Draft spectacular

Courtesy of nhl.com

The NHL conducts its draft this afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. That means seven rounds of people dressed in suits going up to a microphone to announce names of younger people dressed in suits.

And every second of what could easily be an eight-hour draft will be televised in the United States (NBC Sports Network and NHL Network) and Canada (TSN and the French-language RDS).

Honestly, I have no idea why anything other than the NBA Draft or the first round of the NFL Draft needs to be televised. The only drama at any of these events is who will be the No. 1 overall pick. After that, it's just listening to television commentators talk until their faces turn blue about why this guy was picked ahead of that guy.

If I had to watch any draft from start to finish, it would be the two-round spectacular that is the NBA Draft. It requires approximately three hours to watch, and in a good year you can see several future superstars be picked. It almost never numbs the mind because only 60 players are picked each year. It's fast-paced, and it's short -- a perfect combination for a draft.

The worst one is Major League Baseball's draft. It takes three days and 40 rounds for the league's 30 teams to pick players who will either start in Single-A ball or say, "Thanks, but I'd rather go to college." In fact, it's so unwieldy that no major cable network televises it. This year's first two rounds were shown on MLB Network, and the rest of it was shown on the internet. If you have to air the majority of your draft on a web site, it's too boring.

The intrigue surrounding today's NHL Draft is where American-born defenseman Seth Jones might be picked. If he is the No. 1 overall selection, he becomes the first African-American hockey player to receive the honor. Even if Colorado doesn't take Jones at No. 1, there is an excellent chance the son of former NBA player Ronald "Popeye" Jones will be nabbed by some team in the top 10 of the first round. No matter what, Jones will be the first son of an NBA player to be picked in the first round of the NHL Draft.

When he is selected, Jones will stride to the stage dressed in his suit to accept a jersey from more people dressed in suits.