Opinion corner: Sports good for great jobs

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Sports provides some of the best jobs on earth.

The higher up you go the more choice they are, of course.

Among the best, at least if you’re a football nerd like me, are these draft expert guys.

I’ve long been a fan of Mel Kiper Jr. Each year the man, and is impeccably groomed head of hair, provide detailed breakdowns of seemingly every college football player that put on pads last fall.

Kiper has become so big he now pimps women’s jewelry, seriously. How that ties into the draft, football or anything else I have no idea. It must be that magnificent pelt on the top of his head. It’s a money-maker.

On Thursday night, the TV audiences of draft coverage on ESPN and NFL Network drew nearly 20 million viewers, a massive number. Nobody really batted an eye, though. If it’s the NFL, the ratings are going to soar.

Following the draft is important if you’re a fan of any of the Minnesota teams, particularly this year.

The Vikings are as under-talented a team as any in the NFL. They’ve drafted very poorly in recent years, as their roster reflects. The two picks Thursday seemed solid, but then they struck again Friday with yet another reach in a smallish cornerback out of Central Florida — here we go again.

The Wild and Timberwolves both have first-round picks in their drafts.

Both teams proved how lacking they are with serious late season collapses. The Wolves don’t have their lottery pick, that choice was donated away by Kevin McHale years ago, but they do have the No. 18 overall pick thanks to the Utah Jazz making the playoffs. Unfortunately picks that late in the NBA draft rarely yield difference-makers, but the Wolves just need players so hopefully they don’t make too big a mess of it.

Early June will be interesting when the baseball draft rolls around. No, there won’t be any Jimmies selected like when Alex Kreis was plucked by the Washington Nationals last year, but the Twins do have the No. 2 overall pick.

It’s a critical selection for the talent-starved Twins, who obviously have little talent at all currently in the minor leagues. If they did, they’d be up with the big club now because the Twins, much like the Vikings, have one of the least-talented 25-man rosters in the sport.

Unlike the NFL, though, finding good information on who the Twins could or should pick with that valuable No. 2 choice is no small feat. I had to dig for it. There’s no Mel Kiper Jr., or Mike Mayock or Todd McShay, or even a Chad Ford — who is the best NBA draft guy going — for the baseball draft.

Maybe this is my opening. There’s a void that needs to be filled and I have just the hair to do it.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jobs