I'll admit upfront that I've been a 49ers fan since I was eight years old (45 years now) and that I fucking hate losing. I'll also proffer that even had the 49ers scored on their last drive, there's a chance Baltimore would have won the game anyway--there was plenty of time left for them to score the go-ahead points.
Bad calls by officiating crews in sporting events happen. I don't like it, you don't like it, nobody likes it. And I can understand the NFL protecting its product. The NFL, like all professionals sports leagues, is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. It's no different than Toyota or Wal-Mart--defective products or poor public perception of your brand is not going to be admitted to and will be fought with an army of lawyers and PR personnel. Make no mistake about it, though, the officials in yesterday's Super Bowl made a bad call that cost the 49ers a chance to win and the prevailing opinion on the web today (outside of Baltimore, anyway) is that their Super Bowl win is tainted by it.
But the worst part of this sad spectacle is the opinions espoused by one Phil Simms, color commentaror for CBS "Sports." Simms, for those not familiar, is kind of like John Madden, except he's even dumber and considerably duller. Simms spouted that it was a good "non-call" and that somehow it was the 49ers fault for not punching in that score, and besides, at the end of the game the players should just be allowed to play.
Is anybody else bothered by the fact that Simms literally told millions upon millions of American children that cheating is acceptable as long as it's at the end of the game? And that it's the others guys fault if he loses after you cheat? That essentially, the rules don't matter? What kind of fucked up numbnuts brain thought that was a good idea? I mean for fuck's sake, can you imagine a pitcher tossing a pitch into the dugout, the umpire calling it a strike, and the baseball announcer saying it was the batter's fault for not swinging? Can you imagine a cashier taking a couple hundred dollars from his or her drawer at the end of his or her shift and telling the store manager that it's okay because it's the end of the day, and besides, he needs to just let him or her do his or her job?
So much of what is wrong with America today is summed up by idiots like Phil Simms whose only talent in the world is throwing a fucking football. It's about integrity, and if there is any time every sport needs to respect the integrity of its game, it is at the end of the game when millions upon millions of fans are expecting the game to be decided fairly. It is no time to "let players play." It's time to make damn certain that the winner is the team most deserving, not the team that can get away with cheating.
Though perhaps this explains how the NFL can lionize and bestow millions of dollars on a double murderer and a serial sexual predator.
Peace,
emaycee
