Took a little extra time so I could soak up all of the Super Bowl coverage I could because it's not every year your favorite team wins the big game. Well, unless your a Steelers fan like I am, then it's basically every fourth year your team wins the big game, so I got that going for me, which is nice.
While I'm ecstatic Pittsburgh survived the
Cardinals second-half rally to win its sixth title, I will admit I was a little worried my team had blown it down the stretch. Even after the Steelers took a 20-7 lead in the third quarter, I knew the high-powered Arizona offense was fully capable of a comeback, so I jumped on the roller coaster and rode it until the dramatic end with my Super Bowl feast threatening to reappear on more than one occasion.
Speaking of the end, I'm still a little pissed that the normal official replay
protocol was applied on the controversial fumble/incomplete pass by Kurt Warner in the final seconds. While I do believe the ball was coming loose after the hit on Warner which would make the play a fumble (as it was called on the field), it sure would've been nice for the replay officials to have taken a little more time to review the play and then announce their decision to the millions who anxiously awaited it. Instead, we got a hurried booth review that resulted in many Arizona fans and gamblers alike starting chants of a conspiracy.
Fortunately, I'm a Steelers fan who didn't wager on the game so the play being ruled a fumble and effectively ending the game with the Steelers on top didn't cause me any anguise. But, and this is a big but, if I was a Cards fan, I would likely be a little fired up about the way the final play was reviewed. In a normal review that takes place in the final two minutes of a half, the play is automatically reviewed by the replay official and despite rumors to the contrary, the play was in fact reviewed. The mistake that was made, was that for some inexplicible reason, the decision that would help determine the biggest sporting event in the world came back in record time and then was not announced to the millions who awaited it. Why would the NFL get away from the norm when trying to determine the outcome of the Super Bowl? Still not sure about that one.
The current replay system was put in place to get the call right and I believe they ultimately did do that. But in getting away from the normal procedure, the NFL opened up the flood gates to controversy and all of the conspiracy theorists out there. If only they would have taken the same amount of time they had earlier in deciphering the Harrison touchdown and the Holmes catch, came back and announced that the replay had confirmed the call on the field, everybody would've been OK with the decision made. As it stands now, the rushed decision making leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Arizona fans everywhere, taints a record-breaking accomplishment made by the Steelers and takes away from one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever.