As We Gripe This...

Two days later, the horrible officiating in Super Bowl XL (led by Bill Leavy, at right) continues to be a major media story. Our take? Sure, there were some bad calls, but the Hawks would have still won had they played better, coached better, and not had some critical injuries.

Still:

The folks at 12 Seahawks Street urge you to call the NFL to complain. Or you can sign a petition contending that the game was (ahem) fixed.

At yesterday's Qwest Field rally, Mike Holmgren said "We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well." He's going to get fined for that comment, for sure.

The Times' Steve Kelley writes that the refs should be embarrassed.

Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger told David Letterman last night that he doesn't think he got into the end zone on his 2nd-quarter run that the refs called a touchdown even after reviewing an instant replay.

One call that we didn't question at the time, Darrell Jackson non-touchdown catch at the end of the first half, maybe should have been a touchdown.

The officiating was so poor it's now legendary. After the Suns lost a close game on a disputed block (they thought it was goaltending), the AP quotes Steve Nash as saying "I feel like the Seattle Seahawks."

Will this--like the 1985 World Series--go down in history as a stolen championship? Or will all the griping blow over in a day or two? The NFL regularly reviews officials' calls after games, and announces when mistakes were made. It will be interesting to hear what they say.