This weeks officiating crew is ... Ed "Gun Show" Hochuli (1 Viewer)

[perret318]

Look at his overall performance over his NFL tenure. He's one of the best in the business. Everyone screws up a few calls. Even the fumble wouldn't be remembered at all if it didn't happen to be in the last seconds of the game. Every ref in the league has had calls like that at less-than-memorable points.

Let it go.

 

[SaintsFanInLA]

I hated his explanation of why Clinton Portis' fumble against the Saints was not a fumble. IIRC, it went something like: The ball began to come out of the runner's hand. But because the ball was still touching the hand of the runner once the runner was down, it is not ruled a fumble. New Orleans will be charged a timeout.

I was miffed at this call.

I would like to go on the record and say, I generally like good ole Ed Hochuli though.

It was Adrian Peterson who fumbled and YOU ARE RIGHT!! It was the worst explanation known to man.

Something akin to: even though the temperature was sub 32 degrees F and the water became a solid substance instead of a liquid, it was not actually ice as you see by how I flex my biceps like so.

 

[gotabyte]

Hopefully he learned from the bad mistakes last year where he changed the outcomes of 2 games over several large blown calls. Even with review, he would not admit his own mistake in the Saints vs Minnesota game.

 

[diehard]

The AD no-call was inexcusable. That was a fumble. How can you officiate for years and suddenly lose the ability to define such a basic play.

If a player loses the ball and it's clear it was moving and he wasn't controlling it before hitting the ground, then it's a fumble. It's almost as if his confidence was shaken and he was suffering paralysis by analysis.

Don't get me started on the Bush facemask no-call...

 

[SaintsFanInLA]

Hopefully he learned from the bad mistakes last year where he changed the outcomes of 2 games over several large blown calls. Even with review, he would not admit his own mistake in the Saints vs Minnesota game.

This is what sickens me with egomaniacs. They will rarely admit to their mistakes even when the video shows unambiguously that it was a mistake.

Aside from his admission of guilt in the San Diego game, his staunch refusal to admit the blown calls in the New Orleans game by saying things like: The facemask against Reggie Bush was not in his purview just really chapped me.

 

[MississippiSaint]

Can someone please email Ed and remind him what a facemask is.

 

[SaintlyAgenda]

It was Adrian Peterson who fumbled and YOU ARE RIGHT!! It was the worst explanation known to man.

Something akin to: even though the temperature was sub 32 degrees F and the water became a solid substance instead of a liquid, it was not actually ice as you see by how I flex my biceps like so.

Thanks for that. I guess my memory is a little hazy. I'm going to edit my post.

 

[parlorcitysaint]

Don't get me started on the Bush facemask no-call...

This. This right here. I'm all over this like a fat kid on a cupcake.

 

[jayd265]

Hopefully he learned from the bad mistakes last year where he changed the outcomes of 2 games over several large blown calls. Even with review, he would not admit his own mistake in the Saints vs Minnesota game.

i was about to post that pic. i had it as my avatar last year.

 

[RockyMtnSaint]

Oh come on. Hochuli's a good ref. Just because he screwed up one frickin thing doesn't mean he's a bad ref.

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any good refs. But I'll agree that he's better than most.

And to those neg-repping GS53's post:

 

[Saint Droopy]

Maybe not "Hoch", but his crew screwed us in the Minny game at the Dome... a couple times actually. That AD fumble was obvious to everybody watching the game including the guys that was calling it (even Kornhole), but the refs wouldn't budge.

 

[Rod-138]

I'm actually on Roids right now for an ailment. - Only 2 weeks worth

I can attest to short tempers and lack of thought processing skills as of late.
Sort of sympathize with guns. The other day I almost threw pennies at an 18 wheeler that wouldn't get out of the left lane. I could totally see how he throws flags on players that pee him off at his level of Roid abuse.

 

[Sniper Wolf]

Can someone please email Ed and remind him what a facemask is...

...or what a dead body lying in a ditch looks like.

/I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'

 

[St. Skeet]

Like they say in the UFC, "Never put it in the Judges hands." If we play our game and play it like we know we can, then nothing the refs call can stop us.

 

[mid-city fan]

I hated his explanation of why Adrian Peterson's fumble against the Saints was not a fumble. IIRC, it went something like: The ball began to come out of the runner's hand. But because the ball was still touching the hand of the runner once the runner was down, it is not ruled a fumble. New Orleans will be charged a timeout.

If you are going to use that call as an example, you should at least quote him correctly. Here is what he actually said, word-for-word from the video...

When the runner's knee hit the ground, although the ball had started to come away from the body, it was still held in the hand. Therefor...the ruling on the field stands...​

To paraphrase in "ref speak", AP had a firm grasp and control of the tip of the ball in his hand when his knee hit the ground. Whatever happens after the knee hit the ground is irrelevant. In any case, there is not enough indisputable evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, so the call of down by contact stands.

The call was a close one. It was easy to see why it was called down by contact in real-time, and it is just as easy to see why the call was too close to overturn. Too many people have mis-quoted Hochuli's explanation to suit their own desire to make him look bad. His call on that play was absolutely correct under the rules of instant replay.