Former Referrees in booth

[Sonofanump]

I think Gruden and Jaworski are the two best at knowing the rules of the game. Gruden actually gets philosophy and explains why a call was made or not made well. Most booth guys make fools of themselves. Some must have some resourse not immediately in their ear, because we hear them recant a few plays later.

As you can see, I would advocate such a practice...

Illegal / First Touching

South Carolina Fair Catch

[Texas Aggie]

Fox did away with that. Do not know the reason.

They did away with it because fans don't want to hear it. If they don't like the call, the last thing they want to hear is a reason why the call was correct. Fans of the team the call went for are convinced that, if wrong, it was a proper make up call for the previous missed ones.

Trust me: fans are NOT interested in the rules. They already think they know them. I was asked to give a rules talk for a high school basketball program about 12 or so years ago. It was to occur at a booster meeting, where I'm told a hundred in attendance was common. 13 people showed up to my talk.

[umpirebob71]

Maybe word got out on who the speaker was.

It's true what you say about the fans. I get calls occasionally about a call during a game, and when I give them the rule and the reason why it went against their team, it's a bull**** rule as far as they're concerned.

[bisonlj]

Just read the fan comments under the nfl.com Official Review videos. No matter what Mike P says the fans are convinced he's only covering for his officials and will never admin they were wrong (although he often does admit mistakes). An official commented once that he felt bad for fans who had to watch games without knowledge of the rules and how frustrating that must be. I've always thought it would be good to have an official accessbile to the announcers but you bring up a good point. I believe the supervisor of the conferece of the crew working bowl games was in the press box and sharing information with the announcers from time to time. I wonder if the announcers realize they don't know the rules or if they actually think they are experts.

[TussAgee11]

They don't need to be in the booth all the time, just available for quick interview. Thats what the USGA does with David Fay. Rules question? Fay enters the telecast, explains the ruling, and answers any follow ups the announcers may have.

Each sport is a bit different, but I could imagine football penalty enforcement being a stingy issue for a fan. But for judgment calls, fans don't want to hear it. Their mind is made up.