How often do we make mistakes ? Every hour of every day I would assume. Everybody makes mistakes. It's what we do after the mistake that counts. For me that defines us more than the mistake itself. I don't care if you are football maniac like me or not read on. Read the tags for this blog entry:
Accountability, stand up guy, Integrity, contriteness
Is that what you want to be like? You want your kids to have those qualities? That is what we have here in the person of Ed Hochuli. You can't do anything about the past but you can just vow to move on and improve the present and the future.
The details may not be too important but I do have them below. The ESPN story and various video clips. The audio clips are editorial type comments that defend Ed. No matter how you are reading this go to here for the audio clips. Dated September 20. Also included below is Ed Hochuli's personal response to my mail. You may notice it's work mail and he is still taking the time to answer everybody. Both infuriated people and supporting people. If that was me I would stop at twenty. Who knows how many he had to answer?
Read the story, Ed Hochuli immediately said it was his fault. He still feels bad. He faced Norv. How many people in real life have that kind of guts to admit to someone who you know will be livid and say you are wrong? In my office, one section's method of dealing with such gaffes is to say and do nothing like it never happened. I call it the "wala lang" method which is Tagalog for "nothing really". That's why after six years there is minimal improvement in the attitude of the department. Experience is not an asset but a liability. I don't feel bad telling you this because I have told them and the response is "wala lang". There is no Hochuli like accountability. What I look for in them I see in Ed Hochuli.
It is so easy to see a slow motion replay of something in your living room and define it or for what it is. Ed Hochuli did not have the luxury of that perspective. He was right there as head referee . With all these rules in head that makes a lawyer's head spin. I say that because Ed Hochuli himself is a lawyer. I also know that Tim Green former NFL player who became both a lawyer and an NFL broadcaster after his playing days with Falcons thought so of the rule book.
He really has so much going on in his head while running around and keeping after the play the whole game. Avoiding collisions with the hardest hitters on planet Earth. So he may be physically and mentally fatigued. Then he thinks he sees something in real time, then he blows the whistle. By rule once you hear the whistle , play over. No hitting or lunging after the ball or running. It's for the safety of the players. Can you blame him?
Knowing all that. Ed Hochuli is too much of a gentleman to make excuses. Me, for what it''s worth and what I know of the NFL and human limitations, I will defend him based on perspective. Being a referee is a thankless job . I should know because I was in high school, cheers like "1-2-3 Kill the referee, 3-2-1 kill the other 1" and "Ref!! Which one's your son???". Were common place.
A funny thing happens though when you do things like keep score or run the 24 second clock at a basketball game or hold the chains in a football game. You actually get to talk to these guys. Then you appreciate that without them , your games that you enjoy will not go on as they do. As a beer commercial once said "A tribute to the guys who work, so we can play".
Ed Hochuli has been an NFL ref for a long time. He is also the most visible one. There is a saying that God does not send you something you can't handle. It's almost like if anybody can put this into perspective, it has to be Ed. I believe he is moving on and being humble and contrite and all that to give us all an example. God Bless Him!
Ed Lopez
Manila
P.S.
I have known of Ed for a while and I know he had a cult following but I had no idea it was this big. Check out:
http://www.cafepress.com/jarbys
Johnny James of the show NFL Red Zone Roundtable met Ed Hochuli during Bears training camp and found him to be "one of the nicest guys on planet Earth" and blames this flap on the rules that Ed has to work with. You can hear discussion here.
http://mysportsradio.com/?p=4235
Ed
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Thank you so much for writing. I really appreciate the kind words of support. It was very nice of you to have taken the time to write me. I will learn from this mistake and move on, but this one will live with me for a long, long time.
Thank you,
Ed Hochuli
From: Ed Lopez [mailto:edrlopez@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 2:06 AM
To: EDWARD HOCHULI
Subject: email of support
Hochuli apologizes to fans for blown call in Chargers-Broncos game
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3594778
Ed Hochuli threw a flag on himself.
After blowing a call that helped the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, the referee admitted he made a mistake on Wednesday and is answering e-mails from some fans telling them that, according to multiple media reports.
Jimmy DeFlippo/US Presswire
The NFL will give longtime official Ed Hochuli lower grades after he admitted botching a call late in the Chargers-Broncos game.
"I'm getting hundreds of e-mails -- hate mail -- but I'm responding to it all," Hochuli wrote to several Chargers fans, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. "People deserve a response. You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea … Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection -- I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry."
The crucial call occurred with the Broncos at the Chargers' 1-yard-line in the final minute. Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler dropped back to pass, the ball slipped out of his hands, bounced off the grass and into the arms of Chargers linebacker Tim Dobbins.
Hochuli, a former NFLRA president, ruled it an incomplete pass. Replay ruled it a fumble, but it was spotted at the 10, where the ball hit the ground, and given to Denver because the rules did not permit possession to be awarded to San Diego because the whistle had blown.
Denver went on to score a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to win 39-38.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
possible wrong spellings: Hoculi, Hocule, Hoculie, Hochulie
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