Overdraft

I'm about to lay some serious sandpaper against the grain of the sports world. All week, whenever I tune into sports talk radio, Fox, ESPN, etc. all I hear about is the precious NFL draft. I think the draft has become the most over hyped, unnecessary "sports" event of the year. How could I say such a thing?! I understand the reasons for the draft being popular; the drama of teams trading up or down, watching players loose millions as they slide down the draft board, the marriage of the college and the pro game... its all gravy to me.

However, the draft is a symptom of what bugs me about our country right now. We're always looking for the next big thing and not appreciating what we have. All hype, no substance. 50% of all #1 QB picks in the modern era have been busts. Should I really give a hoot about who the next Ryan Leaf is? Call me once these players prove something in the NFL. Then I'll go back and see how they were drafted. As busy as most of us are, why do we care to know all about a bunch of no-name players that we'll hardly ever hear of again? Beats me.

Hardly anyone is watching after the first two rounds, but how many great players come from the later rounds of the draft that no one is watching? Terrel Davis? Tom Brady? These guys went late, proved themselves and became worthy of the nation's time and attention. You earn respect, rather than have it thrust upon you by ESPN and sponsors. Teams overpay for hype and potential that have not been proven. It sounds a great deal like our financial markets and the joke that is executive compensation. We seem to have no problem paying losers and failures millions. I don't care if some QB is the second coming of a franchise to restore them to glory. The only second coming I want to hear about is the biblical one.

Last point of angst - why must all other sports coverage suffer for what is the equivalent of a reality show? The producers that hype the draft should go work for MTV, VH1 and the E channel if that's their bag. At least its all over after today and we can get back to "sports" as players prove themselves in competition, not interviews and combines.