Ed "Guns" Hochouli is probably the best known official in the NFL. He blew a call in the SD/Denver game that cost SD the game. Denver's QB lost the ball attempting a pass and SD recovered, only Hochouli had blown the play dead as an incomplete pass. Denver then scored a TD and converted a 2 point ocnversion to win a game it should have lost. SD coach Norv Turner was understandably irate, and the NFL announced earlier this week that Hochouli had been marked down for his error, putting his chances of officiating the Super Bowl or playoffs in jeopardy. An earlier poll of NFL players had ranked him tied for top official in the league. Personally, I have never been a fan of Hochouli. He's clearly full of himself, likes the TV time and seems to think he is part of the show instead of someone who should be invisible if possible. That said, I think he is getting a raw deal. Replays showed he missed the call, but at full speed, it was a very tough call. He was behind the QB, where he is supposed to be but had a poor view of the QB's hand because of that. To me, that play looked like the QB got the ball moving forward because of the way it was falling out of his hand, but on replay he clearly didn't. The real problem was the rules do not allow the refs to award the recovering team possession on the theory that the whistle stopped play. So Hochouli was stuck with his blown call. The league basically threw him under the bus. It's not Hochouli's fault he couldn't remedy the mistake. It wasn't the worst mistake I saw last week by a long shot. It just happened to affect the outcome of a game more clearly than most. Hochouli has received a ton of hate mail and is apparently responding personally to each email, apologizing for his error and taking full responsibility. Apparently the big man is a big man. Got to give him credit for that. I say lay off Ed. He made a mistake, but so does every ref. If necessary, change the rule and give the ref power to remedy an egregious error in the interests of justice.
Nice post, AAA. Refs aren't fucking robots. They're human, and therefore will make mistakes. The remedy is exactly what you said it is: allow them to correct their errors. On another note, wasn't that a terrific game?!?!! Making things even better, I have Brandon Marshall in both of my fantasy football leagues. That kid is a STUD! Him and Calvin Johnson lead the new wave of elite receivers.