No Justice in Any Code?

Although Armchair Playmaker's emphasis is on rugby union and rugby league, we saw parallel's between tonight's American Football Super Bowl and another championship match from the last year.

Although the Steelers managed to win a great contest, their victory was no doubt marred by unsportsmanlike play from defenders James Harrison and Ike Taylor. Aided by penalties against the pair, the Steelers briefly conceded the lead but got the win in the end.

Not so different was the 2008 Super 14 final, wherein the Crusders managed a win over the Waratahs despite similar misbehavior from Brad Thorn.

All of the offenders in this tale, of course, we duly punished, with the Steeler offenders giving up 15-yard penalties and Thorn getting sent off for ten minutes and costing his side a try to boot. All the same, it would seem a bit more poetic for the odd punch-thrower to end up on the losing end of one of these championship matches!