Good game until the last quarter and a half. Then you decided to favor the Ravens. Some really bad calls and no calls. I guess that the NFL did not want anyone to complain about the power outage. What will the do next year in NY when they are outside and a Noreaster hits?

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Sit in amazement watching Aaron Rodgers deliver the greatest qb performance in Super Bowl history.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Completely ignore spotting the 28-6 lead...

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Terrible nomination.

Speeps Jr Kaepernick couldn't get the job done.

He's a looser.

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Politics
Was an Unqualified Ref Picked To Officiate the Super Bowl in the Name of ‘Diversity’?
Jan. 31, 2013 7:00pm Becket Adams

Was Jerome Boger Picked To Officiate Super Bowl XLVII in Order To Make the NFL Appear Diverse?

Jerome Boger. (AP).

When it was announced in December that Jerome Boger would officiate Super Bowl XLVII, a few us were left scratching our heads. You see, the National Football League has strict guidelines on qualifying for football’s biggest game and Boger falls short in almost every category.

The sports news site Deadspin (the same people who broke that bizarre Manti Te’o/fake girlfriend story) offers more details on Borger’s qualifications (or lack thereof):

Football Zebras, a site devoted solely to NFL officiating, reported on Jan. 20 that Boger’s unspectacular in-season grades for his refereeing had been mysteriously changed after the fact to make him more qualified, and that he didn’t have enough playoff experience under the league’s own nebulous guidelines—guidelines that were apparently changed to make him eligible

After each game, officiating supervisors review the video and assign “downgrades” for blown calls or blatantly missed calls. Boger received eight downgrades over the season, not an unusually high number, but more than enough to disqualify an official from working the playoffs. But refs are allowed to appeal their grades, and Boger appealed all of his—Football Zebras, citing one current and one former official, reports that all eight were overturned and stricken from Boger’s record. Yahoo’s sources confirm.

Former referee Gerry Austin says going eight-for-eight is unheard of. “If you could get two downgrades changed in the course of the year, you’ve done real well,” he told the [New York Times].

The league doesn’t publicize its experience requirements for Super Bowls, but they’re pretty well-known: a candidate must have officiated a conference championship game at some point in the past. Boger never worked a conference championship—he has refereed three playoff games, all in the divisional round. But when Football Zebras … contacted the league to point out his ineligibility, they were told that the rule didn’t apply.

Yes, Football Zebras was told that the rule simply didn’t apply in Borger’s situation.

“The criteria for referees to be eligible for the Super Bowl is three years experience as a referee (and five years total) and playoff experience as a referee. That criteria has not changed since at least 2007,” writes Michael Signora, vice president of football communications, contradicting FZ’s claim.

Citing a former official, FZ reports that this simply has not been the case in the past.

But wait! There’s more [from Deadspin]:

Last week the NFL released its officiating requirements for the first time ever, and there was a clause no one had ever seen. Instead of the system everyone thought was in place, where the highest-graded official at each position received the Super Bowl assignment, now a candidate only had to place in the Top Five at his position, a long as the people ahead of him had already worked Super Bowls.

So what’s the deal? How did Boger land the gig? Deadspin offers two theories:

1) NFL officials picked Boger as a way of getting back at the more qualified candidates for their behavior following the ref lockout.
2) NFL officials picked Borger to make the game appear more “diverse.”

Let’s look at the first theory:

… the NFL was not happy with some of its most respected officials taking public victory laps after the end of the referee lockout. Gene Steratore tipped his cap to the crowd and soaked in the cheers upon his return, while Ed Hochuli appeared on the cover of [Sports Illustrated].

“I don’t think the league was happy with those things,” NBC analyst and former NFL referee Jim Daopoulos told the New York Times. “I told Ed as soon as I saw the Sports Illustrated thing, ‘Well, you’re not going to be working the Super Bowl this year.’ And you know what? Neither Hochuli or Steratore worked a game in the playoffs.”

And here’s the second theory:

Boger … was hired by the NFL under a recruiting program specifically designed to find minority candidates, and will be just the second African-American referee to work a Super Bowl, after Mike Carey in 2008.

“To be honest, this has happened before,” said Daopoulos. “Grades were adjusted. I know the league is very interested in having diversity in the rank and file, and they’ve done a great job of doing that. And for that reason, they’ve tried to work this thing out so that Jerome could have the Super Bowl.”

Yahoo was told the same thing by an unnamed official who said that “the league wants diversity on its biggest stage” and that tweaking Boger’s grades “is a way to take care of that.”

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I thought they let the men play, pretty good job tonight.

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Agreed. The refs were not the story, which is the way it should be.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

That's why I don't like hockuli. N some of these other turds, they try to be part of the show...I do think Reed was offsides on 2 point try...CBS should have shown side angle.

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Change that to RGIII and I am with you

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Agree with both of you.

Hell, they even let one of the players get away with shoving a ref pretty blatantly.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I thought I hallucinated that.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The worst thing a ref can do, is to lose control of the game. Early on, an ejection or two would have been justified, with all the scrums taking place and the ridiculous effort made to seperate those in them. Throw a couple guys out and tell the coaches that it will not be tolerated and they all act like professionals. It's no wonder we see teens shoving one another during/after Football/Basketball games. When this is the kind of example they are shown, it's kinda natural. The idea of letting teams play is fine....if they are playing according to the rules of the game. If not, allowing the infractions to go uncalled, amounts to not doing your job.

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Go Cubs!!!!

The history of Super Bowls is that they LET THEM PLAY, gotta know that Goin in!

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

You pretty much have to shank a guy to get thrown out of a football game, and you want mutilple players tossed?

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If called for, yes. It would be ideal to throw a player (or 2) from each team out, if it was justified. Then, you send the message that the crap going on will not be tolerated and yet keep from giving either team a competitive advantage. But even if it did cause an imbalance, I would do it, to keep control of the game. I think the players knew they could walk all over Boger. His crew called the least number of penalties on the season and even when shoved by a player in this game, refrained from throwing the guy out of the game. You think they would try that crap with Hockuli (sp?) ???? I don't think so. But they knew sugar pants wouldn't have the stones to do anything and they walked all over his crew.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Lay hands on an official and it should be automatic. I didn't notice how blatant the shove was until today. He should have been gone. Officials don't want to effect the game? Aren't they effecting it when they don't eject a player for cause? Or they do not throw flags when appropriate? Much has been made of the Patriots Rams way back when. Didn't the officials change the outcome of the game by allowing the Patriots to mug the Rams? And finally, did anyone see on the punt safety the holding that was not called? The guy bear hugged him from behind and drug him back. I understand it does not change the outcome of the game, but come on, if you're not going to call that a hold, you might as well not have officials out there. Yes, of course i wanted the 9ers to win, I lost some good coin as a result, but I hate that the Super Bowl is treated differently than any other game. Sick of the commercials, sick of the halftime shows, just play the game and ref it like you would for any other game, let the best team win.

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You know who had the greatest signature ever....Yaz.

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That was the point, genius. They call a hold there and it's a...wait for it...a safety!

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-- source

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Only play I felt a penalty was ignored was when #29 of the Ravens (I forget his name) shoved a ref during one of the early scrums. One thing to get fired up, but when he turned and shoved the line judge?

Should of slapped a 15 yard penalty on them, warned both teams, and we wouldn't of seen as much of the shoving/near fights as we did.

All in all, though? It was a solidly called game. The 4th down shoving in the endzone? Both the reciever and the CB was shoving/holding. You let them play it out. Besides that ball was damn near uncatchable.

That shove was certainly at least worth of a personal foul. I hate to see a guy tossed during the Superbowl, and I don't know that I would have tossed him for the push, but I certainly wouldn't have argued with any official that would have.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I find it kind of interesting how football is the most violent sport and yet it takes something really extreme to get thrown out of a game. If a basketball coach says one or two sentences of what a football coach says to the ref he would get thrown out of every game in about 30 seconds. Baseball managers also get thrown out for far less.

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Agreed. I felt a penalty was in order, but if warnings were given afterwards, the chippiness of the game would of been more manageable.

Other than that, the game was called well.

Hey genius, the point of the post was a criticism of the referees, not coaching strategy. The Ravens should have absolutely held their asses off to take as much time off as possible. I'm objecting to the fact that every official ignored what were obvious holds on the play. Just make the damn call and stop changing the outcome of the game but trying to not effect the outcome of the game.

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You know who had the greatest signature ever....Yaz.