even i, seattle fan, won't call the pylon call wrong. jackson was out on that one.

i think everyone's getting caught up on the pylon itself. remember, though:

this was a pass play. this issue is getting both feet on the ground in bounds without a push.

the pylon is not part of the ground.

it is part of the endzone, however. on a running play, where all that is required is to break the plane (not two feet in the endzone like a pass), the pylon is part of that goal line.

so, michael vick running and waving the ball over the pylon counts.

jackson had to catch the ball first, then wave the thing over the pylon...

_______

now, that said, just watched the replay of the glorious gadget play on ESPN.

jaworski is raving about the ben roethlisberger chop block in the backfield that freed randel el as he came around.

not a trace of irony in his voice that this is the exact kind of block hasselbeck was penalized for one play earlier (and he wasn't even blocking...)

If a ref sees pass interference and calls it, it's "ticky-tack?" If it's in the rule book, and the ref sees it and recognizes it as pass interference, it is the ref's job to make that call. People see the ref's call as evidence of the game being fixed? Come on.

You know what would make me suspicious of a game being fixed? A ref, staring straight into the face of obvious offensive pass interference, not calling it, and allowing a touchdown. THAT would make me suspicious.

As for Holmgren, the time manangement was absolutely horrible, and he had the gall to yell at the refs on the way off the field at halftime? He should have been yelling at himself for the way he coached the previous minute and a half of the game.

Keith Talent,

I'll give you "Start Me Up" and "She's so Cold", but those are amoung the older of the songs anyway. My point was that they hadn't done anything good in a long time and were living off their glory days. As for "only good up to the time they graduated high school", I was 4 in 1972. I was mostly just commenting that it'd be nice if they'd book something other than an "oldies" band or miserable pop shlock. At least the Stones avoid the latter category.

lezzbo,

"I admire anyone his age who hasn't gained weight and can move like that at the age of 62."

Amazing what heroin can do, isn't it?

1] jackson is five yards clear and makes the catch. the defender turns to the ref and asks for a flag. the ref stutters and obliges.

If you watch the replay the official goes to throw the flag and wiffs, then Hope asks for a push call while the ref is going for his flag a 2nd time.

You saw Jackson extend his arm to push Hope is what the ref saw, and why he threw the flag. Was it a judgement call? Of course, so is every interference call.

This will be in dispute for a while, but of course i must say ben did not cross any plane.

And I don't know for sure, but I think the tip of the ball did touch the front edge of the goaline. The replay certainly didn't show anything conclusive. The ref has to make a call. He made a call. If later the whole world looks at the play in super slow-mo and isn't sure one way or the other then it can't be a bad call.

another prime example was the hasselbeck "fumble" that was so clearly caused by the ground. we had to challenge that?!

No, the challenge was to see if Hasselbeck was touched before the ground caused the fumble. If you are not touched then the ground can in fact cause a fumble. The replay showed what the ref on the field missed, that Foote had slightly brushed Hasselbecks jersey.

Not to be a jerk about it, but it doesn't sound like you were aware a player can fumble if he falls to the ground by himself and the ball pops out due to hitting the ground. If you don't know the rules (and I agree there are too many rules about what is or isn't a fumble) then obviously you are going to be more likely to get upset about "bad" calls or reviews that were in fact based on a rule you weren't aware of.

thats' fifteen yards and puts pitt at midfield. just enough room for: GADGET PLAY! yay! did you know randel el was a quarterback once? he was! guess how far he can throw. watch!

And if Randle Els throw was caught by a wide open Ward 15 yards further from the endzone then what? Ward runs 18 yards untouched instead of 18 yards. I don't see how that would help the Seahawks.

other bad calls: we counted about nine questionables, including offsides blitzes, the delay of game (it's okay ben! take your time!), the alexander neck grab...

And the ones you don't care about because they went Seattles way. The Stephens fumble that got a quick whistle and became an incomplete pass that could not be reviewed. The block in the back on Roethlesberger on the Seattle int return that would have given the Seahawks the ball around the 50 instead of the Steeler 20. And on and on.

I agree Seattle was hurt by penalties, but that's what happens when you do things that can be penalized. The refs are never perfect, and will never be perfect.

That should say:

...Ward runs 18 yards untouched instead of 3 yards untouched....

now, that said, just watched the replay of the glorious gadget play on ESPN.

jaworski is raving about the ben roethlisberger chop block in the backfield that freed randel el as he came around.

not a trace of irony in his voice that this is the exact kind of block hasselbeck was penalized for one play earlier (and he wasn't even blocking...)

I agree the Masselbeck call was blown (he didn't block anyone) but that has nothing to do with the non-call on Ben. You can block below the waist at the line of scrimmage, just nowhere else on the field, including during returns.