Super Bowl XL

Another Super Bowl came and went last night. It wasn't the prettiest of games but at least it was entertaining - thank goodness!

See, this is the time of year when CFL fans come out of the woodwork to proclaim the Canadian game is superior to the NFL because the Grey Cup is often a thrilling game and the SuperBowl rarely lives up to the hype.

They're right, of course - the Grey Cup is, typically, far more interesting than the Super Bowl - but the CFL is still a second-rate league. And it always will be. Hey, the local high school championship may be fantastic - doesn't make it better than the pros. The CFL is where NFL cast-offs go to die. The rules may make it more exciting, but the calibre of play just doesn't compare.

But back to the Super Bowl.

I'm not sure if the better team won, but I'd have to say the Steelers earned it. Beating Cincinnati, Indianopolis and Denver on the road to get to the big dance? Come on, who can argue with that?

But when it came to the big game, the Seahawks clearly got robbed...and shot themselves in the foot:

- Roethlisberger did not get into the end zone, I don't care what you say. (4 points)
- I'm not sure Darrell Jackson pushed off to catch that negated touchdown, it looked more like a hand check to me. (7 points)
- A catch down to the 2 yard line was negated when Sean Locklear was called for holding Kimo von Oelhoffen - yeah, not so much - when in fact von Oelhoffen went offside on that play and, just to rub it in, the next. (7 points?)

That's easily an 18-point swing on a game that was won by 11. But the Seahawks also dropped balls and made some lacklustre efforts that cost them large (what the heck was with that terrible clock management at the end of each half!?).

But I think what bothered me most about this game was the way it was hyped. The Steelers came in with the reputation of being the blue-collar team, the opposite of the flashy champions of the past like the Cowboys and Niners. But it was clear come game time that the Steelers were the overwhelming favourites, that the Seahawks were the unloved dogs. Even the features showing players and coaches with the Vince Lombardi trophy had more Steelers in them. And the Steelers put the game away with - you guessed it - a flashy gadget play.

It all kinda made me feel sorry for the Seahawks. And while I went into the game cheering for the Steelers, I started pulling for Seattle later in the game. Sure, I still wanted Roethlisberger to get his ring and validation, but I couldn't help but feel the Seahawks were getting a bum deal out of this whole Super Bowl experience.

...and more than just being forced to go to Detroit.


Goodspeed: "I'll do my best."
Mason: "Your best?! Losers always whine about their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen!"
Nicolas Cage & Sean Connery, "The Rock"