Ed Hochuli responds

[Beast_from_East]

All the calls to that point were good, or even? If calls went against Denver earlier in the game, they really have just as much meaning. We just assign more weight to a missed call in the final minute.

Monday night's game was horribly officiated, but it gets far less scrutiny since there were no controversial calls in the final few minutes.

The bottom line is that there are going to be mistakes, always. No amount of replay and scrutiny will change that. The only way to make sure a bad call doesn't bite you is to make sure you're not in close games.

Afraid not, Chargers got raped earlier in the game when Chambers caught a pass and was laying on his back after the tackle when Champ Bailey comes up and grabs the ball out of Chamber's hands and the refs give the ball to Denver.

A freaking 1st grader could see Chambers was down by contact, however the replay equiptment was not working properly so the play could not be reviewed. Although the network had no problem showing the replay, I guess the refs dont have a TV monitor anywhere on the sideline.

That mistake lead to points for Denver. If that call was made correctly, there would not have been an opportunity late in the game for Denver.

SO WE HAVE NOT 1, BUT 2 HUGE, COLLOSAL, BONEHEAD CALLS THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME!!!

 

[WV Cowboy]

No.... the call didn't happen in the 1st quarter, so your point is completely invalid.

The call did happen in the final moments of a close game, therefore it had a great deal to do with the outcome of the game. Which wasn't the point you were arguing at all.

Same play, same call, same official, same outcome, .. but in the first quarter, .. and you then say the blown call did not cost them the game.

If that is the case, then it must have been because they allowed 31 pts in the meantime, and not the call itself or the official himself.

That was my point.

So it wasn't the official or the call that cost them, but the timing. Which was after they allowed 31 pts.

There are always lots of calls during games. No one call, or one play decides any game.

Like I said, you can blame the ref, but I will stick to what I have seen over the past 45 yrs or so in sports.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Do you have a link or reference for the fact we always lose when Hochuli is the referee?

Do you have a list of the games we have won when Hochuli has officiated?

 

[jobberone]

It might be wrong, but if I would have been Ed I would have definitely been looking very hard to find a hold or other penalty against Denver on those last 2 Denver plays, knowing my screw up had taken a win away from SD and the game should have already been decided.

So you're saying because he made an honest mistake, he should then disregard the integrity of the game not to mention the rules to 'make up for it'?

 

[sonnyboy]

There's a point on this controversy that I don't think I've seen anyone consider. And that's that the play itself was a gift, an unforced error.

Let me explain. SD did not sack or hit Cutler forcing the fumble that was incorrectly called an incomplete pass. They weren't even close enough to scare him into dropping it.

This was a completely unforced error. A gift. Had the correct call been made their is no doubt SD would have won. However, all people would have talked about was how "lucky" they were to dodge that bullet.

So for Norv and all the SD fans.......stop crying. You didn't earn that fumble, you didn't deserve that fumble.
And after that play you still had TWO chances to keep them out of the endzone and preserve the win.

That fact alone leads me to believe you didn't deserve that win. The blown call was justice and the more deserving team won.

 

[Don Corleone]

I'm curious when you've seen a fumble on a "victory" formation.

I don't mean to interject, but I seem to recall this happening to the Cowboys many years ago. I don't remember who the qb was. I've also seen it happen to other teams throughout history.

I'm not referring to Vinny T's fumble against the Steelers in 2004 btw. We were just killing the clock and about to go into victory formation when he fumbled the ball and we lost the game.

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

It's amazing how many of you feel like Ed's call didn't cost SD the game. Regardless of what happened up to that point, plain & simple, if he gets that call right, the Chargers win! How can any of you see it any other way? Two kneel downs and they're going back to SD 1-1! It ALSO had to be mentally draining for the Chargers knowing that a blown call took them from a victory to a two-play defensive stand. IMO, Hochuli's a good ref and other than being beat up by the fans and media (which I'm sure is happening BIG TIME in SD), he doesn't deserve any other sort of punishment from the league...after all it WAS an honest mistake, right ?

 

[Beast_from_East]

There's a point on this controversy that I don't think I've seen anyone consider. And that's that the play itself was a gift, an unforced error.

Let me explain. SD did not sack or hit Cutler forcing the fumble that was incorrectly called an incomplete pass. They weren't even close enough to scare him into dropping it.

This was a completely unforced error. A gift. Had the correct call been made their is no doubt SD would have won. However, all people would have talked about was how "lucky" they were to dodge that bullet.

So for Norv and all the SD fans.......stop crying. You didn't earn that fumble, you didn't deserve that fumble.
And after that play you still had TWO chances to keep them out of the endzone and preserve the win.

That fact alone leads me to believe you didn't deserve that win. The blown call was justice and the more deserving team won.

Using your logic, I guess we didnt earn the fumbled exchange between McNabb and Westbrook since no Cowboy touched them before the fumble.

I guess we didnt deserve the fumble then and we should have lost?

You actually going to argu this point, that a team dosesnt deserve a fumble unless they create it. Just give the ball back to the Eagles on the botched hand off and let them have a do-over?

WOW

 

[Danny White]

I don't mean to interject, but I seem to recall this happening to the Cowboys many years ago. I don't remember who the qb was. I've also seen it happen to other teams throughout history.

I'm not referring to Vinny T's fumble against the Steelers in 2004 btw. We were just killing the clock and about to go into victory formation when he fumbled the ball and we lost the game.

Thanks... no need to apologize.

I disagree with WV Cowboy on this, but I'm not trying to be a smart-*** to him... I'm really curious if that has happened before.

 

[jobberone]

Do you have a list of the games we have won when Hochuli has officiated?

Hey, no need to get defensive. I was just wondering how you got that information.

Since you choose to answer in a childish way then I'll assume you don't know.

 

[adamknite]

Same play, same call, same official, same outcome, .. but in the first quarter, .. and you then say the blown call did not cost them the game.

If that is the case, then it must have been because they allowed 31 pts in the meantime, and not the call itself or the official himself.

That was my point.

So it wasn't the official or the call that cost them, but the timing. Which was after they allowed 31 pts.

There are always lots of calls during games. No one call, or one play decides any game.

Like I said, you can blame the ref, but I will stick to what I have seen over the past 45 yrs or so in sports.

I'm talking about one play. If the referee doesn't blow his whistle too fast... the Chargers win. Simple. They can desict and go over film for their sloppy play all week, however, they can't work on an official not screwing them over when they had the win in their hands, and had it ripped away because of a bogus call.

That call took the W out of the Chargers win column, because it if isn't screwed up, they win. A call in the first quarter doesn't take a W out of your win column, it may not help your cause, but it doesn't in essance strip you of your victory, like that call did.

After the blown call, the Chargers gave the Broncos the win... that's their fault, they have nobody to blame for Royal catching the same play twice but theirselves. However, if the call isn't blown, the Broncos never get that oppertunity.

 

[WV Cowboy]

Certainly, anything is possible.

Lightning could strike Jay Cutler while he's going back to pass.

Very small likelihood of that happening, though... just as there's a very small likelihood of Rivers fumbling the snap on the "victory" formation. I've watched a lot of football in my life and I've never seen either happen.

You, however, seemed to indicate you have seen it happen before. I'm curious when you've seen a fumble on a "victory" formation.

In a previous post, I said .....

Who is to say that perhaps a snap would have been fumbled, (it has happened) or that a RB would have fumbled.(it has happened)

We honestly don't know what would have happened if the ball had been given to SD.

Odds are they would have held on and won, but we can't know that for sure.

I never indicated that I have seen a fumble from the victory formation, just saying anything could happen.

 

[Danny White]

In a previous post, I said .....

Who is to say that perhaps a snap would have been fumbled, (it has happened) or that a RB would have fumbled.(it has happened)

We honestly don't know what would have happened if the ball had been given to SD.

Odds are they would have held on and won, but we can't know that for sure.

I never indicated that I have seen a fumble from the victory formation, just saying anything could happen.

No worries... I'm going to exit this debate. I see where you all are coming from, I just disagree.

Cheers.

 

[Hypnotoad]

He should have never apologized. It just drags on the story.

 

[WV Cowboy]

No worries... I'm going to exit this debate. I see where you all are coming from, I just disagree.

Cheers.

I'll make my point this way, if the blown call had allowed Denver to score 39 pts, I would agree with you.

 

[kmd24]

Almost?! Almost?! No, it DID cost the chargers a loss against the broncos. There's not "Almost" about it. If that play isn't screwed up by Hochalugi the chargers are kneeling the ball and going home 1-0 in their division.

Sorry to be pedantic, but the OP stated "almost directly" cost the Chargers the game. Meaning that the Chargers still had two more plays to stop the Broncos after the questionable call.

The OP wasn't arguing that the play wasn't instrumental, IMO.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

So you're saying because he made an honest mistake, he should then disregard the integrity of the game not to mention the rules to 'make up for it'?

Spare me the righteous indignation. I'm just saying if the old saying is correct that you can call holding on every play, I don't think it would be out of bounds to find one after he just blew the call that would have ended the game.

The right thing to do if the NFL had any guts would be to replay the last 1:40 of the game and award SD the ball on the Denver 10.

Don't say it can't be done. MLB replayed the last inning of a game several weeks later to correct the umpire's call in the infamous Royals/Yankees Pine Tar game. So why can't the NFL do it? You could replay it right before the teams meet again later in the season.

 

[adamknite]

Spare me the righteous indignation. I'm just saying if the old saying is correct that you can call holding on every play, I don't think it would be out of bounds to find one after he just blew the call that would have ended the game.

The right thing to do if the NFL had any guts would be to replay the last 1:40 of the game and award SD the ball on the Denver 10.

Don't say it can't be done. MLB replayed the last inning of a game several weeks later to correct the umpire's call in the infamous Royals/Yankees Pine Tar game. So why can't the NFL do it? You could replay it right before the teams meet again later in the season.

Didn't they do that in a basketball game just recently, also?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Didn't they do that in a basketball game just recently, also?

I don't know. I don't follow basketball.

It absolutely is the right thing to do in this situation. The Pine Tar game was replayed even though the umpire's call after Brett's home run was a correct interpretation of the rule. The AL Commissioner said the umpire didn't interpet the rule correctly taking into account the spirit of the rule and thus the home run stood. The teams picked the game up at that point about 3 weeks later and the Royals won the game.

 

[adamknite]

I don't know. I don't follow basketball.

It absolutely is the right thing to do in this situation. The Pine Tar game was replayed even though the umpire's call after Brett's home run was a correct interpretation of the rule. The AL Commissioner said the umpire didn't interpet the rule correctly taking into account the spirit of the rule and thus the home run stood. The teams picked the game up at that point about 3 weeks later and the Royals won the game.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-29-42/The-Rarest-of-NBA-Treats--a-Game-Protest-is-Granted.html