From LY:
You love the draft, I know this. My question is why? I lived in Nashville for a couple years, worked two blocks from where the draft was held. It was cool to see it being held so close to home, but otherwise the draft is such a non-event to me. There is no way to know whether teams hit home runs or struck out with their picks for sometimes years to come. In our microwave society, how is the draft such a hit? The draft also is 10 seconds of excitement, followed by a very long commercial break. If football had to wait 10 minutes between every play nobody would watch it, yet the draft was such a popular event. Hoping you can provide some insight into why? (side note: yes it takes 10 minutes or more between plays when replay officials get involved)
Keep up the great work on the column! It is a must read every day on my lunch break.
***
LY,
I understand the point of view from folks who are completely indifferent to the draft.
There's no score. There's no real action. The is no winner, which is the opposite of everything we embrace about sports.
That said, my initial love of the draft comes, I think, from a mild obsession with sports video games and the franchise modes.
That, and the growth of fantasy sports, have reshaped the appetite of a large number of sports fans.
There is a growing interest in the transaction as much as there is in the action.
Some say this started in earnest with recruiting and the huge explosion of national signing day in college football.
But it's older than that. At least for me it is. I can remember loving the NBA draft in the mid-1980s - and mocking the ever-living stuffing out of Utah for wasting a first-round pick on some church-league all-star named John Stockton.
The draft - and so many of the offseason moves - offer the most important emotion that feeds every fan base.
Hope.
Arizona has been forgettable for almost a decade.
Now the Cards have belief. Same for the transformation of the Browns and everyone else.
In the grand scheme of things, the Patriots, the Packers, the Steelers and a few other teams have hope when the fall gets here.
Way more of the league enjoys the hope that springs eternal from these three days in April.
As for me, I love the truly unpredictable nature of the dominoes falling, the merger of college and pro football and the endless speculation make it endless amounts of enjoyment.
___
From Matthew H:
OK, the Tiger Woods announcement makes me want to know if you won a title, would you go to the White House?
***
Matthew,
Yes. Yes, I would.
If I was an individual champion like Tiger, I absolutely would go. If I agreed with Trump, easy peasy lemon-squeeze. If I disagreed, I would hope I would take the chance to discuss those disagreements in person.
(And either way, both sides need to suggest more presidenting and less Tweeting, right?)
If I were a coach, well, I would also make plans to attend.
If my players felt strongly about not going, well, that's their right. But I'm not going to grand-stand, especially when a vast majority of your team will never have this chance again.
Plus, whether you agree with the office holder or not, I have always felt you should honor the office.
But that's me.
___
From Paul:
Are you so desperate that you have to have these little contests so people will read your crap?
Your pathetic - as a columnist and a sports writer!!!
***
Paul,
Thanks for swinging by. Don't be a stranger. (And that this is not in the hate mail is, well, my daily chore.)
My thought on the contests I offer has always been an attempt to offer folks a way to have a vested interest in myriad sporting events.
If you have a Derby pick, play it here. A feeling about Feeling the Draft, play it here. The Masters, March Madness, the Bowls.
Play them here. At no cost.
Not sure how that affects you Pat, but OK. You're right. I'm desperate. (Hey, you have until the end of BID-ness today to get your Doing the Derby picks in. Send me the winner and the absolute loser - which remember is worth 1.1 points; winner is worth 1 - and take your shot at the roses.)
That said, you bring up an interesting change of direction for this industry.
Know this: In the next five-to-10 years, when sports gambling becomes more legal than illegal across the country, there will be as much coverage of the action on the games as there is coverage on the action in the games.
And folks will be desperate for it.
___
From Mike:
Do you think Vince Dooley deserves his name on the field at Sanford Stadium?
Also, I heard a bit of you guys talking on Press Row about coaches line for those honors. Did ya'll decide any one other than Saban or Dabo is on track for that?
***
Mike,
Absolutely Vince Dooley deserves that honor. More than 200 football wins. A natty. Roughly 40 years in prominent roles in the athletics department counting his time as AD.
Slam dunk.
The college football world is tight on naming options. Maybe you have two names on a stadium and a field name but beyond that, well, it's too much.
That said, it needs to be Bryant-Denny-Saban Stadium. And Dabo Valley.
Not sure anyone else - maybe Patterson at TCU or Fitzgerald at Northwestern down the road - deserves this type of honor.
I also think the pro teams will gravitate toward naming the fields because they have so much coin to make for naming rights. Belichick Field at Gillette Stadium for example makes a lot of sense down the road.
Let's roll with some hate mail ...
I will never think of you the same after your support of Trump.
Are you a doctor? Are you a politician? (Bleep) No! You are a worthless sports writer trying to pretend to be someone who is smart.
We are close ...
Why does the Times give you three days a week and David Cook only one? This is such an example of the media's pro Trump bias because you have said multiple times how much you love trump which show how truly stupid you are.
And finally ...
Good God, please tell me they are going to fire you or lay you off!!!
Have a great weekend friends.