It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was writing one of these columns. Actually, it was about two months. I don't remember any of it (thank you upper division college coursework), but I'm back and I have a list of gold stars and gripes to hand out to the sporting world. Here now, my readers, some things that we should celebrate, and other things we should forget as quickly as humanly possible.

NFL Draft 2008

Draft Day in the NFL is one of my favorite days on the calendar, to the point where it's a practical holiday. However, it just didn't seem to have the punch and fun of the previous years (but it's still better than the MLB draft, which despite the fact that I love baseball most of all, made me fall asleep). I know this is all about business – see the JaMarcus Russell debacle – but, does anyone else think it completely ruins the draft to know who the No. 1 pick is practically a week before Draft Day? That's like going into a movie knowing the ending. You haven't seen the whole thing, but you've seen the most important part.

I do have to give a gold star to ESPN's Tony Reali, who for whatever reason, was anchoring the roundtable discussion between draft picks for the network. As a huge "Around The Horn" fan, I've always enjoyed listening to Tony and was glad to see him getting out and about.

However, a slap upside the head to the people who time the commercials during the draft. I think it's kind of a stupid idea to have commercials during drafts (a business decision as well, I know), but this particular one was ridiculous. I watched the end of day one and most of day two, and I never saw a single San Diego Charger draft pick. I did, however, see a lot of beer commercials.

Here's to hoping next year is better.

MLB Opening Month

We're a month into the baseball season... and I'm sort of hoping it gets over quickly if things progress as dismally for my beloved San Diego Padres as it has already.

April is usually a bad month for the Swinging Friars, but this is ridiculous. While giving up double digits to opponents who are supposed to be bad, the offense is once again dismal – scoring one run or fewer in what seemed to be every other game. For crying out loud, they were swept by the San Francisco Giants. This is the worst offense in baseball, which is helping to make the Padres one of the worst teams in baseball.

I can't argue with the starting pitching. For the most part, Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux have been pitching brilliantly. Justin Germano and Randy Wolf have been better than their expectations. Yet, the offense couldn't buy a hit, and the bullpen frightens me. Trevor Hoffman and Cla Meredith have both been completely inconsistent, and Glendon Rusch... remind me when the last time was that this guy was actually good? I know he was once, but he isn't now. I feel truly sorry for Maddux, who's tried to get his milestone win about three times now, only to have his hopes dashed by someone else.

Memo to the team: if you're going to play a 22-inning game, the least you can do is make it worth it for the fans who stayed all six hours and win.

The Padres need to pull their act together, or it's going to be a long season.

The College Basketball Off-Season

I want to take some time to address the moves going on around the college basketball circuit, leading up to the 2008 NBA Draft. I'm nowhere near as interested as I was last year (then again, my team was national champions last year), but it's still been an interesting off-season.

The coaching carousel has been very interesting. Kudos to Bill Self for sticking with his champion Kansas Jayhawks and not bolting for more money from Oklahoma State – that was a class move in my eyes.

Even better, though, were a pair of coaching moves that I didn't see coming. Anthony Grant signed a contract extension at VCU. Grant is a very good head coach for the Rams, leading them to an upset of Duke last year, and was a really good assistant coach at Florida. I enjoy watching him coach and I'm glad to see him with some job security.

I also want to wish the best of luck to Johnny Dawkins, the Duke assistant who will be taking his first head coaching job at Stanford. I almost couldn't believe this. Like a lot of people, I figured that Dawkins would succeed Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. That coaching staff has been together for a long time and I'm sad to see them break up.

All the same, Dawkins was an amazing player and he has been a marvelous coach, and I'll be rooting for the Cardinal this year. Between him coaching the basketball team, and Jim Harbaugh coaching the football team, Stanford seems like a pretty fun place to be.

The player carousel is equally as fun. I'm surprised that Taylor King has chosen to leave Duke, considering how heralded a young player he was when he was recruited. As usual, though, this all comes down to playing time. I wish King would take a page from Jon Scheyer and realize it's not all about him. Scheyer started the season before last, but ended up on the bench this year, and became one of the best sixth men in college basketball. He never once complained about it; he just played his heart out. I dare say he actually played better as a reserve. That's an example King could learn from. So, too, could Jonathan Mitchell, who has elected to transfer from Florida and who probably won't be too missed with Billy Donovan's incoming recruiting class.

I can't fault young players for wanting to maximize their potential. Yet, I also see the emphasis on self involvement that this culture breeds. We see it with kids wanting to go to the draft earlier, and we see it here. People would rather get more playing time on an okay team than be a smaller piece on a greater team. Personally (and this is just my opinion), if I had the opportunity to go to a great school like Duke, I would rather be there with that legendary coach and institution than be more important at a different school. Then again, that could be just me.

The BCS

This just makes me laugh: the BCS organizers refuse to come up with a playoff because they claim the BCS is great. No surprise: you created it, guys. Admitting it was wrong might involve actually swallowing your pride.

Gold Star of the Column

Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks (NBA): Only having just barely missed out on Rookie of the Year honors, my former favorite Gator has been performing above and beyond in the NBA. This guy has gotten me to start caring about pro basketball again (being that J.J. Redick will never play another minute in Orlando lest heck freeze over). I just enjoy watching him. The Hawks may go down this weekend, but it's been a fun ride.

Gripe of the Column

Advertising redundancy: I already hate the fact that everything in sports TV seems to be sponsored by something, but the redundancy of the ads is getting hilarious – and annoying. I don't need to hear that something is the "Bud Light Highlight of the Month, sponsored by Bud Light." I figured that out at the beginning of the sentence.

That's all for this time, dear readers. I'll see you in a month with the latest from my busy mind and the crazier world of sports.