I'm having a lot of trouble getting excited about this Super Bowl. It's not the nauseating thought of Prince grabbing headlines and other body parts when we should be enjoying a football game. It's not the droll Colts vs. Bears matchup, even though it's pretty unexciting to me.

It's the memories of last year, coming back to haunt me. Seeing the Seahawks outplay the Steelers, and then losing by the difference of a few screwy referee blunders still chokes me up. I refrained at the time from flaming out on the internet about it -- I was just glad the Seahawks had such a great season -- but still I had a heavy heart. Not just because of the miscarraige of justice in this game, but because of what was happening to my dear, beloved sport of NFL football.

You remember the playoffs last year, right? One disputed, pivotal, game-changing referee blunder after another. Like a teenager's prom night zit, the travesty of the Super Bowl was merely a continuance of what was becoming the abysmal but established norm. It just happened to come to a head - again - on the biggest night of these player's lives. The NFL had a bad acne problem, and no amount of wishing was going to make it clear up. They needed a ProActiv Solution to their problems, or the NFL was going to lose all credibilty.

But I'm not writing this to vent hostility about last years' Super Bowl. That would be pointless and accomplish nothing. What I did want to say is that our loss was not in vain.

Check out this bit from John Clayton:

"According to the Times, officials called 876 fewer penalties this season, an average of 3.5 fewer a game. Only 11.9 penalties were called in each
game, and the number dropped to single figures in the playoffs. Overall, that's a good thing. Fewer penalties mean more action, and it led to one of the league's most competitive seasons and clearly one of the closest playoffs in NFL history."

Have you noticed this yourself? Football is the main topic after games. It's not about the lousy refs or blown calls. Mike Peiera is not breaking down video in midweek, stammering through some horrid explanation of how they screwed up.

Football is back. The refs are letting the players play, and I love it.

But I'm still sad. Sad it had to be our team that took the brunt of the injustice. But at least it appears to have had a purpose. I just can't seem to enjoy it yet.


[Comments taken in SeahawkBlue Forums]

Labels: Bloof, Referees, Seahawks, Super Bowl