Vikings To Get Plenty Of Coverage Draft Weekend

The folks from SI.com have put together a piece about how both of the networks that will cover the NFL Draft this week, the NFL Network and ESPN, will go about doing their jobs. And, contrary to what usually happens in these situations, it looks like the Minnesota Vikings are actually going to be getting a little bit of love.

Both ESPN and the NFL Network will have people at Winter Park covering the team on draft weekend. Bob Holtzman will be there representing ESPN, and Ari Wolfe will be there on behalf of the NFL Network. (Full disclosure. . .I couldn't pick either of those guys out of a lineup consisting of them and four guys I went to high school with.) The Vikings will also be one of 15 teams that will have NFL Network cameras in their war room, which is the highest number the NFL Network has ever had, according to the article.

(Hopefully there won't be any fighting. Everybody knows there's no fighting in the War Room.)

Also, the article states that both ESPN and the NFL Network are restricting their staff from tweeting out the picks prior to them being announced by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. That's all well and good. . .but such things don't apply to people like Jason LaCanfora, who now works for CBS (and worked for the NFL Network the past few years) and has become notorious for putting the picks on Twitter before Goodell gets to the podium.

4. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason LaCanfora -- who worked on-air for the NFL Network during last year's draft -- says he can't understand why fans are bothered by picks being revealed on Twitter. "Seems to me the entire point of Twitter is real-time, in-this-second news and updates, and yet people get up in arms about seeing a pick revealed on Twitter before the Commissioner announces it on TV," LaCanfora said in an email. "I'll never figure this one out."

4a. Given that ESPN and the NFL Network are restricting talent from tweeting pick-by-pick selections ahead of time, does LaCanfora see advantages working for a non-broadcast entity such as CBS? "It's definitely cool to just report and get info out and, sure, there is a different degree of freedom in that," LaCanfora said. "But my hunch is once the draft actually gets going, there will end up being several different standards and no universal understanding of exactly what the "rules" are for those broadcasting the event."

Seriously, I don't know about you all, but I hate having the picks ruined/spoiled/whatever before they're announced. Chris Berman used to do that, too. . .though I'm not sure if he's continued doing that since I've watched the NFL Network's coverage almost exclusively over the past couple of years. Honestly, I don't want the griping or celebration to start in earnest until the Commissioner tells the entire world the pick. Anyone else feel the same way?