Super Bowl XL - The Game Discussion

[Audiodrama]

That was the most poorly officiated Super Bowl I've ever seen. That's all I'm gonna contribute to this thread.

(Also let me add that I'm completely unbiased when I make this comment. I didn't care at all who won the game.)

[NJTank]

Aaron Neville, and Arethea Frnaklin were horrendous today there best years are clearly behind them

Stones are past their prime too as Mick said when he sung Satisfaction he coudl haave sung this at Super Bowl I if he was invited, and that was 40 years ago.

[Roger Clemente]

That Hummer commercial with the giant monster and giant robot was the best.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[slapshot]

That Hummer commercial with the giant monster and giant robot was the best.

That commercial has been shown before. I think it might even have been shown during the last Super Bowl. I don't remember what show had it on, but it was one of the "event" ones, like the Grammys, Emmys, Super Bowl, one of those.

[Audiodrama]

I'm not sure if this has already been discussed...what's up with the main page of ESPN.com?? What's with the "BLAH BLAH BLAH" and "24-24" score in the top-right corner? (I've highlighted the area in neon green.)

[Squeaks4]

That Hummer commercial with the giant monster and giant robot was the best.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

Wow, just goes to show ya how different people's opinions are. I thought that commerical was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. Didn't make sense and the Hummer H2 &H3 are pure garbage.

[WJMorris3]

That Hummer commercial with the giant monster and giant robot was the best.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

Wow, just goes to show ya how different people's opinions are. I thought that commerical was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. Didn't make sense and the Hummer H2 &H3 are pure garbage.

Let's add the Burger King commercial as being stupid -- might be the worst of the lot.

[randyc]

IMO the Hummer commercial was by far one of the worst SB commercials ever.

[andrewharrington]

I noticed a pretty big Steelers bias through most facets of the game. The fans were clearly Pittsburgh-heavy. All the little black and white spotlights with players talking about the Lombardi Trophy in the first half were Steelers' players. The game was very poorly officiated as well. I found it too convenient that all the questionable calls went against Seattle. Ben's too-close-to-call touchdown dive. Offensive pass interference for a weak push on a scramble break. A phantom holding penalty after a play in which Seattle advances to the one yard line after a 98+ yard drive. John and Al didn't even agree with most of those calls. I don't think it's right to take touchdowns and big plays off the board, especially in the Super Bowl, on close, questionable, possibly-not-even-there penalties. Sure there were bad calls against both teams, but the big ones all benefitted the Black and Gold. America loves "the little team that could."

[Squeaks4]

I think its a tie between the Burger King commercial and the "Diddy" and Jay Mohr Diet Pepsi ad. Scratch that, every Diet Pepsi ad was painful

[andrewharrington]

The Budweiser and Bud Light commercials were very good, very funny, etc. as always. I loved Richard Dean Anderson's cameo appearance as MacGyver on the MasterCard commercial.

[jkrdevil]

Wow, I don't remember any of these ads. Although the local ABC didn't air a lot of them and showed a lot of local commercials. I watched the game in Sarasota and I get 2 ABC's. The local one ran local commercials a lot where the Tampa affliate showed the national ones. Occasionally I would flip between the 2 during the breaks and they would have different commercials.

[Your Name Here]

You know, ABC Sports really has the best graphics. It's a shame that they're pretty much finished.

[BCBoy]

You know, ABC Sports really has the best graphics. It's a shame that they're pretty much finished.

No kidding. I was very pleased with their graphics. Much better than CBS and way more nice looking than FOX. It was perfect, and yes it is a shame NFL on ABC is pretty much finished.

[zer0dotcom]

The SUperbowl isn't about who ins, who has the longest touchdown, fieldgoal, best graphics, how good the halftime show was, or how much money you won.

It's about who's beer you can slip the hot sauce in without them knowing

[CS85]

The hidden beer commercial was awesome, IMO.

[Andy]

I really feel for Jerramy Stevens. What did he ever do to anybody?

[infrared41]

A few late night observations.

My favorite commercial. The streaking sheep. (Bud)

The Seahawks got jobbed on a bunch of calls. Big Ben didn't get in. There was no offensive intereference on jackson's TD catch. The holding call on Stevens catch down to the two was bogus. Hassleback's low block call was ridiculous. The holding call on Warrick's return was pretty weak too. A very poorly officiated game. Still the Seahawk's had ample opportunities to win and just couldn't finish the deal. The Steelers did what they had to and got it done. Props to them.

ABC's production was very weak. Numerous missed shots, poor camera work and directing, very sloppy game coverage. I probably notice this stuff more because I work in TV production. Trust me, it was a less than stellar effort. The problem is they choose "all-star" teams to do the Super Bowl and it just means you have a crew that has never worked together before. They seemed lost in the pre-game stuff. Like they totally missed Bettis coming out well before the rest of The Steelers. The got lost and fell behind when the former MVPs were being introduced. The end of the game was a joke. They simply locked on to Cowher even though he was just standing there. The director had his head up his ass and it showed. It was just a very shaky production.

The Stones were God-Awful. Stevie Wonder was passable at best. The anthem totally blew. It might be time to start over with the pregame and halftime entertainment.

Overall a pretty lackluster Super Bowl.

My 2 cents.

[Your Name Here]

You know, ABC Sports really has the best graphics.  It's a shame that they're pretty much finished.

No kidding. I was very pleased with their graphics. Much better than CBS and way more nice looking than FOX. It was perfect, and yes it is a shame NFL on ABC is pretty much finished.

Actually, ABC Sports itself is pretty much finished. This was the last sports property that was obtained directly by the network. Everything else will henceforth be at the bidding of ESPN. Starting today, ABC Sports is a subsidiary of ESPN.

[paynomind]

First, I didn?t care who won, I just like football.

If you evaluate an entity after an event and grade them by how well they performed, here are the grades I'd give:

Seahawks

Overall first half - B

Time management first half - F

Overall second half - B

Time management second half - F

If they had run the two minutes drill effectively, or hadn?t turned the ball over, or stopped Parker's run, or got some catches from Stevens, or gotten Alexander running more effectively, they'd have won this game. If this was a heavyweight fight that counted minute-by-minute instead of a football game with TDs and Field goals, they'd have won going to the cards. More often than not, they looked in control, with momentum. The Steelers had bright moments, but overall didn't look 'better' than the Hawks.

Steelers

Overall first half - C

Time management first half - N/A

Overall second half - B

Time management second half - A

The INT, trick play (that anyone should have seen coming from 30 miles away) Parker's run, and their last drive were the only time that the Steelers looked good. But they were enough to put more points on the board, and take the win. The best 4th quarter, time grinding drive I've seen in quite a while. Those first downs were killing the Hawks. Steelers should feel lucky they were ahead to run out the clock in the first place.

Refs - D-

I think there was no malice, no intention, but they missed quite a few calls. Seemed very sloppy to me. Where was Eddy Hocks? I don?t think anyone should ref any game ever, other than Ed. This game proves my theory.

The push-off was a terrible call to reverse a touchdown. He put his hand out, but didnt push.

The holding call to push them back form the 2 was phantom. it didnt happen,a nd even Madden said so.

In football, there are three and only three penalties on a guy who successfully makes a tackle- Facemask, horse collar, and unnecessary roughness. Hasslebeck's chop call was terrible, and you might even hear the NFL own up to it. That penalty is there to keep guys from chopping blockers, to allow another guy to make the tackle. Hasslebeck dove PAST the blocker to make a great tackle.

And, thanks for the explanation from the ref on the Ben no-TD. "Play stands as called." Thanks. What did you see? Did you see him score? Did you not see enough to overturn it? What happened?

Overall, lots of calls were Bah-log-na.

Media Day Hype - D

OK, Joey Porter, settle down, tiger. Stevens said his team will win the game. Thats what everyone should say. Thats what YOU siad in your media day. Why are you getting all upset about it? Oh yeah, its cause you are a hype master who needs the drama to make the news. How about make news on the field. Sorry, you didnt do that either. So now, how about just shut up.

Media Coverage - C

OK, OK, OK.. I get it... Bettis is from here, Polomalu is awesome, the Steelers have won a super bowl before. Jesus Christoph. Enough already. Damn. Can we get a new story line? Get out of the Steeler's ass, quit over-hyping a guy who should have retired two years ago who didn?t do much for your team this year, and give me a break, Polomalu is a good defender. He isn?t the savior.

Commercials - C

This was not the year of the watercooler commercials. The Ameriquest ones were decent, the Pepsi ones were pathetic (as usual... I can't think of a single decent Pepsi ad ever) and AB wasn't up to par. One good fridge joke, but that was it. The Hummer ad was genius. I think the hater of the ad who posted before is just a Hummer hater and would have hated a Hummer commercial that featured a naked Jessica Alba making out with a naked Jennifer Gardner.

All performing artists - D

Horrible. I guess if you are 60, and can afford superbowl tickets, you care about the Moldy Stones, and you remember when Aretha had a voice. Frankly, they've got to fix the half time shows. Mtv failed too young, this year the Stones Failed too old. Not sure what the solution is. I watched all I could stand, then turned and watched a Simpsons rerun. What ever happened to alternative halftime shows? Didn't Beavis and Butthead do one? I miss that. Where was In Living Color when you need them?

My Wife's Wings - A

Super duper sauce she cooked up. All households should have a Fry Daddy for fries, wings, etc. Oven cooking what should be fried is just pathetic. Stop fooling yourself; you will love how your food tastes in the oil fryer. Not the healthiest of choices, but who wants healthy Wings? Bah!

6:00pm game time - A

Very nice work. Saw the whole game, and some post interviews, and still got in bed before 11pm. Thank you for the early start time. Until they make Post Super Bowl Monday a national holiday, they need to keep the game early.