NFL” the DRAFT,” some Observations //  MLB:  Rockies, Going Higher    

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NFL:   LAST year’s Penn State revelation, and illegalities at other schools, portrayed college football as being largely immoral and damaging to its talent and its continuance. But this month, more than 150 college players have been announced as being ready for the National Football League, suggesting that the college game is a lot more worthy and productive than last year’s scandals would have anyone believe, top of the list of 12 NFL quarterback possibilities being the amazing QB from Stanford, Andrew Luck.

But only five schools delivering NFL prospects onto a list of the top 30 college players nationwide are from the east, and three of those are from the southeast. Within the top 30, three picks are from the University of Alabama, and three are from Stanford, the only schools with multiple draft picks within the top 30.

All told, the top 100 of this year’s draft picks are from more than 90 colleges/universities, the lion’s share from the south and the west.

Of the top 12 NFL QB’s, none are from eastern schools. Eight are from southern institutions, four from western schools. From the South, Alabama has delivered picks in four different categories: running back, fullback, defensive tackle, safety. Stanford has delivered for five categories: QB, RB, tight end, tackle and guard. The categories filled with the most picks are running backs and wide receivers, 20 having been identified for each of the two categories. Within the top 30 picks, three of the potentials are QB’s---Luck, Robert Griffin III from Baylor, and Ryan Tannehill, from Texas A&M. Yet among the remaining 28, only one is a running back---Trent Richardson, from Alabama, while four are WR’s. Within the top 60, there are no kickers, no punters.

With all of the above noted, standing out is the fact that there’s an imbalance among college offerings regarding required player positions, e.g., there must be more than one NFL franchise in need of a kicker and/or punter, and there are definitely franchise owners who’d consider betting the farm for another good QB. While this imbalance isn’t horribly askew, colleges delivering a better across-the-board position-availability for what’s truly needed by the NFL’s franchises would be a good happening.

Also noticeable is that no draft pick within the top 30 is from a small school, and less than a dozen picks within the top 150 are from small schools.

There’s no NCAA rule saying there has to be a perfect balance among type players provided for the annual NFL draft picks, or a nationwide “geographical” balance when it comes to colleges/universities receiving and then providing the best football players for the professional game (this could be out of more eastern seaboard and central-U.S. schools being part of the equation). And there's no NCAA rule saying that the smaller colleges/universities must have new opportunities to nurture more and better football players for NFL postings. However, such rules could deliver a wider and more balanced athlete development system for American football, along with economic and cultural infusions for the wider, more balanced range of colleges/universities and their communities.

MLB:   Tuesday’s Colorado Rockies versus San Diego Padres game at Coors Field (April 17) will certainly be remembered if only because the Rockies win went to LHP, Jamie Moyer, which anointed him as the oldest pitcher in baseball history to win a game that he started. At 49 and 150 days old, Moyer surpassed a record held since the 1930’s. But the game should also be remembered for some outstanding work by the Rockies infield, which included two seemingly faster-than-sound double-plays. Should the manner in which those plays were conducted expand into a consistent defense throughout most of the rest of the MLB season, teams challenging the Rockies will be of the low-score variety (forget shortstop Troy Tulowitzki’s game errors, it’s the most inconsistent thing about this infielder).

Too, six Rockies hitters managed seven hits on Tuesday, including a home run by center fielder, Dexter Fowler, and two solid hits punched by right fielder, Michael Cuddyer. Also, Moyer entered the game on Tuesday emblematic of a pitching staff holding to an average ERA under 3.0. And, on Tuesday, RHP Rafael Betancourt proved himself a wise choice as "closer" entering play before a final inning.

Then, on Wednesday, Rockies RHP, Juan Nicasio, proved that he could be among the MLB’s better quality starters, achieving an 8-4 win against the Padres. In this game, the Rockies pounded out 12 hits, one of them a home run by Cuddyer. Before Thursday, the Rockies had reached .500, that midway mark separating the good from the not so good. The Colorado team is not only now in third place of the National League’s Western Division (behind Arizona---7-5, .563), it is seventh among the NL’s 16 teams, tied with Milwaukee and Miami.

Of the Rockies remaining April series, it has a chance of sweeping three of them, or winning the three by two games each (vs. Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and the Mets). The series that the Rockies will be faced with at the end of April with the Los Angeles Dodgers could be the team’s toughest challenge since the 2012 MLB season opened. The Dodgers are currently atop the NL-West, at 9-3, .750.

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