An Official Mess

In an ideal world, which is always difficult to have if not damn near impossible, a championship game of a sport is not decided by the officials but by the athletes of that particular sport.

Evidently, the officials of Super Bowl XLIII left that important motto at their hotel prior to the game. Those who are extreme conspiracy theorists could argue that perhaps they were encouraged to by those with a higher league office.

Either way, the game itself was marred with a bevy of questionable penalties that primarily went against the Arizona Cardinals. A team that came in averaging a shade under 50 penalty yards per game doubled that output in the game, a peculiar jump even for a game as big as this one was.

Yet it was two calls/decisions that weren't made that turned out to be huge factors in Pittsburgh's 27-23 win. The first was the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by James Harrison right before halftime. No, I'm not even questioning whether he was down before crossing the goal line, which officials determined he was not. But it was the missed illegal block in the back by Troy Polamalu on Larry Fitzgerald during the interception return. Fitzgerald, to his credit, got back to his feet and nearly made a touchdown saving tackle on Harrison. However, if the illegal blocked had been called by the officials, the touchdown would not have counted. Barring a miracle final play, the halftime score would've been 10-7 Pittsburgh, not 17-7. Considering the Steelers won the game by 4 points, that is a very striking difference.

The other decision, one that promises to be talked about for weeks if not longer (and one that still has me bewildered and downright mad), was in regards to the second to last play of the game. On the play Kurt Warner was hit as he was trying to throw the ball downfield into the end zone. The official call on the field was a fumble, yet replays at best showed that at best it was inconclusive (in fact, after seeing it several times I still believe that Warner pushed the ball forward which under NFL rules is a forward pass).

So, with the game under 2 minutes and all booth reviews coming from upstairs, this is an automatic shoe-in for instant replay, right? Oh no ... not happening. The next thing you see is the Steelers kneel down and the game is over.

After the game officials claimed to have reviewed it upstairs and confirmed that it was a fumble. Huh, that's funny, I don't remember hearing an official announce that the play was under review or that the play on the field stands as called. Those are the announcements traditionally made on an instant replay review (and what was done after what turned into the game winning Touchdown catch by Santonio Holmes).

No "true" instant replay on the second to last play of the game? Really? Does it take a Harvard law degree to figure out that it might be easier to look at several replays to determine a pass or fumble as apposed to at a game speed glance?

After having their hands on the prints of much of Super Bowl XLIII, the officials on the field took them off at the game's most critical point. That's what I'll remember most from the Steelers sixth super bowl title.