Kiper mocks, so it must be draft season

by Ed Valentine on Jan 23, 2009 11:00 AM EST in News Comment 17 comments

It's official. The annual NFL Draft frenzy has begun.

That's because ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper has come out with his first 2009 mock draft.

By the way, does anyone else find it ridiculous that Kiper's mock draft was the main story on the various Sports Center's all day, as well as on ESPN Radio's Sports Center every 20 minutes all afternoon?

Talk about making yourself the story. It's example number 9 million of ESPN making itself more important than the sports it allegedly reports on.

Not to be outdone, by the way, Don Banks of SI.com also released his first mock draft Thursday.

By the way, Kiper has the Giants taking Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis with the 29th pick in the first round. Banks has the Giants taking North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks.

Zak DeOssie of the Giants has been added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster as the long snapper.

Here are a couple of noteworthy non-Giants' stories.

Anquan Boldin of Arizona finds the reaction to his sideline tantrum 'hilarious.'
Cold Hard Football Facts makes the case that Kurt Warner is a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. Sorry, but I'm not buying their argument.
LaDainian Tomlinson wants to stay in San Diego, but it sounds like he and the Chargers are headed for an ugly split.

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Comments

I hate ESPN

But I love “Baseball Tonight”

The only other times I’ll watch ESPN is when the Giants or Mets are on it.

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Jan 23, 2009 12:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

they have a lot of airtime to fill

and sometimes they dont do it so well….like 4 hours of 1st and 10 everday

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jan 23, 2009 12:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I also like

Mike & Mike and NFL matchup. Sportscenter was good once upon a time.

by potroast on Jan 23, 2009 5:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I like

PTI. I tivo it and try and watch it most days.

by Woogie526 on Jan 23, 2009 8:00 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

BB Tonight

Mike & Mike, and PTI are the reasons I watch. Though I liked BB Tonight a lot more when Harold Reynolds was on. I hate when the Mets are on ESPN though – Joe Morgan & Jon Miller vs. Keith, Gary, and Ron is more lopsided than John Olerud vs. Jose Reyes in a foot race.

by cjmulrain on Jan 24, 2009 11:10 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kiper link

Jrs pointed out to me that you have to have ‘ESPN Insider’ access to see Kiper’s full first round. Another reason to hate ESPN.

by Ed Valentine on Jan 23, 2009 12:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good for DeOssie

Isnt Larenitiis a middle linebacker?

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jan 23, 2009 12:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yes

Which made it a very strange pick. Plus, no way he is still available for the Giants, anyway.

by Ed Valentine on Jan 23, 2009 1:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kiper's a tool

For a guy whose entire life is based around promoting himself as a draft expert, Kiper doesn’t do much better than 80% of the clowns who come up with mock drafts. Didn’t he grade the Giants 2007 draft as a C? Still I always read him cause it’s fun to mock him.

by Tucker Fredrickson on Jan 23, 2009 2:18 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

He’s completely clueless. He spends more time working on his hair than studying NFL teams’ needs.

by potroast on Jan 23, 2009 5:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Kiper

I think he’s usually very good at rating the college players, but he has a very poor understanding of NFL team needs. Take a look, he’s usually more right than wrong about which players will be good and which will be busts, but usually dead wrong about who will end up where (outside of the obvious picks, like Crabtree to the Seahawks.) Case in point, he has the Jets drafting Percy Harvin, which would make a lot of sense if a Terminator went back in time and killed Leon Washington’s mother before she gave birth to him, but since that seems doubtful, what possible need do the Jets have for Harvin?

by cjmulrain on Jan 24, 2009 11:13 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

that needs to be promoted to the front page

by queler on Jan 26, 2009 10:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And one more thing about ESPN.....

POKER IS NOT A SPORT!!!! Anything with playing cards can’t be a sport. Uno and Canasta aren’t sports, Pinochle isn’t a sport, I rest my case.

Calling it the “World Series of Poker” doesn’t make it a sport.

Billards isn’t a sport either. It’s a bar activity. Drinking and picking up women isn’t a sport (insert your own joke here) isn’t a sport, and neither is pool.

This ends my Carlin-esque rant.

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Jan 23, 2009 2:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I miss Carlin

he left us too soon.

by potroast on Jan 23, 2009 5:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was

Watching a bunch of his specials last weekend. Made me laugh and sad at the same time :(

by Woogie526 on Jan 23, 2009 8:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I would definitely watch

“The World Series of Drinking & Picking up Women” way before I’d watch poker.

by cjmulrain on Jan 24, 2009 11:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

To be honest

I agree with Anquan Boldin. I mean, yes, I believe that he was out of line with the whole shouting match on the sideline, but on the other hand, when his teammates speak out (even Kurt Warner!) on his side, and the coach agrees that even he is hot-headed and yells on the sidelines, I have to believe that he is generally a team player and was simply caught up in the heat of the moment.

I work with a football team, a college football team. Usually most of the guys in the locker room are nice, they’re polite, they all get along. But in a game situation, we’re taught never to pay attention to what they say or do—including getting water bottles thrown at/near you, or getting cussed out. The truth is, in the heat of the moment, during game time, emotions are at an all-time high, and half the time, they don’t even remember that happened during a game. I would rather see a player yelling and screaming, intense on the sideline, upset when things aren’t going well, than a cold-fish who seems to feel that nothing really matters.

I’m not saying that Anquan Boldin is definitely a team player and I think that the Giants should try to get him. What I’m saying is that a football player without emotion means that they play simply for the money. And I’d much rather see a player who loves the game than one who’s doing it simply because that’s his biggest paycheck.

by NYinCalifornia on Jan 23, 2009 3:13 PM EST reply actions 0 recs