The NFL draft and NBA/NHL playoffs

For whatever reason, in their infinite wisdom, the NFL pushed their annual draft back two weeks this year.

This was great for the talking heads, scribes, and arm-chair general managers (sometimes known as fans) all over the country. It gave them an extra fortnight to discuss, debate, analyze, predict, and mostly guess at how it would all play out.

Particularly in the first round, which NFL teams would draft which player at which position? Might there be last second maneuvering to move up or down in the draft? Swapping picks for other picks and future picks, depending on the immediate perceived need of any particular team versus planning long-term?

Of course. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, and Tiger Woods video highlights, past or present -- it's an annual rite of spring. It happens every year. And so it came to pass again in 2014.

Thing is, by delaying the NFL draft for two weeks, the mighty NFL found itself bumping heads (at least TV-wise) with the second round of the NBA and NHL playoffs. Sure, the NFL remains the Godzilla in the room of American pro sports, with their popularity and revenue far out-pacing every other sport, including NASCAR racing.

But as a universal sports fan and, trust me, yours truly can click with the best of them -- why would I want to watch the NFL draft when the NBA and NHL playoffs are going on at the same time?

After all, some of those draft picks will become stars, and others will be busts. That's the way it's always been and always will be. And nobody, including their own teams and coaches, much less the fans in their respective cities will know anything about these guys until the NFL gets serious again sometime in August.

No doubt, much be will written and said about contract negotiations, salary caps, and all the rest leading up to the next football season. But let's get real. Every team is going to find a way to sign their first round pick eventually -- period. If not, the general manager that made the pick in the first place might face a meeting with his owner that might not be so pleasant.

By it's very definition, the NFL draft is all about speculation.

But when it comes to the NBA and NHL playoffs going on at the same time, there is no speculation. The remaining teams have already gone through an entire regular season, and one round of the playoffs, to get where they are right now. These guys are all really good, and the action is fast and furious -- present tense.

So somebody please tell me why a sports junkie would want to watch the NFL draft with, OMG, a "pick" happening every 20 minutes or so -- as opposed to live playoff action going on in the NBA/NHL that are clicks away?