Over the years the Super Bowl has turned into a global phenomenon, each year it feels like it's less about the game and more about everything happening around the game. You have the Super Bowl parties, all about getting together, seeing friends and family, enjoying food, and maybe even watching the game. You have the commercials, which are occasionally more exciting than the game, in fact some people only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, making it probably the only TV event suffering from that. And then you have the glitzy Super Bowl Half-Time show, with it's star studded line ups, super guests and epic moments. This year I found those non-football elements being the only things drawing me towards the game, the football itself had completely lost my interest.
There was heaps of controversy from the Conference Championships and the way everything was handled left a very sour taste in my mouth. The game is supposed to be about finding out who the best team is and crowning a champion and that's just not what happened this year. Both Conference Championship games were plagued with game changing errors by the officials, that teams and fans had no way to correct. The most egregious error came in the Saints - Rams game were the officials missed the most blatant pass interference call I've ever seen in my life. The only people who didn't see it were the officials on the field and that one horribly blown call by the officials changed the outcome of the game. Not only was there blatant pass interference but also a helmet to helmet hit on a defenseless receiver. Even the defender thought the play was pass interference:
That's a real bad look for the league and football in general. Instead of a first down on the 13 yard line, the Saints have to settle for a field goal and eventually lose the game in overtime. Had the Saints scored a touchdown, they almost seal their berth in the Super Bowl. An embarrassing moment for the NFL and football in general.
What would be really funny is if the Patriots - Chiefs game had even more game changing ridiculous officiating:
KC up by four, Patriots have the ball 3rd and 7, incomplete pass, about to be fourth down and KC getting the ball with 7 minutes left on the clock. Then the refs step in with a phantom roughing the passer call, automatic first down leading to the Patriots eventually winning the game in overtime. A total embarrassment to the league.
And after having officiating change the outcome of both Conference Championships, how does the NFL respond? By saying it was just human error and nothing they could do about it. What a joke, a league that's unwilling to kneel beside it's players, unwilling to make the right call and unworthy of having me tune into their farce of a Super Bowl.
Worst part about all this is that I could fix all this in about five minutes. Remove the coaches challenges and instead have off field officials reviewing the game in real time and overturning any game changing mistakes. No one saw the pass interference? Well the referee with instant replay at his disposal sure did and a simple call down to the on field officials changes the Super Bowl from Patriots - Rams to Saints - Chiefs and gives a shred of integrity back to the game.
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