[PSU213]

OK, several points come to mind, so here they are:

1. My enjoyment of NFL football has been hurt by the obscene number of commercials during each game, not by replays, ticky-tack fouls, etc. After a TD, you might as well go make a 5 course meal. There is the PAT, an ad, the kickoff, another ad. Its kinda ridiculous. I certainly enjoy college football more than NFL ball, but that is partly due to television coverage, not officials (and I pray there are never as many ad's in college TV games than in the NFL).

2. Some of the micromanagement of officals stems from the playoff game between the Giants and SF, where the officals "blew" a call on the last play of the game, and the Giants made a big stink, and lawsuits were threatened, etc.

3. I don't understand what Gerry Austin has to do with this. I don't know if the original poster agrees with this or not, but all the illegal contact fouls are made by the offials who are downfield, not the referee. And I disagree with all the roughing the passer calls (it seems like you can't even knock a QB down without a rouging call), but the R's are just calling what the league tells them to call. Also, the league is protecting the QB's, and if they don't the same people who know complain about the roughing calls will complain that all the best QB's are being injured.

4. As already mentioned, all the teams in the NFC with losing or .500 records who can still make the playoff are not the fault of the officials.

5. And who really talks about how wonderful a guy is on the mike????