Super Bowl Controversy?

The most recent Super Bowl between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa Bay, Florida sparked a lot of controversy. Only after about a week of questions all the controversy seemed to stop. I ask, why? Whether you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan or an Arizona Cardinals fan almost every fan had a problem with several calls that were made for either team.

Probably the most controversial call throughout the entire super bowl was the Cardinals final play of the season in which Arizona Cardinals quarterback fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Steelers eventually ending the game. The call sparked a lot of controversy because the call was very questionable. No matter what the actual call should have been it seemed very odd to me and several others that there was almost no review at all on the play. Personally I was in favor of the Cardinals winning the super bowl, so my opinion may be biased. I have watched the replay several times and I can’t come up with a clear decision on what the ruling should have been, but it was definitely worth at least a second look. Even if Cardinals fans continued to think it wasn’t a fumble it at least would have given a few fans some closure.

Through the game questionable calls were made on both sides. Kurt Warner took his helmet off several times on the field, which is usually strictly enforced as a penalty, but it was never called, something that definitely angered Steelers fans. However, on the other side of the ball Ben Roethlisberger, (Steelers quarterback) made some questionable throws that could have easily been called as intentional grounding, but instead was called as a defensive penalty on the Cardinals.

The outcome of the Super Bowl doesn’t strike much sorrow for me as I, along with several others, placed a hefty wager, and won, on the Super Bowl. However, even if Arizona had come and won I, and several others, would have still won our bet. Also on the touchdown scored on a incredible catch by Santonio Holmes, (Steelers Wide Receiver) he made a spectacular touchdown dance, mimicking if you will, Lebron James. In his touchdown celebration he used the ball as a, “prop.” Doing so is strictly prohibited by the rules of the NFL. Had the penalty been enforced it would have made the Steelers kickoff from 15 yards back. Had that happened the whole game could have been different. The Cardinals could have fumbled the kickoff and ended the game. Or they could have gotten a better return then what they had gotten from the kickoff at its normal spot. The Cardinals more than likely would have called a completely different series of plays, and the entire Warner fumble controversy might never have been.  The outcome of the game may have been exactly the same. It just brings me to wonder why a longer review of the controversial play wasn’t ensued. A lot of closure would have been shown to Cardinal fans. It brought back to me memories of the questionable calls made during the Steelers/Seahawks Super Bowl only a few years prior. Thanks to the basketball referee being caught up in a gambling mix it makes me think, perhaps another situation is occurring in the NFL. I like the idea of getting completely random people form areas where there are no fans of competing teams and saying, “Hey you know the rules of football,?” ok your going to be the referee of the super bowl.