Thoughts going into NFL Draft weekend

Saw a guy out at the bar last night wearing an orange shirt with the words "Game Next" written across the front in white letters. You couldn't miss this thing -- it was the type of shirt that ground control at a major airport would wear in thick fog. And the shirt made me think a bit -- why Game Next? What happened to Game First? What if the current game was Game Last? Then there wouldn't be Game Next. And why would adidas sell something so hideous?
Anyway, you can see that my mind is a little scattered today thanks to that guy. We'll focus on a few different things heading into what promises to be a very interesting weekend.

--The 2008 NFL Draft
We already know that Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long is the No. 1 overall pick after signing a deal with the Miami Dolphins earlier this week. It shouldn't come as any surprise that Miami's vice president of football operations, Bill Parcells, would attempt to rebuild the 1-15 Dolphins by starting in the trenches. For those clamoring for Matt Ryan, stop and think about the quarterbacks that Parcells brought to the Super Bowl. Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler won't be going into the NFL Hall of Fame any time soon and Drew Bledsoe is a fringe Canton candidate at best.
And kudos to Sports Illustrated and its resident genius, the prickly Dr. Z, for being completely and utterly wrong in its mock draft. Z, also known as Paul Zimmerman, predicted that Ohio State defense end Vernon Gholston would be Miami's selection and compared the Buckeyes' prospect to former New York Giants' great Lawrence Taylor and current Dallas Cowboys' terror DeMarcus Ware. What Z didn't pay attention to was what ESPN's Todd McShay has been saying for weeks -- yes, Gholston is a workout combine freak with great upside, but he disappeared on film at times and was shut down in several games last year with Ohio State. Maybe Z was trying to channel his inner Al Davis, an owner who is annually seduced by prospects who run faster and jump higher than their peers. That doesn't make them football players.

--The Wizards-Cavaliers series
I would love to talk about the Boston Celtics here, but we all know that Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen won't allow The Green to let down against the Atlanta Hawks. I'd like to thank Mike Bibby for waking up Boston's dormant crowd by calling them bandwagon jumpers, earning himself a cascade of boos every time he touched the ball in Game 2 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Bibby might have been right about what he said, but he's got the Celtics' full attention now and there's no way Boston is taking its foot off the pedal with a 2-0 series lead.
The same can't be said for LeBron James and Cleveland. The same Cavaliers' team that crushed Washington by 30 points to win Game 2 and take a 2-0 series lead absorbed a 108-72 beatdown in Game 3 to let the Wizards back into the series. Cleveland turned the ball over 23 times in a lackadaisical performance that makes me question the Cavaliers' leadership and head coach Mike Brown. Cleveland looked woefully unprepared and its turnover total suggests a complete and utter lack of concentration, an indictment of head coach Mike Brown and his ability to motivate his team to produce a consistent effort every night. The fact that the Cavaliers can't get it up for every single playoff game is the perfect example why King James and his crew of court jesters won't be winning a title as long as Boston and Detroit are this strong.

--Joe Girardi vs. his Yankees
We're not 25 games into the Major League Baseball season, and the New York Yankees have already reverted to the soap opera that they were in the 1970s when The Bronx Zoo moved to 161st Street with Reggie Jackson, Mickey Rivers, Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner remains --make that Steinbrenners, with Hank and Hal now running the show -- and a new colorful manager has taken the reins in place of Joe Torre's 12 years of stately leadership.
Joe Girardi has taken his turn to start controversy by removing all candy and ice cream from the Yankees' clubhouse. In a vacuum it seems to be a simple enough decision, but I don't think fat asses like Jason Giambi, Jose Molina and Joba Chamberlain are going to be too happy. It's just one more example of how easily the Yankees can be easily distracted from the task at hand, whether it be Hank Steinbrenner calling Girardi an idiot for using Chamberlain in middle relief instead of in the starting rotation or three hours of jackhammering into the foundation of the new Yankee Stadium to dig out a buried David Ortiz jersey. Fact is that right now this team isn't as good as its $200-million payroll suggests that it should be (12-11), it's young starting pitchers (Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy) are struggling (0-3, 7.85 ERA for Hughes and 0-2, 9.64 ERA for Kennedy) and Girardi is rocking the boat at every turn. It should make for a long, hot summer in The Bronx, and it'll have nothing to do with the weather.

--The New England Patriots
It's almost criminal that the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl has the No. 7 pick in the draft, but that's where New England sits thanks to San Francisco's collapse last season. The Patriots forfeited their own selection thanks to Spygate, but no matter. New England has a much better consolation prize waiting about 90 minutes into Saturday's festivities.
For those of you hoping to tune in to watch the Patriots pick, don't bother. New England will trade down in the first round, select a player that none of the draft experts had on the radar and save on bonus money and guarantees to incoming rookies and veterans alike. It would be hard to justify to Richard Seymour, Tom Brady and the rest of the veterans why a player who has yet to go to training camp earns more money than a player who helped form the backbone of a three-time Super Bowl winner.
Learn from this, Daniel Snyder. You and your Washington Redskins throw away picks every year to sign high-priced veterans and end up in salary cap hell. You paid Bruce Smith and Deion Sanders for years after they retired and gave away picks that could have signed cheaper, younger talent. The Redskins had one selection on Saturday in 2007 and took LSU safety LaRon Landry with the No. 6 pick, a good choice for a good player. However, Washington could have traded down to build some depth and collected about three picks for its one in the No. 6 slot. Look for New England to do something similar, likely trading its No. 7 pick for a lower first-round pick this year, a third- or fourth-round pick this year and a first-round selection in 2010. The Patriots will continue to stockpile talent that will make turning their roster over and replacing older players with promising youngsters that much easier. That's how a modern NFL dynasty is built.