Playoff officiating flagged

DETROIT -- Picked-up pieces while waiting for one of the Detroit volunteers to be the least bit rude or impatient with their Super Bowl guests (didn't see it once) . . .

Enough is enough. The NFL's horrid postseason officiating culminated with a brutal four quarters at the Super Bowl. Seattle fans will be crowing about this for decades. Think of how you still feel about Ed Armbrister and Larry Barnett, then multiply. This is going to be the issue when folks look back at Super Bowl XL, and it could dominate discussion for the entire offseason. No league is better run than the NFL, but its part-time officials had an abysmal postseason and took the Seahawks right out of their first Super Bowl. The call on the Ben Roethlisberger touchdown dive was bad. The call on the Darrell Jackson offensive pass interference was bad, and the holding call on Sean Locklear was bad. Oh, the phantom personal foul against Matt Hasselbeck wasn't very good, either. All of the calls went against Seattle. And they cost the Seahawks dearly. New England fans who are still mad about the bogus pass interference call on Asante Samuel in Denver should send condolences to their friends in the Pacific Northwest.

Shaun Alexander's 95 yards on 20 carries earn him the Dominique Wilkins/Elvin Hayes/Wade Boggs Award for compiling a fairly impressive stat line while having no impact on the outcome.

Folks at Ford Field, many of whom paid more than a grand for their tickets, were subjected to commercials and NFL Network analysis during breaks in the action. It was intrusive and downright uncomfortable to hear analysis of the game on the big board during commercial breaks. Must have been odd for the players and coaches, too. Who wants to hear critiques while you are in midgame?

Bumped into Tom Brady by the elevator Saturday night. When I asked him about his ''sports hernia" he shrugged and said, ''It's something I'm going to have to have taken care of."

Speaking of Brady, you didn't see Joe Montana strolling out with the other former MVPs in the pregame parade of champions. Any chance that Joe Cool -- a three-time winner -- wasn't there because the NFL wouldn't meet his price?

Hines Ward makes for a nice Super Bowl MVP. He's a team guy who doesn't mind throwing a block. He's the anti-Terrell Owens. And now he can claim they named the stadium after him (Heinz Field) in Pittsburgh.

Matt Hasselbeck did himself a lot of good in Detroit. He was smart and charismatic with the media all week, wound up playing a better game than winner Roethlisberger, and made no excuses when it was over. Did Xaverian and Boston College proud. Did right by Mr. and Mrs. Hasselbeck, too. Here's hoping he gets another chance in the big game. Bet he wins next time.

Then we have Seattle tight end Jerramy Stevens, who won the Fred Williamson/Freddie Mitchell Award by failing to back up his trash talk. Stevens caught a touchdown pass, but he also dropped four passes and got himself benched. You might remember ''The Hammer" Williamson, who said he was going to drop the hammer on the Packers, then left the field via stretcher in Super Bowl I. Last year, Mitchell said he had something for New England's Rodney Harrison. But Harrison wound up catching more Donovan McNabb passes (two) than Mitchell (one).

Nine days in Motown and not one person asked about the Beanpot. Wish I could say no one asked about Manny.

Is there a sports personality more bloodless than NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue? Tags runs a nice league (except for the playoff officiating), but he plays it closer to the vest than Bill Belichick. Tagliabue loses more points for saying that baseball is boring.

Anyone who spent a few hours at Detroit's Renaissance Center would come home to tell you that ESPN truly runs the sports world. Sean Salisbury and friends have become true superstars, bigger than any non-Pro Bowl player. Hard to believe now that folks laughed when the idea of a 24-hour sports channel was introduced.

Michigan's Jennifer Granholm is probably the only governor better looking than Mitt Romney, but Mitt's in luck because Granholm was born in Canada and cannot run for president.

Yo, Mick? ''Rough Justice"? You get 12 minutes and three songs, and you give us ''Rough Justice"? I'd have been OK with a 12-minute version of ''Gimme Shelter."

Did I hear John Madden telling Hasselbeck to ''take a knee" in the final minute?

For the record, Jerome Bettis had 43 yards on 14 carries. Not bad for a guy who in his final NFL game was only a few pounds smaller than William Perry was when the Fridge scored against the Patriots in New Orleans in 1986.

We need to get over it. We need to stop doing this to ourselves. But it was impossible to watch those teams stumble around for four quarters and not come away convinced that the Patriots would have won their fourth Super Bowl in five years if they'd just found a way to hold on to the football in Denver that night.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.