Both leagues now are infected with the same virus - the public at large is skeptical that the results are not in someway corrupted by the enormous sums of money involved. Not that the refs are explicitly paid - no that would be way too Abramoff-esque. It's every 'small' market claiming they jobbed - despite San Antonio and Pittsburgh being recent champions of our two largest (in $) sports. It's every talkshow caller ranting about the phantom and uncalled fouls/penalties on every other play of every game that's close.

We *know* the government, probably our employer, and maybe even our spouse/s.o. are not being straight with us, but who can ever be sure...but this, this is professional sports and it has super slo-mo and by God, its supposed to be fair. And if it's not fair that must mean a conspiracy is at work.

I have seen some high school basketball games this year where the referrees certainly had a significant impact on the outcome, and could be reasonably accused of any kind of bias you might suspect. But in the locker room afterward, the coach is always clear to the boys - you will never improve if you keep blaming anyone but yourselves for this loss, and correct the mistakes you made next time.

Just remember this article when the Steelers get knocked out of next year's playoffs by an iffy call. I'm not a Steelers fan or a Seahawks fan and the reffing was bad. Did it cost them the game? Maybe not, but it sure as hell didn't give them the boost it gave the Steelers. I've heard Steelers fans complaining about the how the calls were so bad and tilted toward the Steelers too, are they part of the "cry of the losers"?

Always easy to come out and post this nonsense when your team just won. I'd love to see it from you when the Steelers tank.

I completely agree that the NFL has a real PR problem with their rules. As I said in a comment yesterday, I can never celebrate a great play in the NFL anymore without waiting a few seconds to see if a penalty will negate it. It's a horrible way to watch a game.

Fans don't want to see games won or lost by penalties. I know calling penalties is a necessary evil to make sure everyone plays fairly, but surely the NFL could do something to simplify the rules and leave less opportunities for committee-meeting-length game stoppages. More and more it feels like football is defined not by the game, but by a parade of flying yellow flags.

Ya know... all these Seahawk fans can go on and on and on about bad officiating, but when they -- and even Holmgren and some of his players -- cross the line by saying that the game was essentially thrown to the Steelers, that's not only just plain wrong, it's the sign of some weak fans, some weak players and a weak coach.

I'm sorry, but any team that looks like the Seahawks did at the end of the half and then at the end of the game has absolutely zero right to start criticizing the refs. And not for nothing, but the refs weren't the ones who threw Hasselbeck's INT. The refs weren't the ones playing defense on Willie Parker's TD run. The refs weren't the ones giving up a first down on 3rd and 275. The refs weren't the ones who, knowing Cowher's penchant for calling trick plays, were totally duped by Randle-El's TD pass. The refs weren't the ones who missed two field goals. The refs weren't the ones punting the ball into the end zone four times. The refs weren't the league's supposed MVP who rushed for a meaningless 95 yards. The refs weren't the ones dropping key passes.

Another thing that really irritates me about many of these whiny complaints is the notion that somehow, the better team lost. I'll ask everyone here: which team has the best record in the NFL over the past two seasons? It's not the Seahawks, it's not the Patriots and it's not the Colts -- it's the Steelers. The Seahawks were 24-12. The Colts were 27-8. The Patriots were 28-9. The Steelers were... ahem... 31-7.

I'll be the first to admit that the Super Bowl win was not exactly pretty for the Steelers. They were definitely off their game and Ben looked awful at times. But at key moments, they were on their game. And it was enough. And it wasn't like they cakewalked into the Super Bowl. They beat the top three AFC seeds on the road. In fact, of their seven game winning streak before the Super Bowl, five of those seven were on the road. The Steelers deserve this title because they played amazing football to get there.

It seems everyone needs some kind of myth these days to sustain or justify their version of events. The one being built up around this game is a perfect example. "The refs stole the game," is just the latest version of "Saddam and Bin Laden were connected." Not that I would ever equate those two myths as equal in world importance, but I think it's interesting how vociferous the complaints are in this instance, and how people need to find any reason rather than just say, "we lost," or "we were wrong."

And I hate to mix my sports and politics for a second letter in a row, as this is a sports column, but really, if all you Seahawk fans in Blue Seattle truly want to get crazed about bad officiating, watch Alberto Gonzales dissemble in the Senate hearings in defense of Bush's domestic spying program. That's a real example of horrendous officiating -- one that counts a lot more than any football game.

Michael Irvin.

Just about any game he played. 95% of the time he was pushing off or away from his defenders without a flag.

First of all, I refuse to feel badly for Steelers fans after the whining and conspiracy mongering that when on after the Polamalu call. Joey Porter came out and said that the officials were actively trying to give the game to the Colts. Pittsburgh sports radio was filled with anti-NFL invective and lots and lots of yes, whining. So shut up. Please. You don't get to complain and moan about the officiating for a week and then tell everyone else they can't do it when the shoe's on the other foot.

I'm not going to rehash any of the arguments from yesterday. (I am going to try to take you up on your offer about the pass interference DVD if I can, King, providing I can scrounge up enough game footage. Because you're just wrong about that.) What I do want to talk about is why part of this interests me. I'm glad the Steeler's win has been cast into doubt because I don't think this is in any sense a championship caliber team. I think this was the ultimate Super Bowl of the parity era, a sloppy and at times ugly contest between two similarly mediocre teams that just happened to be the two teams still playing at the end.

Did anyone out of the hundreds of millions of viewers watching the game ever say to themselves "This is some great football!" I mean what is the Steelers identity? Defense? Does anyone think this defense is anything special at all? Running the ball? Besides one long play, which was the product of lousy angles by the Seahawks, they tried running and it didn't work. Jerome Bettis, who was supposed to be the centerpiece story (and by the way is not one of the top 25 running backs of all time), averaged his usually 3.3 yards a carry.

To me that's the story. A close football game usually shouldn't be a lousy football game, but that's what this was. I simply can't respect a Super Bowl champion who's QB rating for the game is 22.6. 22.6!!

I'm surprised more people haven't talked about just how crummy both of these teams are.