By Daniyal Habib

To the American sports fan, referees often have a reputation of being a bit biased and corrupt, and for being people who routinely blow the whistle to make up for possible mistakes earlier in the game. Most people may not believe that referees have souls, let alone brains, but think again. They are actually extremely important to the various games they referee.

National Football League (NFL) referee Ed Hochuli is the prime example of a referee cracking under emotional pressure. Hochuli is known around NFL circles for his gigantic biceps and beefy personality. He has taken on an almost Chuck-Norris-like aura among NFL fans, a popularity rarely experienced by a zebra in any sport. He has inspired whatwouldedhochulido.com and nfl85.com, Web sites devoted to everything Ed Hochuli. Hopefully you get the point.

In the week two game between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, however, a chink in his armor showed. Per NFL rules, any blown whistle by a referee ends a play. Late in the game, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler had a ball slip out of his hands while throwing, and the Chargers recovered the fumble. Hochuli, however, accidentally blew the whistle when the ball initially hit the ground. Because he blew the whistle, the play was ended and ruled an incomplete pass, rather than correctly ruled as a fumble and change of possession. Hochuli admitted the mistake to the crowd during the game, and although the Denver home crowd was pleased that they retained possession, Hochuli was bombarded with criticism afterwards.

Hochuli eventually became so remorseful about his obvious gaffe that he responded with an apology via e-mail to not a few, but every sender of hate mail that he got.

According to sportsillustarted.com, Hochuli replied this way: “I’m getting hundreds of e-mails–hate mail–but I’m responding to it all,” he wrote. “People deserve a response. You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea … Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection–I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry.”

It takes major punishment for a referee to break down like this, especially one who has the stature and authority as Hochuli.

It is a wonder why anyone would want to be a referee. It’s a thankless job, where people always tell you when you get it wrong and rarely, if ever, tell you when you get it right.

My point is that we should appreciate referees more. It may be easy to see a call on your couch with a view of the whole field or court, but for a referee on the playing field, with players flying around at super speed, it is a split-second decision. Also remember that referees have to be on the lookout for dozens of different calls each play, and opposing coaches may even lobby for the referee to watch specifically for one call, further complicating things.

But the main reason to appreciate officials is that they preserve integrity in sports. Aside from people like National Basketball Association (NBA)referee Tim Donaghy, charged with fixing games in his career, refs keep order in sports. Can you imagine if baseball players had to decide for themselves whether they beat the throw to first, or offensive lineman had to call their own holding calls? With the emotions running high even in high school games, scuffles would constantly break out.

Needless to say, there would also be players who blatantly make false calls to gain an advantage. By tuning in to a football game, you would just be watching a multi-hour arguing match.

So by all means, yell at a ref if he makes a terrible call. But don’t cross the line into personal insults and attacks, because nobody would want to see a sports world without referees. They are needed.