There's a good chance I'm out of the mainstream on this one, but wouldn't football be more fun if everybody took it less seriously? It's become too heavy, from the way it's coached to the way it's played to the way it's reported back to us the next day.

Here's an example: Jake Plummer's demotion from starting quarterback to backup with the Denver Broncos had all the spontaneity of a cabinet meeting. It was announced that his demotion would be discussed, then it was discussed, then the demotion was announced.

Given how seriously the Broncos are taken in Denver, it all gave off a smoke-from-the-Vatican vibe that seemed way too deep for the matter at hand. Wouldn't it have been more fun if Mike Shanahan had just stood in front of the microphone after the game Thursday night and said, "I think it's time we try the other guy"?

(Times were better when people like Al Rosen ran sports teams. The former San Francisco Giants general manager, so the story goes, once demoted a left-handed relief pitcher in the amount of time it took the pitcher's fastball to connect with an opponent's bat and hit a seat in the bleachers. When he threw the pitch he was a big-leaguer, and he was in Triple-A before it landed. No cabinet meeting necessary.)

This uber-seriousness has gotten so bad we're supposed to believe a rule book instead of our eyes. Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson threw the ball on the ground before he was touched in an act of self-congratulation against the Raiders on Sunday, and the referee stood there and told us there was no fumble. We saw the fumble, but since he threw the ball forward -- a purely accidental bit of good fortune -- it was ruled an illegal forward pass.

You didn't see what you saw, they told us, and even if you did, it's not what you thought. Rules have been created to make sure the simplest explanation is never the one you're going to get. The Jackson call in particular was so bad -- and it stretched the limits of common sense so far -- that for a moment it appeared as if Art Shell might be paying attention.

Watch the coaches' news conferences -- if you dare -- after games and on Mondays. I'd rather watch a telecast of the Corps of Engineers discussing a flood-control project. The reporters ask stern, analytical questions below furrowed brow, and the coaches -- these guys all look like they're about to pass a stone. Even the winning coaches have too much work to do to get complacent, and too many games on the schedule to look ahead, and too many important decisions to make to even consider for one solitary second the idea of breaking into a smile.

This Week's List

• Ever get the feeling something in the sports world is preordained?: USC sneaks past Michigan into second place in the BCS rankings.

• Can you tell us again how much the Colts will miss Edgerrin James?:Joseph Addai, 171 yards and four TDs.

• IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!: There's nothing better than reading the New York tabloids after a Giants or Jets meltdown, and Monday's aftermath of Eli Manning's implosion didn't disappoint.

Continued...