NFL, give me my Thursday back.

When I was in college, the NFL draft meant setting up shop with my computer in the living room of our apartment with my laptop out pretending to care while I feverishly plotted the next month of my pre-doomed fantasy baseball campaign. Now, I don't even have the energy to pretend.

Well, let me step back. I usually watch the first round to see where the big names go, and then when it's all over, I'll see how my Bengals (or Bungles, depending on how clinically depressed I feel at any given time about them) have decided to spend our money this year. But does the NFL Draft really matter?

Okay, of course it matters. The draft is how teams begin the campaign for next year, where late-round steals becomes starters and stars, and when Detroit Lions fans start thinking, "This might actually be our year..." until the first game of the season.

My frustration is with Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, John Gruden, and the rest of the goon squad hogging 75% of ESPN time leading up to the draft with an endless repitition of speculation that amounts to a heaping pile of nothing.

And all the while, I'm trying to find the replay of Tuuka Rask and Ryan Miller showing the rest of the NHL what playoff goaltending is all about. I'm trying to watch a recap of how the Boston Celtics made Quentin Richardson and the Miami Heat look like a high school summer rec-league team. I want to see triple overtime hockey games and buzzer beaters, not Roger Goodell reading glorified index cards.

This year, the draft is dominating Thursday and Friday nights for only three rounds of the draft?! There are championships on the line in the NHL and the NBA and we care about a group of 96 people that essentially have a 50% chance of succeeding in the NFL. The history of the draft shows that the only thing we know for sure about Sam Bradford is he could be anywhere between Peyton Manning and Tim Couch.

2010: Sports Fan's Dream Come True

It all began with a thrilling NFL playoffs which gave us an overtime thriller between the Packers and the Cardinals, a nail-biter between the NY Jets and the SD Chargers, and of course one of the more memorable Super Bowls of our time, with the Saints winning the Vince Lombardi trophy in front of the largest American television audience of all time.

The end of the NFL season, while always bittersweet, was quickly followed by the Winter Olympics in Canada. The winter games are always exciting (who can forget the epic curling matchups or the climactic ice dancing championships?), but this years Olympics were highlighted by two breath-taking hockey games between the United States and Canada. If Canada didn't win the gold, the Olympics would have been a failure in their eyes. We put up a fight, but in the end Sidney Crosby put it past Ryan Miller for the win.

March Madness is a cultural movement in offices, high schools, college dorms, dominating conversation for a few weeks and destroying productivity for one fateful Thursday through Sunday. This year's tournament featured a deluge of upsets (come on, Georgetown!), Cinderella stories (I don't know a single person from Butler, but I was their biggest fan for one night), and some truly remarkable games (Kansas St./Xavier, Maryland/Michigan St., etc.). And even though Duke won (ugh), it was still a great tournament to watch.

Baseball Opening Day had it's own countdown at my apartment, in my work notebook, on my cubicle wall, on my computer, etc. Every season brings new hope, new prospects, walk-off home runs, web gems, Cy Youngs, Golden Gloves, no-hitters - you get the point. Baseball is awesome.

And while the MLB season is just getting underway, the NBA and the NHL have begun their playoffs. I would like the American Medical Association to do some research on the health risks of watching playoff hockey. The stress/tension/roller coaster of emotion cannot be good for you. In the words of those weird Dr. Pepper commercials, "I'm lookin' at you, scientists." The NBA playoffs are shaping up to produce some thrilling matchups. LeBron James is on a mission to secure a legacy; the Lakers want a repeat, the Magic want another shot at a title; the Suns don't think they can lose... the list goes on and on.

And when all of this wraps up, my most anticipated sports moment of 2010 will begin: the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. So far, this year has been great for sports fans, and I look forward to sharing my continuing thoughts as the year goes on. Follow me on Twitter, comment on the posts, email me - as many of my coworkers and friends know too well, I have a lot to say.

Thanks for reading,
Anand

PS - I can't stand Ben Roethlisberger, the St. Louis Cardinals, Sasha Vujicic, the French national soccer team, Rasheed Wallace, the Flo girl from the Progressive commercials, the Pittsburgh Steelers, J.J Redick, the Los Angeles Lakers, the NFL draft, and the jean-skirt and Ugg boots combination. Please, just stop.

PPS - I wholeheartedly support Chad Ochocino, the Cincinnati Reds, Ray Allen, the Cincinnati Bengals, Pete Rose (yeah, I said it), the Boston Celtics, Ryan Miller, Boston College everything, cutting Rasheed Wallace, the Brazilian national soccer team, the Buffalo Sabres, and Barack Obama, among other things.