If the NFL is relying on secret officials to help their referees make better calls on the field, is that so wrong? In a vacuum, if replay officials are giving refs real-time advice through their wireless headsets, as former officiating czar MIKE PEREIRA alleges but the NFL has not refuted or confirmed, then it should be hailed as a sign of progress. Finally, technology is helping erode human error. I can see how coaches and teams would be unhappy with that, however. They probably want to know who to hold accountable and how to adjust their gamesmanship for those people too. For fans, the question is simple: Do the ends justify the means? If the result is better officiating, even if surreptitiously, then yes they do. Still, transparency never hurt anybody. And the NFL shouldn’t be toying around with public impressions right now, considering the medley of PR problems they've had recently. With unaccounted for and unseen voices advising refs, how soon before the conspiracy theories start?… I never got why some players get more votes every year they are on the baseball HALL OF FAME ballot. To me, entry into that institution is an absolutism. You’re a Hall of Famer or you’re not. TIM RAINES is. It’s great he’s getting more votes now in his last year on the ballot but they should have come earlier… Does anyone find marginal advantages in college football better than NICK SABAN? He can hire STEVE SARKISIAN – who was fired at USC last year for alcohol abuse – when most programs would stay far away from him because Saban has the power and job certainty that no one else does. Saban surely knows the value of having overqualified coaches on his staff. Look how good a job LANE KIFFIN performed as the OC at ALABAMA. Now it’s Sarkisian’s turn in the job. While SEC and BIG TEN schools pay large sums for coordinators, Saban can afford to find them on the cheap… Another strike against football: It’s the reason we’re not living in a JETSONS world already, if you believe tweeting astrophysicists… This is a feel-good story. JERRY KILL, the former MINNESOTA coach whose career was thought to have ended abruptly last year because of epilepsy, is back. He’ll be the new offensive coordinator at RUTGERS. Let’s hope he can remain healthy… The term sheet of the NBA’s new CBA has leaked. Dig into the details or share with your favorite NBA nerd... How is your fantasy team doing?