Arguing doesn't get better than this.
For the bazillionth time in two months, a Seahawks instafan complained about poor officiating in the Super Bowl. You remember the Super Bowl, the game the Hawks lost only because of the refs? This time, it was the offensive pass interference that briefly created a touchdown. "He barely touched the guy!" the man snarled, irritated that I said it was a good call.
"Let's go to the tape, shall we?" I purred. We were on the ferry, and in in my car I have a bunch of DVDs, one of them containing Super Bowl lowlights. Until the moment I showed the man footage of Jackson shoving Hope backward a couple of feet as Jackson broke to the ball, the man remembered Jackson committing no foul.
"Yeah, that's the popular version of events," I said.
The comforts of delusion are difficult to unclench. "You sure that's the right play? Everyone I know says that was a horrible call."
"Of that I have no doubt. And yeah. I'm sure."
It didn't take me long to imagine the utility of breaking down each of the controversial calls, or of refuting mythology by simply citing rules. So welcome to Stank's second special edition: Super Bowl XL officiating.