An Affront To The Integrity Of The Game

   I thought by now I'd have cooled down but it has only gotten worse.

   My beloved San Diego Chargers got severely jobbed by the officials in their game against the Denver Broncos yesterday afternoon.

   The web is crawling with regurgitations and analysis about what transpired but suffice it to say that the very people entrusted with ensuring that the teams on the field of play are the ones that decide the outcome of a football game made a travesty of the instant replay system and the hallowed NFL rule book.

   Now I know there are a million other ways the Chargers could have won had they played better throughout the game, but the fact remains (and Ed Hochuli, the ref, acknowledged it himself) that the Bolts had a game stolen from them.

   Considering that, despite the fact it is only Week 2, this was a hotly contested division game, you'd think the officials would consciously try harder than usual to let the players play. But they didn't and I sincerely hope this doesn't end up either getting the Broncos to the playoffs or preventing the Chargers from making it in. Because if it does, the outcome of this game will be forever asterisked in mine and other fans' minds.