Darrell,
Unfortunately I was unable to go to ETS this year, though I have very much enjoyed it when can. Much of what I have heard this year, first from the ETS lecture catalog and now on the blogosphere, has concerned what you posted on here, the issues of translations and especially the two up and comers the ESV and TNIV.
I, like you, have found the ‘this translation is the ONE’ mentality frustrating and counter productive. I’m a big fan of the ESV, but I also use the NRSV and TNIV quite a bit, and grew up using the NIV. Each has their place, and each does better in some areas than the others do.
All translations can be improved, but none will ever be the only one a person needs. Once you see the depth of the original languages (which presumably all the scholars involved in the debate are well aware of) I do not see how anyone can insist that a specific translation is always or usually ‘best’ and most ‘usable/literal/accurate’. I appreciate the tone you took here, it is a needed contrast to much of the overly heated argument on the topic.