I Prefer the Old Draft (For the older members)

[Wes Mantooth]

Anybody like me who really misses the way the draft used to be?

You had just the two days. You had your local newspaper to kind of follow along leading up the draft. And you had a few SportCenter segments with Mel talking about it. And as far as "tape" or highlights, those you saw when the player was picked or if you watched them play on Saturdays.

You could settle in on Saturday and watch it all day long. Even if you went into with some knowledge and opinions, there were going to be a lot of guys you hadn't see play or heard of before.

Now it's different. It's still a big event, and I still watch it, but the magic seems to be a little bit gone. I will say that's just my own opinion and it's based on a lot of reasons.

The biggest reason I used to enjoy it more is nowadays I'm sick of hearing about the draft before it even starts. The amount of coverage leading up to it is just on a whole other level. Between the 8 million segments on ESPN from every show talking about it, the youtube clips from guys like Pat McAfee, the message boards, Twitter there's just so much to consume. Everyone's got an opinon and a take. It's an overload of draft information.

Now I get that there's a lot of positives to what I just listed out too. A younger person might read this and think I'm nuts. It's nice to be able to pull whatever clip you wanna watch or discuss the players with others. I get that. But I think you kind of have to be older to understand what it is I'm talking about.

To be honest, I'm just anxious to get the draft over with. I'm so sick of reading and talking about it. And I realize I'm partially to blame for this. I'm the one who chooses to read and watch what I do. But it's almost inescapable now. Everywhere I look there's draft coverage.

I'll leave you with this, the amount of time we all (myself definitely included) have spent talking about these drafts over the years is pretty amazing. But looking back, a lot of the conversation seems silly. All the time spent on the Laquan Treadwells and Marcus Lattimore's, all the mocks, all of the arguments... the fact is we just don't know until we let these kids careers start to play out. I just kind miss the old days where you tuned in without already being completely burned out and having an opinon on every single player, round and approach.

I know this is an old man yells out clouds post. I just have to vent. Every time I open the Enquirer, or got to Lance or Mo's twitter, or open these board, or go to ESPN I see the same shit over, and over and over. It's exhausting.

[Shake n Blake]

I kinda miss - when I was a teenager - walking to the corner store for the Cincinnati Post on Monday to get the box score from yesterday's game...and reading what guys like Paul Daugherty had to say.

Back then I used to buy the annual Lindy's NFL preview magazine, and all my draft info came from flipping through draft preview magazines and reading about who each team should take.

Tbh, I think we just (generally) live in an era with too much information. The info used to be slower and sweeter, and I think there's something to be said for that. It left some to the imagination.

But yeah, we just getting old, buddy.

[Burma]

(04-23-2021, 08:04 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Anybody like me who really misses the way the draft used to be?

I am right there with you,  both in my feelings about the draft and being an old guy yelling at the clouds.  I don't like the new format at all. I am liking the nfl less and less, actually.  It seems they are dead set on whoreing out their game at all costs, shamelessly. Maximising profitt I understand. But this is just getting vulgar.

[Clark W Griswold]

I will turn 50 in a couple of weeks and I miss some of the old school stuff. I used to love looking through the draft preview magazines and researching players that the Bengals drafted.

However, I think the whole NFL draft experience is better now. You can choose not to watch some of the coverage but there is more info out there than you can ever absorb. You can instantly get all kinds of info on your teams fourth round pick as soon as they announce his name. We also have other network options if we get tired of espn. There are things I miss from the old days of the draft but I think over all it’s much better with all of the options we have today.

Now get off of my lawn!

[George Cantstandya]

These days with all the debate I'm at the point where I think I should just log off the Internet, turn off my TV and have someone snail mail me the draft results when it is all over. Include a good bottle of Scotch to either celebrate or drown my sorrows when I get the results and I'd pay for that surprise package. :)

[Burma]

(04-23-2021, 08:48 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: These days with all the debate I'm at the point where I think I should just log off the Internet, turn off my TV and have someone snail mail me the draft results when it is all over.  Include a good bottle of Scotch to either celebrate or drown my sorrows when I get the results and I'd pay for that surprise package.  :)

I'll send you the peat monster.  Love this stuff.  It's like drinking a campfire.

[ElkValleyBengal]

I liked it better, especially it being on the weekend and starting much earlier. I still really get amped for it, but if I had a vote it'd be to revert to the weekend format. I think 7 rounds is a bit more reasonable than 12 (or especially the 17 or 19 it used to be) being as there are 32 clubs now, plus the compensatory picks.

[SunsetBengal]

One of my favorite college memories was of a draft day party. Back then, it was still the one day marathon. All 7 rounds in one day of endless broadcast coverage.

Anyway, the party was great. It was a warm Spring day, they had several kegs, horse shoe pits, volleyball nets, a whole hog on the cooker. They had TVs all through the house, a TV out on the porch in front and back, as well as the audio projected through stereo speakers in both the front and back yards. It's was a football man's extravaganza. The females all went for a day of shopping at the Jeffersonville Outlets, they guys all got drunk, sunburned, and enjoyed the comradery of draft day.

There were no cell phones with tell tale cameras, what happened at the party stayed at the party. Ah, the good ole' days..

[QueenCity]

I'm 29.... and my age group grew up in the old era while also ushering in the new. I'm grateful to being part of both.

However I do think Social media has really screwed with the world and not for the better.

[Murdock2420]

One of my favorite draft moments of old was when it was round 7 and they are drafting guys and you could tell all the announcers had no idea who the guy picked was and just all turned to Mel who instantly had the info for the pick.

I miss the old Mel though, when he talked about the players and what their strengths were and what they would bring to a team, back before he was a know it all and started saying teams made the wrong choice and being kind of a giant dick about it.

[SunsetBengal]

(04-23-2021, 10:26 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: One of my favorite draft moments of old was when it was round 7 and they are drafting guys and you could tell all the announcers had no idea who the guy picked was and just all turned to Mel who instantly had the info for the pick.

I miss the old Mel though, when he talked about the players and what their strengths were and what they would bring to a team, back before he was a know it all and started saying teams made the wrong choice and being kind of a giant dick about it.

Going really old school, like back to my youth, the draft wasn't even televised.  I can clearly remember being 10-11 years old, and having to wait for the Monday paper to read who the Bengals drafted.  Of course back then, we had no idea who most of the players were.  There was no cable, we got 3 or 4 TV stations, they typically only aired regional CFB games, aside from the traditional rivalries and ND games and such.  So we'd see a player from a place like Grand Valley State was drafted by some team, and be like "Who?".

[*Synric*]

I love the easy and quicker access to information now. In my early 20's I used to have to record games on VHS and a limited number. Now I can record 5 or 6 games every saturday and replay them before or after the Bengals games and during the week.

With better access to tape the draft analysts are higher quality like Dane Brugler, Lance Zeirlein, and Matt Miller who have zero scouting history but are very good at it now.

As for the Draft Day 2020 was the absolute best ever with a Rodger Goodell that got more drunk as the picks were announced it was priceless.

[bonesaw]

I definitely enjoyed the old two day format better. I would love to load up on food and booze and totally nerd out for that Saturday with a couple buddies.

[CrowFoot]

Old way. 100%.

[Destro]

Yeah, I would want the first three rounds on day one, at the bare minimum.

[Sled21]

(04-23-2021, 08:04 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Anybody like me who really misses the way the draft used to be?

You had just the two days.  You had your local newspaper to kind of follow along leading up the draft.  And you had a few SportCenter segments with Mel talking about it.  And as far as "tape" or highlights, those you saw when the player was picked or if you watched them play on Saturdays.

You could settle in on Saturday and watch it all day long.  Even if you went into with some knowledge and opinions, there were going to be a lot of guys you hadn't see play or heard of before.

Now it's different.  It's still a big event, and I still watch it, but the magic seems to be a little bit gone.  I will say that's just my own opinion and it's based on a lot of reasons.

The biggest reason I used to enjoy it more is nowadays I'm sick of hearing about the draft before it even starts.  The amount of coverage leading up to it is just on a whole other level.  Between the 8 million segments on ESPN from every show talking about it, the youtube clips from guys like Pat McAfee, the message boards, Twitter there's just so much to consume.  Everyone's got an opinon and a take.  It's an overload of draft information.

Now I get that there's a lot of positives to what I just listed out too.  A younger person might read this and think I'm nuts.  It's nice to be able to pull whatever clip you wanna watch or discuss the players with others.  I get that.  But I think you kind of have to be older to understand what it is I'm talking about.

To be honest, I'm just anxious to get the draft over with.  I'm so sick of reading and talking about it.  And I realize I'm partially to blame for this.  I'm the one who chooses to read and watch what I do.  But it's almost inescapable now.  Everywhere I look there's draft coverage.

I'll leave you with this, the amount of time we all (myself definitely included) have spent talking about these drafts over the years is pretty amazing.  But looking back, a lot of the conversation seems silly.  All the time spent on the Laquan Treadwells and Marcus Lattimore's, all the mocks, all of the arguments... the fact is we just don't know until we let these kids careers start to play out.  I just kind miss the old days where you tuned in without already being completely burned out and having an opinon on every single player, round and approach.

I know this is an old man yells out clouds post.  I just have to vent.  Every time I open the Enquirer, or got to Lance or Mo's twitter, or open these board, or go to ESPN I see the same shit over, and over and over.  It's exhausting.

There's a simple solution to your problem. Quit watching YouTube draft videos. When they start talking about the draft on ESPN, change the channel. Quit clicking on draft threads here. Quit clicking on draft threads on other websites. It's not escapable, it's not like they hide the articles under false headlines to trap you, it's very easy to escape it. I had to actually look up when the draft was the other day. I watched videos on a couple of players, and that was it. So knowing how some others may want 24 hour coverage, instead of wishing they didn't have it, I just monitor my own behavior and don't turn it on. 

[Gdale_Bengal]

I like the new way because I take a long weekend to watch it

[Sled21]

I watch the 1st round, and maybe the 2nd round, then just follow our picks as they come in. Not interested enough to watch where other players I care nothing about go. All I want to see is Chase, Darrisaw and Meinerz 123

[Hammerstripes]

I don't mind the new format, I would just rather see it be:

Friday - Round 1
Saturday - Rounds 2-4
Sunday - Rounds 5-7

I miss camping out for 2 straight days.

[Jason_NC]

Now that I own a home I like the current format. Plus I need Sunday for church.