Score another victory for the Colts. Before the season even starts.
Crying and whining by Peyton Manning in particular and the Colts in general have forced the NFL to adjust its new rule about the positioning of its referees. The umpire, says the league, will now be positioned 12 yards (not the 15, as was used in the exhibition season) from scrimmage. This will enable the Colts to snap the ball more quickly in their-no-huddle offense and catch teams off guard as they try to make substitutions.
Moreover, officials will now have the discretion to issue a warning before enforcing the 5-yard penalty for an illegal snap. Clear violations, the memo said, will continue to be penalized without a warning.
So basically the Colt get pretty much what they want, which is a massaging of the rules to help them win. And the NFL gets what it wants -- silence from Bill Polian at the next Competition Committee meeting.
It's a win-win, except for the other 31 teams when they play the Colts.
If' it smells familiar, it is. The last time the Colts sobbed about the rules (publicly, at least) was when the Patriots were spanking them by being physical with Colt receivers. The next season Diva wideouts had the protection of a league edict requiring stricter enforcement rule disallowing contact with receivers beyond 5 yards from the line of scrimmage.
I liked it better when the Colt just pumped in crowd noise to disrupt the opponents' signal-calling.
. Sounds like something an angry Pats fan would say.
If you can't stay with the evolution of the quarterback position and the game, get yourself some tights and try some Medieval festivals. They probably run through the winter as well. 
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