I know I made fun of ESPN and the NFL Network for all the hype around the NFL Draft, but I do get it.

In fact, I remember when the draft was on a Tuesday and started at 8 a.m. I also remember staying home from school to see whom the Steelers would take. In fact, I recall the Rod Woodson draft in particular. He was supposed to be a top five pick but was dropping throughout the morning. I had read a lot about him in the Sporting News, when the Sporting News was an awesome magazine.

Any way, I just knew he was supposed to be a great player and athlete. If I remember right, he was the best hurdler in the Big Ten while at Purdue.

But he drops and drops and eventually the Steelers landed him at No. 10. Woodson was a key to the early years of the Bill Cowher era.

Woodson will be in the Hall of Fame soon, and that is why we all watch the draft. Will our team land a Hall of Famer?

Is the NFL Draft still something you all will find interesting this weekend? Or, with the Browns being silent until the fourth round, is this a weekend for mowing lawns and watching the Cavs?

My guess: The draft will still pull in good ratings in NE Ohio.

And here are just some of the reasons:

Folks will want to see how much info ESPN and the NFL Network can squeeze on their HDTV screens.

They will want to see if Mel Kiper Jr.'s hair deflates.

They will want to see if Chris Berman will be able to yell into his microphone for the entire first day of the broadcast.

They will want to think about the fact they might be the only person at that moment watching the NFL Network and Mike Mayock.

They will want to wonder who in the world is Mike Mayock.

They will want to see which team can act more like the Raiders in adding as many bad characters as possible: the Raiders or the Cowboys.

They will want to throw the remote at the TV screen when the Patriots add a top flight player with the seventh pick and then get reminded that the 18-1 Pats face the easiest schedule in the league this year.

They will want to see who goes with the 22nd pick to the Cowboys … you know the choice that the Browns gave up for their backup quarterback.

They will want to get excited about the most popular fourth-round pick in the history of the Browns. And what is wrong with this? Nothing at all.

It is just this area's most popular sport, and this weekend will be just more proof of that fact.

– The TV talk this weekend will center around Tiger Woods and The Masters. This usually signals the beginning of golf season in NE Ohio. With temperatures in the 40s this weekend, maybe the Browns minicamp in May would be a better starting point.

– Is C.C. Sabathia struggling with expectations? Many thought that he turned the corner last season. But the playoffs. The contract talks. The slow start this season. Maybe it is all starting to add up.

– The NHL has to pleased with Alexander Ovechkin being in the playoffs. We get to take a look tonight on Versus and Sunday on NBC.

– I have seen a couple of folks saying Brady Quinn would be the No. 1 pick in this draft. Then how does he not beat out a player who was cut from his first NFL team and another player who becomes the backup with the Seahawks. I think Quinn still needs a lot of work, and obviously the Browns agree.

– Red Sox and Tigers coming to town early next week. We'll get an early indication of what to expect this year in the American League.

– Coming on Ohio.com on Saturday and Sunday, is Patrick McManamon writing about Fausto Carmona, free throw shooting and other random thoughts. Also we'll have coverage of the Masters, the Cavs finish of the season, the Tribe-A's series and a wrapup of the Zips spring football camp.

There was some talk of the brewing labor trouble and owners' sharing problem at the NFL Meetings last month.

Peter King of SI.com paints a not so pretty picture.

Here are some things that I find interesting:

– Why does Memphis coach John Calipari get no credit for being a good basketball coach? I know that he can recruit, that he took UMass to the Final Four and that his teams have never gone on probabtion. I know that he struggled in the NBA, but he knows what he is doing on the college level. He outcoached Ben Howland of UCLA, and I expect the same thing tonight against Bill Self and Kansas.

– We received our shipment of MLB media guides this morning, what team do you think produced the thickest book? Try the Tampa Bay Rays. 576 pages; it works out to nearly a page per all-time victories. Very strange.

– If the Cavs end up fifth and then lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Wizards, we all know the calls will be loud for coach Mike Brown to be fired. My guess is that won't happen. I think it is more likely that GM Danny Ferry gets bounced, but even writing that, don't look for a cleaning out of the Cavs by Dan Gilbert.

– Browns GM Phil Savage says he isn't going to trade up in this year's draft. And that is the correct choice. First, I don't think he has anything to trade beside next year's No. 1 or Brady Quinn, and Quinn isn't going anywhere this year. Check back on that this time next season if Derek Anderson goes to the Pro Bowl again. Lastly, Savage has built this team to win now, so he should give it a shot and see what happens this season.

– The first week was choppy for the Tribe, but a heck of a lot better than the Detroit Tigers'. Talk about flaming out.

The NFL doesn't need to do anything about the end of the season because some teams opt to not play their starters.

To me, it is each team's choice. The Indianapolis Colts earned the right to do what they wanted with their team. If folks remember, Browns linebacker Willie McGinest thinks the same way even though the Tennessee Titans beat a backup team of Colts, keeping the Browns out of the playoffs. The New York Giants, on the other hand, opted to play their starters against the New England Patriots even though they couldn't improve their standing in the NFC playoffs. That is fine, too.

On top of that, how do you legislate a team to play its starters, how do you determine who should start and who shouldn't. There is no way to determine that. It is fool's talk.

I also am against reseeding for the playoffs. If a team wins a division it earns one home game in the playoffs. With the schedules not being the same for each team, the divisions aren't equal.

Take the upcoming season, the AFC North, home to the Browns, plays the AFC South and NFC East. That means six 2007 playoff teams right there. My guess is whoever wins the AFC North (By the way, I think it will be the Browns), they will win 10 games at the most and maybe nine. The schedule will be very tough so the division winner deserves to be home, not on the road to play an 11-win wild-card team from a weaker division.

NFL, leave well enough alone.

The following is a list of the maximum amount of money each of the NFL teams has remaining to spend under the salary cap, according to Yahoo! Sports.. Figures are as of last Thursday.

The Browns have about $12 million, which puts them in the middle of the pack.

1. Tampa Bay $42.8 million

2. New Orleans $31.1 million

3. Kansas City $30.0 million

4. Tennessee $27.2 million

5. Buffalo $26.6 million

6. Jacksonville $26.2 million

7. Green Bay $24.4 million

8. Chicago $22.5 million

9. Miami $21.0 million

10. San Diego $18.7 million

11. Minnesota $18.6 million

12. Houston $15.6 million

13. Denver $15.2 million

14. San Francisco $15.0 million

15. St. Louis $14.6 million

16. Philadelphia $13.9 million

17. Cincinnati $13.3 million

18. Atlanta $12.5 million

19. Cleveland $12.0 million

20. New York Giants $11.1 million

21. New England $10.8 million

22. Seattle $9.1 million

23. Carolina $8.3 million

24. Washington $7.7 million

25. Indianapolis $7.6 million

26. Oakland $6.4 million

27. Baltimore $4.7 million

28. New York Jets $4.5 million

29. Detroit $4.4 million

30. Dallas $3.9 million

31. Pittsburgh $1.3 million

32. Arizona $310,078

– Brett Favre got preferential treatment from the national media during his career but there is no doubt that the NFL is losing a unique athlete with his retirement. His gunslinger mentality was fun to watch, and his joy in playing was infectious. He will be taking his place in Canton in five years.

– Akron and Kent State are locked into the MAC Tournament slots but the game Sunday at Rhodes Arena should give a good feel for how the tournament will turn out next week. Don't count out the Zips, yet.

– The Browns have spent a lot of money and enjoyed a mostly positive view on the national stage for their moves in the free-agent market. The odd thing is with the schedule the teams in the AFC North face. The Browns could go 9-7 and win the division.

– LeBron James' pregame dunk was off the charts Wednesday night in New York. Take a look here at Yahoo! Sports.

– I don't know what is happening more often, snowy weather in Akron or another Penn State football player getting arrested in State College. I just don't know.

– Terrell Pryor, do you have an opinion on JoePa's control of his Nittany Lions program? I guess we will find out that answer is the next few weeks.

Is Tom Brady really worthy of being considered the best quarterback ever?, or the best football player ever?

I don't think so. Maybe I can't see the forest for the trees but he just doesn't make the cut in my opinion.

I saw an article today on SI.com where Frank Deford wrote that we are seeing three of the greatest athletes ever, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Brady.

I think he is off base with Brady being with those two.

Brady is in line to get his fourth Super Bowl trophy in seven seasons next Sunday. Terry Bradshaw got four in six. I do think both are Hall of Famers but neither should be in the same sentence with Dan Marino, John Unitas or John Elway. Brett Favre and Peyton Manning deserve mention, but Brady, I don't think so.

What do you all think?

As a football fan, I want to think that the Giants can beat the Patriots, but something keeps telling me that the Patriots are like the Bulls of the Michael Jordan era and the Oilers of the Wayne Gretzky era — they are not going to be denied.

The No. 1 factor in the Giants' favor is that there defensive line normally can get pressure on a quarterback without having to blitz. Working against that theory, is the fact that the Patriots hung 38 points on that same defense last month.

So how can the Giants win: pound the rock.

Brandon Jacobs is the key to any upset. If he runs for 150 yards and a couple of touchdowns — TOUCHDOWNS being the key word — then the Giants can win.

If Lawrence Tynes is kicking field goals, then Tom Brady will be hoisting the trophy on Februrary 3. And who really wants to watch that?