An interesting thing happened a couple weeks ago when I went to FedEx Field to watch the Redskins get clobbered by Atlanta; I spent the entire game watching football. If you haven't been to a live football game recently, allow me to let you in on a little secret; if you're just going to watch some football, you're better off saving your $70 and watching the game from the comfort of your own BarcaLounger. Heresy!, some will shout. Un-American!, others will cry. Phooey, I retort.

Most people take in their NFL football via the boob-tube in their living rooms, content to watch the game in their jammies, one hand within striking distance of the chips and dip, the other warmly embracing the remote, their own personal bathroom (look, ma, no lines!) a few quick steps away. The replays and the commercials play out as part of the game, as necessary as the actual contest, seamlessly interwoven with the game by the magic-makers in New York and L.A.

Plop yourself down at an actual game, however, and time seems to slow to an agonizing crawl. All those commercials and replays and "gamebreaks" and other interruptions which seemed so appropriately placed are now gone.

In their place? Nada. Zero. Zilch. Bupkis, even.

Every once in a seemingly great while, someone will call an actual play and, if everyone can remember when the play is supposed to start, it actually gets run. For the most part, though, it's just a bunch of Brobdingnagians in pads and helmets, milling around, drinking some water, writhing in agony, shooting the breeze. Sure, there are cheerleaders and weird dance numbers with folks in incomprehensible outfits, but for the most part, you sit there wishing you could change the channel and see what's happening in the other games around the country.

Well, now you can. For the rest of the season, the NFL, DirecTV and Kangaroo Media are running a trial of DirecTV's "NFL Sunday Ticket InStadium" system, a nifty little trick that allows folks at the game to flip between all the games in progress at that given moment, including, a little oddly, the game that they're actually attending.

The key component, as far as fans are concerned, is the actual Kangaroo TV device, sort of a cross between the old, bright yellow Sony Sports Walkman, a surprisingly sharp LCD screen, and enough rubberized gaskets and padding to protect the thing in case of monsoon or butter fingers.

A Kangaroo TV Broadcast Center sets up in the parking lot of the stadium and pulls in the DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket feed, the regional feed, and a bunch of real-time fantasy stats. All that information then gets streamed out to all the Kangaroo TV's in the stadium and at people's tailgates. The ensuing 7-second delay actually serves to synch your device up pretty perfectly for an instant replay of every play on the field at your home game.

But does it work?

My day at the game was only made better by the little gizmo, let me put it that way. Being able to check in on other games was oddly satisfying, and the RedZone feature constantly alerts you when any other games get into, you guessed it, the red zone. Fantasy geeks will like the real-time fantasy stats, if only so they can bust on their friends, real-time, when one of their players blows up. The screen really is surprisingly sharp, and I didn't experience any difficulty with reception. Yes, it even works there.

I only had three gripes about the Kangaroo TV, and two of them are pretty minor. First, there's a fair amount of menu-navigating, primarily of the pop-up variety, which I found relatively irksome. It's still early in the test, though, and I have to imagine the technology will just get more intuitive and easy to use, although how they managed to leave a "last channel" button off the device eludes me.

Second, is the look. The yellow screams "Hello!" at every passer-by, and while the included lanyard does a fine job keeping the device resting comfortably on your belly, the only person who looks dorkier than you is the guy with the Bluetooth cell-phone earpiece attached to his head. Purely an aesthetic complaint, I'll admit.

My third concern is more likely to pose something of a problem: pricepoint. You rent the Kangaroo TV at every game, and have to turn it in after. To do so will cost you $40, a not-inconsequential price after you've shelled out for tickets, parking, snacks, etc. Add it up over a season, and you're looking at an additional $320 to your season ticket outlay. Fans seemed intrigued, however, at least judging by the number of devices scattered throughout the stands.

Judging by the success Kangaroo has enjoyed in NASCAR, the Champ Car Series, and Formula One, I imagine there's a market for the device in the NFL. It does help pass the boredom between plays and during TV-timeouts, and it really is pretty cool to watch all those other games from the comfort of your hometown stadium. Most importantly, the little yellow Kangaroo guarantees you'll be able to watch some really good football, regardless of what game you're actually attending. That, in and of itself, and particularly for a 'Skins fan, out to make the device worth the price of admission.