http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-950329.mp3
Do you remember the Seattle Seahawks losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL? If you lived in Seattle five years ago, of course you do. Have you gotten over it? If not, you might want to root for the Green Bay Packers this weekend.
KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel thinks most Seahawks fans will be cheering for the Packers over the Steelers in this Sunday's Super Bowl (coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. Seattle time on FOX).
That's because the Seahawks' Super Bowl loss to the Steelers in 2006 was plagued by bad calls. It's documented in an article by Doug Farrar on Yahoo! Sports (Doug now writes for Art and Steve Rudman's new website Sportspress Northwest). The head official in the game, Bill Leavy, admitted this past August to blowing some key calls:
"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."
Art says Leavy's admission may have reopened old wounds for some, but he thinks it's also been therapeutic - giving credence to the argument that "we were robbed!"
Art says the loss still stings because "it's a reminder of what was, and what hasn't been again." And it will most likely remain a sore spot for Seahawks fans until the team is able to make another run at the Super Bowl.
