PASADENA, Calif. -- After an NFL season in which the officiating became the story far more often than anyone would have liked, the question of how to deal with mistakes by the referees is pretty much certain to create an argument -- even among Fox football analysts -- as to whether the league should once again take advantage of television technology to correct bad calls.
Howie Long, for one, isn't certain it's such a big problem."I don't think the officiating is any worse than it has been in the past," he told TV critics. "I think there's been some bad calls made at the ends of games and I think that's probably put it a little bit more under the spotlight."
And he feels for the referees.
"It's a difficult job to officiate the NFL because the game moves so fast," Long said. "And they don't have the luxury that we have of replays. So I don't think they do a bad job.
"We need (instant) replay."
At which point the ever-enthusiastic, never-overly contemplative Terry Bradshaw dissented most strongly from Long's viewpoint.
"I am firmly against instant replay," Bradshaw said. "I always have been. I just think it's not a perfect game. It never will be a perfect game."
And, to his way of thinking, that's not a bad thing.
"I don't want a perfect game. I want mistakes," Bradshaw said. "I just don't think these people -- these referees -- as quick as this game is, are going to make a good call every time.
"We have 18 tape machines (and) 24 cameras. We slow it down from every angle until finally the director says, 'There it is! It was a fumble!' When you've got to do that and take that much time, then I think it's wrong."
He pointed to the "Immaculate Reception" play in which his Steelers beat the Raiders in the playoffs -- a play that might have been called back if there had been instant replay.
"These things make the game interesting," Bradshaw insisted. "Yeah, the bettors (and) the players get mad . . . . But it's part of the game. People make mistakes and you live with it. You argue. You scrap. But I think it's good for the game that we have these questions."
(So it's good for the game to have obvious errors in officiating? An interesting point of view.)
"I hate instant replay," Bradshaw insisted.
Long, however, wasn't convinced by his arguments.
"There were people who felt the same way about indoor plumbing when it first arrived," he said.
TO INTERVIEW OR NOT TO INTERVIEW: Long and fellow Fox analyst Cris Collinsworth, both former players with Super Bowl experience, have completely different takes on the media circus that surrounds the players in the weeks leading up to the big game.
"Well, I personally try not to bother the players or coaches that much the closer you get to the game," Long said.
Collinsworth took the opposite view.
"Well, I personally believe in harassing the players right up to game time," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, they're open game out there. If I can talk to them 10 minutes before we get on the air and get something new, I'm doing it."