So Ricola is claiming that with the Chrüterchraft (wth?!) in their cough drops, coxswains everywhere can ditch the headset and yell their lungs out.

Coxswains, we've all been there: waking up with a scratchy throat, a little cough, only to go out for practice in -50 degree weather (or at least it feels like -50 when you are in the second hour of practice in freezing rain). So what's a cox to do when you feel like crap and can't muster up the voice to tell 3-seat they are STILL late to the catch?

Of course, a cough drop. Who needs a coxbox, or even a leather head-strap metal-mouthpiece cone megaphone when you have some good "natural" meds to magically restore your voice? Maybe the woman in the commercial is better than I am, but my lung capacity doesn't quite rival Lance Armstrong's, so no matter how good your drugs are, I'll never willingly cox on raw voice alone.

Maybe it's not all bad featuring a coxswain in a commercial no matter how inaccurate it is - it'll save me time explaining what I do at the family Christmas party. Yeah, I'm the one who yells "row, row!" Now pass me some cough drops…and and my mic.