Six Reasons We Love Mock Drafts

It didn't used to be this way.

There was a time, before blogs and 24/7 ESPN programming, that everyone waited until draft day to find out what would happen.

But as sports and technology has evolved, so have we. All on the Field offers six reasons why we have become a Mock Draft Culture:

1. We all want to be GMs. Every serious sports fan thinks they could easily run their favorite franchise if given the chance. Mock drafts give fans the opportunity -- based on several minutes of in-depth research and that one game we watched that one Saturday last fall -- to make an intelligent decision as to who their franchise should select.
   
   
2. The hypothetical is tantalizing. Everyone loves a good what-if scenario. For instance, what if the Atlanta Hawks, who desperately need a point guard, swapped their 11th pick with the Sonics for Luke Ridnour? Doesn't just reading that get your blood pumping?
   
   
3. List-making feels good. Just ask the guy who took the time to create a fantasy draft of bloggers.
   
   
4. Hope springs eternal. The fact is, if your team has a lottery pick this year, chances are that things aren't going too well for the franchise (or your team swindled some other hapless team in a trade two years ago). But now that you've linked a great college player to your team via the mock draft, things are starting to look up.
   
   
5. Everyone is an expert. In a dream world, we'd all be getting paid for our expert analysis. As it is, we offer it to the world at no charge and then later boldly proclaim that our mock draft was better than Bill Simmons'. Unfortunately, Simmons' mock draft happened to be readable.
   
   
6. The suspense is killing us! We've known about the draft order for almost a full month now, and we still don't know for sure if the Blazers will take Sam Bowier -- err, Greg Oden -- with the first pick. Somehow, putting it down on paper or up on the screen makes us feel better while we wait. Speaking of which, I better finish my mock draft -- less than 24 hours until the real thing!