Football Is Never Over!

So now that the only football-related thing left to look forward to between now and kickoff of Miami v. FSU is the NFL Draft, I thought I'd take a few paragraphs to reflect on the closing of the 2005 football seasons.

UNINSPIRED.

The Super Bowl, regardless of what the TV ratings tell me, was pretty boring. If it wasn't for my boy A-Dawg deep frying a turkey and providing good conversation, I probably would have fallen asleep. Still I'm sort of glad that Pittsburgh won, partly because their other sports franchises are in dire straits, but mostly because I don't know if I could handle Seattle winning a championship of any kind. I just can't wrap my brain around it.

So now we set our sights past the Pro Bowl and to April 29th's NFL Draft. I'm no expert, but I am positive that the first three picks will be Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Vince Young, not necessarily in that order. It's going to be another odd year for Hurricanes fans at the draft. 2005 saw only one Cane go in the 1st Round (Antrel Rolle), and Mel Kiper, Jr. doesn't have any on his Big Board. Still, this year's draft will provide much more drama than 2005's, which was about as exciting as a girl's high school JV basketball game.

Last week was also a big one for college football programs around the country as Signing Day (the equivalent to a NCAA Draft) came and went. For days on end I had to listen to Adler tell me how awesome USC is, even though they have one of the longest losing streaks in the country right now. Anyway, most reviewers had their recruiting class ranked #1 or at least in the top 5. How great for them. Larry Coker, on the other hand might be in a world of hurt come this time next year. Not only did he fire a handful coaches after the Peach Bowl disaster, including Canes staple Art Kehoe, but he didn't hire anyone to replace them until just before Signing Day. Still, in the press conference he said the only lost one recruit between Christmas and Signing Day, but I don't know if I believe that. Every year it's the "best class ever, and we're very happy with our class" speech. The Canes did manage to grab 4 of the top 30 RBs in the nation. Maybe some of those dudes can catch the ball because I'm about done watching Greg Olsen gets his bell rung while Ryan Moore and Lance Leggett drop balls all day long. Also they grabbed Ray Lewis, Jr. and Bryant McKinnie, Jr., but they won't be eligible to play for another 10 years or so.

So we enter the dark days of the sports calendar... with little sustenance but for the NBA, if you consider that a sport, and the NCAA tournament, which I will have little to no interest in this year... but wait, what's this? Baseball starts in less than two months? There is a light at the end of the tunnel!