ADN

Congratulations Steelers and Steeler fans. It was an exciting if raggedy game, and clearly Pittsburgh came to play.

I predicted Seattle would win mostly because I thought they were a bit more talented than the Steelers, and were playing very crisply. Yesterday†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢s game did nothing to dissuade my opinion of the former, but the Seahawks†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢ execution was atrocious, and the Steelers surely deserve some credit for that.

People here are whining about the officiating, but I don†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢t buy it. Seattle outplayed Pittsburgh, except when it mattered, and the Steelers earned the victory.

Anyway, all hail the conquering Steelers! It was a convincing win. My only saving grace is that this is the only Internet forum on which I predicted a Seattle win, so I only have to suck up to the few of you fellow freaks that ply this cyber-backwater.

I had a fairly interesting experience through these NFL playoffs, which I†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢ll share now for the none of you that might be interested.

Although I†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢ve lived in the Puget Sound area for eight years, I†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢m not really a Seahawks fan. In fact, I really hated them for the first two decades of their existence.

See, I†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢m from Portland, Oregon, and having grown up there in the 60s and 70s, with cousins that lived in Seattle I was very much on the Portland side of the natural rivalry that exists between the cities. At the same time, I was a diehard Broncos fan as a kid, and I absolutely despised the Dallas Cowboys, known as †™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™¢¢¬‚¦‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦¢‚¬Å“America†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢s Team†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬? back in the day.

When the Seahawks came along, it was bad enough that Seattle had an NFL team and Portland likely never would, but they also looked suspiciously like the Cowboys, with their silver and blue pseudo-Dallas uniform style. They also billed themselves as the †™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™¢¢¬‚¦‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦¢‚¬Å“Northwest†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢s Team,†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬? and of course their games were always televised regionally in Portland. So we in the Rose City had to watch the fucking Junior Cowboys get pasted every week, while the rest of the west coast got classic match ups involving the Broncos, Raiders and Chargers, etc. It sucked, and I was happy every time the Hee-Hawks lost, which was plenty often.

In the 90s, my interest in the NFL waned, and gradually I followed it less, and concentrated on college football. By the time I moved up here, I didn†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¾¢‚¬Å¡‚¢t much care either way about the Seahawks, but I liked the fact they got rid of those horrid faux-Cowboy uniforms, and imploded the sickening Kingdome.

So by little more than mere familiarity I found myself on the Seahawk bandwagon, and long about the late third quarter yesterday, I was actually pissed at myself for emotionally investing in this team. I was thinking, †™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬†™¢¢¬‚¦‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦¢‚¬Å“You know, I get enough of this shit from the Ducks, why do I even care about these guys.†™ ¢‚¬„¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¢†™‚¢‚¢¢¢‚¬Å¡‚¬¦‚¡¢‚¬Å¡‚¬? But I did, and it hurt.

Damn...

You're no fun Ike, LoL...What's with this dignity you have, ROFL...I'm gonna go pick on LG some more...

But seriously, on paper..? It looks like the Seahawks CRUSHED the Steelers...I think that they got down by a few questionable calls, which is something you can't do...You should play harder in those instances...It would have been easy for Pittsburg, in retrospect, to give up after that HORRIBLE playcall in Indianapolis...I am glad that they didn't...

Ken Dorsey from Miami after a game, after being cheated out of his 2nd national championship against Ohio State by an official, said it best...

"We are just supposed to overcome those types of things..."

Yep, I equate officiating in football with the weather. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but it's rarely the major factor in determining the outcome, and it wasn't yesterday.

I haven't looked at the box score, but did any Pittsburgh receiver other than Hines Ward catch a pass? That guy killed the Seahawks, and Roethlisberger made the crazy sandlot plays when he had to.

I agree about Seattle losing their heads regarding the officiating. I couldn't believe Holmgren's comment going into the locker room at halftime. All he did was bitch about the call on Ben's TD, which to me was clear, or at east too inconclusive to overturn. Com'on Mike, let it go, it's over. Seattle reacted immaturely from the head coach on down, and the Steelers just played the game.

Randle El Caught about 3 passes, including 1 that broke the back of the Hawks in the 4th, converting a 3rd and long...But man, that stepping up and making big plays...I knew Ben wasn't going to have that super awesome game, but some of the stuff he did was just great...They played great team ball, and to be honest, I had no idea who was the MVP...Shit, could have went to anybody really, should have given it to Faneca, LoL....

There were some hazy calls but overall the Steelers did beat the Seahawks.

The Hawks dropped key passes, missed 2 field goals, and couldn't get Alexander to run. They played great in the first half but lost it there in the second