Let’s do this.
Upon Further Review
Everyone else is probably talking about it in some form or fashion this morning, so I might as well join the fun. These comments will have the feel of Anderson’s instant thoughts after he hits up the local Hooters for wrestling pay per views as I am commenting after the game just wrapped up. No biases from anything I’m reading, just what I thought.
As a disclaimer, I’m not a Steelers or a Seahawks fan. Also, I made a bet on the Steelers to win straight up. Even with the money, I still wasn’t pleased with the result or a lot of what I saw in my Super Bowl experience version 2006.
Concerning the game, I felt there were too many instances where the refs bailed the Steelers out of plays that could have dramatically altered the complexion of the game. They varied in severity, but the absolute worst was the first Pittsburgh touchdown, a one-yard run by Ben Roethlisberger. I thought the side judge changed his mind in the middle of making his call, going from a stance of raising one arm to spot the ball to a touchdown signal. The evidence that made him change his mind was Ben pushing the ball forward over the goal line while he was already on the ground. I have a big problem with this as any average fan knows you can’t advance the ball once you are already on the ground.
The play reminded me a little bit of the A.J. Pierzynski debacle from last year’s ALCS. As we remember, A.J. apparently struck out in the bottom of the ninth against the Angels. The third strike was caught very low by the Angels’ catcher and, despite an apparent out signal from the umpire, the White Sox catcher ran the play out even as the Angels walked off the field. He was ruled safe at first, the Sox went on to win the game (and the series) and the ump was left trying to explain his odd signals. The key concept surrounding that play was the White Sox catcher selling the play as legit action and convincing the umpire to treat it as such even as he made an apparent out signal. I think what really happened is that A.J.’s action caused the umpire to change his mind in the heat of the moment even as his body apparently signaled the opposite.
Similarly, I don’t think that side judge was going to give the score to Ben until he moved the ball forward across the goal line. The action was so convincing that the ref neglected to notice that Ben had already made contact with the field and bought Ben’s physical argument.
Good for Ben though and the replay booth made the correct call in upholding the ruling on the field. There was no definitive evidence to say that the ball didn’t break the goal line. However, there was also no definitive evidence to say it did break the goal line had the ruling on the field been a spot inside the one. It was solely up to the ref on the field and, despite having a clear view of the action, he waffled on a critical call from what I saw.
Two other instances involved the offensive pass interference call on Darrell Jackson in the first quarter and the holding call in the third that negated a Jerramy Stevens catch at the Pittsburgh 2. I had less of a problem with the offensive pass interference call because there was definitely a motion from Jackson and a reaction from the Steelers defender. Plus the ref was right there. Maybe the lobbying helped the ref arrive at that call, but the defender is entitled to do that.
The holding call, however, just sucked. What was shown on the replay looked like normal football to the commentators and most unbiased observers, I’d think. Save the holding calls for the very obvious in big games, zebras. It is said that you can call holding on just about every down in the NFL, but that 10 yards can dramatically alter a drive and the entire game, which is exactly what happened after the call was made. It was a shame to see a referee influence the game like that instead of the players.
I don’t want to take too much away from Pittsburgh, but this game had the feel of a game where every major call went their way and helped them survive on a day where they clearly did not play their best football. On the other hand, every call that took points off the board or stalled a drive seemed to demoralize the Seahawks. I’m a fan of football first and this is not how I like to see my football played on television.
In this age of the salary cap and parity, games are closer and concepts like game management (where the Seahawks flopped at the end of the first half), turnovers (which were huge for both teams) and coaching/planning matter more and more each year. Unfortunately, that also means how the game is called matters more and more as well (Pittsburgh clearly won here). I have always applauded the NFL for instituting instant replay in an effort to get things right, but more needs to be done.
One day, a play like that Roethlisberger run is going to come with 5 seconds left in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl and some system needs to be in place so that they don’t screw it up again.
Other thoughts:
The commercials were terrible this year. The beer companies trying to be funny every year is getting old. So are commercials that try to be cute using monkeys.
I’m also really tired of this blatant pandering to baby boomers from the advertisers. Look, I understand they have money and need attention from the corporate world, but geez I get sick of my television getting flooded with stuff that is supposed to appeal to them. Like that dumb Hummer commercial where the kid is soap box racing to that song by the Who or that awful Fidelity Investments ad that kisses Paul McCartney’s ass.
On a related note, can we please have a halftime show next year that isn’t on life support? I know we need the tit risk reduced to zero thanks to Miss Jackson (who not only ruined our fun, but apparently has turned into a fatso as well – gee, thanks), but in about twenty years, I think every non-threatening, washed-up act from the 70’s will be dead. Who’s it gonna be next year? The Eagles?
Royal Grumble
I notice I’m not striking a positive tone so far and that isn’t going to change at least over the next few paragraphs.
Some of you people need to shut up about John Cena. You might not like him, but some of the justifications and rationale for getting the title off him are approaching the absurd.
The worst thing I’ve heard so far is this notion that the strap needed to come off of Cena and stay off because Edge was bumping up the ratings (or, the lack of Cena as champ was bumping up ratings).
Look guys, that’s bullshit. Unless I see a survey that definitively states that more viewers are watching because of Edge, I’m never going to buy that argument. There is nothing about Edge that tells me he has some distinct advantage over other wrestlers as far as his ability to draw fans. Is he a good wrestler? Sure. But so is Chris Benoit, HBK, Kurt Angle, and many others. Does he do anything outside of the ring that is more appealing than what your average wrestler does? Catchphrases? A certain look? A finisher? Not seeing much here, people. His valet is nice to look at it, but as soon as she opens her mouth and lets out that twangy man-voice of hers, I think a lot of your average viewers are more inclined to change the channel, if anything.
Edge is fine. The roster needs guys like him and elevating him wasn’t a bad idea either. I even liked the money in the bank stipulation coming out of nowhere like it did because I think WWe needs to start pulling out surprises in order to keep fans on their toes. But don’t sit there and try to tell me that his championship reign was bumping up ratings/bringing extra fans to the table/etc. The ratings stayed high when Cena got the belt back and will probably continue to do so as the road to Wrestlemania unfolds. My guess is that they typically do that no matter who is holding the strap.
Part II: Meta Grumbling
John Cena is going to stay front and center in the big picture of WWe for a long time because the man has more charisma than any superstar on either roster going today. This is the quality that the elite superstars are made of. No, it’s not wrestling ability. If it were wrestling ability, you would never had heard of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Mick Foley, or even the Rock as World Champions.
The reason it is charisma is because that quality is the one thing that makes audiences care. It helps us buy into the characters these wrestlers portray and suspend our disbelief as we watch a scripted for of entertainment unfold before our eyes. It can be acquired over time, but more often than not, it’s a natural trait that gets honed as the wrestler performs. It also causes things to happen spontaneously. The charisma wrestler A has can make fans really hate his next opponent, wrestler B, for example.
Currently, a lot of IWC members hate John Cena for various reasons. Girls and children tend to pull for him is one I hear a lot. Another is that WWe is force-feeding the fans his character and he doesn’t deserve that status. All of this is reactionary thinking. You hate John Cena because some entity, be it kids, little girls, WWe management or someone else, maybe all three, decided of their own volition that they liked Cena and would care about what he does in the ring. You, in turn, grew to dislike this over time and started to come up with reasons to justify your new stance (you didn’t really hate him until now, you see). You tried to point out how loudly he was getting booed by your kind even though booing is generally still a sign that the audience feels strongly about a wrestler. You even tried to convince yourselves that a replacement champ like Edge was a ratings winner even though he isn’t.
It’s really pathetic and you need to stop.
If you want help, just think about him as kind of a mini-Rock. You tend to hate him when he is a preening face who incessantly plays to the crowd (in an attempt to sell his movies, perhaps?), but love it when that same charisma is used to play the role of a cocky jerk. You cheer that character a lot more than the one the casual underage fan cheers, right? Neither are Chris Benoit in the ring, but they are gold on the microphone. So much so, that their talents have taken them to careers outside of the ring. Yep, kinda similar and both should be treated similarly I think. That means, no matter how much you hate the beloved face, you have to admit that ideas like sending him down to the midcard and that the fans care more about Edge need to go.
You wouldn’t do that to Rocky, would you? Well, Eric S. would, but you can’t please everyone.
Stinging Feeling
Some of you people thought that TNA’s decision to bring Sting into the mix was a bad idea. Too much money, could demoralize the other workers, his age were among the many excuses offered up.
Well, all of that talk flopped, didn’t it? Here is what I said:
3. Sting Of Excitement
So the bat, cloak and boots are back along with all of the other little things from the Sting/Crow character. Some think this is a great idea, others think it’s a bad idea.
Personally, I think it’s ok depending on how much money they had to burn to get him back into wrestling. If he came on the cheap, it certainly is going to create some buzz among the fanbase and maybe even reach out to a few casual viewers who remember him through the years.
There are risks as Eric and GRUT have explained. You may alienate your existing roster, especially guys like Monty Brown who are being sacrificed again and again in favor of newcomers. He also may have cost a lot of money and that can alienate a roster as well.
I’m torn though on how this promotion gets elevated to the next level. They have gone this far on Double J as the title holder, the X division and some WWE castaways. Who is to say that they can’t keep it up?
The thing about Sting, though, and a lot of people seem to forget this, is that he was a major part of that n.W.o. storyline that carried WCW to a sustained period of dominance over WWE. A lot of it was a rare case of great storytelling, but his character was a part of that. Sting has never been short on significance and charisma and he is one of those guys who can carry a promotion if given the ball.
It’s a tough call and I’m very in the middle on it.
I was in a much better mood the last time I wrote, wasn’t I?
It looks like TNA made the right choice. Maybe it’s not sustainable, but any smart business owner would be foolish not to try and capitalize on the momentum and that is exactly what they are trying to do. Good for them. I hope they don’t mess it up.
The Little Things
Let’s try to recapture some of that positivity I used to be known for, alright?
I think I’m just upset because Cameron is calling it quits this week. I’m proud to be the columnist who was unknowingly feuding with him throughout the years. Any embarrassment I’ve suffered was a small price to pay for the entertainment on Friday mornings.
Some people just can’t get over a loss in fantasy football. Dude, it was 3 years ago!
1. Unspirited Effort
Ah, screw it, let’s keep being negative. I really hate the Spirit Squad. This gimmick just feels way too much like something you’d see at an indy show in a high school gymnasium somewhere out in the Midwest. Like a wrestling newspaper delivery boy or something. It is what it is, but there is no significance or other discernable reason to care behind it. The guys saddled with the gimmick try anyway, to their credit, yet it makes it all even worse somehow.
Think Dusty Rhodes came up with it?
2. Mc-Kane-iac
Since I try to stay consistent, I’d like to point out that Kane is another one of those guys who has the necessary amount of charisma to not only play characters in wrestling, but in film as well. It’s pretty easy to tell, actually. Unless he walks around like that all the time in public, he has me sold that he knows how to play a scary maniac in the ring. Then again, he is such a good character player in the ring that I think he might actually walk around like that in public.
Just look at his facial expression when he walks to the ring. I can’t believe WWe didn’t run his character when they developed it a few years ago. But to stay consistent once again, the roster needs Edges and Kanes as well.
3. Rey Of Light
I have no problem with Rey Mysterio becoming a wrestling tribute to Eddy’s memory. None at all. In fact, I think anything they do to keep him in our minds is great. The wardrobe, the Eddy mannerisms in the ring, the low rider and all the other little things are just fine by me.
If they hadn’t come up with this angle, a lot of us probably would have forgotten about him already by now.
4. Once Again
I really like the Boogeyman. Even despite the fact that his name reminds me of Jimmy Valliant. The worms, weird make-up on his head, the fact that he is announced as fighting out of the Bottomless Pit.
Sorry, I can’t help it. I also do not care if he is green in the ring and being protected from getting exposed. Charisma, people. I don’t think a lot of wrestlers could have done what Marty has done with this character. They’ll help him learn. I hope.
5. Go Daddy Go
That twirl that Candice Michelle does was probably the one thing I did like about the Super Bowl. It’s not much more clever than monkeys, but it is much more effective.
That’s it for me.
Haley
