Championship Merchandise

Here are some items I picked up to celebrate my Super Steelers.

Today's Super Bowl Has Been Brought To You By The Number Five

The Vince Lombardi trophy for Super Bowl XL sits on a desk opposite the other four trophies at the Steelers' South Side facility.

























It's a temporary home for the new trophy, but it will stay separate from the four won in six years in the 1970s. A case will be built to house the 2006 Lombardi Trophy, and it will stand by itself somewhere in the Chief's library. That follows Rooney's feeling and that of his son, team president Art Rooney II, that while "one for the thumb" was a nice catchphrase, this Super Bowl triumph belongs in a place of its own.

http://post-gazette.com/pg/06040/652491.stm

Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington

President Bush invited Rooney and the Steelers to the White House at a date to be determined. Rooney, of course, accepted. The last time the Steelers visited the White House at the chief executive's invitation, they did so with the Pirates, both World Champions in their respective 1979 seasons. Jimmy Carter was president then.

http://post-gazette.com/pg/06040/652558.stm

The Evidence

Despite the overwhelming support for the Steelers before the Super Bowl, everyone now is trying to tarnish Pittsburgh's Championship by avoiding the facts (that Seattle's defense gave up big touchdowns and Pittsburgh's defense held the highest scoring offense to only ten points) and blaming Seattle's loss on the officiating.

Below is suitable evidence to dismiss these feeble attempts and to end the petty bickering from sore Seattle fans. Enjoy.

The Pass Interference

We'll start things off by looking at where Hasselbeck was in relation to the pocket when throwing the pass. I have heard the arguement that if he was out of the pocket, then contact would be allowed. Let's take a look.

At the snap of the ball, the left tackle is about halfway between the hash marks and the number "20".
















Now here is Hasselbeck throwing the ball, only about a quarter of the way between the hash marks and the number "20". Clearly, he was still inside the pocket.


















Now the meat of the play. Just how slight or not-so-slight was the offensive pass interference?

Here are the two players right before the receiver makes contact with the defender.


















Initial contact:


















Further contact. Notice the defender's arm has been pushed back slightly.



















The receiver is now completely pushing away from the defender. Notice the displacement of the defender's midsection. His momentum is now moving in the opposite direction -- solely from the illegal pass interference committed by the receiver. Without this separation, the receiver would not be wide open in the endzone.

The Touchdown

First note that the armband on Roethlisberger's right arm is below his elbow. Therefore, with the ball tucked into his elbow, the tip of the ball would advance slightly further than the top of the armband. Now notice that Roethlisberger's arm is over half of the goal line. Outlined in yellow is the approximate location of the ball, as it is never clearly seen. Because of this, the required conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field is non-existent.

Furthermore, when Roethlisberger appeared on Letterman the next day and said that he didn't think he got in, he meant that at the time of the play he did not think that he had made it it. He explains this further in an interview with Jim Rome, where he says that after watching the tape, he does think that it is a touchdown.

The Holding

Here is the beginning of the hold. Notice that the offensive player is already behind the defensive player. He only gets further behind as the play continues. As far as I am aware, one must be in front of a player to block him.


















Here is the offensive player grabbing (from behind) onto the defensive player's right shoulder. Defender is leaning to the left.


















Offensive player is still grabbing on and further behind. Now the defensive player is leaning to the right and slightly back. His forward progress is being impeeded.


















A look at how far the defender's left foot is behind his center of gravity shows that he should be leaning much further than he is. Circled is the offensive player still grabbing the shoulder from behind.

























"Furthermore, once the penalty was called was it somehow pre-ordained that Hasselbeck would sail a pass into the waiting arms of Ike Taylor? The Seattle offense still had the football, they could have made a play but didn't. By way of comparison, in the second quarter -- with the Steelers offense seemingly stuck in reverse -- on a 2nd-and-10 play Heath Miller was called for offensive pass interference. On 2nd-and-20 Ben Roethlisberger was sacked, and then on 3rd-and-28 Roethlisberger completed his fifth pass in twelve attempts for a 37-yard gain to the Seattle three yard line. The Steelers made a play, Seattle did not."
- Excerpt taken from http://steelersfanatic.blogspot.com/

An amazing example, indeed.

Not Called: The Fumble

Now let's look at some calls that were not made, but should have been.

During a drive in the second quarter, Seattle tight end Jeremy Stevens catches a ball, takes three steps with possession, then fumbles -- and incomplete pass is ruled. (No Seattle players were in the vicinity to recover the fumble, while three Pittsburgh players were.)

The ball is caught with one foot on the ground:


















A second step is taken...



















And a third step is taken. After which, the ball is knocked loose.

Not Called: The Block in the Back

With the Steelers leading 14-3, and threatening to score another touchdown, Roethlisberger's pass is intercepted. During the return, Roethlisberger is blatantly blocked in the back (and pushed to the ground), and nothing was called. Let's take a look.

Here is Roethlisberger, with his back turned to the Seattle player, who has his hands on Ben's back:


















And proceeds to push him to the ground: