Mel Kiper Jr. Weekend

Winston-Salem, NC -- The NFL Draft is becoming more overhyped than the Super Bowl. What lures us to it? It's the combination of two things: 1. College Football, 2. The NFL becoming America's Pastime. We get to see the stars of college football become millionaires if their name is called in the first round. Do you feel bad for Brady Quinn? I read somewhere that he'll lose $20M by being selected 22nd rather than 3rd.

Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler all do an admirable job on College Gameday. Mark May and Lou Holtz are good studio analysts. Many will disagree on Corso and May since they're both ND haters. But here's the number one reason why the NFL Draft is so hyped: eligibility. In order to play professional football, you must play 3 years in college. We get to see the NFL's stars of tomorrow at our universities. Think about it... next in line for coverage of drafts: the NBA. With the new CBA, to be eligible in the NBA, you must play 1 year in college. And in baseball, 70% of the players are drafted out of high school. Now, you see why the draft coverage is what it is. We have no idea who baseball's future stars will be unless they receive some coverage in the minor leagues AFTER they've been drafted.

What would Mel Kiper Jr. be doing if it weren't for the NFL draft? He's become a celebrity based on ranking college players. He is a bit terse if a GM selects a player that didn't agree with his projection as evidenced by Miami bypassing Brady Quinn and the Igles selecting a QB with their first pick. My favorite quote from the weekend comes from Vernon Davis, who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers last year in the first round. Q: "What was the one thing that surprised you most last year when you were drafted?" A: "Mel Kiper Jr.'s hair; I didn't realize how shiny it was. How does he do that?"

Kicking Things Off...

Winston-Salem, NC -- The purpose of this blog is to reveal the numerous and daily stories that I seredipitously encounter at work, at the places I visit, and the people that cross paths with me. I'd also like to report on certain things that I find interesting in the news and perhaps make fun of it. And lastly, there will be some baseball analysis sprinkled throughout the blog as this was the initial reason why this blog idea came to fruition. To reiterate, this is not some sappy journal or dairy where I spill my innermost thoughts and feelings. If you're looking for stuff like that, please see Alexa Koby's online journal here. Hats off to Katie for the idea -- she hears most of the stories first hand, and therefore thought it would be appropriate for certain readers to view as well.

The ultimate goal is for all the readers to take 2 minutes out of their day to read the blog, and hopefully, comment. I know this may cut into your precious lunch time, facebook time or following the stock market, but hopefully the content will make you laugh or ponder.

I hope to update this blog on a daily basis (excluding weekends). If it's a busy day at work, as is normally the case, a posting won't be available until later on in the day.

Look for the first topic on Tuesday, May 1st.

Thanks for reading! Comments and thoughts are most welcome.