The View From the Couch - Game Non

The Super Bowl wasn’t close to super on Sunday. Billed as the greatest show in sports, it was anything but – on the field, off the field and after the game.

When great expectations die, it means it’s time for a post mortem:

First off, why Detroit? Picking one of the only American cities whose population is in free-fall was a weird choice. Ten-thousand people a year leak out of Motor City – and they are doing so for a reason. Just off the spit and polished streets done up for the media were the rows upon rows of abandoned houses and blight. Instead of talking about how great the venue was, it left reporters looking for excuses for their hosts. They wrote how things “weren’t all that bad” in the city. Or how it was “surprisingly clean.” Not everyone was playing along however. One San Diego wag wrote, “What? Baghdad was booked?”

Then there was the pre-game. The only thing they didn’t show about Jerome Bettis was his DNA pattern. Joe Montana was conspicuously absent. He always was better at seeing things others couldn’t. He must have had an inkling about how things would turn out because he skipped his Super Bowl MVP intro for his kid’s game back home.

I suspect he saw the better event.

Even the dynamic duo of Al Michaels and John Madden couldn’t liven up the game – although they did do a bang-up job of reinforcing the ref’s incompetence.

The offensive interference call on Darrell Jackson was bogus. His arms made did make contact with Pittsburgh's Chris Hope – but there was no harm no foul. The zebra saw it otherwise and there was no touchdown. If the great shirts called the 1998 NBA finals like the 2005 Super Bowl, Michael Jordan would have been called for an offensive foul on his then final shot, and we fans would have been deprived of a classic finish.

There was no classic finish Sunday ‘cause there was never a classic start.

There were others that were as equally odd. Like Roethlisberger on his rollout appeared to come down short of the goal line. Sean Locklear's momentum killing holding penalty that erased that 18-yard pass to the Pittsburgh 1 that could have put the Seahawks in the lead in the 4th quarter.

But it was the non-TD call that looked like it messed up the Seahawks collective skull. They played like birdbrains from then on out – especially at the crunch times at the end of the half and the game.

The stuff around the game was also off. The Rolling Stones looked lost in that mighty mouth for a stage, and were even censored by the league. The NFL cut Jagger's microphone during ‘Start Me Up' for the line "you'd make a dead man come" and ‘Rough Justice’ had the sound level lowered just as Jagger was singing the words cocks in the line "once upon a time I was your little red rooster/now I'm just one of your cocks."

That’s too rough for the NFL, so we can assume next year’s half time should be a riveting rendition of “It’s a small world after all.” Or maybe they should just run an endless loop of mostly lame commercials that most of the viewers tune in for anyway. They could if they wanted to. In the words of Max Bialystock, “If ya got it, flaunt it!”

Sure - it was great to see the Steelers and the classy Bill Cower win, and Jerome’s parting shot was a classic, but it would have been even better if we could have clearly heard it. The biggest game in the world, and they’re using a 2-cent mic?

All in all – it ranks in the pantheon of events failing to live up to the hype – close to or near the top. Hopefully for we poor beleaguered sports fans, it won’t be knocked from its lofty perch for a long, long time.

The bottom line: The biggest shocker about the game was, it demonstrated that right now, things ain’t all that great with the greatest sports league in the world.

That – or I’m still pissed off about losing my bet.

Cheers - Gavin McDougald – AKA Couch

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NHL coach Rick Tocchet's new lawyer denies his client was financing a sports gambling ring or involved with organized crime.

Tocchet is a former NHL player who took leave Wednesday from his job as an assistant coach with Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes.

"The allegation that Rick Tocchet financed an illegal gambling operation with organized crime is categorically false and irresponsible," said prominent Newark, N.J. attorney Kevin Marino in a statement issued Wednesday.

"We deeply regret the attorney-general's precipitous charges and are appalled by the media frenzy. Mr. Tocchet will fight the false charges with the same grit and resolve he displayed during his illustrious playing career."

New Jersey law enforcement officials revealed Tuesday that Tocchet has been charged with promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy as part of an investigation they called "Operation Slapshot."

A tip last October led to an undercover police officer placing a bet, kicking off the investigation.

According to police, more than 1,000 bets were allegedly placed in the New Jersey-based gambling setup within a 40-day period, to the tune of more than $1.7 million US processed in bets on professional and college-level sports.

Police alleged that at least six and up to 12 NHL players -- plus a coach and an owner -- bet through the ring, but stress that none of the alleged bets were placed on hockey games.

According to a report from The Associated Press, law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity indicated that Gretzky's wife Janet Jones was being investigated for allegedly placing bets in the gambling ring.

New Jersey state police Col. Rick Fuentes said the gambling ring was connected to organized crime in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.

Also charged New Jersey state trooper James J. Harney, a friend of Tocchet from Philadelphia, and James A. Ulmer, 40.

Harney and Ulmer have already been arrested, charged and released on $100,000 and $50,000 bail respectively. Both are expected to be arraigned in court within two weeks.

An arraignment date has not yet been set for Tocchet, but one is expected within the next seven to 10 days.

Capt. Albert Della Fave of the New Jersey State Troopers told TSN that Tocchet allegedly played a major role in the ring as the "money man."

Della Fave explained that the "money man" in such an operation would set the bets and prices, and determine how much each participant in the alleged ring would see in profits.

The most serious charge facing the three men is money laundering, which carries a possible seven-year prison sentence.

"The bottom line is, when you're making big money, and you're trying to hide it from the IRS and hide it from the authorities, you're going to have to find creative ways of hiding it," Della Fave said.

Interviews are still going on with bettors, he said.

"We're trying to find out if they were doing more than betting. We're trying to find out if they were acting as agents to expand the business … if they were gaining money from processing bets for friends," Della Fave said.

A former U.S. attorney -- Robert Cleary, who has worked in New Jersey but was most famous for prosecuting the "Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski -- is conducting an internal investigation for the NHL.