World Circle Jerk Record Eclipsed!
ESPN nabbed the honor at 8:40 a.m. with its 372nd hour of NFL draft coverage. Gotta give it up to Mel Kiper for being the planet’s top professional wanker.
I’m not naive. Of course pro football draft coverage is the golden goose of broadcast innings eaters. And all of those hours on The Ocho ain’t gonna fill themselves. But don’t we all know that the only essential information about who goes where and when on April 25 and 26 could be conveyed in two installments — one in January that projects where the college kids will land, and distantly followed by a spring special summarizing all of the machinations?
Which sports fans among us don’t think Get a Life when they see Kiper or McShay at this time of year. And poor Trent Dilfer; he seems too smart, too promising to have been sentenced to this especially torturous iteration of Groundhog Day.
On a related topic, I finally got around to the most recent installment of Real Sports, and it’s probably the most thoughtful and entertaining hour of sports journalism I’ve seen in a year. Don’t take that assessment from me; watch it yourself. I think Bode Miller is a badass God and still find Frank Deford compelling, at least when he’s reporting on the old and the infirm.
April 12th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I’m as hardcore a football junkie as anybody, but is having NFL Live on year-round really necessary? You can get just as pertinent updates on your favorite team via the net or a local newspaper, whichever one is most readily available.
I thought the Brandon Jennings segment on Real Sports really got to the crux of the NBA draft rules which force the one-and-done recruiting classes. Jennings might not turn out to have the greatest judgement, but you’ve got to hand it to the kid for playing the system in his own way. I’d like to see him succeed and set a precedent to show the NBA just how specious need to play “college ball” is for some players.
Either let the kids turn pro out of high school, or make them play three years in college.
April 12th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I’m in disagreement with you about Jennings.
Playing with grown men in Europe strikes me as the best available transition. They aren’t as overwhelming as in the NBA, but — as evidenced by his limited success — it’s a a real challenge.
If he goes in the top seven — which he prolly will, considering the weak NCAA talent pool — you gotta think that the NBA and NCAA will change its awkward relationship.
April 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
When would Jennings be draft eligible, after this season or three years after his high school class graduated? I’m not knocking his decision to play in Europe against strong competition, it’s just that he’s chosen an alternative route which he has to make work. I think it would be great if it forced the NBA and NCAA to change their relationship regarding draft eligibility.
April 12th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I’m pretty sure that he’s eligible for this year’s NBA draft.