The Seahawks got JOBBED by the refs - this means war!

It had to be said.

I know, I know. Bitching about the refs is considered by sports purists to be a cop-out for a team that didn’t perform. However, I don’t agree with the notion that the Steelers made the big plays and the Seahawks didn’t. The Seahawks made big plays, but every time they did the refs took it away. We aren’t talking about obvious, bone-head penalties either. The Seahawks we getting called for stuff that even the announcers (who typically don’t trash the refs) had to admit were dubious. They were the “you could call that on every play” sort of penalties that you hope would balance out over the span of the entire game. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, those calls didn’t balance out. They didn’t come close to balancing out.

Oh, and by the way, to you fans of the Steelers who, like everyone else, will never read this blog, SCREW YOU! You have FIVE bleeping Lombardi trophies now. Rooting for the Steelers is like rooting for the Yankees (Pittsburgh locals excluded). I have ZERO remorse in belittling your championship this year. This Steelers team is easily the worst NFL championship team I’ve ever seen. They made three plays. That’s it. Three! The rest of the game they were completely out played by the Seahawks, and if not for the lopsided help of the nincompoops in stripes the Seahawks would have won in a romp.

The backbreaker, of course, was the phantom holding call that erased what would have been a first and goal for the Seahawk inside the Steelers five yard line. Ignore the fact that replay clearly shows that the Steelers were off-sides on the play. Ignore see-no-evil John Madden pointing out that it was a terrible call. What happened to the concept of just letting these guys play the damned game?! Instead of the Seahawks driving in for a touchdown and taking a 17-14 lead, the refs gave the momentum back to the Steelers. Also, would someone please explain to me how a player making a tackle can be called for an illegal block?

The refs just took control of the game and turned it on its head. It was dumb luck for the Steelers, and they can now bask in glory while the Seahawks season is rendered virtually meaningless.

Perhaps that’s the lesson in football. As in life, you only get one chance, and as unfair as it may seem, luck has a lot to do with weather you win or lose. You can have all the ability. You can work hard and be completely prepared, but you won’t win the prize if lady luck turns away. Sorry. Sucks to be you. As a nation we have apparently embraced that notion of life. The attitude embodied in the axiom, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing,” seems to rule our country. I must say I find the attitude to be hollow and in the long run destructive.

Certainly there are times when winning IS the only thing. War leaps to mind. When your country’s very existence is in danger, then I can see that axiom holding sway. In recent times, however, we have come to take war too lightly and seem willing to declare war on anything and everything without considering the implications. It’s dangerous folly to pursue that path. The very essence of war is destruction, and that destruction is wrought regardless of who wins or loses. As Bertrand Russell told us, "War does not determine who is right - only who is left.”

The analogies between football and war are so obvious that George Carlin’s classic comedy routine echoes in America’s subconscious. As we just saw in Super Bowl XL, winning and losing is just as much a matter of luck as it is a matter of ability, hard work, or preparation. We should consider the example of the Seahawks when we next ponder the virtues of declaring war.