No Need to Prolong the Pain

So, the NFL draft has started.  I know a lot of football fanatics who were glued to their televisions to watch a bunch of suits make labored decisions over what fresh college meat they wanted to fill in the gaps of their teams.

I am not one of those people.  Don't get me wrong, I'm intrigued by the "meat," but I'd rather hear about it afterwards, rather than watch it live.  This strikes me as being worse than watching champion chess matches on TV.  I have a hard time getting jacked up over college players making the transition to pro football anyway, mostly because it doesn't always deliver the big build-up we are subjected to for weeks and months leading up to the actual season.

As a Minnesota Viking fan, this time of the season is most painful.  Our owners and management rarely breathe hope or life into the team, but I have to admit when I heard they actually drafted a quarterback, I did perk up a bit.  Previously, that position has been the equivalent of my arrival to work each morning.  Unpredictable.  Sure, I get into the studios each morning before 6am, but it could be anytime between 5am and 5:30ish.  Yes, I said "ish."  My clock might be fast, for all I know.

Christian Ponder, while he has fabulous hair, has not been reliable for the Vikings.  Adrian Peterson has fulfilled that role pretty easily, but his age and his increasing salary over the next several years will eventually become a situation to be reckoned with, or be hurt by it.

At any rate, the first draft pick for the Vikings was a quarterback--Teddy Bridgewater.  While I'm pleased as punch that they selected a QB, you won't ever hear me waxing poetic about any draft picks.  Why?  Because nothing is guaranteed.  Fantasizing about the "what if's" and getting one's hopes up over a draft pick is flat out ludicrous.  The move from college football to pro, is much like the move from high school studies to college.  There's a pretty big learning curve, coupled with high expectations.

I'm not trying to be a negasaurus--just a realist.  NOBODY knows what the 2014 NFL season will bring--except some chuckles.  I mean the jokes are already writing themselves for the Green Bay Packer draft pick, Haha Clinton-Dix.  This one might surpass the knee-slapping fun provided for sportscasters by the moniker of Wisconsin's racing legend, Dick Trickle.  Apparently Wisconsin is on it's way to going to go down in history as the home for sports figure names that easily elicit the laughs.