Hey, Lay Off Old Thunder Guns

[Editor's Note: When I first got the idea of starting a blog, I promised myself I would use it as forum to entertain readers with an offbeat view on sports and pop culture. Being the modest person I am, I think I have done an excellent job thus far. That being said, today, for the first . . . and hopefully only . . . time, GameTime, TBD© ventures into the world of politics. I will not be actually talking about the merits of the candidates or who I think you should vote for and why; I do not believe it is my business to do so. But I have long been annoyed with this country's willingness to cater to the lowest common denominators instead of attempting to raise the standards. I tread lightly into this topic and I promise that, if you make it to the end, you will get what you are used to from the good people here at GameTime, TBD©.]

We here at GameTime, TBD© take pride in our ability to educate and entertain our readers. That is why every now and then I like to lead with a little trivia: What happened on this date in history (and don't go running off to wikipedia or thisdateinhistory.com . . . is that even a real site? . . . to cheat; if you think you know the answer, write it down and you will soon find out if you're correct)? [cue the Final Jeopardy theme music.]

. . .

Alrighty then, your time is up. Now, for those of you who wrote down "George Washington gave his farewell address" or "The Battle of Antietam began" or "Composer Ignaz Jakob Holzbaue was born" (okay, I looked that last one up), you only get partial credit. Yes it is true that all of those things happened on September 17th . . . 1796, 1862, and 1711 respectively . . . but that is not the correct answer in my world. The correct answer in GameTime, TBD© world is: on September 17, 1787 the United States Constitution was finalized and adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (I would have also accepted "U.S. Constitution adopted" for full credit).

Now, would all of you who got that correct please raise your hands. Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone? I am willing to bet that very few, if any, of you got the right answer. I mean, sure, the Constitution did not become our official governing charter until March 1, 1788 when the people of Rhode Island finally pulled their heads out of their collective you-know-whats and voted to ratify the Constitution, but that should not over shadow what happened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 221 years ago today. Let's face the facts, if the Articles of Confederation was still around (you remember the Articles don't you? You know, the first constitution of the United States? It was, after all, our governing charter for 7 years), we would not be in the same position we are today.

The reason I bring this up now is because politics today is based on the assumption that most Americans are oblivious to, and ignorant of, what our Constitution actually says and the powers it affords to the various branches (yes, there are three of them) of our government. All we hear throughout campaign season is our presidential and vice-presidential candidates declaring the things they will do and the reasons all of our problems are the other guy's (or girl's) fault. So I encourage all of you to take a half an hour, maybe a little more, and actually read the United States Constitution (and at least Amendments 1-10, 13-15, and 25). Then, when you are done, come back and tell me where the President gets the powers the candidates all claim to have during their campaigns. I also think House Speaker Pelosi needs to take a moment and re-read the Constitution (assuming, of course, she has actually read it) before she goes around placing blame for our Nation's problems; I guess there is a good reason why Congress' approval ratings are so low.

See, that is the true problem with politics today: campaigns are run on the basis of ignorance and fear; the belief that Americans in general do not know any better. Our politicians only want to tell you why everyone else is to blame for our problems.

And that brings me to the real point of this post (wait, what?): would everyone please lay off Ed "Thunder Guns" Hochuli? [Editor's Note: "Thunder Guns" is not actually Ed Hochuli's nickname, it's just a nickname I'm trying out around here. But is there anything better than watching a game officiated by Hochuli? A uniform that is one size too small, biceps bigger than most of the players, and an official who poses while making his calls (Holding . . . pause while flexing . . . on the offense, number 78 . . . pause while flexing . . . etc.). Thus, I believe "Thunder Guns" is a perfectly acceptable nickname . . . but I digress.] By now you are all aware of the fact that Hochuli made a bad call in the Chargers/Broncos game last Sunday, a game the Broncos ended up winning as a result. Hochuli apologized to everyone immediately following the game and took responsibility for the bad call.

Since then, the hottest bandwagon in sports has been the "Down with Hochuli" wagon, and it is being driven by the NFL. Fans are blaming Hochuli for the Chargers loss and the NFL has publicly stated that it will downgrade Hochuli for his officiating of the game. Yet everyone seems to forget that the Broncos still had to score and get the two-point conversion to win the game and San Diego's defense allowed them to do so. At the same time the NFL wants to keep quiet the fact that, despite the seemingly thousands of plays that can be reviewed with instant replay, an inadvertent whistle cannot be reversed. This was a rule not created by the officials, but by league officials, owners, and coaches. But instead of sticking up for the person in charge of enforcing those rules, the NFL seems to think that the whole situation is the fault of Hochuli, and Hochuli alone.

I do not buy it. I remain a Hochuli fan and I still believe he one of the best, if not THE best, official in the game. Ask anyone who has watched a football game with me, I get excited when I see "Thunder Guns" out on the field. I even hope that he is officiating the 49ers/Lions game this Sunday because I will be there and would love to see him in person (if any of you out there know how I could get a picture of me and "Thunder Guns" this coming Sunday, please contact me immediately).

So would everyone please lay off old "Thunder Guns"? Oh, and go read the Constitution.