Oct 7th 2008 3:50PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Chargers, Saints, NFL Real Talk, NFL Referees
It’s not easy being Ed Hochuli lately. Everybody screws up at their job from time to time; very, very few receive a city full of scorn for it. And yet the Hochuli hate parade didn’t end with the scores of angry e-mails from San Diego regarding Jay Cutler’s fumble/non-fumble, as subsequent screwups have effected the Panthers and, as of last night, the Saints.
The effort among San Diego faithful to write Hochuli — and his willingness to respond — has inspired other fanbases sleighted by the ref to hate on him as well. It almost makes you want to feel bad for the guy, but, well, he’s a public figure with his e-mail available for the world to see (I won’t make it easy on you, you can let Googles lead you if you’d like to join in). Also, it probably wasn’t smart for him to respond to e-mails from Chargers fans, especially once the NFL advised him against it. Which makes this even more questionable.
FanHouse has obtained what we believe to be a response from Hochuli to a Saints fan writing in regard to his officiating from Monday’s Saints/Vikings game. : We were able to verify the sender of the e-mail completely. A check of the IP, specifically, wasn’t possible, meaning this be Hochuli writing the e-mail. However, given what we do have to go by and the infamous ref’s recent history, we’re confident enough to at least pass it along. Remember, however, that this isn’t definitively Hochuli. He’s a lawyer, and I don’t want to get sued. Thanks much.
Check out the e-mail after the jump.Continue Reading
