2005 NFL Draft

NFL's prom night went off without a hitch this year. Despite being displaced to The Javits Center instead of the historic Madison Square Garden, the draft was once again filled with crazy fanatics, protective agents, giddy relatives, nervious general managers, and of course the _____ players (you can fill in your own blank, lol).

Being physically present at the draft is actaully quite different than seeing it on TV. Granted it was fun seeing the commissioner walk out and introduce who had the next pick, later who the pick was, and then the famous handshake. It was also nice to see the newly drafted players give their first radio and TV interviews to the public with their new jerseys and team hats on. And you can't forget ESPN's live telecast with the guys giving their moment by moment input.

BUT.. and a BIG BUT, it sucked seeing how fake everything else was. I work in TV so I should already know this but it was soooo disappointing : ( Seeing the set up close made it look like a....... set, not the cool thing that you see on TV. Walking around on the ground level where all the press and NFL teams were you realized that although they look like "busy bees" working to make this huge decision, they were really just guys sitting in business suits (to look professional) with tennis shoes on underneath. It is amazing how easy it is to get access to all areas of the draft, backstage, and the press room, it took all the fun out of it. So after filling my belly with sandwiches, salad, cheese, fruit, pasta and gatorade, I picked up my free grab bag, t-shirt and radio (I LOVE my portable ESPN radio : ), and bounced off to my next adventure. The Tribeca Film Festival.




http://www.nfl.com

~dj