Stormin Norman Rumack

Here is my problem with the NFL draft; they're making it too easy. Back in the day if you wanted to watch the draft you had to be dedicated. It started at noon and went for seven straight hours and you maybe got three rounds tops. The only people that watched it were the true hard core NFL geeks. I remember walking home at 7:15pm after spending about eight hours indoors on a beautiful Saturday feeling a mixture of guilt and contentment after plowing through yet another NFL draft with 5-6 other likeminded geeks.

I preferred it that way. Now it’s just way too accessible for the casual fan. The NFL is spoon feeding the draft to the fans several hours at a time over three days. Where is the sacrifice? The draft used to be for a select club of nerds/draftniks. It was for the guys that worshipped Mel Kiper and knew the 40 time of the top 25 prospects.
Now it’s for the masses. I understand why. Its extremely cheap programming that will generate solid ratings. It’s basically a way for ESPN to print money for three days. I get it.
 
Doesn't mean I have to like it.
 
There is a certain perverted sense of accomplishment of electing to skip a gorgeous spring Saturday to watch five grown men talk about soon to be grown men being accepted into the NFL.
 
This reminds me of when I went to see Batman on its opening night back in 1989. (Post Adam West pre Christian Bale)
My twin brother, my cousin and I had to get to the theatre at 9:00am to make sure we got tickets that would not go on sale until noon. We had to wait in line for three hours just to get tickets for a show that wouldn't start till 7:40pm.
After getting said ducats we had to return a couple hours before it started just to make sure we got a decent seat to watch Michael Keaton battle Jack Nicholson. We spent about 5 hours total in lines and this was before Ipods, Ipod touch, Blackberry's. We actually had to have conversations or just stare dead eyed at one another as the seconds slowly ticked by.

But you know what, it was worth it. We were so excited to get our seats. The theatre freaked out when the lights went down or Jack's name flashed on the screen. We all felt a sense of accomplishment. If you wanted to see Batman you could, you just needed to work for it.

I feel the same way about the draft. If you wanted (And for most of you I understand why you wouldn't want to) to watch the majority of it you could, you just needed to sacrifice your time and to be honest some of your dignity.

But you know what it was always worth it.