Considering the enormous popularity of world-wide sports, bringing in billions in annual revenue and with major events reaching more eye-balls than anything else televised, it's hard to believe some of the ridiculous rules that still exist across various sports. This list is a breakdown of the ten most illogical rules that are contained within the actual games (so no complaining about overtime formats, the BCS system, why a baseball closer can blow a save and get the win, or why the foul pole isn't called the fair pole). Also, because golf has more ridiculous rules than all of the other major sports combined, I've decided to leave it out altogether and will dedicate some time to unfair golf rules later.

10. Only One Foot Down for a Complete Pass (NCAA Football) - With the complete integration between college football and the NFL, why not have college receivers abide by the same reception rules so they can start working on getting both feet down years earlier? Catches where both feet land in-bounds are much more dramatic anyway (like Santonio Holmes' game winning TD in the Super Bowl).

9. Maintain Possession Through the Catch, Even Out of Bounds (NFL) - A receiver cuts towards the sideline, catches the ball while dragging both toes, then when he falls and hits the ground out-of-bounds the ball pops loose. No catch. Why not? He had possession when he was still in-bounds and what happens after that shouldn't matter, the same way there's an invisible plane at the end zone and whether the player loses possession or not after the nose of the ball crosses that plane doesn't matter because it's already a touchdown. Too many deserving catches have been negated.

8. Offensive Interference vs. Defensive Interference (NFL) - So a quarterback can chuck the ball 50 yards down field and if a defender holds the receiver they get the ball at the spot of the foul, yet if a receiver holds the defender to prevent an interception it's only a 15-yard penalty? This seems unbalanced, although the recent change to interference only being called if the ball was already in the air (otherwise it's just defensive holding) is a step in the right direction.

7. Trapezoid Behind the Net Rule (NHL) - This is where the goaltender can only play the puck within a specific area behind the net or in front of the goal line. But why? If the goaltender is leaving the net unguarded and has good puck handling skills, why not let him go where he wants? I say let him take the risk.

6. Ineligible Receivers (NFL) - Why can't the quarterback throw the ball to anyone on his team? I have yet to hear a scenario that justifies this rule in which my response is not, "well then the defense will have to prepare for that just like with any trick play."

5. The Tuck Rule (NFL) - While it makes sense that if the quarterback is attempting to make a pass and his arm is moving forward he can't fumble the ball, if he's trying to hold onto it and gets hit why should this be considered an incomplete pass? This rule was obviously made famous during the 2001 AFC Championship game when the Raiders knocked the ball lose from Tom Brady, but the truth is it's a horrible example of the tuck rule being enforced because the fumble should have been a moot point considering Brady was illegally hit in the head during the play anyway (sorry Raiders fans, it's true, just watch the replay a few times). Why no one ever seems to remember this detail is beyond me. Even so, the tuck rule remains convoluted and needs to be eliminated.

This is too good to be true. For the past few seasons HBO has featured an inside look during training camp of a different NFL team. Last year it was the Dallas Cowboys, and reportedly this year it's going to be the Cincinnati Bengals. This is assuming of course that the NFL league office doesn't decide to intervene to avoid further embarrassment.

Between attention whore Chad Ocho-Cinco, legally troubled Tank Johnson and Chris Henry, not to mention the rest of the Bengals wacky franchise, this thing could turn into one long episode of Cops or be more entertaining than most comedic sitcoms. Prepare yourself for plenty of shots of Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis either rolling their eyes or looking incredulous while wishing they were somewhere else. The good news is, if rookie lineman Andre Smith takes off his shirt, they won't have to bother with any censoring since it's HBO.

Maria Sharapova appears in a cover shoot along with #1 draft pick Matt Stafford for ESPN the Magazine and as you can tell she really seems to enjoy this photography and fashion stuff. Aside from her recent return to doubles action it's been quite some time since we've seen her actually play competitive tennis. I realize she's been dealing with a shoulder injury, but at some point you have to wonder if she's going to waste away a few years of her playing prime due to her celebrity exposure, ala Serena Williams.

If you're a Cleveland Browns fan right now, chances are after this past draft weekend you're not a big fan of Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who publicly ripped Mangini for his evaluation of receiver Michael Crabtree.

“Crabtree as a receiver has been more successful than that guy has been as a coach. I think he took it upon himself to figure that in a few minutes he had all the expertise on the subject of Michael Crabtree that he needed. And so we’ll see how those non-divas up there in Cleveland do this year."

As a fan of the 49ers (who were fortunate to land Michael Crabtree after he unexpectedly slid down to the 10 spot) I personally would like to thank Al Davis for being an idiot and Eric Mangini for making some teams believe Crabtree was a diva, but Browns fans should be genuinely concerned. Lost amongst the various quotes from Mike Leach was the fact that Mangini never even called him to discuss Crabtree.

If I was going to describe the single most important attribute for a successful head coach in the NFL, I would say preparation. The one thing the greatest coaches of all time have in common - from Lombardi to Walsh to Belichick - was they never entered a game without being meticulously prepared. You always knew these guys watched every piece of game tape they could get their hands on and researched every possible angle of attack. In other words, they always did their homework. The same applies to personnel decisions, whether it's the draft or free agency. So to hear that Mangini didn't even pick up the phone and call the coach of the player widely agreed to be the most talented in this year's draft is, well, shocking. Particularly when you consider that Cleveland had the number 5 overall pick.

On the other hand, Browns fans are accustomed to the strategy and game management of Romeo Crennel, so I suppose they'll be more than happy with their coaching upgrade, even if he was castoff by the lowly Jets.

Aside from the ridiculous fines and well-deserved No-Fun-League moniker, the NFL is clearly the best run professional sports league. From the introduction of wild card playoff spots to transitioning to a salary cap structure that still allows enough wiggle room for smart teams to establish dynasties, when it really counts the NFL almost always gets it right. Which is why I'm simply amazed that we're entering another year of a draft system that is so obviously broken.

The basic concept of a draft is to create a balance of talent throughout a league, and in turn create parity so every team can be competitive over time. The teams that performed the worst the previous season are awarded the first picks and therefore should be able to obtain the most talented players entering the league. This system worked great for the NFL for many years, but after more than a decade since the league implemented a salary cap, the system is in disarray because rising rookie contracts have caused a distortion of value. We've reached the point where having a top-5 pick is not necessarily a good thing, and when a team is happier about picking 15th overall than first overall because they may be able to get an equally talented player for half as much money, clearly something needs to change.

With the NFL draft finally getting underway this Saturday, get ready for ESPN to subject us to Mel Kiper Jr. with his pre-and-post-draft analysis 24/7 for the next week or so. I think we can all agree that more often than not the NFL draft is basically a big crap-shoot, but someone has to do intense over-analysis. Naturally, that makes Mel Kiper Jr. a pretty easy target for mockery, as the above video does with his take on rating college girls.

At the age of 73, it's hardly a surprise that John Madden has decided to call it quits and stop announcing NFL games for NBC. In a press release he explains why he came to this decision:

"It’s time. I’m 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and my five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I’m home and, more importantly, when I’m not..."

“It’s been such a great ride… the NFL has been my life for more than 40 years, it has been my passion – it still is. I appreciate all of the people who are and were such an important part of the most enjoyable, most fun anyone could have… that great life with the teams, the players, the coaches, the owners, the League… my broadcasting partners Pat and Al… the production people and the fans…is still great… it’s still fun and that’s what it makes it hard and that’s why it took me a few months to make a decision."

While it's no secret that Madden's game analysis had declined dramatically in recent years ("If, uh, if uh, the quaterback throws the ball, and uh, and uh, the reciever catches it in the, in the, in the endzone, then that's gonna be, that, that, that's gonna be, that right there, that's gonna be, that, that, that right there, that, that's gonna be a touchdown."), I'll still miss him purely for nostalgic purposes.