NFL and NCAA Referees

There is a lot of talk about bad calls from this past weekend, but the play getting the most attention is when umpire Wilbur Hackett Jr. collided with South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia.  Depending on who you ask, it was either intentionally and very inappropriate, or it was just an unfortunate collision.

The SEC, along with SC coach Steve Spurrier, have cleared Hackett of any wrongdoing.  When I saw the play live, it looked that way to me as well.  If someone was coming at me, instinct would be to raise my arm and deflect the blow.

However, slow-motion replays tell a somewhat different story.  They make it look more like it was intentional, so I don’t know what to think.

The video is below.  What do you think?

It seems that Ed Hochuli may be considering taking a week off, based on a small change on his “official” website.

As of yesterday, the site proudly proclaimed that Ed would be working the Browns-Ravens game this Sunday.  Today, that message changed to:

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 21st - Check back Sunday Morning

I’ll admit — this might not mean anything.  Still, I find it quite odd that they’d take down the game listing at this point in time.

Mike Pereira, the NFL’s supervisor of officials, has already come out and encouraged Ed to get back out there.  Between that, Ed’s apology, no suspension from the league, and the listing on his site, I assumed he was good go to.  Maybe not.

Anyone have any good information about this?  If so, please leave it in the comments below.