If you notice my eyelids fluttering it’s because this is the big weekend for the NFL draft, when college football players’ dreams of becoming role models are realized.
ESPN and the NFL Network are in an all-out battle to provide draftniks with the most-complete coverage of the draft, taking place Saturday and Sunday in New York. Eighteen hours of anticipation.
Coverage of the actual draft (forgetting all the preambles) begins on both networks at 10 a.m. Saturday when each rolls out its roster of experts. If you’re a Mel Kiper Jr. fan, stick with ESPN. If you want a new view, try Mike Mayock on NFL Network. KOA 850-AM begins radio coverage at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Just for fun, here are some recent draft flops, courtesy of NFL Network’s top 10 Wednesday night: Art Schlichter, Aundray Bruce, Ryan Leaf and Lawrence Phillips. They somehow managed to overlook the Broncos’ top pick of Ted Gregory in 1988.
Three-deep
Will it be Melo or AI or even Nene?
They hold the keys when the Denver Nuggets play Game 3 in their NBA playoff series with the San Antonio Spurs at Pepsi Center (6 p.m. Saturday, Altitude, KKFN 950-AM).
No time like the present to win. As Marcus Camby said this week: “Why not shoot for the championship this year and try to repeat next year?”
Jerry Schemmel, the Nuggets’ play- by-play guy for 15 years, has a go- for-it plan, which he lays out on the team’s website: “If you are built to run, like the Nuggets are, and have had success, like the Nuggets have, wouldn’t you want to at least try? Don’t you at least attempt to do what you’re best at?”
Somebody should speed things up. Is it just me, or is this the most strung-out series in the history of basketball? The teams should be plenty rested.
Around the dial
Everything’s better in high-def: Dish Network to carry 63 Colorado Rockies games from FSN Rocky Mountain in HD, starting with the Giants game on Monday. The games are in HD on Dish Channel 364, Comcast 664 and DirectTV 97 … Keith Bleyer and Charissa Thompson wander the streets of New York on “Rockies All Access” (6:30 tonight, FSNRM) … The cable-impaired get a fix of the NHL playoffs from KUSA-Channel 9 with San Jose-Detroit at 1 p.m. Saturday and Buffalo-New York at noon Sunday … Sunday night’s coverage of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees matchup on ESPN drew 5.5 million viewers, making it the most-viewed MLB telecast since the Cards-Cubs in 1998, when Mark McGwire busted his 61st home run … Quotable: “You’re talking about handing $20 million to $30 million to a young kid who has reportedly ballooned up to 300 pounds in his college career.” Mike Mayock on draft hopeful quarterback JaMarcus Russell
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
