't so super. The team that played the best didn't win, although use of the word "best" must be considered relative when you consider how poorly both teams played.
On the other hand, the NFL got the ending it wanted, which was another Super Bowl championship for the Rooney family and a fairy tale send-off for Detroit native Jerome Bettis.
It is amazing how often the NFL gets what it wants out of these Super Bowls, isn't it? And given the very questionable calls by NFL officials that all seemed to go in favor of the Steelers, it almost makes you wonder if the Steelers' Joey Porter didn't touch a nerve when, after Pittsburgh knocked out the heavily favored Colts in round two, he complained the officials were trying to take the game away from Pittsburgh.
To suggest the game was fixed would be improper. But a friend of mine who played in the league for years believes he can tell you who is going to win the Super Bowl by who gets the break on the first questionable call of the game, including Sunday, when Seattle's first touchdown was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Darrell Jackson. It's amazing how often that's true.
"That's how it is when you're going against the world," Jackson said afterward. "It just seems all our big plays like that somehow, some way, got overturned or called back."
Last year, NFL-licensed products reportedly exceeded $3.4 billion, the profit from which all teams share. It won't hurt those numbers that Pittsburgh came out victorious. The Steelers are the third-most followed NFL team in terms of merchandise sales, while Seattle ranks 21st.
Pittsburgh's Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger rank in the top 10 in individual merchandise sales, while the Seahawks' Shaun Alexander managed to hit No. 10 in jersey sales only because the sale of Seattle merchandise jumped 62 percent during the Seahawks' playoff run.
Everyone in the NFL - Seattle included - will benefit financially from a Pittsburgh victory.
Still, as the Steelers demonstrated in overcoming questionable calls that didn't go their way in Pittsburgh's victory over Indianapolis and NFL-marketing favorite Peyton Manning, the game comes down to players making plays.
The judgment of the officiating crew does not affect the ability to catch passes or kick field goals or manage the clock at the end of the first half. Seattle had its chances and blew it.
On the other hand, with all the money the NFL makes, why does the league still rely on part-time but incredibly well-paid officials? The NFL is a huge business, with the livelihoods of players and coaches resting on the outcome of these weekend games.
Don't they deserve to have the rules of the game interpreted by full-time, paid professionals instead of butchers and bakers, lawyers and candlestick makers who work NFL games on the weekends?
Don't fans deserve to know the game is being managed by professionals, not left in the hands of some neighborhood insurance agent?
The NFL got what it wanted from the Super Bowl.
Can the same be said for the rest of us?
E-mail: rmelick@bhamnews.com