Two years ago, the NFL signed a new TV contract. You remember: the one that put NBC on Sunday nights, moved ESPN to Monday nights and made the NFL Network a household curse word.

I'm sure contracts like that are full of intricate language the details of which are never fully made public. But one thing I'm sure exists in this particular contract is the following sentence:

"THE NFL SEASON MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED TO END."

It's the only thing that can explain what goes on these days, and by "these days" I mean now, late April. There is almost as much NFL programming that goes on at this time of year as there is during the season.

It's ridiculous. The Super Bowl was in February! And even that is later in the year than it used to be. When does it stop being football season and start being everything-else season?

Sorry if this makes me an oddball, but while I have a great appreciation for the National Football League, it's frankly something for me that just fills time between baseball seasons. Yes, I know, the rest of the world pretty much does exactly the opposite, but that's the way I am.

The NFL season would have more significance for me and, I believe, others if it would actually end every once in a while. Ever hear the phrase "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"? It's true, and even just a little would go a long way.

ESPN, for instance, has NFL shows every day and that's just wrong. There really shouldn't be a show called "NFL Live" unless you can actually show the NFL live.

Of course the networks say they have to show NFL programming now because the NFL draft is coming up this weekend. The only trouble with that is they've been saying that since the day after the Pro Bowl.

Talk radio is even worse. The college basketball bracketologists have been replaced by draft gurus.

What is it about the NFL draft that makes us have to hear about it about every waking moment of the day and night?

Why do we care so much about what every single team is going to do with every single pick they have? Who are the Rams going to take at No. 2? Who are the Falcons going to take at No. 3? Who are the people who care?

The only things I know about the NFL draft is that there are two guys named Long, but I don't know which one's which. One of them is the son of Howie Long and that by itself makes him a pretty scary dude. One of them went to Michigan, the other one went to Virginia. The one I thought went to Michigan actually went to Virginia and the one I thought actually went to Virginia went to Michigan. First name of the other guy? I don't know. Jack, Jeff, something with a J.

The best quarterback available in the draft is supposed to be this guy named Matt Ryan. Apparently went to Boston College. Truthfully, they could just put Brady Quinn up there again in his three-piece suit on draft day and I wouldn't know the difference.

I don't need to know about every little minicamp and combine that comes along. I don't need to listen to a 15-minute segment discussing if the Dallas Cowboys will trade for "Pacman" Jones before or after the draft. Bill Parcells' theories and strategies for draft day? I can live without it.

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And now, a few rough drafts from the week just past:

• Danica Patrick's first IndyCar victory would've been the best sports story of the weekend except that it happened at a race in Japan that ended late in the evening Saturday here in the U.S. and a lot of people didn't hear about it until Sunday or Monday.

It's great that Patrick won't have to answer any more questions about never having won. It took her 50 races, but there are plenty of drivers in IndyCar and NASCAR who have gone much longer without a win.

Her detractors have said her lighter weight has been an advantage for her and there are even some who said her win in Japan came primarily because others had to pit for fuel. But that makes Patrick a good driver who had good strategy and won fair and square.

She's put in her dues and deserves this success and more. Frankly, those who downplay her ability more than likely just don't like the fact that she's a woman.

• Meanwhile, another great story is Lorena Ochoa winning her fourth consecutive LPGA tournament. While the golf world mostly just goes ga-ga over Tiger Woods and nothing else, Ochoa's accomplishments have been nearly as extraordinary.

• The Stanley Cup reign of the Anaheim Ducks is over, after their elimination from the playoffs by the Dallas Stars. The mid-season return of Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer improved the team greatly, but was too little too late.

The Ducks' demise really isn't all that surprising. They're the fifth straight Stanley Cup champ to lose in the first round of the playoffs the following year.

• Pope Benedict XVI visited two ballparks last week during his visit to the United States. Humorists couldn't resist using the baseball connection in their comments.

David Letterman, at the start of the visit said, "The pope, 81 years old, and he's going to be saying a mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington on Thursday, and then on Sunday, he'll be saying a mass at Yankee Stadium. And I'm worried about that Sunday Mass because the pope will be doing that one on just two days' rest."

Peter Sagal of NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" quiz show said, "The Pope went to the Washington Nationals' new baseball stadium to celebrate Mass. He finished the Mass with what many saw as a touching tribute to his hosts there at the stadium. He coughed up six runs to Satan in the top half of the ninth."

— Jim Carlisle is a staff writer for The Star. E-mail address: jcarlisle@VenturaCountyStar.com.