Forget about Roethlisberger TD. It was good, and if not, they would have had another down with the ball right on the goal line.

No, the call that should have Seahawk fans upset is the phantom hold that killed what would have been a spectacular drive. Imagine: 98 yard drive to take the lead. But no, killed by a zebra. I didn't see any hold, and John Madden said as much. It's too bad, because a score on that drive would have led to an exciting finish.

Other calls did the referees no credit either, and somehow they too went against the Seahawks. That ridiculous cut-block call on Hasselbeck; the fumble call on Hasselbeck that cost Seattle a challenge (is it just me or did anyone else notice the tone of contrition in Bill Leavy's voice as he explained how they got it wrong?); and that questionable offensive pass interference call that negated a TD.

So many, I lost count. At a crucial juncture, 3d down with the Steelers trying to run out the clock, Steelers are guilty of delay-of-game. Right after the play clock reaches 0, Roethisberger calls a time out. But the refs give it to him anyway. That 5 yard penalty could shure have made a difference.

I think your summary of the officiating in this game is about right.

When I still played soccer I always looked for consistency in the referee's calls. Heck, back then I didn't even know the rule book, really. But I did know that if I did it and it got called, by gosh it should get called when my opponent did it too. This is true in other sports, no doubt. Baseball umps don't call the rule book strike zone, they call their own. But players expect that that zone will be the same for both teams.

And that's the major beef I've had throughout the the season. The refereeing these days is spotty and timid, the latter due to instant replay. Players and fans don't get a sense of how the game is being called and get frustrated. Based on the examples I saw during the Super Bowl, for instance, I couldn't tell someone what a hold was. Heck, I don't even know what constitutes a completed pass anymore!

Finally, I don' know how the officiating crews are selected. It seems to me that these games should go to the crew that performed best that season. For instance, Mike Carey and his crew were consistently the best I've seen this year. I saw his crew do one playoff game, and they did a good job. Too bad they weren't in the Super Bowl.

Shani Davis was at the Olympics to do his best. He had perhaps one or two realistic shots at an individual gold medal, and that's it. He saved his best for those shots. Makes perfect sense to me. All the flag waving, the use of "we" when referring to US athletes and their exploits, masks the fact that these athletes are the ones doing the work, making the sacrifice and taking the chance. If he wasted himself for the flag and came away empty handed, no one would remember that, would they? Now, if Davis was the product of an East Germany style of sports program, then perhaps he would owe us something. But he doesn't.

"Nearly 2,300 U.S. soldiers and maybe 10 times as many Iraqis have died in the war so far"

The British medical journal Lancet has estimated a figure of approximately 100,000 Iraqis, with a certainty of 90% that it is at least 40,000. Even President Bush has acknowledged about 30,000, but his figure did not include insurgent and Iraqi military casualties.

It is typical of George W. Bush that he lacks the imagination to explore the possibility that Osama might have known exactly what he was doing: ensuring a Bush re-election. I suppose it is possible that Bush understands this; but if that is the case he probably would have avoided the topic entirely because of the embarrassing conclusion this interpretation inevitably leads to.

One reader wrote:

"In short, the wheels are flying off the Rove-Mobile. And as the momentum shifts against them Dick, George, and friends will be in for a helluva ride. Impeachment is just the beginning!"

I've heard this many times. How things are falling apart for Bush & Co. Think about it though: Bush has lied like a rug. He has looted the national treasury. He has sent thousands to their graves. He fished after being told that Al Qaeda planned attacks on US soil. He played the guitar while New Orleans drowned. All with impunity. What has it ever cost him? He still manages to appoint whoever he wishes to the Supreme Court. He still manages to escape any meaningful oversight. He still tortures, even after "Straight-Talk" McCain himself passed a law that supposedly would stop that. He still manages to cripple social programs while enriching his pals, fattening the defense budget, and putting us deep in debt. A supine Congress and complicit press have served as his enablers, and the Supreme Court will affirm his right to do all the above.

Impeachment? We will need to reroute the Potomac to clean out this modern version of the Augean stables.

"He bristled at the notion that anyone -- let alone reporters -- would "stand up" and tell a president what he ought to be doing."

It's called "democracy," George. You can't spread it around if you don't know how to practice it.

"Most of the time, the environments that our reporters deal with the president in are very structured, very managed, and they rarely get to just kick back and have a conversation," David Bohrman, the network's Washington bureau chief, tells the Times. "I think there's a lot of value in it for both sides."

I'd like to know what Mr. Bohrman thinks the value in this is, because it had better be enough to offset the clear loss of credibility these news organizations will suffer from a perceived lack of independence.