Leave Ed Hochuli Aloooone

Look, I’m a big critic of refs/umps, but the criticisms of Ed Hochuli of late are going a bit far.

The guy admittedly blew the San Diego call. There’s no denying that, and Hochuli manned up and took responsibility. You can’t go back and replay those critical moments of the game…it’ll go down forever as a massive mistake. But now, everyone seems to be piling on the once-proud ref after every missed call. That, my friends, is not fair. Each missed penalty is not because Hochuli has lost a step over the past few games. That San Diego call didn’t shape his future.

Those of us who call ourselves Steelers fans know all too well about blown calls. Hell, I fully expect an official referee apology every offseason, because it seems like the calls we complain about are understandably not in our favor during the season. The Polamalu interception in the Colts playoff game the year we won the Super Bowl? The blown holding call on David Garrard’s million yard scramble on 4th down to win last year’s playoff game? One of the calls changed the outcome of the game, the outcome of the season, the other didn’t. We got public apologies on both.

Even this year. Gene Steratore and Ron Winters, in successive weeks, called questionable roughing penalties on LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison respectively when both OLBs hit Joe Flacco and Garrard as they released the ball. Harrison openly criticized Winters after the Jags game and was fined for it. However, you’d be hard pressed to find a Steelers fan who will fervently watch each future game called by either ref, waiting for them to mess up again so we can post their email addresses and let the uninformed masses have at them.

I don’t even like the fact that I had to bring up the Woodley and Harrison (Wooderson for short, all right all right all right) calls because it might come off as complaining. I’m always focused on the next game, but the bye week allows me to reminisce on how we’ve been wronged, and how it isn’t right to hate on the ref forever. So let me have this one moment.

Before this season, Hochuli was the model of muscle-bound consistency. Now, everyone wants to over-analyze each call he makes or misses. That's weak.

Leave the guy alone and let him focus on the game, will ya?

Big Ben is MAF

Tec...you're crazy man. I love you...but you're crazy.

I can hear it now. "How does a hockey goalie even remotely mirror an NFL quarterback? Aside from both of 'em playing in Pittsburgh and recently getting contracts? Other than that, they're completely separate monsters...amiright?" No, you aren't.

We fans sit in a frustrating position as it pertains to the sports we watch. The players play, the owners own, the coaches coach. The fans cheer, boo, cry, whatever, but we don't influence said players,owners, coaches. Sure, we may try with walkouts and the such, but we don't always have the power that we think we have.

I sat in my apartment watching the Steelers game on Sunday night, throwing verbal barbs at ref Ron Winters for calling James Harrison's legal hit on Garrard a foul. My screaming did nothing to change the play or the outcome of the game, but that speaks to the connectedness AND disconnectedness that the fans experience.

So this is where Big Ben and Fleury come in.

This past weekend was awesome, what with the Steelers avenging their playoff loss and the Penguins opening their season with an OT win. However, in both games, the fan passion that I outlined above came into play. And the guys I was directing my shouts at were Big Ben and MAF.

We can't beat it into the ground any more. Ben...GET RID OF THE BALL! We know you can extend plays and get it to your receivers, but that's no excuse for taking 45,000 sacks. I'm sure that $100mil+ can buy a lot casts and surgeries, but that doesn't benefit the team paying you that scratch. Everyone watching the games probably says the same thing when Ben is dragged down by a pursuing defender...but that doesn't mean Ben hears us. Sucks...I know.

MAF has been fantastic of late, just like Big Ben. Both players are primary reasons that their teams are in the position (currently and long-term) that they're in. But watching the games in Sweden with me sitting on this side of the pond, I felt I had to scream louder...QUIT TRYING TO HANDLE THE PUCK! YOU AREN"T MARTY TURCO!

And this isn't just from the current, respective young seasons. Ben had the same problems last year, and MAF kept trying to display his new puck-handling skills more often after his injury and leading into the playoffs.

Both guys are trying something that isn't working with the efficiency needed to cell them successful plays. Ben will elude some tackles, but takes way too many sacks. MAF will toss a clean outlet pass from time to time, but he still almost turned the puck over to Jarkko Ruutu in Sweden.

Look, we know you're both elite players. That's why we cheer. But you guys are stressin' us out. Just play the game, plskthxbai?!