We all know that preening NFL referee Ed Hochuli is a strong man. He flexes his muscles every week while wearing his skin-tight striped shirt.

But he is a stand-up guy, too. After blowing a call that cost the Chargers a game Sunday, he has been answering all his hate e-mail this week.

As you may recall, Hochuli ruled that an obvious Jay Cutler fumble was an incomplete pass. He blew the play dead, allowing the Broncos to keep the ball even though the Chargers recovered it. By rule, the call could not be reversal with a replay review.

The Broncos went on to score their last-minute touchdown and two-point conversion to win 39-38.

“I’m getting hundreds of e-mails — hate mail — but I’m responding to it all,” Hochuli wrote to several Chargers fans, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “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.”

The NFL graded down Hochuli for that mishap. But as another Rams Park media room wag noted, the league should have revoked his gym membership instead.

HARDER THAN IT LOOKS

As the gang at Deadspin notes, the science of skydiving into sports stadiums is inexact. Lately we’ve see video of skydivers dropping into the wrong stadium or, in this case, simply missing the field.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if the Cardinals will score another run this season:

• Who could have imagined that, in the year 2008, people would be concerned that the Mizzou football team scores too many points?
• If sportsmanship is the No. 1 concern about your program, isn’t that the best possible sign?
• What, exactly, constitutes a polite point total these days?
• And speaking of all that, could the Missouri spread offense do some damage against that stingy Auburn defense? Wouldn’t that be a fun bowl match-up in January?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports have been writing:

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “Who’d have thought Matt Cassel would have more of a future than Matt Leinart?”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The Detroit Red Wings re-signed 46-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios. He still has the story written about his first career goal. But he rarely takes the stone tablet out of its safe-deposit box.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “Examples of CCC (Creeping Coach Control): the new NFL rule allowing one defensive player on each team to wear a helmet radio, and the new tennis rule allowing coaching during matches. Enough, already, with the overcoaching. At the Olympics, table-tennis coaches would huddle with players during time-outs. What are they saying? ‘Less ping, more pong.’”

David Thomas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, after Derek Jeter joined Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle atop the Yankee career hit list: “That’s almost as impressive company as another list of names he has been associated with: Minka Kelly, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Mariah Carey, Scarlett Johansson . . .”

Rick Reilly, ESPN.com: “Prediction columns are like Velveeta recipes—too easy and too cheesy. But what’s going to happen in Louisville at the Ryder Cup starting Friday will go down as the greatest shocker since Lyle Lovett married Julia Roberts, so here goes: The Americans, playing without Tiger Woods, hopelessly outmanned, with their worst on-paper team since Europe was added to the mix, will pull the Cupset of the Century.”

MEGAPHONE

“My tricks are all advanced. A lot of people don’t have the arm length, strength, or quickness to pull my tricks off. One of the dirtiest but coldest tricks, I forearm the guy in the chest, rip the ball, then keep going with it. It’s a foul, but it’s a very, very technical and advanced move to pull off without getting the foul called. Other tricks are stepping on the guy’s feet, holding his hand, then knowing when to let go at the right time so it’s not a foul.”

Kevin Garnett, revealing his defensive secrets to ESPN.