Peyton Manning is like Regis Philbin with too much caffeine.

With his arms flailing, pointing and gesturing madly, Manning is "out of control."

But he's just one of the things that make the NFL so darned great.

Admit it. The NFL is the best professional sport out there right now. There can be no denying that.

Sundays and Monday nights in the fall and early winter are like holidays.

The NFL has carefully crafted the game to be fan friendly. Most everything is done with the fan in mind.

Other professional sports can take a cue from that.

On the flip side, baseball is in serious trouble.

Two left-handed closers just signed contracts that added up to close to $100 million guaranteed.

The Blue Jays backed up the Brink's truck and grossly overpaid for B.J. Ryan, a 30-year-old reliever who has turned in a little over a season's worth of good pitching preceded by a career of mediocrity.

The Mets gave Billy Wagner, who must be like 90 years old by now, a truckload of money to save games. They hope he doesn't blow his left arm out … again.

The Florida Marlins have basically given up, unloading three of their best players for a bunch of prospects.

Remind anyone of Pittsburgh?

And the sport is still haunted by steroid talk. It needed the threat of Congress to institute a steroid policy with some teeth.

Now back to the NFL. That league doesn't have the same problems baseball is enduring, in large part because the people who run the NFL have some idea of what they are doing.

The NFL is one of the most stable leagues in professional sports. All 32 teams have a chance to compete every season. Just look at the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears for proof of that.

Teams like the Pirates have no chance to compete in major league baseball.

Baseball should follow the lead of the NFL.

The NFL has players with character. Everyone tunes in to SportsCenter, not to see Chad Johnson catch a touchdown pass, but to see what he will do to celebrate it.

This week, he used the pylon as a putter and pumped his fist ala Tiger Woods. The week before, he proposed to a cheerleader and earlier this season he gave the football CPR.

Someone needs to give CPR to major league baseball.

Here's how they can start.

Speed up the game. There's nothing more boring than watching a pitcher pick up a rosin bag, adjust his cap, kick some dirt, pick up a rosin bag again, kick more dirt and then finally throw a pitch.

Instill some character to the game. Where have the Mark Fidrychs, the Yogi Berras, the John Kruks — even the Rube Waddells gone?

Maybe major league baseball should allow home run celebrations without the fear of a pitcher plunking the batter.

Earlier game times during the World Series. It's ridiculous to have a World Series game end after midnight. A professional sport must draw in a new fan base, a new generation to enjoy its game. When the biggest games of the year drag on into the wee hours of the night, kids cannot be drawn in.

And if all else fails, call Regis Philbin.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.