Ed Hochuli working the playoffs: Miami vs Baltimore

[Ed Hickland]

Last week's Official Review Mike Pereria said rookies and officials with problems would not work the playoffs. The conference finals and the Super Bowl will be all-star crews.

Greg Gumbel said Hochuli's crew was rated #1. That does not mean Ed himself was rated number 1; however, consider each official is rated for every call/no-call and the SD-Denver call was only one call in 16 games. One call a season does not make.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by Ed Hickland

Last week's Official Review Mike Pereria said rookies and officials with problems would not work the playoffs. The conference finals and the Super Bowl will be all-star crews.

Greg Gumbel said Hochuli's crew was rated #1. That does not mean Ed himself was rated number 1; however, consider each official is rated for every call/no-call and the SD-Denver call was only one call in 16 games. One call a season does not make.

Thanks Ed and everyone else for clarifying where they heard Hochuli was the #1 crew. I only watched some of the game and had not heard that. Good for them! I only wish our high school crews in Indiana could be evaluated by someone who actually knows something about officating, philosophies and rules rather than just the coaches.

[Bob M.]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Rookies don't work playoffs. I forget how many years they have to work before they're eligible. There used to be a good site ofr this type of info, including who worked every game.

REPLY: This was the site you're referring to, I believe. Behind the Football Stripes

But it went 'dormant' in 2005 and hasn't been updated since. And in its latter days, every click created an unwanted ad of some sort.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Ed's LJ #47 Pedroia (a rookie) is not on the game. The LJ is #10, from another crew.

That's Tim Podraza , my first year instructor. You'll have a real hard time finding a nicer guy and better official anywhere.

[OverAndBack]

Other two games:

BAL/MIA: Hochuli (R), Brown* (U), Hittner* (HL), Phares (LJ), Weatherford* (SJ), Sifferman* (FJ), Schmitz* (BJ).
PHI/MIN: Corrente (R), Hall (U), McGrath* (HL), Hussey* (LJ), Lamberth (SJ), Weir* (FJ), Paganelli (BJ)

*Were on this referee's crew this season.

[Ref inSoCA]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Ed's LJ #47 Pedroia (a rookie) is not on the game. The LJ is #10, from another crew.

It's Podraza (#47).

#10 is a HL. Why was he working LJ?

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Ref inSoCA

It's Podraza (#47).

#10 is a HL. Why was he working LJ?

Why are you asking me? Do I look like Pereria's secretary?

(Sorry - couldn't resist.)

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Mike L

That's Tim Podraza , my first year instructor. You'll have a real hard time finding a nicer guy and better official anywhere.

I knew I had his name wrong; I should have looked it up. I usually look at the roster many times throughout the season; though this season was just at the beginning.

Give Tim my apologies?

[OverAndBack]

Some clarification about how it all works.

[PSU213]

I generally like Peter King, but he fell into the same mistake as many saying that he can't believe Hochuli is one of the top rated officials based on the magnitue of the missed SD/DEN call (i.e. one that 'decided' the game). The truth is, if this happened in the 2nd quarter of an October game between teams with losing records, no one would even think about it, and it would be impossible that anyone would suggest that official should miss the playoffs for that call. Yet, that 'meaningless' call (meaningless in the eyes of many fans anyway) is just as important to the official.

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by PSU213

I generally like Peter King, but he fell into the same mistake as many saying that he can't believe Hochuli is one of the top rated officials based on the magnitue of the missed SD/DEN call (i.e. one that 'decided' the game). The truth is, if this happened in the 2nd quarter of an October game between teams with losing records, no one would even think about it, and it would be impossible that anyone would suggest that official should miss the playoffs for that call. Yet, that 'meaningless' call (meaningless in the eyes of many fans anyway) is just as important to the official.

High profile vs. losing teams. That explains the hoopla. Pretty natural reaction. Ed is still top notch and he showed that by the way he handled the situation. He received many emails about the call (most you can expect to be very negative) and he replied to most of them. Pretty classy.

[OverAndBack]

Originally Posted by PSU213

The truth is, if this happened in the 2nd quarter of an October game between teams with losing records, no one would even think about it, and it would be impossible that anyone would suggest that official should miss the playoffs for that call.

Yep.

The game in question was a late game, too, wasn't it? Meaning a lot of people got switched to it when their games were over? So it was seen by a good bit of the populace.

[PSU213]

Originally Posted by Forksref

High profile vs. losing teams. That explains the hoopla. Pretty natural reaction. Ed is still top notch and he showed that by the way he handled the situation. He received many emails about the call (most you can expect to be very negative) and he replied to most of them. Pretty classy.

Oh, I agree that it a totally natural reaction, and I probably would have reacted the same before I was an official. We know better and can say that it is just another call in terms of rating him. I certainly compliment the NFL on doing the right thing with Hochuli rather than what would have been the easier decision from a PR perspective.