Michael Oher. Because I don't want to get in yet ANOTHER argument with Drew about the Draft, I won't reiterate how much my eyes glaze over every time someone starts talking about the NFL Draft. (For the record, though, I'll say this: If you happen to find yourself with a Sporting News column, I highly advise you against ever implying that it's a little creepy to watch 20-year-olds in run sprints and lift weights in their undergarments, particularly in a column that has your email address attached. Sporting News readers really, really like the NFL Draft, apparently.) I would like to talk about Mississippi offensive tackle Michael Oher, whose "stock" has been "rising," whatever the hell that means. Oher, of course, is the focus of Michael Lewis' book "The Blind Side," where he's portrayed as a good-hearted, slightly dim kid who has had a tough life and just happens to have the exact right body type to be a franchise-changing left tackle. He ends up being "adopted" by a family of Ole Miss boosters, who help him get his grades in order so he can dominate for the Bulldogs. Here's what I've never understood about this book: Doesn't Michael Lewis know that family is just using Oher in a weird, obsessive way that completely lacks any sort of emotional perspective? I mean, Lewis almost makes the family look heroic, though, obviously they wouldn't give two ***** about Michael Oher, let alone let him live in their home, if he weren't going to make the Mississippi Bulldogs football team better. Lewis paints the family like this altruistic brood who just wants to help out this kid who's had a hard life. Is he serious? The point of Lewis' book seems to be that Oher is a human being who has been turned into a product … but he somehow ignores the blatant opportunism of that family, just staring at him. Lewis is a wonderful writer and extremely smart: He must have seen through that family, right? Is the whole book an in-joke at their expense? I love "Moneyball" but honestly, "The Blind Side " absolutely drives me crazy. I still have no idea what Lewis was getting at there. But hey! Michael Oher! Stock rising!
