Is Ed Hoculi still the best?

[JugglingReferee]

The NFL is in a very good point right now - there are lots of quality Referees. Steratore is good. Riveron is good. Hochuli and Carey as mentioned. Carollo is good. I like Winter myself. Leavy and Morelli do a fine job. There's no Tom White type anymore.

[Forksref]

Corollo is up there with the others mentioned. I think some situations lend themselves to making officials look bad, i.e., no-win situations. I think the NFL has a lot of very good officials.

[JRutledge]

If Hoculi was ever the "best" it was not for a very long time. Not to say that Hoculi is a bad official, but there are a lot of very good Referees if you ask me. And if you look at the ratings, I do not think Hoculi is consistently the top guy at all. I know he has not received a lot of playoff assignments recently compared to other Referees.

Peace

[MJT]

I agree that right now the NFL might be at one of the high points ever at the referee position. I see a huge crop of great referees, with Hochuli and Carey leading the way. Riveron and Boger are a couple of really good "newer" guys!

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by MJT

I agree that right now the NFL might be at one of the high points ever at the referee position. I see a huge crop of great referees, with Hochuli and Carey leading the way. Riveron and Boger are a couple of really good "newer" guys!

I think Boger's mic needs work. I am partial to Steratore and Parry. IIRC, they were brought into the league to be CCs. Hoch and Carey are leading the way, though. Riveron has had a smooth transition too.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

I think Boger's mic needs work. I am partial to Steratore and Parry. IIRC, they were brought into the league to be CCs. Hoch and Carey are leading the way, though. Riveron has had a smooth transition too.

It looks like Riveron goofed on the DAL fumble though.

[Refster]

All the white hats I've met and got to observe up close do a good job.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

If Hoculi was ever the "best" it was not for a very long time. Not to say that Hoculi is a bad official, but there are a lot of very good Referees if you ask me. And if you look at the ratings, I do not think Hoculi is consistently the top guy at all. I know he has not received a lot of playoff assignments recently compared to other Referees.

Peace

What makes Hoch great is his overall contribution to the Referee spot at the NFL level. When you look back in history, 85 will be atop or near the top of the elite NFL officials. If it was such that Ed was the top every year, and everyone was playing for silver, then it'd be rather boring. Ed has received many playoff assignments, and is known to contribute to the league outside the normal expectations.

That's why he is the best.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

if you look at the ratings, I do not think Hoculi is consistently the top guy at all. I know he has not received a lot of playoff assignments recently compared to other Referees.

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Ed has received many playoff assignments,

Actually, when you compare Hochuli to other referees over the last five years, he does quite well. Only Mike Carey has more playoff assignments since 2003, and only one more:

M Carey......6 (2 WC, 3 DIV, 1 SB)
E Hochuli....5 (2 WC, 1 DIV, 1 CC, 1 SB)
T McAulay....5 (1 DIV, 3 CC, 1 SB)
W Anderson...5 (4 WC, 1 CC)
W Coleman....5 (3 WC, 1 DIV, 1 CC)
J Triplette..4 (2 WC, 1 DIV, 1 CC)
B Carollo....4 (2 DIV, 2 CC)
P Morelli....4 (1 WC, 3 DIV)
B Leavy......4 (1 WC, 2 DIV, 1 SB)
G Austin.....3 (3 DIV)
B Kukar......2 (1 WC, 1 CC)
T Corrente...2 (1 DIV, 1 SB)
J Boger......1 (1 DIV)
J Grier......1 (1 WC)
L Nemmers....1 (1 WC)
R Winter.....1 (1 DIV)
S Green......1 (1 WC)
B Vinovich...1 (1 WC)

[BillyClyde 68]

Where would you find the ratings?

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by BillyClyde 68

Where would you find the ratings?

They're not made public.

You can infer them in a general sense by who gets which playoff assignments. But you'll never see them posted anywhere.

[JugglingReferee]

I rest my case.

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by OverAndBack

B Kukar......2 (1 WC, 1 CC)

I miss Bernie Kukar and his "Personal fahls" (like how he couldn't say foul correctly)

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

What makes Hoch great is his overall contribution to the Referee spot at the NFL level. When you look back in history, 85 will be atop or near the top of the elite NFL officials. If it was such that Ed was the top every year, and everyone was playing for silver, then it'd be rather boring. Ed has received many playoff assignments, and is known to contribute to the league outside the normal expectations.

That's why he is the best.

Remember we are talking about opinions here. And just because you think he is the best, does not make it so.

I personally do not have a dog in this fight, but I think there are a lot of good referees. And playoff assignments are very deceiving all by themselves because you have to be at a position for a certain amount of time before you can even work a single playoff game. Ed has been around longer than most. Someone could make a case that there are several officials that were better but were not eligible for playoffs. And remember Ed is very high profile, so we remember his games more than others.

Peace

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Remember we are talking about opinions here. And just because you think he is the best, does not make it so.

This is absolutely true. The margin between the #1 guy and the #6 guy is probably not that large. And personal preference (as to style and deportment and whatnot) does enter into it.

What's important to them is what the ratings show and what Mike Pereira wants.

And playoff assignments are very deceiving all by themselves because you have to be at a position for a certain amount of time before you can even work a single playoff game.

Why didn't you say that above?

Ed has been around longer than most. Someone could make a case that there are several officials that were better but were not eligible for playoffs.

I think the only guys on the current list of NFL white hats who are not on that list (have not received a playoff assignment in the last five years) are:

Parry, Riveron, Steratore and Cheffers.

That's it.

How many of those guys are better? Demonstrably better? Riveron and Cheffers just became referees, correct? Still too early to tell if they're better, though I think Riveron is highly-regarded. Steratore is in his third year as a referee. Parry's in his second year as a referee.

I'm not sure there are "several" officials better who are being kept out by virtue of not having enough time (Riveron and Cheffers couldn't have been in the discussion before this year anyway). So we're down to Steratore and Parry. Are they better than Hochuli? I don't know.

And remember Ed is very high profile, so we remember his games more than others.

THAT is absolutely true. Well, you seem to NOT remember his games as well as others.

(kidding, kidding, relax)

Look, Hochuli is a quality official, obviously. His body of work is an impressive one, no question. At some point, everybody's skills decline. Was the Denver thing evidence of that or just a brain fart? Only the NFL office knows for sure who's on top by their quantifiable methods. We may all have our preferences and people we admire for one reason or another.

But "the best" is a tough thing to determine. I always liked Jim Tunney, I thought he was great. But I don't know how much greater he was than Ben Dreith or Tommy Bell or Red Cashion or Jerry Markbreit. They were all pretty damn good.