The big game in the cold light of dawn…
ORLANDO — Live from the Ben Roethlisberger/Santonio Holmes Parade at the Magic Kingdom on Monday afternoon…
1) No doubt the Pittsburgh Steelers should be proud of their 27-23 victory in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII and while the game was certainly exciting and we’re told the TV coverage was wonderful, it was a game tainted with horrible plays, bad decisions and down right rotten officiating.
Terry McAulay’s officiating crew called 18 penalties, 11 against Arizona for 106 yards. There were holding calls missed (or ignored), but there were many called — right in the midst of big plays. There were some calls made and many more good calls missed.
It was THE big game and, yet, the officials weren’t ready for it. And as bad as Kurt Warner and Ken Whisenhunt called the offence in the third quarter, the officials were the true goats in this one.
And by the way, I still haven;’t seen a replay that clearly shows Santonio Holmes had both feet down in the end zone when he caught the game-winning pass. Just sayin’.
2) This year’s Super Bowl MVP was Pittsburgh Steelers’ wideout Santonio Holmes and quite frankly, it was an inspired selection by a group of people that more often than not picks the winning quarterback just because it’s the easy way out.
But Sunday night’s Super Bowl XLIII was Holmes’ game. He had nine catches for 131 yards and the game-winning touchdown and he even set up the game-winning score on a terrific pass-and-run play. The kid from Ohio State was the best player on the winning team and that indeed makes him the MVP.
That’s why it’s amazing to me that people are still questioning the Holmes selection today.
3) It’s Pro Bowl Week in Honolulu and it just might be the last. That’s not to say it’s the last for the Pro Bowl, but the last for Honolulu.
It’s very likely that next year’s Pro Bowl will be held the week before the Super Bowl in South Florida as part of the Super Bowl festivities and if it’s successful, which it will likely be, the Pro Bowl will never return to Hawaii.
The move makes sense. Now, perhaps it’s time to think about dumping the all-star game for good.
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