Super Bowl Revenge In Seattle

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October 3, 2012 by David Gillaspie

The Seahawks Peck And Claw Back From An NFL Disgrace

Bill Levy makes the call, “I’m sorry, Seattle.”

If there’s a common truth for sports fans to embrace, it is this:

THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS ARE DUE.

Don’t mistake Golden Tate catching the Packer who caught the ball as any sort of payback. That’s not even a decent start, not when titles come into play.

With Super Bowl championships hanging in the balance, it’s hard finding any comparisons. After Seattle’s Lombardi Trophy ended up in the Steelers’ collection, sports-debt interest began accruing.

Taking down the Cowboys and Packers on successive weekends, no matter how it happened, is a true beginning.

The two teams the Seahawks beat have been the cream of professional football. That’s what they were before the first Super Bowl ever played.

Like the Seahawks in their recent Packer game, the Cowboys faced an unexpected challenge when they played the Pack to decide which team moved forward to the last game of the 1966 season.

The challenge’s name was Bart Starr, a game manager style quarterback with a green light to throw. A lot.

Before the first Super Bowl in LA, the Packers and the ‘Boys played a barn burner in Dallas.

Before Super Bowl II in Miami, both teams lined up for the Ice Bowl. As a non-sport challenge, the weather was the Packers’ 12th man the way replacement refs were Seattle’s this year.

Green Bay swept the first two Super Bowls with Bart Starr the MVP of both games. Back then the networks didn’t present the Lombardi Trophy, not while Coach Vince still prowled the sidelines.

If you’re looking for games that changed the course of the NFL, look no further. The Ice Bowl helped professional football owners understand hot and cold temperature and the difference a domed stadium makes.

The replacement ref’s 2012 call against Title Town USA changed the dialogue between the NFL and the ref’s union. In a move faster than De’Anthony ‘Black Mamba’ Thomas, regular refs took the field for the next scheduled game.

Here’s the timeline:

• On a Monday replacement referee and full-time banker Lance Easley gave Seattle a victory over Green Bay.
• On the next Thursday, three days later, game-ready NFL crews officiated.

Does it feel like the NFL refs were warmed up in the bullpen waiting for that call?

Like other fans of losing teams you can argue that replacement refs screwed the pooch in the Emerald City. You can’t say it here because karma owes the Seahawks too much. Why? Because games fall into one of two categories, wins or losses.

There’s no column for ‘stolen.’

Replacement refs couldn’t have called the Seahawk vs Steeler championship game any worse than the real guys. It’s as if the Super Bowl refs had a direct line on Jimmy The Greek’s hotline from heaven:

“Don’t rush to judgment before checking the point spread.”

“Remember you’re on the payroll to make a late holding call.”

Or the worst, “Seattle won’t mind losing as much as Pittsburgh.”

That the Seahawks went through the Cowboys and young Romo on their way to the biggest game in team history isn’t as important as the return they’re owed for getting hosed by the refs.

“A day later, former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren told fans at Qwest Field, “I knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts, as well.””

Beating both the Cowboys and Packers early in 2012 doesn’t make things even, but it’s a start. What would balance the scales of sports fan justice?

• The Seahawks go undefeated like the ’72 Dolphins.
• They play a Super Bowl against a team their head man used to coach, like Weeb Ewbank and the Jets against the Baltimore Colts in ’69.
• Club ownership starts slipping around like Carroll Rosenbloom of the Colts and Robert Irsay of the LA Rams who traded teams in 1972.

Why not take all the wrongs in professional sports, every cheated game, every fixed fight and rigged race, and let the Seattle Seahawks’ redemption ease that pain?

The record book will show a home win against the Packers on Monday Night Football. There will be no asterisk, but it needs an explanation. Use your own, or this one.

Choose wisely.

From referee Bill Levy on the Seahawk vs Steeler Super Bowl: “It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better. I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough. When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It’s something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it’s difficult.”

(posted on oregonsportsnews.com)