More Monday morning quarterbacking

If you’re still looking for sympathy about Seattle’s Super Bowl loss, don’t approach Ray Ratto/SF Chronicle. In a brutal assessment of Seahawk fans’ claims that “we wuzz robbed (by the refs),” Ratto started a column last week this way: “So the Seahawks got jobbed, did they? Cheated by the evil Zebras of Death, was it? Denied their destiny by seven men in ghastly shirts and knickers, you think? OK, fine. I mean, you’re wrong, but don’t let that get in the way of your good time.” Ratto admits that the hanky that nullified the first Seattle TD was “chintzy” and that the holding call that brought the ball back from the 1-yard line was suspect. But he credits the Seahawks’ loss to poor clock management and bad coverage that allowed Pittsburgh to convert that disastrous 3rd-and-28 play that led to a score. Never mind that the two suspect calls cost Seattle 11 points – the margin of difference in the game – and momentum. Like an annoying kid trying to egg on a fight at the school playground, Ratto concludes: “The Steelers won because, as poorly as they played, they still managed to play better than the Seahawks did.” Not bad for a guy who spent the season wondering if the hometown 49ers would get the top draft pick as the worst NFL team.

Quotable quote

“Last year, bad calls cost the Seahawks some games. (Coach Mike) Holmgren used to get apologies from the League office. This year it also happened, but the Hawks were so good they won despite the bad officiating. Until last night. Last night. Professional football players, who work their (tails) off to get there, didn’t get to win the Super Bowl. Nope. It was fat middle-aged mostly white guys in striped shirts. Making bad calls in the whip-crack speed of real time and then refusing to overturn them even when multiple millions of TV viewers (readily saw) the correct call during slow motion replays. Fat old guys. Unreal.” – blogger Bob Salsbury/Unbearable Bobness of Being, venting after Super Bowl XL.

First dogs

You’ve heard the sad story of how Washington state’s first dog, Franz, was struck and killed by a car while Gov. Chris Gregoire was in Detroit for the Super Bowl. But did you know that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has a border collie, named Jag, who’s more popular than he is? In a recent poll, Jag had a higher approval rating than the governor’s impressive 64 percent. That’s why he was banished to the family farm near Whitefish for a while. Or so the governor told the Great Falls Tribune, tongue firmly cheeked. “We’re going to make him work cows and slop for a while and see how big his head is then,” Schweitzer said at the time. But he relented when school children from Great Falls demanded the return of Jag. Now, Jag carries the title of “canine special assistant to the governor.” Schweitzer has learned a lesson from his dog’s popularity. Schweitzer told the Tribune, “I will be wagging my tail more and my tongue less.”

Tongue tacked

CdA’s Phil Corless has nothing but great things to say about the Coeur d’Alene P&R coaches who manage his son and other second-graders. They’re patient and knowledgeable. And his son’s having a great time. Phil would nominate his son’s coaches for sainthood, except for one thing. They’re pierced. All over the place. Phil: “Okay, I can see the appeal of dangling shiny objects from your ears. But nose and eyebrow rings confound me, while tongue studs and lip rings just downright scare me. I don’t even want to know about piercings further south.” Phil didn’t know what to say when his son asked about the piercings. But he has decided he won’t allow his children to be pierced, this side of 18. That was the rule in our house, too. Junior abided by it – until he turned 18. Alas.

Huckleberries

ESPN weekend poll: By 56-44 percent, 219,436 respondents picked J.J. Redick of Duke as the nation’s best basketball player over Adam Morrison of Gonzaga. … Poet’s Corner: “Few things on earth/are quite so merry/as sunny days/in February” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Winter Treat”) … “I think the little rats should be made to read ‘It Takes A Village’ during recess, eat organically grown vegetables and attend classes on political correctness. Otherwise they are likely to grow up normal!” – a Berry Picker on the decision by Adams Elementary/Spokane to ban tag during breaks … “When cable used to run the Sheriff’s Office Most Wanted Felons program with the mugs of various crooks, thugs, and lowlifes, I’d always refer to it as The Hillyard Personal Ads” – Bob Salsbury re: the Rogers High flap involving “Hillyard” cheers.

Parting shot

For those keeping score at home, 64 percent of 1,146 respondents to an Idaho Statesman poll said last week that University of Idaho will win no more than four games under back-to-the-future coach Dennis Erickson. (HBO: As long as one of those wins is over Boy-C State, it’ll be enough.)