It's a draft, not a marathon

The professional sports leagues are criticized for not being fan-friendly, which, in a lot of cases they are not. Witness the world champion Red Sox opening their season in Japan and not Boston.

Money speaks louder than us.

But the NFL cut us all some slack by shaving time off this weekend’s draft, and for that I say, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Giving 15 minutes for each selection, last year’s first round went a record 6 hours, 8 minutes.

Now, for the hardcore, mock-draft-publishing fan, that’s probably three hours too short. But for the rest of us, those who have a life, that’s way too long.

Come on, 6 hours and 8 minutes of Chris Berman? What did we do wrong?

Apparently that was way too long for the NFL execs, too, because they shortened the first round to 10 minutes per pick and cut the second round from 10 minutes to 7. The final five rounds will be 5 minutes per pick.

Of course, they pushed the start back to 3 p.m., which means the draft will run well into the evening, which still stinks if your job is to cover it, but hey, we’ll take the shorter rounds and be thankful for that small gift from the NFL gods.

Now, what can they do about Mel Kiper’s hair?