FINALLY, MERCIFULLY, IT ALL ENDS TOMORROW

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

The most over-hyped, overplayed, over-talked-about, made-for-TV sporting non-event will take place tomorrow...When WNBA training camps open.

I kid, I kid. I'm sure all of you attended midnight madness parties weeks ago and know that the WNBA camps have been open for a while. Of course I am referring to the NFL Draft.

I recognize that it is the goal of ESPN's Sportscenter to find some way to somehow work as many NFL stories into the program 365 days a year, irrespective of how far we are removed from the previous season's Super Bowl, or the following season's opening weekend, but the coverage of the Draft has gotten way out of hand. Mel Kiper has become a daily fixture on ESPN, and Sportscenter: on-the-clock specials now air nightly, with 90 minutes of babbling about draft prospects and ridiculous draft-day trade proposals. Has any supposed draft guru ever, in recorded history, correctly predicted a draft-day trade? My patience for this unnecessary analysis reached a boiling point Thursday, when I saw that Todd McShay has created a complete, seven-round, mock draft. A seven-round mock draft. McShay predicted fewer than 10% of the first 99 picks correctly last year, I have no earthly idea why we are supposed to pay attention to his prediction of what the St. Louis Rams will do with the 252nd pick of this year's draft.

Thankfully, the draft will not be as painful this year as it has been in previous years. First of all, teams will only have 10 minutes per pick in the first round rather than 15. I never understood why teams require more time to make the earlier -- and theoretically easier -- picks than they do the later ones, but what do I know? Also, Miami gone ahead and has saved us all the suspense of who would be #1 overall by signing Michigan OT Jake Long ahead of time.

In a perfect draft world, the draft would begin with the St. Louis Rams, the owners of the #2 pick, on the clock. But alas, this is the NFL Draft, and Miami will probably still take the better part of their allotted 10 minutes to announce Long's name and have him officially drafted even though they have already signed him to a contract. Such is the annoyance that is the NFL Draft.

All that being said, am I going to watch? Hell-to-the-Yeah! I can't wait!