@mr.-t said:

And come Sunday the Stoolers will get to play another wildcard team from the NFC in the SB. Sounds pretty weak; doesn't it?

That is weak. It's embarrassing that the Steelers picked the wildcard team from the NFC to play in the SB. It's so obvious that they just want to win the Super Bowl. WEAK!

@the-gipper said:

In its day The Immaculate Reception was a controversial call..but that was because of the rules in place at the time that said that an offensive player could not catch a pass that was tipped by another offensive player unless there was an intevening touch by a defensive player. The controversy was over who last touched the pass before Franco Harris pulled it in....the Raider player or the Steeler player. The refs ruled it was the Raider player, but even with replays and slow motion it is still nearly impossible to tell.

Of course, the controversy over the Immaculate Reception disappeared because not too long after that the rules were changed to where it didn't matter who touched the ball. Anyone can pull in a tipped pass.

Now it is just see as a crazy, lucky play.

Madden pointed this one out years ago; at the present time this happened the NFL had a double touch rule in place which would of made this an illegal reception. This reversed four decades of futility for the stoolers with their first playoff win ever.

And come Sunday the Stoolers will get to play another wildcard team from the NFC in the SB. Sounds pretty weak; doesn't it?

@the-gipper said:

I don't know if I am on the side of the "The Seahawks was robbed" crowd. But there certainly was a crowd, and much of that crowd were a variety of well respected national commentators. Here are some of their comments. Steeler fans can

Other Opinions...

"Here's what referee Bill Leavy's crew did, point blank: It robbed Seattle. The Seahawks could have played better, sure. They could have done more to overcome the poor officiating. We understand that those things happen and all, but even with all the points Seattle left on the field, there's a good chance the Seahawks would have scored more than the Steelers if the officials had let the players play." - Michael Smith, ESPN.com

"The first-quarter offensive pass interference called on Darrell Jackson that turned a touchdown into a field goal was robbery enough. But the fourth-quarter holding call on Sean Locklear made you wonder whether the refs had even less of Aretha's r-e-s-p-E-c-t for your Seahawks than I do...on this night, the Steelers had their own version of your 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw a flag."- Skip Bayless, ESPN.com

"Like a crazed CIA analyst running through the halls of Langley screaming into open offices about some impending calamity, I've been shrieking hysterically about the terrible officiating in the NFL and warning that some day the brutal calls were going to affect the outcome of the Super Bowl. That some day was Sunday. Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks." - Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com

"this will always be remembered as the Super Bowl that the referees screwed up." - Aaron Schatz, FOXSports.com

"the Seahawks outplayed the Steelers on the vast majority of plays and still lost, thanks largely to two dubious penalty calls that cost Seattle a TD and a first-and-goal at the 1...Seattle fans have a right to feel sick. Their team just suffered the most unjust loss in Super Bowl history." - Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com

The Media is always right ...really ,the Steelers are hated by everyone else in football .success breeds contempt ...The Media ( ESPN and the like is mostly a NY market ---The Jets blow and the Giants are mostly the Cowboy's beeotches)When you get to 15 Championship games and 8 Super Bowls , you are going to get calls both good and bad ....only a loser continuously whines about refs calls for a team they hate .... Again , get there once in a while Browns fans and maybe your team will get a good call or two

@bob806 said:

I happen to think it also slows the flow of the game down. The college system seems to work better than the NFL, but I'd rather live with the zebras original call, than have these endless official huddles to confer on what they saw. Just my .02

I do not think however that you would find anyone that would want to go back to the days of "no replay review".

Whether the refs may now have come to rely on instant replay, I don't know. I do know that the first time a bad call was made that would not be able to be reviewed there would be might howls for the reimposition of replay review.

@the-gipper said:

The Renfro played greatly sparked the use of instant replay to get calls right.

I honestly believe that instant replay has lead to a decline in officiating. I doubt they ever abolish it, but frankly, the system sucks.

I happen to think it also slows the flow of the game down. The college system seems to work better than the NFL, but I'd rather live with the zebras original call, than have these endless official huddles to confer on what they saw. Just my .02

Homotron said:

But, but, but it's about all the bad calls, not just the ones involving the Steelers! but, but! lol

I started this thread because the question of the Mike Renfro "catch" in that game and of poor referreeing came up somewhere in another thread. I thought the concept of "Worst referring calls" deserved its own thread.

I started with that "Oiler" clip because the discussion of that call elsewhere is what triggered the thread.

Were you too dim to recognize that fact?

The other significance is how some of these notorious bad calls led to rules changes.

The Renfro played greatly sparked the use of instant replay to get calls right.

The Immaculate Reception undoubtedly led to the abolition of the "intervening touch' requirement in the tipped pass rule.

Plus I am sure there were more rules changes prompted by poor or difficult referring calls.

@clevelandfanforlife said:

Well i was Born in Pittsburgh... Pops moved us to Ohio when i was 5. So Ohio Educated ...LOL. Just kidding about Education level in the 2 states ...that means NOTHING.

@bunsofsteel08 said:

Just wanted to be sure. I know how slow you Steeler fans can be

@clevelandfanforlife said:

ha ha... Fully Understood that dude.

@bunsofsteel08 said:

Damn. I hate being ripped on by a Steeler fan I simply meant that people will associate that once in a lifetime shot with a championship. It belongs in the same category with the Imaculate Reception and the Drive: A nice moment that ammounted to heart break a week later.

@clevelandfanforlife said:

its a Freakin Shame that LeBrons Buzzer beater inst part of the Lore Surrounding A Cavs Championship. Seriously !!

@bunsofsteel08 said:

That's why I think it's funny when John Madden still bitches about that play. He acts like he would've beaten the '72 Dolphins the next game. It's just like LeBron's buzzer beater against the Magic 2 years ago. Yes it's a great moment, but it was all for naught in the grand scheme of things. Most people assume that the Immaculate Reception was a game on the way to winning it all much like people think that the Miracle on Ice was the gold medal game.

@bob806 said:

Worst rule #1- the QB allowed to throw the ball away (outside the pocket)

TUCK Rule No 1 ... I agree with you about allowed to Ground the Ball outside the pocket. Thats BS. Yet another Handcuff on the Defense.

However, in this day and age, this guy's "clubbing" of Stabler in the head would be a no brainer roughing call.

@the-gipper said:

The 1988 game is on youtube, but I couldn't find footage of the play I was referring to. Also, it was Jerry Seaman who ruined our Christmas Eve, not Jerry Markbreit.

@browns149 said:

Great idea!!!!

Worst rule #1- the QB allowed to throw the ball away (outside the pocket)

I don't know if I am on the side of the "The Seahawks was robbed" crowd. But there certainly was a crowd, and much of that crowd were a variety of well respected national commentators. Here are some of their comments. Steeler fans can argue, but the perception continues to exist that this game was the worst officiated postseason game in memory:

Other Opinions...

"Here's what referee Bill Leavy's crew did, point blank: It robbed Seattle. The Seahawks could have played better, sure. They could have done more to overcome the poor officiating. We understand that those things happen and all, but even with all the points Seattle left on the field, there's a good chance the Seahawks would have scored more than the Steelers if the officials had let the players play." - Michael Smith, ESPN.com

"The first-quarter offensive pass interference called on Darrell Jackson that turned a touchdown into a field goal was robbery enough. But the fourth-quarter holding call on Sean Locklear made you wonder whether the refs had even less of Aretha's r-e-s-p-E-c-t for your Seahawks than I do...on this night, the Steelers had their own version of your 12th Man. He wore a striped shirt and a whistle. He threw a flag."- Skip Bayless, ESPN.com

"Like a crazed CIA analyst running through the halls of Langley screaming into open offices about some impending calamity, I've been shrieking hysterically about the terrible officiating in the NFL and warning that some day the brutal calls were going to affect the outcome of the Super Bowl. That some day was Sunday. Every single questionable, marginal or outright bad call went against the Seahawks." - Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com

"this will always be remembered as the Super Bowl that the referees screwed up." - Aaron Schatz, FOXSports.com

"the Seahawks outplayed the Steelers on the vast majority of plays and still lost, thanks largely to two dubious penalty calls that cost Seattle a TD and a first-and-goal at the 1...Seattle fans have a right to feel sick. Their team just suffered the most unjust loss in Super Bowl history." - Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com

@clevelandfanforlife said:

Ok, maybe we should start a topic about the worst rules.

@browns149 said:

True. I doubt that they did, but it did seem that way.

Of course, the controversy over the Immaculate Reception disappeared because not too long after that the rules were changed to where it didn't matter who touched the ball. Anyone can pull in a tipped pass.

Now it is just see as a crazy, lucky play.

@the-gipper said:

This one I think is the worst. it seemed like they made up the rule on the spot

@bob806 said:

Endymion- you are right about the Jerome Bettis coin flip, but that was funny. I remember my brother-in-law, a diehard Steeler fan, flipping out...Thanksgiving was ruined for him (it was on Thanksgiving, right?)

Can you find the videos of those? I couldn't. That Browns/Oilers game is illustrative of why they adopted the 2 point rule. The Browns were trailing by 8 points and scored a TD in the last minute to make it 24-22. The only option was to go for 1, so it ended up as a 24-23 game. If the 2 point conversion were available, it is possible the Browns could have tied if they converted.

Endymion- you are right about the Jerome Bettis coin flip, but that was funny. I remember my brother-in-law, a diehard Steeler fan, flipping out...Thanksgiving was ruined for him (it was on Thanksgiving, right?)