Friday (Draft party minus draft pick) edition: Wha' Happened?

Well, we found out the biggest drawback to the new NFL draft format right off the bat. If the team you care about the most makes a modest trade -- out of the end of the first round, into the early second round, with an upgrade of a fourth-round pick and an additional seventh-round pick -- you have to wait a full day to see the result of that acquired pick, rather than a matter of a handful of minutes.

As such, we attended a Vikings draft party last night without a Vikings draft pick. Bunny's in St. Louis Park was full (but comfortably so) pretty much all night with a mixture of regulars and Vikings fans. Along with RandBall friends Local Quipster and MC Creme Fraiche, we had a grand time that included, among other things:

*Our table being visited (accosted? No, too strong of a word) on several occasions by various special interest groups, many of them of the female persuasion and wearing hot pants. It's almost as if they knew there would be a large group of mostly male football fans in one captive location.

*Local Quipster's assertion that Clemson RB C.J. Spiller (Buffalo) will be the offensive rookie of the year. Watch for that.

*The palpable letdown when Tim Tebow was drafted No. 25 overall by Denver, thus denying at least the opportunity for the Vikings to consider taking the Florida QB. We know one KFC Double Down eater who was very upset. Plus, Shanoff was all set to move the TimTeBlog north. C'est la vie. We're not saying he would have made the most sense or would have been the right pick. But the draft was more fun as we inched closer to No. 30 with both Tebow and Jimmy Clausen still on the board.

*Speaking of whom: frantic text messages back and forth with Drew about the possibility the Vikings would take Clausen. We are both very much against it. Drew perhaps more strongly, as is often the case (watch the language over there). There was a momentary let-down when the Vikings traded out of No. 30, followed by understanding that it was probably a smart move and relief that they hadn't taken Clausen, followed again by the realization that Clausen almost certainly would be there at 34 (Indy and New Orleans are fairly well set at QB, we'd say, while St. Louis at the top of round two already has its new franchise QB in Sam Bradford). And, indeed, Clausen will be on the board. As far as a QB of the future goes, we concede that Clausen would be a pretty good value at 34. But we're just not sold on him as a player or a leader. We might have to reevaluate our position and take a closer look if the Vikings do take him, but for now we're still hoping they don't.

*Autographs from Vikings legend and Hall of Famer Ron Yary. All three of us got signed photos at the end of the night. MC Creme Fraiche chatted up Yary about the giant size of his hands, while Yary said the modern linemen dwarf him. MC stopped him in his tracks by asserting that Phil Loadholt is not, in fact, human -- that he's a grizzly bear. "A different genus," MC said. And that brought the conversation to a screeching halt.

We were still laughing about it as we walked out the door. That's how you make something out of nothing.