ST. LOUIS -- If you had two TVs Monday night -- side by side -- you could see the difference between baseball and football.

Game 5 of the World Series versus "Monday Night Football." Both within 10 blocks of each other in this town.

And what would you have discovered was the biggest difference?

Well, baseball is still slower than your tax refund check. And yet, somehow, football is becoming even slower.

The baseball game, a 3-1 Boston Red Sox win over the St. Louis Cardinals, took 2 hours and 52 minutes. The football game, a 14-9 Seattle Seahawks win over the St. Louis Rams, took 3:10. And the Red Sox are the slowest team in MLB! They're slower than the line at the Beijing Complaint Dept.

More and more football games like this are what has my wife coming in the living room and yelling, "You're STILL watching football???"

The 4 p.m. game keeps getting longer and longer and longer. Did you know "60 Minutes" is now down to 37 minutes?

Why?

So, so, so many penalties: There have been 12.7 penalties called per game so far this season. There were 18 penalties in the Seahawks-Rams game. Eighteen. I have seen less yellow at a British dental office.

And why so, so, so many penalties? Because there are so, so, so many rules. Field goal pushing? Really?

And with so, so, so many penalties, we end up seeing so, so, so much huddling of referees. Refs have spent more time in huddles this season than the Denver Broncos.

I suppose this is the price we pay for a safer NFL. I get that. I'm for that.

But I used to say baseball is slower than the last day of school.

But football is getting slower than summer school.