Matt on sports

At press time, the NFL Draft is still one day away. As of now, the Draft is still three days out and the rumors are fl ying all over the Internet and ESPN about possible trades and who the Raiders will take as their number one pick.

Right now as I type this and check the score of the Mavs’ game, I am reading that the Kansas City Chiefs traded Dante Hall to the Rams for a fifth-round pick. On my drive to school, I heard a report from ESPN that the Raiders made Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn a lowball offer. Every draft board in the country has Quinn going to the Cleveland Browns with the third pick.

If you have been keeping up with the NFL Draft, then you would know that the top three picks are Jamarcus Russell out of LSU, Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech, and Quinn. But I don’t care who goes number one and which team moves where unless it is the Cowboys.

Now the Cowboys have the 22nd pick in the first round. America’s team is going into the Draft with no major holes to fill and can pick the best player available for the first time in a few years. I personally think the Cowboys should take Ohio State wide receiver and return-man, Ted Ginn Jr. As a Michigan fan I have watched Ginn beat us with his blazing speed for four years now.

With the re-signing of offensive tackle Marc Columbo and wide receiver Patrick Crayton, the ‘Boys are able to go into the Draft with lots of power. They don’t have to make any big trades to get certain players to fill in key roles, nor do they have to look for a ready-now player that can start in game one.

The pick up of Ginn would add another youthful receiver for the future with Crayton, and put speed in the kick return game. Ginn would also relieve Terrance Newman from punt returns and let him concentrate on his cornerback position.

Dallas does hold two 6th round picks and three 7th round picks. That will allow them to acquire a good safety in early rounds by making a trade of one of those picks or possibly even getting a sleeper player that teams always find in the late rounds.

Dallas needs a good safety to help Roy Williams and improve an already good Dallas D. On offense, Dallas needs to strengthen the O line by adding one or two offensive tackles.

The Cowboys need to better protect quarterback Tony Romo and allow him more time in the pocket to make passes. Justin Blalock and Arron Sears are two guys the Cowboys are looking at with interest. I personally would like to see Dallas try to draft Michigan wide-out and return-man Steve Breatson. There is a Michigan bias in there but he is a great player. He isn’t as fast as Ginn on the return side but he is a better receiver. He would be a great pick if Ginn is not available

This may be a great draft year for Dallas. Owner Jerry Jones has said that the scouts are running the draft, which is a change from the controlling Bill Parcells. Dallas may also take an offensive player in the first round, which they haven’t done in four years.

Oh, don’t forget the X factor running back Julius Jones.

Glad to be at the Nelson

Every year around this time in late April or early May the PGA Tour comes to town. The Tour descends on Dallas for the EDS Byron Nelson Classic at the Four Season Resort and Club.

I was fortunate enough to attend this prestigious tournament as a member of the media. It was a good experience for me since I am not a big golf fan. I know who the top names are on Tour and I know how to keep score.

Basically I know enough about golf to follow the highlights on TV. If you are familiar with my column writing, you know that I love hockey, college football, the NFL, baseball and basketball.

I am not a golf fan, but I am a sports fan, so I do try to keep up on basic knowledge in case I am asked or fi nd myself in golf talk.

At press time Friday evening, I had already attended two days of the Nelson. There were lots of people sitting in their seats and reserved sections. The total attendance for Thursday was just over 3,400, which was one par with Thursday last year. The weekend attendance was projected to go up due to good weather.

Being media I get access to places that others don’t, like the clubhouse and locker rooms. I was standing on the tee box at hole No. 1 on Thursday when Phil Mickelson was doing his interview after finishing his round. I was also behind him and his wife as they walked into the clubhouse.

On Friday, I met Joe Theisman and talked to him for a minute about the draft and the two radio interviews I heard him on this week. As I walked around I watched a couple of golfers hit their approach shots that landed on the greens. I will get to those in a minute.

I was also sitting in on the Anthony Kim press conference. I even tossed in a few questions and he answered them.

I was surprised on the conditions of the greens on one of the courses. Most of them had brown patches and were making putts difficult for everyone.

I was also not too pleased with the non-appearance of Tiger Woods. He should have been the first to declare that he was attending the tournament since Byron had followed Tiger’s career since he was six. Nelson has only been gone less than a year and already the tournament is losing some of its standing.

Some golfers skipped the Nelson because of the tournaments in Charlotte, N.C., and the Players Championship because they don’t want to play three weeks in a row.

Overall, I have enjoyed my experience at the Byron Nelson up till press time. The course is beautiful and I did see some good golf being played. I am going to attend next year and try to attend the Colonial in Fort Worth in a few weeks.

— Matt Anderson is a journalism major and Sports Editor.