You know you're a serious fan if you're watching jocks cross train
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show wrapped
up last week in Madison Square Garden. Good
thing, because the canines wouldn't want
to compete for ratings against the human
version of primp and preen that takes place
this week in Indianapolis.
The annual NFL Combine is marketed as the
world's most physically demanding job fair,
but it's actually a cattle call experiencing
an increase in fan interest that may be hard
to believe. Like last year, the combine will
be televised on the NFL Network, and heterosexual
men will watch and drool over the physical
gifts of 20-something-year-olds chasing the
blue-ribbon prize that is a fat NFL contract.
For the most part, the names most of us
have heard of aren't the ones the combine
is for. In fact, more and more elite collegiate
players are choosing not to participate in
physical drills at the combine, taking the
position that they can only lose. If your
agent asserts you're a top-10 selection in
February, then your stock can only go down
when observed under the microscope... or
so the thinking goes.
Then why is the combine
increasing in popularity if the stars are
skipping key portions of it? Hype, for one
thing. An industry is booming around preparing
players for the testing that will determine
their futures. Many of this week's 333 participants
have trained with former NFL pros. Arkansas
running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones
have even gone under the tutelage of Olympic
champion Michael Johnson to improve their
speed. All of that running with celebrities
garners attention. For those who were otherwise
uninitiated, the intense prep work also brings
into focus the importance of the combine.
"The better
a guy does at the combine, the more favorably
he'll do in the draft," Colts GM Bill
Polian told reporters last week. "You
always look at how a player performs on film,
but you absolutely take how they do at the
combine into account."
Two years ago, Vernon
Davis famously turned himself from a nobody
out of Maryland into the sixth overall pick
by running faster and leaping higher than
a 6-foot-3-inch, 250-pound tight end should
be able to. The other big combine star in
2006 was Mario Williams, who completed 35
bench-press reps at 225 pounds. That show
of strength was one reason Houston chose
Williams first overall instead of Reggie
Bush.
They are among the
success stories that emerged from the RCA
Dome. The failures include Vince Young, who
cost himself any chance of the top spot in
'06 when he scored a six out of 50 on the
Wonderlic intelligence test. Last year, Brady
Quinn opted out of the combine's physical
workouts and then underperformed in the only
pre-draft session he did participate in.
His stock plummeted from third overall to
22nd.
The 2008 NFL Draft
class isn't nearly as star-studded as those
of recent years. The most highly regarded
quarterbacks, Brian Brohm and Matt Ryan,
may both fall out of the top five, and after
McFadden is taken early, there won't be another
running back selected until the teens, according
to most projections.
With the game's two
highest-profile positions lacking in incoming
talent, the talk of the combine figures to
focus on defensive linemen, linebackers and
offensive tackles, the positions that will
likely dominate the first round of the draft
on April 26.
When the combine
opens on Wednesday, Virginia defensive end
Chris Long (son of Howie) and LSU defensive
tackle Glenn Dorsey will be the headliners.
Both of them will likely wind up being selected
in the top three on draft day. Underexposed
players like East Carolina running back Chris
Johnson, who says he wants to run the 40-yard
dash in 4.25 seconds, and Delaware quarterback
Joe Flacco are among those who can propel
themselves into first-round consideration
with a showing that turns heads.
Still, when it comes
to knowing who is going to be selected by
whom, the combine reveals little.
"When kids ask
me, I say, 'Treat it like it’s 100
percent a job interview and conduct yourself
that way,'" says Mike Mayock, a former
NFL receiver and a member of the broadcast
crew that will cover the combine. And like
any job interview, you don't know what will
happen unless you're one of the few behind
closed doors.
Super Bowl odds won't
shift on the happenings at the combine, but
you can be sure impressions will be made
this week that will alter the course of franchises.
In a billion-dollar industry like the NFL,
that's apparently reason enough to pay attention.
Random Thoughts on the
Week in Sports
- Expect the Arizona
Diamondbacks' World Series odds to drop
after Randy Johnson's performance in training
camp on the weekend. "The Big Unit" reportedly
zinged 27 pitches off a mound and didn't
seem troubled by the back injury that sidelined
him most of last season.
- Roger Clemens
isn't going to jail, but he may not be
going to the Hall of Fame either. The defiant
Rocket tried his best to come across as
authentic on Capitol Hill last week but
still failed to provide a credible reason
for why either Andy Pettitte or Brian McNamee
would have such contradictory tales about
his reported use of illegal performance
enhancers.
- The Memphis Tigers
seemed caught off guard by the determination
of the UAB Blazers on Saturday and failed
to cover another point spread. John Calipari's
team better get used to facing opponents
who are hell-bent on stopping their run
to perfection.
- The Detroit Red
Wings are suddenly in the position of having
to make a trade. Having lost six straight,
the NHL's leaders have been exposed as
a team that lacks size and grit up front.
Mats Sundin's arrival in Motown has been
rumored for a while, and the Red Wings
may now be willing to trade Jiri Hudler
to get the deal with Toronto done. With
Dominik Hasek on the shelf this week and
Chris Osgood struggling, betting against
the Red Wings for another game or two may
prove profitable.
The Undercard
That's upsetting:
Penske teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch
had a glorious chance to come up with a Talladega
Nights riff after finishing 1-2 in the Daytona
500, but they played it straight instead.
Too bad, NASCAR could have used some personality
after a dud race.
Proof of disorder
in the universe: Dwight Howard. His first
dunk Saturday from behind the backboard was
jawdropping enough, but then he came up with
three more inhuman ones. Sick.
Coolest song
of the week: Hunger Strike by
Temple of the Dog (last week: Everlong
by the Foo Fighters).
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