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| Groves (right) poses with Derrick Harvey in Jacksonville. |
By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com
NFL Draft Day may be the most overblown event in all of professional sports. I’ll admit to working my Saturday schedule around the event. I was anxious to see how quickly Quentin Groves and Pat Lee would be drafted.
They are two of my favorites and it’s always great to see Auburn guys make it big – or at least get a shot at it. I tuned in around 1:30 p.m. CT and then waited... and waited some more. I’m as big a college football fan as they come, but I have to admit that I have never heard of about two thirds of the players selected in the first round. I’m sorry, but I can’t name the starting front five at Ohio State, USC or even Florida.
By 2:30 p.m. I was sleeping comfortably on my couch. A few hours later I woke up in time to see Groves selected with the 52nd pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yawn. A little while later Lee was selected with the 60th pick by Green Bay. Good for them.
As me for it was a wasted Saturday. I should have skipped it and read about in the Sunday paper. I was a sucker for another made for TV event.
The NFL Network ran a show on Friday that showcased the top 10 draft flops of all time. Auburn linebacker Aundray Bruce, the 1988 number one overall pick came in at number six. Ryan Leaf took top honors.
On Friday’s ESPN College Football Live an email from a viewer in Auburn was directed toward analyst Mark May. He asked why the Tigers were not getting a lot of attention from the show. May said it was simple. LSU was the defending national champion and Alabama was getting a lot of attention for its recruiting class.
Here’s where it gets good... He went on to say Auburn would finish behind LSU and Alabama in the SEC West this year. LSU... maybe. Alabama? It looks like some of the stupid has spread from Lou Holtz to young Marcus. My guess is that May gets all his Alabama information from Tide homer Reece Davis. Too funny.
In case you missed the race at Talladega yesterday, Tommy Tuberville drove the pace car for the event. It was his first race at the Alabama speedway. Kyle Busch went on to win in an exciting finish. Dick Trickle was 44th.