Friday, April 27, 2012

If the NFL Draft Were About Poets

There are poets, and there are fans of the National Football League, and there are poets who follow the NFL and thus the ridiculously over-analyzed NFL draft.

But what if there were a draft for poets?   The analysis might run something like . . .

Ezra Pound--out of Idaho--huge upside, great ear and has read a lot.  Has some strange views and there are some concerns about his personality . . . . Emily Dickinson--maybe the best pure athlete in this draft--has moves nobody has seen before.  Almost no film on her, however--played briefly at Amherst (not a D-I school) and then seemed to go off the radar, but if you're going to take a risk with a #1 pick, she's it. . . . Pablo Neruda--unbelievable original talent, but can he be coached? . . . . Charles Bukowski--scrappy, mean, nasty--great interior lineman--has had some off-the-field issues. . . . Matsuo Basho--maybe the quickest poet in the draft--has also trained by walking the length of Japan . .late middle-rounds . Langston Hughes--highly under-rated--went to Columbia but dropped out, finished at Lincoln after traveling the world--scouts tend to overlook how versatile he is--a steal in round two. . . .

2 comments:

Teresa Evangeline said...

This is great! What a cool idea.

Unknown said...

My Picks in the Poet's Drafts:

1st Rnd: Lord Byron. Hails from the school of satan. Enjoys sarcasm, womanizing, and making Wordsworth's life a living hell.

2nd Rnd: T.S. Elliot. Born in America, claimed by England, one of the Canon's best contributors.

3rd Rnd: Robinson Jeffers. A steal in the 3rd round, Jeffers gives sharp criticism through brilliant use of alliteration.

3rd Rnd: Edgar Allen Poe. Poe gives consistency in dark themes and tragedy. Overlooked because of his vices, his performance far outweighs his baggage
(traded 4th, 5th, 6th picks to move up).

7th Rnd: Wilfred Owen. War poet likes to make use of the half rhyme in such grimly realistic imagery of the trenches. Short career hurt draft status at combine, but should be able to contribute on special teams.