Living here in Ketchikan, Alaska, I am surrounded by Seahawk fans. Since the end of the Championship Games all I have listened to is their complaining about the Steeler's being favored. The Steelers defeated the #1, 2 and 3 seeds in the AFC, all on the road, they had the higher ranked defense of the two teams. Considering the fact that of the last 5 Superbowls the team with the higher ranked defense has won, coupled with their dominance on the road of the AFC top teams, the Steelers became the favorite.

I listened to all the fans and the commentators talk about the fact that the Seahawks led the league in sacks with 50, well folks, Pittsburgh had 46. Consider that in the playoffs, Seattle had 4 sacks, and the Steelers had 11. Yes the Steelers played one more game, but look at the averages, Seattle 2 sacks per game, the Steelers 3.5 sacks per game.

Since the game has ended all I have heard about is the poor officiating. Well the officiating matched the play of the teams. It wasn't the greatest and yes there were some questionable calls, including the touchdown by Big Ben. During the Game of the Week on NFL Network, during the game, Bill Cowher had signalled that regardless of the call on the field, he was going for it on 4th down. But the point is mute. Seattle had ample opportunity to over come the call, as they did throughout the game, yet they couldn't and they didn't. Poor clock management at the end of the first half and at the end of the game sealed their fate.

Did the NFL make money off the game, Yes. Did the NFL make money off the Steeler's win?? You tell me, consider this fact, of the last 10 Super Bowls, the highest rated were Superbowls XXX and XL. What do those two Super Bowls have in common? THe Pittsburgh Steelers. That's right, Steeler nation like it or not expands from coast to coast, and pole to pole. 3 members of the Anarctic survey team were Steeler fans. 90 plus million viewers, the NFL got paid alright, but it was because the Steelers were in the game. There was no fraud or conspiracy, the better team found a way to win the game. Why is it surprising that a team we find in the playoffs year in and year out finally got over the hump. Call it luck or cosmic karma or whatever you like, the stars were aligned and the Steelers did what no team has ever done before, win the Super Bowl as a number 6 seed. The NFL has nothing to gain by favoring one team over another, the NFL market is world wide, there is no way they would risk the generation of money in different markets to have a team win a championship.

dmk