[Irn-Bru]

Alright, I'll give it another go.

welch, I agree that the instant replay makes today's announcers feel like they own the place. But what's new? My dad raised me on "Sonny and Sam" (I'm going to miss Frank badly), so I can't stand anyone else covering the Skins. Yet even when I watch other games my buddies and I usually have the volume extremely low on the TV because of the announcers. I wish I could get all of the crowd noise without the chaos of those idiots. In turn, I think you've got a point--the announcers make all fans question the ref's competence even more, etc.

However, the NFL did just add a rule that says you can have an extra challenge if you get the first two right--and I think this will have a good effect on how often challenges are thrown. Add full time refs (something everyone except Tagliabue seems to agree on), and there really won't be as many calls.

While I respect that you want the refs on the field to make the final call and have that just be it, I think we've gotta keep in mind how many teams have been shafted in the past. It's a game of inches, and IR brings the ref's ability to that level.

If we cut a few commercials out (like the whole situation of: touchdown, commercial, kickoff, commercial, 3 and out, commercial--that drives me nuts) and made the refs stick to the clock on reviewing plays, the stoppages would probably be less than what we have now. In the end, it's all about $$ so I guess there isn't much of a chance of this happening. . .not like they'd want to reward the fans or anything crazy like that.