One Final Attempt to Screw the Patriots

[BigKen]

The NFL was hoping that the Patriots would not have a successful season. They finished #2 and won their divisional playoff game against the Chiefs.

Roger Goodell and the NFL owners are still upset and now they're taking one final shot at trying to keep the Patriots out of Super Bowl 50.

How? You ask.............................Easy, fix the officiating crew.

The Referee for the AFC Championship Game has been announced..........Ed Hocule. Mr. Muscle. Mr. Look at Me. Mr. Denver Broncos biggest fan. Yes Ed lives in the Denver area.

Ed has been the referee in 8 past Bronco games and the Denver Broncos are 8-0 in those games.

Robert Kraft should call the NFL offices and just say no fucking way is that guy going to call this game.

If a Patriots lineman farts on the field, it'll be 15 yards for unsportsman like conduct.

The Patriots will have to play a near perfect game because Eddie ain't going to make many calls against his team.

 

[Carnzo]

Roger doesn't care if it looks fishy, just wants the Pat's to loose.

 

[ohiopatsfan]

I was wondering earlier about the officials for this game. I knew there was at least one who leans heavily toward Denver, just didn't know who it was. Goodell certainly has the right to select the officials for this game. As long as Hocule is not blatantly obvious with his bias, he will probably get away with it. I guess we can look forward to lots of OPI calls on Gronk, roughing the passer and holding calls on the Pats and several no calls when TB is hammered. If the Pats can win in spite of these obstacles, they deserve to go to the Super Bowl. If they make it, I wonder who Goodell will have officiate that game.

 

[cdumler7]

First off Hochuli does not live in the Denver area. His law office is in Arizona. Good try though. Yes Hochuli has been a part of some Bronco wins but then again they are the 2nd winningest team in the NFL over the past 5 years only behind the Patriots. So an official should be a part of a lot of wins. Now on the flip side of this the guy doing the NFC Championship game the Broncos are 0-7. They are one of the winningest teams during that stretch yet we can't seem to win when he is the head official. I would say that is way more biased than Hochuli coming in and being the head official for this game.

 

[vinapats]

Unbelievable. Ed Hocule was the guy that screwed SD in that game where he blew the whistle to took away SD's fumble forced and recovery vs DEN. It was a rare situation where 1 official decide the outcome of a game. It end up costed SD the chance to get to playoff. He saved DEN in that game.

After that game, he was "crying" and said that he never wanted to decide the outcome of a game. Eventually he was banned from officiating DEN's games in that playoff. But he came back the next year and still "officiating" DEN to more victories.

This official coaching DEN's game really make the NFL looks bad, in fact, the NFL looks like a joke.

 

[BigKen]

First off Hochuli does not live in the Denver area. His law office is in Arizona. Good try though. Yes Hochuli has been a part of some Bronco wins but then again they are the 2nd winningest team in the NFL over the past 5 years only behind the Patriots. So an official should be a part of a lot of wins. Now on the flip side of this the guy doing the NFC Championship game the Broncos are 0-7. They are one of the winningest teams during that stretch yet we can't seem to win when he is the head official. I would say that is way more biased than Hochuli coming in and being the head official for this game.

CD, you'd be screaming if that official was officiating this game. So would every other Bronco fan. Hocule should not be officiating this game. He's publicly stated that he's a Bronco fan and his family is located in the Denver area. The problem is that the Broncos have never lost when he's the referee. Bias or no, the Broncos are 8-0 with him officiating their games. No matter what you or anyone else can say, that record does not look good for any opposing team playing the Broncos.

 

[SDPaddlefish]

The NFL was hoping that the Patriots would not have a successful season. They finished #2 and won their divisional playoff game against the Chiefs.

Roger Goodell and the NFL owners are still upset and now they're taking one final shot at trying to keep the Patriots out of Super Bowl 50.

How? You ask.............................Easy, fix the officiating crew.

The Referee for the AFC Championship Game has been announced..........Ed Hocule. Mr. Muscle. Mr. Look at Me. Mr. Denver Broncos biggest fan. Yes Ed lives in the Denver area.

Ed has been the referee in 8 past Bronco games and the Denver Broncos are 8-0 in those games.

Robert Kraft should call the NFL offices and just say no fucking way is that guy going to call this game.

If a Patriots lineman farts on the field, it'll be 15 yards for unsportsman like conduct.

The Patriots will have to play a near perfect game because Eddie ain't going to make many calls against his team.

Wow, into conspiracy theories much?? No, Ed does not live in the Denver area and never has. He graduated from law school in Arizona and has a law firm and lives in Phoenix.

 

[cdumler7]

CD, you'd be screaming if that official was officiating this game. So would every other Bronco fan. Hocule should not be officiating this game. He's publicly stated that he's a Bronco fan and his family is located in the Denver area. The problem is that the Broncos have never lost when he's the referee. Bias or no, the Broncos are 8-0 with him officiating their games. No matter what you or anyone else can say, that record does not look good for any opposing team playing the Broncos.

Please oh please show me where he has stated that he is a Broncos fan. And please oh please show me where his family is from Denver and located in Denver. Now he has actually publicly said that Cardinals games he has to be careful in the way he calls the game because he lives in Arizona. As for him being a Bronco fan I have found nothing.

Also go look at his games that he officiated beyond the Chargers game back in 2008 name one other that you can remember a controversial call that he and his crew made that blatantly favored the Broncos in those games.

Now there is an argument to be made that Vinovich does show favoritism against the Broncos. Again they have been one of the winningest teams during that stretch where they have gone 0-7 with him as the head official. So for them to be 0-7 with him as the head official is very shady at best. I mean on major Bronco sites we have article after article about the games that he has been the head official and the controversial calls that have gone against the Broncos. So yes I would be upset if he was the head official for this game and yes I am happy that Hochuli is the head official. My guess is you wouldn't even care if I hadn't posted something about this on the Broncos board. You would know nothing about it just like you know very little about Hochuli himself and everything you have posted so far is made up beyond the Broncos record with him at the helm.

 

[BigKen]

So yes I would be upset if he was the head official for this game and yes I am happy that Hochuli is the head official. My guess is you wouldn't even care if I hadn't posted something about this on the Broncos board. You would know nothing about it just like you know very little about Hochuli himself and everything you have posted so far is made up beyond the Broncos record with him at the helm.

Everything I've quoted on this site was directly from two Boston radio stations this morning. WEEI and WBZ. I'm pissed off that Hochuli is the Referee and you'd be pissed if Vinovich was referee.

But be real careful about tagging me as a liar. I don't make stuff up and post it as a revelation. WEEI stated outright that Hochuli has family in the Denver area and that he does reside in the area. I don't know his personal address and the Denver area could be anywhere.

Let's agree....with Vinocih the Broncos are 0-7 and with Hochuli they're 8-0.

And you don't think we have a bitch? You really have to stop drinking that Blue and Orange Kool-Aid.

 

[vinapats]

Hochuli DEN things is floating around for some times now. If he had more blatant calls favored DEN he would be out of the league by now. But his 8-0 record "officiating" for DEN is telling. You don't have to call blatant ones to help team win a game. Officials can contribute to a team victory simply by some tick tack calls, some questionable calls/non-calls, especially in important times, motenmum changing situations of the game, the 4th quarter, last 4 minutes, last 2 minutes, close games etc..

 

[cdumler7]

Everything I've quoted on this site was directly from two Boston radio stations this morning. WEEI and WBZ. I'm pissed off that Hochuli is the Referee and you'd be pissed if Vinovich was referee.

But be real careful about tagging me as a liar. I don't make stuff up and post it as a revelation. WEEI stated outright that Hochuli has family in the Denver area and that he does reside in the area. I don't know his personal address and the Denver area could be anywhere.

Let's agree....with Vinocih the Broncos are 0-7 and with Hochuli they're 8-0.

And you don't think we have a bitch? You really have to stop drinking that Blue and Orange Kool-Aid.

I'm not calling you a liar. I'm calling you a person that doesn't do his research and just listens to anything that a biased Boston radio station has to say on the matter. It is so easy to do the research yourself.

I mean in 1 minute I found out that Ed Hochuli was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin on December 25, 1950. He then moved at age 8 to Tucson Airzona. He then went to UTEP for his bachelors degree. He then went to University of Arizona for Law School and earned his Juris Doctor. He has been working for the same law firm since 1983 in Arizona.

As for family in the area. It is easy to look up his immediate family. I know his parents live in Arizona and have for years. I think his mother actually passed away but his dad still resides in AZ. None of his children live in Denver. I mean aunts, uncles, and such I have no clue. To take it that far to try and show bias though is ridiculous. I have family all over the country right now. Between my wife and I we have aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings in over 25 states just right now. So does that mean I have any kind of bias towards all of those places? No not even close.

So again not calling you a liar just saying that you often post on here things you say you hear on the radio but have actually not researched yourself. To me take 5 minutes to look at see if they were just trying to get listeners in or if they have any kind of factual basis behind what they have said.

Again to me Hochuli being 7-0 when the Broncos have played isn't as shocking as that of Vinovich being 0-7. The Broncos have been one of the winningest teams in that stretch so most officials should have a winning record when the Broncos play with them officiating. They shouldn't have an 0-7 record. That to me shows way more bias than 7-0 at this point. I mean Broncos in the last 5 years have over a 70% winning percentage. Only 1 team has higher. So most officials should have about that for the record. Hochuli being above that yeah might raise a bit of concern but no way one of these guys should be 0-7 in that stretch.

 

[Center Ice]

All I want to see is the look on Goodell's face when he hands the Lombardi trophy to the Pats. That's why I'm pulling for them. I hate Goodell!

 

[realityball]

Hochuli has an ego that loves playing to the camera ... my own experience is he is the most visible of all the officials I have seen and that ain't how it's supposed to work ... I dint know about his bias if any, but my problem with him officiating this game is its the AFCC ... a game where the play should not be interrupted by either bias or ego by any official ... this isn't Pitt/CINN. Hochuli and his group better let them play. I'll be surprised if he lets that happen ...

 

[SDPaddlefish]

Everything I've quoted on this site was directly from two Boston radio stations this morning. WEEI and WBZ. I'm pissed off that Hochuli is the Referee and you'd be pissed if Vinovich was referee.

But be real careful about tagging me as a liar. I don't make stuff up and post it as a revelation. WEEI stated outright that Hochuli has family in the Denver area and that he does reside in the area. I don't know his personal address and the Denver area could be anywhere.

Let's agree....with Vinocih the Broncos are 0-7 and with Hochuli they're 8-0.

And you don't think we have a bitch? You really have to stop drinking that Blue and Orange Kool-Aid.

If this is what you based your conspiracy and bias allegations on and were willing to start a thread based on such, then you must agree with the various allegations that the Pats cheat, which are based on much more substantial evidence.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

I wish I could find the numbers on Ed H. He is def in fav of the home team. I believe over the past few yrs (not sure exactly) but the home team is like 47-15. He has called 100 more penalties against the away team also. He is also the one who likes to call OPI on Gronk, who the Broncos have already stated publicly that Gronk pushes off. A little reminder to ED??? Maybe. I think this stinks this guy is reffing this game. However, if Denver was in NE, I would not blame the Denver fans for being pissed off. The guy just favors the home team, the numbers don't lie. It is not a Broncos vs Patriots thing....it's a home vs away thing. Just have to play a clean game and keep his ass away from the camera.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

Sorry, I was off on my numbers for Penalties called vs away teams

The last 4 years: Home Penalties: 372 Visitor Penalties: 406 Home Team Record: 43-17

 

[SDPaddlefish]

From the ESPN analysis of the referees for the Championship games:

Analysis: Hochuli's assignment brings up another little-known twist in the world of NFL officiating. Sunday will mark only his seventh Broncos game since the start of the 2001 season, which is as far back as the ESPN Stats & Information database goes. He has worked fewer Broncos games than games of any other team over that span. For context: He has done 14 Patriots games and as many as 22 games for other teams. But notably, the Broncos are 6-0 in the games Hochuli has been the referee since 2001. (The Patriots are 8-6.) ... The Broncos should feel fortunate that they didn't get Vinovich, with whom they are 1-6 since 2001. ... Patriots fans worried about offensive pass interference calls should note that Hochuli's regular-season crew called nine, slightly more than the average across all crews. ... He also was slow to flag "behavior penalties," having made the second-fewest total calls of personal fouls, roughing the passer, unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct (18). For context, referee Jeff Triplette's crew called more than twice that total (41).

 

[vinapats]

Prediction: Probably nothing blatant like the SD game, since the fans and media have notice Hocholi behaviors. But most (if not all) of the judgement calls/noncalls will favored DEN and against NE, especially on Holding and D Pass Interference.

Gronk will gets call for push off. NE WRs especially Eldeman will gets call for offensive pass interference on crossing routes. Some late hits on Brady will not get call. DEN always has a thing with the cut block from the Shanahan days, Kubiak is from that coaching tree and used to make a living on cut block, dirty plays, trying to injured the opponents and take them out of the ball game.

They already took Gronk out of the last game in DEN and right now their players are still barking about diving at Gronk's knee! I suspect that a lot of cut blocks in this game won't be call.

 

[BigKen]

CB Chris Harris has already said that the Broncos will be going for Gronkowski's knees.

DE MaliK Jackson and DE Antonio Smith are calling Tom Brady a "whiner" and a "Crybaby", who throws "tantrums" trying to get officials to make calls.

LB Brandon Marshall has said several times that Gronkowski "pushes off" on every play.

Sounds like the Broncos are terrified to play against the Patriots offense and are doing everything they can to work the officiating crew because they don't think they can play well enough on their own. Jackson and Smith should be looking into a mirror when they yak about whining, because they seem to be doing it more than anyone else.

Nothing better than bulletin board material before a big game.

One other thing.........what makes Chris Harris think that just the Broncos can target knees? Did he ever think that maybe he just gave the Patriots incentive to go after D. Thomas's knees? or CJ Anderson's? Sometimes threats can work in the reverse.....

 

[cdumler7]

CB Chris Harris has already said that the Broncos will be going for Gronkowski's knees.

DE MaliK Jackson and DE Antonio Smith are calling Tom Brady a "whiner" and a "Crybaby", who throws "tantrums" trying to get officials to make calls.

LB Brandon Marshall has said several times that Gronkowski "pushes off" on every play.

Sounds like the Broncos are terrified to play against the Patriots offense and are doing everything they can to work the officiating crew because they don't think they can play well enough on their own. Jackson and Smith should be looking into a mirror when they yak about whining, because they seem to be doing it more than anyone else.

Nothing better than bulletin board material before a big game.

One other thing.........what makes Chris Harris think that just the Broncos can target knees? Did he ever think that maybe he just gave the Patriots incentive to go after D. Thomas's knees? or CJ Anderson's? Sometimes threats can work in the reverse.....

Do you disagree that Brady gets after the officials when he doesn't think they have made the right call? I mean go back and watch the Broncos/Patriots game earlier in the season and honestly I am surprised they didn't throw a flag on him for how much he was in their face the entire game.

As for Harris saying they are going for the knees come on listen to the entire interview before posting crap like this. He is just saying you have to go low to tackle Gronk. Brady himself has said the very same thing that every team has that mindset and he completely understands why. So is Brady advocating for Gronk getting hurt too then?

As for the Bronco players being terrified I highly doubt it. They have a healthy respect for the Patriots if you would actually listen to the entire interviews instead of just taking certain words they keyed on. Beyond these few words spoken like this by some of the guys they have done nothing but praise the Patriots all week. There is a reason only 4 teams can make it this far into the season.