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04.28.2008 7:58 am

Breaking down the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is one of the weirdest spectacles in sports. It’s not exactly a made-for-TV event — guys in suits yammering away and waving their arms — but ESPN and the NFL Network try hard to make it seem fascinating.

Here is what some of our favorite pundits saw over the weekend:

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “With the Redskins’ first-rounder, the Falcons grabbed Southern Cal offensive tackle Sam Baker, son of Arena Football League commissioner David Baker. Makes perfect sense to me. After all, Bud Selig, David Stern, Gary Bettman and Tim Finchem don’t have any kids who are 6-4 5/8, 309 pounds.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Forget about 330-pound Jake Long. Everybody knows the three biggest entities in (the) NFL draft are: (1) Chris Berman’s ego, (2) John Clayton’s forehead, (3) Mel Kiper’s hair.”

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: “Through the years, one of the best parts of the draft is watching the video from the family parties. The legendary bash that LenDale White appeared to be throwing when Tennessee took him remains the stuff of legend. That was a crowd that was enjoying itself. (Joe) Flacco needs to step up his game from I-AA to NFL starter. Even his family and friends wore silly ‘Let’s Go Joe’ t-shirts. Marlo Stanfield will not allow him to represent Baltimore like that.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Only one controversy in the first round: Tampa Bay drafted cornerback Aqib Talib despite reports he tested positive for marijuana. Cannot confirm that when introducing him, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell immediately suspended Talib to beat the rush.”

Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “If Jerry Angelo wasn’t an NFL general manager, he’d be a worm farmer. Or an air-duct cleaner. Or a first-base coach. Or a Rockford tour guide. Or a cement-mixer driver. Or Lovie Smith’s hair stylist. You know, something boring that requires little creativity. Saturday, in a draft of immense importance to the Bears, Angelo again hit the snooze button when he needed to bust a move and resurrect his fading football franchise. This is a man whose reputation as an erratic draft-day maneuverer never has been more heavily doubted, yet rather than take chances and excite the nervous masses, he and his minions stuck to a script and chose two players who may or may not make grand impact.”

Sam Farmer, Los Angekes Times: “If there’s a moral to this draft story, it’s this: Mamas, let your babies grow up to be offensive linemen. A record seven of them went in the first round.”

Don Banks, SI.com: “Let me get this straight: the Lions traded two picks to Miami to select Central Florida running back Kevin Smith with the first selection of the draft’s second day, No. 64 overall? I think I’m beginning to understand the draft strategy in Detroit. Whenever possible, you take the best available generically named running back — providing his first name is Kevin. The Lions cut injury-prone veteran running back Kevin Jones (first round, 2004) earlier this offseason and just replaced him with Kevin Smith. What, was Kevin Doe draft ineligible?”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering why every other general manager took a pass on Kyle Lohse during spring training:

  • Should the Cards send the Astros a thank-you note for firing them up over the weekend and prodding them out of their slump?
  • When, exactly, did Brandon Backe turn into The Terminator on the mound? What’s with the Don Drysdale routine?
  • Will Troy Glaus relax now that he has finally gone yard?
  • Is there any reason to rush Cesar Izturis back into the starting lineup?
  • Now that the Pirates have turned him lose, will Matt Morris use his free time to search for his missing fastball?

ONE GIANT MELON

Chris Long touched on many topics during his first Rams news conference, but he didn’t not address his father’s skull size. But that topic came up recently on Dan Patrick’s syndicated radio show.

Patrick asked Chris about Howie’s hat size.

“I’m going to estimate 8 ¾,” Chris said.

“So I could use your dad’s hat for a beer cooler if I wanted to?” Patrick said.

“You could,” Chris said. “You might have to buy out 7-Eleven’s ice supply.”

MEGAPHONE

“Some of our guys play Madden better than they play on Sundays. And they spend more time talking about playing Madden.”

Retired Packers quarterback Brett Favre, the cover boy on the Madden NFL ’09 video game.

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26 comments

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4-12 in 2008 for the Rams. Not even a nice draft can help this team win. Not with
the worst coach in the NFL at the helm. Hopefully he will be fired after this his
third year of loss after loss.Scott Linehan sucks.

— Rich Sielaff
1:07 pm April 28th, 2008

NHL.com and MLB.com provide you with all the news/highlights/analysis you’ll need. If you need your ESPN fix (Around the Horn or PTI or Baseball Tonight) you can check out their website and ignore their channel.

Honestly, I don’t understand why, other than to watch STL teams in the STL market, you’d get cable.

…is HBO still good?

— ExistentialHumanist
1:13 pm April 28th, 2008

I was wondering how Rich Sielaff would react to the draft. I usually get a kick out of his unique views about the Rams.

I was also looking forward to reading the reactions of Bill Lumberg…Drunken Sailor…et al.

— Ten High
1:55 pm April 28th, 2008

But not me, eh ten? Figures, you racist facist you…

— DJ Axeom
2:24 pm April 28th, 2008

Not a bad draft by the Rams. I was happy to see they went with Long over Dorsey. Lord knows we don’t need another Lawrence Phillips on our hands. I’d still like to see them make a trade for another WR. Isaac isn’t what he used to be, but you won’t find a better fundamental receiver in the league. There’s a big hole to fill and I don’t think Drew Bennett has what it takes to fill it.

Cards should have swept that series. Izzy hasn’t looked like that since ‘05. Hopefully it was just a small bump in the road, because this team is going to be in a lot of close games this year! I keep reading about how everyone says Wainright threw at Ausmus on purpose. It didn’t look like that to me. I replayed it a couple of times and it just looked like the ball got away from him. I don’t know how the umps could say that Backe didn’t throw at Yadi on purpose. He had just given up a homer, to Mr. Glaus, then Yadi was granted time after Backe had already started his windup….how could you not think he was doing that on purpose after he glared at Yadi for calling time? Other than that I thought the umps did a good job of letting cooler heads prevail.

Maybe we can work out a deal this week with Jockety while he’s in town. We’ll give you Chris Duncan and Mark Mulder for Griffey! Wishfull thinking I know, but it would be cool to see him finish his career with the Cards!

— Still a loyal Cards fan!
2:36 pm April 28th, 2008

Go read the Houston Chronicle article on the weekend series and then check out the comments section…WOW! I thought we had some Kool-Aid drinkers.

— ExistentialHumanist
2:59 pm April 28th, 2008

Still a loyal Cards fan, why are you comparing Dorsey to Lawrence Phillips? I never heard that Dorsey had any disciplinary/weed issues. It’s not because he’s black and Chris Long is white, is it? Please say no…you don’t want DJ Axeom all up in your grill, do you?

— come on, now
3:22 pm April 28th, 2008

I thought the Rams draft was pretty solid. They addressed needs. I think the top 3 picks will see significant playing time but will not have enough impact to save Linehan’s job. I suspect Avery will see more time as a returner than a receiver and can learn alot for Dante Hall.
I hope Chris Long is as good a leader as Grant Wistrom was and can put a little more pressure on the opposing QB’s. I don’t know what his health situation is but I hope the Rams consider Pig Brown as a free agent signing. What would they have to lose? The lower picks are always a crap shoot. The NFL seems to produce more longshot succes stories than than the other major sports.

— Drunken Sailor
3:57 pm April 28th, 2008

It had nothing to do with race. I owe Glenn Dorsey an apology. He did not deserve that comparison to Lawrence Phillips! I was wrong and I don’t have a problem admitting that. However, I’m still glad they took Long. Dorsey has some health issues and will likely be injury proned. Leg injuries are never a good thing when you’re talking about NFL linemen. Long also fits better with our current system than Dorsey would have.

I’m not worried about DJ. If you read enough of his posts you can tell that he is in all likelihood not black. He’s probably a nerdy little white dude who doesn’t get out of his mom’s basement more than twice a month.

— Still a loyal Cards fan!
4:01 pm April 28th, 2008

In case of Isringhausen, break glass.

— Fire Estinguisher
4:22 pm April 28th, 2008

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