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Could the NFL draft be moving to Hawaii? It’s possible. Aloha Stadium has begun discussions with the NFL about the idea of someday holding the draft there. Two years ago the NFL moved the draft out of Madison Square Garden for the first time in 10 years and the league has said that in the future it will consider moving the draft out of New York altogether.

A move to Hawaii would have it’s benefits. Fans would get another chance to see Chris Berman wear Hawaiian shirts and the fresh island air would do wonders for Mel Kiper’s hair.

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Naming a basketball team in a state that is known for little more than corn has proved to be a difficult challenge. With an NBDL team set to begin play in Des Moines next season, the team owners are having trouble finding a name. They had decided on five finalists—Des Moines River Rats, Iowa Corncobs, Iowa Scarecrows, Iowa Maize and Iowa Thoroughbreds—but there was such a negative reaction to the names that they decided pick an entirely new one.

The good news is that all the different names for corn have been exausted and so the team might have a slightly more charismatic name than the Iowa Maize. My vote is to name the team after the state’s most famous cinematographic moment and call it the Iowa Kevin Costner’s.

(UPDATE: The new name is in. The team will be the Iowa Energy)

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(Every week there are a number of stories slip through the cracks here at ShakedownSports. These are just a few of them.)

NFL Europe is no more. Less than a week after the World Bowl Championship the NFL announced that it will fold its European development league. During its 16 years of existence NFL Europe failed to catch on outside of Germany, the country where five of the six teams were located in its final season. The end of the league means that many in Germany will be hungry for American culture, and as a result experts predict that sales of David Hasselhoff CDs could triple in the coming months.

Nikolai Bonds, the son of Barry Bonds and a Giants bat boy, tore two ligaments is his ankle during a pickup basketball game last week. According to numerous doctors the injury means that Nikolai likely will not be in a Giants uniform when his father breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record. Despite the bad news from the doctors, Bonds has remained suspiciously optimistic his son’s resilient ankle will find a way to heal itself in time.

This week Lakers forward Kwame Brown had surgery on his ailing right shoulder, but the team expects him to be at full strength by the time training camp opens. Despite the news that he will be at full strength when camp opens, the team expects him to revert to soft, bumbling, weak old self by the time the season starts.

The NFL held its rookie symposium this week and for the third straight year the event had perfect attendance. It even included appearances by Laron Landry, who showed up with a paintball gun lodged up his ass, as well as Brady Quinn’s alter ego, famed male stripper Chief Diesel Rodriguez.

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Not many franchises in the history of professional sports have seen their futures go down the drain faster than the Celtics. Hoping to make up for the lottery fiasco the team instead dug a deeper hole by trading its somewhat coveted #5 pick for Ray Allen.

I just can’t see the logic of trading Jianlian/Green/Brewer/Wright for a 31 year-old shooting guard who has three years left on a 5 year $80 million contract. The Celtics aren’t doing any damage in the East with this team and they already have a big time scorer in Paul Pierce.

This trade is just too reminiscent of that fateful day in 1998 when a desperate Wizards team traded Chris Webber to the Kings for Mitch Richmond. Richmond went on to have three undistinguished seasons in Washington. Webber went on to turn the Kings into a Western Conference powerhouse.

Some other things in the NBA draft I liked…

Memphis picking Mike Conley Jr.—There were more titillating players still on the board, but the Grizzlies needed a point guard and Conley Jr. will not just be a good one, but a great one.

Minnesota picking Corey Brewer—Brewer will be a star. That’s about all I have to say about that.

Charlotte picking Jared Dudley—Dudley definitely has the potential to be the Josh Howard of this draft. He plays hard, he works hard, and he does all the little things.

Detroit Picking Aaron Afflalo—I’m not quite sure how so many other shooting guards passed Afflalo in the draft—perhaps he was victimized by sticking around too long and having people scrutinize his faults. Afflalo is a great shooter, a great defender, has great size, and is ready to play right away. What more do you what in shooting guard?

San Antonio going foreign—It’s not hard to draft when your team doesn’t have any pressing needs, but the Spurs still did a great job. Rather than pick player who will get cut or ride the bench the team went with foreign guys they can leave overseas. In two or three years when they finally need somebody, they’ll be able to bring somebody seasoned over just as they did with Ginobli and Oberto. I also love them taking Marcus Williams 33rd overall. Williams was talked about a potential lottery pick last year, but he fell of people’s radar after he played hurt and had a down season. He could become a really solid NBA player.

Orlando picking Reyshawn Terry—Terry is my steal of the second round. He’s athletic, he can shoot, he can dribble, and he can rebound. He played four years at North Carolina but never really stood out because he was caught in between the Felton-May-McCants era and the Hansbrough-Lawson-Ellington era. He could be seeing big time minutes before the end of the season.

Phoenix picking D.J. Strawberry—I can envision Strawberry riding the bench all year and then suddenly playing 25 minutes a game as a shutdown defender during the playoffs. He’s a low risk high reward pick that could really address a team need.

Some other things in the NBA draft I didn’t like…

Seattle acquiring Jeff Green—I like Jeff Green. He was a great college player and there’s not a lot on the basketball court he can’t do. Still, I think Seattle would have done better drafting a player less similar to Kevin Durant and Rashard Lewis. I also get the feeling that while Green is a terrific complementary player, he’s not worthy of being a top 5 pick. If Durant has an off night or misses time with an injury, I just don’t think Green is capable of carrying the team.

Philadelphia picking Thaddeus Young—Did somebody say reach? Young was highly touted coming out of high school, but he didn’t quite have the year at Georgia Tech that would make him worthy of being picked this high. Julian Wright and Nick Young will both be better NBA players.

Phoenix giving away draft picks—This year Phoenix traded their first round pick for…cash considerations!!! Huh? How could they not have gotten more than that? I understand they don’t have the money to sign a first round pick, but couldn’t they have gotten a first rounder in 2010, or second rounder in 2009? They have to get something more than cash.

Everybody passing on Derrick Byars–He’s better than half the players drafted ahead of him. That’s all you need to know.

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Josh McRoberts may have made the wrong decision in going to Duke. Last year he was poised to be a top 10 pick and sign a contract with at least $5 million in guaranteed money. Due at least in some small part to the advice of Mike Krzyzewski, he returned to Duke for his sophomore season. Now he’s the 37th overall pick with $0 in guaranteed money.

That’s some real good advice Coach K. I guess you can develop somebody as a player and person, but you can’t develop their wallet. The best part is that now McRoberts won’t even be able to afford an American Express card. Maybe as a token of apology Coach K will give him some of his reward miles.

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When Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez meets a woman he would like to spend the rest of his life with, he wants to prove it to her—or at least unofficially prove it to her. Next month Gonzalez will hold a “formal commitment ceremony” with girlfriend October Russell. The ceremony will be overseen by Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson.

“We’re not signing any papers,” Gonzalez told her, “but I wanted the world to know that I love her and want to spend my life with her. I did it the best way for me.”

Gonzalez met Russell five years ago at a restaurant owned by Dennis Rodman and they have been dating for the last two years. There’s no word on why Gonzalez is shying away from marriage, but given how the Trent Green era worked out in Kansas City I can understand why he could be afraid of making a lengthy commitment.

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As a rule, it’s generally a bad idea to criticize a producer from a TV network you don’t work for when you’re on the air. It’s especially a bad idea if you’re going to call her a “bitch.” Dan McNeil of ESPN-1000 WMVP in Chicago found this out the hard way.

“Several sources confirmed McNeil didn’t appear on Wednesday’s show as part of a three-day suspension he received for calling Lissa Druss Christman, an executive producer at Comcast SportsNet, a “bitch” on the air”

The incident started when McNeil and his co-hosts began praising Comcast SportsNet for showing the fan who ran on the field during Monday’s game. The hosts discussed whether WGN would have done the same thing and they decided to find out if the two networks use different camera crews. When a WMVP producer called CSN to find out, Christman refused to answer the question and referred the producer to another CSN employee. That prompted McNeil, who apparently has a history with Christman, to call her a “bitch” on the air.

It seems the whole Michael Barrett sage has everybody in Chicago in the mood for a catty slap fight. And by the way—the two networks do use different camera crews.

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Reason #72 why the NBA draft is great—The Saluki Hoops Web Show discussing the draft prospects of Jamal Tatum.

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Darius Washington Jr. arrived at Memphis as one of the most highly touted freshman in the country. His freshman year he memorably broke down on the court after missing a free throw that would have sent the Tigers to the NCAA tournament, but he came back and had a solid sophomore year. Washington declared for the NBA draft after just two seasons at Memphis, but he was labeled as tweener who was too small to play shooting guard and too inexperienced to play point guard. He went undrafted and ended spending last season playing overseas.

This week Stephen Dowell of the Orlando Sentinel caught up with Washington. His goal is still to play in the NBA and he hopes playing a season at point guard and leading his team to a Czech League title will earn him another chance. Washington’s father says that a number of NBA teams are interested in his son, and to showcase his skills he will likely play in one of the NBA’s summer leagues.

When Washington missed that free throw his freshman year there was an enormous outpouring of support from Memphis fans. Given a second chance the following year, Washington led the Tigers to the Elite 8. Hopefully Washington will once again get another second chance, and will once again make the most of it.

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The Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL are finding that the difficulties of threading a seam in the Cover 2 pale in comparison to those of a booming real estate market. With the CFL season set to being tomorrow, skyrocketing housing prices have left about 20 Eskimo players without a place to live. Many of the players didn’t even know if they would make the team until last week, and the booming market has made it difficult for them to find places they can afford.

For now the players will stay at a hotel, but if they want somewhere free the city’s citizens are happy to accommodate them. They team has received 200 calls and emails offering apartments, spare rooms, and even empty couches. If any Eskimos accept an offer, they will join Ricky Williams as the only CFL players to routinely sleep on a stranger’s couch.

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