FanHouse

I must admit that I usually stay loyal to a certain brand. However, I may have to finally make the switch to NFL Network's coverage of the NFL Draft. ESPN hasn't been wowing me.

In fact, they've left me frustrated. I understand that advertising is the lifeblood of television, but I don't need 400 Under Armor commercials forcing me to miss ... I dunno ... actual picks.

Because of the commercials, we missed the Lions make their pick live. Because of the dozens of talking heads spread all over the country, we missed Roger Goodell announce Glenn Dorsey as the Chiefs' pick. Just now, they were shouting over a cheering crowd who was acknowledging the NFL honoring members of our Armed Forces.

We have Chris Berman being ... Chris Berman (we all saw the "hold the Mayo" comment a mile away). Keyshawn Johnson can't use words to convey his thoughts. We miss all the trade announcements. Whenever something breaks ... they all start stuttering and grow silent.

Oh, and they've been ruining the suspense by showing guys chatting on cell phones and wearing team hats well before the pick is announced (Awful Announcing has been watching both networks and says NFL-Net actually has the trade details five minutes or so before ESPN).

By the way, if you look hard enough, you can actually see advertising for NFL Network's draft coverage while watching ESPN. Nice.

If you didn't know, the NFL skimmed down the draft by giving teams just ten minutes for their pick instead of the usual 15 minutes. It really seems that ESPN hasn't figured that out because they are trying to cram all kinds of people and things into that smaller time frame. Instead of seeing the actual draft, we miss it because all these people are trying to figure it out. It sucks.

Everything else is great. The HDTV is sparkling (NFL-N's isn't) and there is enough information swirling on the screen to make you cry. However, what's happening in the main box in the middle is a mess.

UPDATE: Mike Tirico pulled out this nugget: The last time we waited to the 25th pick for a receiver to be taken was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2006. In the one draft since then ...