Well, it proved to not be a bad way to spend a balmy Saturday afternoon.

I met the task master himself. I asked Goodell what he thought about the Stafford contract, to which he responded, “Lot of money, good kid.” I detected a bit of seethe in those few words.

Newbie Stafford’s guaranteed money ($41.7 mil) trumps that of the highly-accomplished Ben Roethlisberger’s ($36 mil).

The spread in the VIP lounge, impeccable – penne ala vodka and phenomenal finger foods. We ran out of beer by the third pick. But they remedied that pretty quickly.

For a fleeting moment, I thought we weren’t going to get a boo barrage when the Jets took Sanchez…then we learned the details of the trade (the Jets gave up their first-round pick, their second-round (No. 52), and defensive end Kenyon Coleman, safety Abram Elam and quarterback Brett Ratliff), and it was much worse than booing; I heard ‘rape!’ being uttered, a lot.

In my opinion, the most intriguing moment of the first round came when the Ravens took  Ole Miss OT Michael Oher, the young man profiled in Michael “Moneyball” Lewis’ book, The Blind Side. A book about the behemoth of a gifted athlete who has everything in life working against him (homeless at one point). While at the same time being compared to Anthony Munoz and Orlando Pace, two guys who were instrumental in the left Offensive Tackle becoming the second-highest paid position (to QB) in the game.

Speaking of QBs, Cassel inked his deal today. He almost got Stafford money.

I stuck around until the Pats picked traded down twice. Thanks to @tarametblog and Pepsi for hooking me up with the pass.

Check out the rest of my photos from the Draft on Facebook.

The New York Times posted a video report on the high school rugby team that has been called the Real All Blacks.

The team from the Hyde School, in D.C., was the first all-African American high school rugby team in the country, and remains one of the only inner city programs that exists.

The team went 0-12 their first year, and in the last four, Hyde has gone undefeated in 7-man play. They have even had one of their original members go on to represent the U.S. on the National team. And each player who completed the rugby program has gone on to college.

Check out two more news reports here from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Co.) and TV NZ….

NRA Protesting Treatment of Brett Favre (NE Patriots Draft)
Obama Could Have Basketball Court Built at White House (Associated Press)
NFL iPhone App Not Happening, Says The NFL (Alley Insider)
16-0, 0-16 Both Still Alive and Well (The Big Lead)
Will Matt Cassel Fetch $10 Million A Year? (Deadspin)

With the first position on the waiver wire – as a result of having the most abysmal week in the league – I’ve locked up Matt Cassel on my Fantasy Team.

The New York Times reports:

The New England Patriots, sifting through their quarterback options in the wake of Tom Brady’s season-ending knee injury, sent free agents Chris Simms and Tim Rattay home Monday afternoon without even working them out, Coach Bill Belichick acknowledged in a conference call Tuesday.

(Belichick Declines to Sign Simms and Rattay)

…and I picked up Daunte, just in case.