This first weekend in May 2015 wields a double edged
sword. The weekend that essentially started on Thursday could be either sports
fan nirvana or the final debacle for a degenerate gambler.
The yearly talent crapshoot known as the NFL draft kicked
off the weekend on Thursday. Teams have probed, poked and tested about 2,000 of
the young men they see as the top college talent. All that evaluation is done
in the hope they will find the next Peyton Manning and not the next Ryan Leaf.
After a season that offered as much if not more coverage given to off the field
issues than to the play on the field, the word “character” became the hacky
sack of every broadcast. I guess
watching Jameis Winston throw the football makes everyone forget about the
other stuff. For every Tyrann Mathieu
there are 5 Justin Blackmon’s it seems. Only time will tell if all the
character questions had merit, though I will be surprised if more than 3 of the
top picks in this draft play out their rookie contract. The most popular bets available on the draft define
insanity; you can bet on where any player will be drafted, who the first
running back drafted is and which conference will have the most players
drafted. I will bet that any players unfortunate enough to be drafted by those whoopee
cushions known as the Redskins and Browns will come to camp stocked up on
Prozac to cope with the insanity.
Saturday presents us with the most exciting two minutes
in sports followed later by the richest fight in boxing history. The Kentucky
Derby is the only “pre-game” that rivals the Super Bowl. At least with the Derby
there are other races to watch instead of seventeen human interest stories
about a player’s gardener’s dog’s barber. Well, all the pre derby stuff is
worth watching just for the big crazy hats isn't it? The races yes, for the
hats no, no it’s not. It was unfortunate
that California Chrome missed the Triple Crown last year since it was a neat story
of a great little horse, though it only furthered the notion there will never be another
Secretariat. My pick, Carpe Diem, didn’t
carpe enough, which is why I don’t bet on horse racing unless I happen to be at
the track in Saratoga Springs. I hit the trifecta the last time I went though it sure wasn't enough to retire to St. Thomas.
I hope the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight lives up to the hype
after waiting so long for it to happen. Apparently it is already the richest fight
in boxing history and at $ 90.00 for pay-per-view in standard def I think I’ll stick
with plain old Netflix. I went to a
pay-per-view event for Tyson- Spinks (I didn't buy the tickets) and that was
over before I finished my popcorn. I
hope anyone that made the investment on this fight gets to finish theirs. These
guys are both long in the tooth for boxers though I expect the fight to go the
distance. I don’t see either being able to knock the other out, unless it’s happens
to be of the Hollywood double knockout variety.
Behind these big three, the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full
swing and into the second round. I’m going on a short limb and wagering these
early rounds will have more drama than the finals in either league. We can’t forget baseball still has over 135
games to go before their playoffs begin. That season seems so long because of
the number of games, though time wise it’s really only longer than the
NFL. If you’re a fan of any or all of
the sports action this weekend I wish you luck in having the time to finish your
popcorn. For all you gamblers out there I hope you managed to hang on to enough
gas money to get to you to work Monday. If not, I hope you have a good pair of
shoes and a friendly looking thumb or maybe even some leftover popcorn.
