Nfl Draft

The NFL draft: an event that can induce anxiety, sweat and even a little bit of nail-biting. But it doesn't have to be. While in the company of your favorite team, the anticipation may be a bit easier to swallow. The Baltimore Ravens are offering this opportunity to more than 10,000 fans Saturday. At the 10th annual Spring Football Festival, players past and present will be at M&T Bank Stadium, as the first three rounds of the NFL draft air live on its big screens from New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Coming tomorrow Commissioner Roger Goodell has warned that NFL teams will be held accountable if their players' conduct strays into criminal behavior, and this year's draft will provide early answers on which teams were listening. Data When: Tomorrow and Sunday Ravens' first pick: No. 29 TV: Tomorrow, ESPN, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; ESPN2, 8 p.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, ESPN, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

When it was introduced a few years ago, the NFL Rookie Symposium was as anonymous a sports event as any. But anything that moves and says "NFL" seems to generate some sort of attention. ... The NFL, through its broadcast partners and its own NFL Network, has done an impressive job of turning static events into viable TV programming. The NFL draft is certainly the best example, but we've also seen coverage of the scouting combine in Indianapolis and even the owners' annual meetings in March.

No one on the Ravens is saying linebacker Adalius Thomas and fullback Ovie Mughelli are replaceable. But the team did its best yesterday to find their potential successors at those positions on the second day of the NFL draft. With their first pick of the day - No. 35 in the fourth round and 134th overall - the Ravens selected linebacker-defensive end Antwan Barnes of Florida International. Three slots later, the team took fullback Le'Ron McClain of Alabama. The club also added Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith with the final pick of the fifth round (174th overall)

The Ravens signed one of their NFL draft picks yesterday, agreeing to a three-year deal with offensive lineman Marshal Yanda. A third-round selection and the first of the Ravens' draft class to sign, Yanda worked as the backup at left and right tackle during offseason minicamps. The Ravens targeted him as a first-day selection in the draft, trading their picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds to move up and take Yanda. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection last season for the University of Iowa, where he was coached by former Ravens offensive line coach Kirk Ferentz.

The Ravens' reward for a miserable season comes at the NFL draft in April. But their players want satisfaction now. Losing nine straight games - a painful stretch of 76 days without a win - has pushed them to the limits of desperation in today's finale against the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5). "You want to get a victory any way you can," wide receiver Derrick Mason said. "I might even go up to the scoreboard and change it." Mason was laughing, but the Ravens are dealing with serious business come 4:15 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium.

The only intriguing aspect about today's draft for the Ravens is whether they will select a quarterback. Basically, all the suspense is gone because it's safe to assume the Ravens, despite the return of second-team All-Pro Jonathan Ogden, will draft a quality offensive lineman early. But what about a quarterback for the future? If there has been an Achilles' heel of the Ravens as far as the draft, it has been their lack of success in grooming a young quarterback. The failure has transcended two owners, two directors of scouting and two pro personnel directors.

This summer, for the first time in decades, Ernie Accorsi didn't have to worry about training camp. He didn't have to worry about the NFL draft, the salary cap, the combine or the depth chart either. With a little extra time on his hands, the newly retired Accorsi hopped into his car and hit the road for a 4,200-mile tour of the Midwest. He visited Commerce, Okla., to see where the Mick grew up. He saw the Field of Dreams diamond in Iowa. And caught a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

Moves Baseball BRAVES -- Traded OF Ryan Langerhans to Athletics for player to be named or cash. NATIONALS -- Placed P Jerome Williams on 15-day DL with sprained left ankle. Activated P Ray King from 15-day DL. ORIOLES -- Activated P Jaret Wright from 15-day DL. Optioned Jim Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. ROCKIES -- Optioned P Ryan Speier to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Recalled P Denny Bautista from Colorado Springs. WHITE SOX -- Placed DH Jim Thome on 15-day DL, retroactive to April 28, with muscle strain in right rib cage.

This much is clear. The Ravens, in dire need of a wide receiver to complement diminutive Pro Bowl player Jermaine Lewis, plan to select at least one in this weekend's NFL draft.This much is likely. Since the 1999 crop of rookie wide-outs appears to lack the depth that characterizes most drafts, the Ravens will address their wide receiver problem early.In other words, if either North Carolina State's Torry Holt or Ohio State's David Boston is available when the Ravens make the 10th overall selection, one of them figures to be Baltimore-bound.

Capitals' Brashear suspended 6 games nhl Washington Capitals forward Donald Brashear was suspended Monday by the NHL for a total of six games - five for what the league called a "blind-side hit" on New York Rangers center Blair Betts - and will miss Game 7 of the teams' first-round playoff series. In addition to leveling Betts midway through the first period of Washington's 5-3 victory at New York in Game 6 on Sunday, Brashear made contact with Colton Orr in pre-game warm-ups and was barred from one game for that.

News item: The Detroit Lions took all the suspense out of the first pick in the NFL draft, agreeing with Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford on a huge contract Friday. The face value of the deal is $78 million, and he's guaranteed $41.7 million, even if the Lions go 0-16 in each of the next six seasons. My take: Based on their past success drafting quarterbacks early in the first round, I think it's fair to assume this will not end well. News item: Minnesota Vikings first-round draft choice Percy Harvin, a wide receiver who might have been of interest to the Ravens, was reportedly one of the college prospects who tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine.

The Ravens did the unexpected Saturday - something team officials never envisioned before the start of the NFL draft - when they moved up to select Mississippi offensive tackle Michael Oher with the 23rd overall pick. While many predicted the Ravens would target other positions in the first round - tight end, wide receiver, cornerback and inside linebacker - they reacted aggressively to grab Oher, trading a fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots to jump three spots. Oher (pronounced oar)

LARGO -Aaron Maybin never thought for a second about accepting the NFL's invitation to be on site when his name was called at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday. Not unless the NFL, or somebody else, could figure out a way to fit 500 relatives, friends and extended family members into the building. "I think you can look around and see the kind of support I have in here. Believe me, it was a no-brainer," Maybin said, exhausted but still giddy an hour after his dream came true in the NFL draft.

The storyteller always knew he had the makings of a good tale. He was writing about a good kid, a promising football player and an unbelievable back story. In many ways, he had found the perfect character. But the most surprising thing - for the storyteller and especially for his subject - turned out to be the ending. "It's so seldom that things work out the way they're supposed to work," author Michael Lewis said, "that I'm a little shocked." Lewis profiled Oher in The Blind Side, the 2006 New York Times bestseller that is being turned into a movie.

It figures that in an NFL draft with outstanding second-round value, coach Bill Belichick would own three picks in the round and be in position to overhaul his sagging New England Patriots defense. The Patriots have a total of four picks (Nos. 23, 34, 47, 58) in the first two rounds of the draft, which begins Saturday. That pretty much makes Belichick the winner before the Detroit Lions, who have the top selection, even get on the clock. Here's a primer on what else to expect. Trade bait There hasn't been a trade for one of the top five picks since 2004, thanks to the astronomical financial guarantees committed to less-than-Hall-of-Fame talent.

This week's sports media notes from the war room while I'm on the clock making a reach: * How big is NFL draft day coverage? The draft "pre-game" now is almost as long as the Super Bowl's. On Saturday, ESPN starts its five hours of preview programming at 11 a.m. before it carries the actual draft - for the 30th year! - at 4 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall. Coverage runs until 9 on ESPN, then switches to ESPN2 until the second round ends. ESPN has the rest of the draft from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Presenting the 2008 Ravens draft report card. Not the usual draft report card since, you'll notice, it's coming a year after that draft, not five minutes after. More accurately, this is a report card on the report cards done right after the Ravens finished selecting last April - which, no matter how absorbed you get in them, are the one offshoot of the NFL draft that is as pointless as the mock drafts. Of course, report cards and mock drafts do serve to turn the NFL into a year-round league, drive interest to an artificially high pitch and steal attention from more deserving sports events, like the first weeks of baseball, and the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs.

Cornerback has undergone more change than any other position on the Ravens, but their offseason restocking of the secondary might not be complete. The Ravens are considering taking a cornerback in the early rounds of the NFL draft, and they are intrigued by Illinois' Vontae Davis in the first round and Utah's Sean Smith in the second. "I think corners are like pitchers in baseball - you can never have enough," said Eric DeCosta, the Ravens' director of player personnel. "You never want to get beat because your corners aren't good enough to play or not healthy.

When it comes to breaking down the tight ends in this year's NFL draft, Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew is clearly the best. But instead of the "can't miss" label beside his name, some teams have attached a red flag. Early last year, Pettigrew was charged with assaulting a police officer, and he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and public intoxication. As the Ravens prepare to make their first-round pick Saturday, they will be evaluating character as much as speed, agility and toughness.