One For The (Other) Thumb

Well then, that was a fun little Super Bowl, wasn't it?

For what many people were saying would be a boring snoozefest, it turned out to be one of the most exhillerating finishes in Super Bowl history, all being capped off with one of, if not the greatest touchdown catch in Super Bowl history. Oh, and if I were a Cardinals fan I'd be a wee bit miffed at Terry McAulay. But first, courtesy of Awful Announcing and SSReporters here are a compilation of videos from the Super Bowl.

Tribute to the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 and the National Anthem (Awful Announcing)


James Harrison 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. (SSReporters)


Larry Fitzgerald's go-ahead touchdown catch (SSReporters)


Larry Fitzgerald's go-ahead touchdown catch with a special 30-seconds of porn interrupting! (Awful Announcing)


The Exciting Conclusion of Super Bowl XLIII including the Holmes TD catch and ensuing controversial finish (Awful Announcing)


What a game and a finish. But I must say, I just do not get how that last play is not reviewed. And yes I know that Al Michaels and ESPN said that the play was "reviewed", but hardly a minute of real time elapsed from the time of the Warner fumble to Big Ben taking a knee. There is no way they could have reviewed it that quick. And even if they did, how could looking at that play take a minute? It's at worst inconclusive and at best an incomplete pass. I tend to side with the latter. Having watched it several times, unless I'm seeing something that no one else is, I see Warner's arm moving forward with full possession of the ball. Plus keep in mind the physics of the play. Woodley came from the side and hit the front of the ball. How then, does the ball end up 5-yards down the field? The only logical explanation is that the ball had some forward momentum created by Warner's arm and shoulder beginning to move forward. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something about that last play just does not sit-well with me. Now with 5-seconds left, a 50-yard hail mary is a very unlikely play, but with Warner's arm and Fitzgerald's height advantage over the Steelers secondary, with the perfect throw, you never know what kind of magic we could have seen. But alas, we'll never know.

Congrats to the Steelers for winning a fantastic Super Bowl. It was definitley a very entertaining game, and for me, a very scary game, because with less than 4-minutes left, the score was Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 16, the same score that I had predicted in my preview 24-hours before the game. Santonio Holmes' touchdown catch will be replayed over and over for years to come, much like the Tyree catch last year. Hopefully next year's game is just as exciting. Actually forget about excitement, I just hope the Eagles are in it (and win it)!

Update: Tomorrow I'll have a Keith Olbermann-esque special comment on the officating of this game. There's just no way that game should have ended like that.