When the Ravens used the long-awaited 29th overall pick to select Auburn G Ben Grubbs, the sound at M&T Bank Stadium, site of the annual Spring Football Festival, was ... well, there was no sound, except for clean-up crews. The Ravens originally had held out hope that the pick might be made in time for the fans to see it up on the scoreboards, but with the first round dragging, they wrapped things up at the scheduled time of 5 p.m. Thankfully for me (I was writing my column for tomorrow in the stadium), they left the scoreboard on through the pick, then shut it down minutes later.

You get the sense, however, that fans might have been willing to stick around the extra 45 minutes. This event is one of the ongoing amazing phenomena involving the NFL, particularly the Ravens. They announced a turnstile count of 11,582, and my guess is that they either stopped counting at about 2 p.m., three hours after the scheduled start, or stopped letting people in. I know that some people had arrived at 10 to wait until the gates opened, and that the lots were full by noon and that traffic was directed to the warehouse. And they charged $10 apiece to get in, although none for parking. This, as opposed to the training-camp scrimmages against the Redskins, when they admit for free but charge for parking. Either way, they stream in and fill the place up - and concessions are sold throughout the concourse and in the stands. I mean, it threatened rain all day. Imagine if it had been springlike all day instead of for a few minutes at a time.

You all are hardy, fanatic folk.

But, by all accounts, a good time was had by all. How good? Up on the concourse, a line of fans waited patiently an hour before the final autograph session. A team official walking by pointed out to several of them that they didn't actually have to wait in line, because they had been handed color-coded bracelets that guaranteed them an autograph. They thanked the official, then continued to wait. They didn't budge. That's love.

Anyway ... Ben Grubbs, interesting. And well-played, it seemed. Once again, Ozzie Newsome played a little switcheroo with a former colleague; last year, with Phil Savage, now with Mike Nolan. Ozzie did say last week that he figured he knew how the former Ravens personnel people around the league would operate, and sure enough, Nolan and the 49ers jumped ahead of him to snag a player he figured the Ravens were after. Maybe they were, but I'd find it hard to believe they're "settling'' for Grubbs instead of Joe Staley, the way they weren't "settling'' for Haloti Ngata instead of Kamerion Wimbley. By the way, there were a surprising number of Ngata jerseys at M&T today, which tells you the fans are either savvy or diligent, or both, because you can't buy a Ngata jersey off the rack in many places.

Finally, your up-to-the-minute NBA playoff scoreboard (at least up to the minute I post this): at Verizon Center, Cavs 19, Wizards 17, late first quarter. And good night, Orlando, thanks for coming.

Oh, one last thought: I'm glad that when it comes to Curt Schilling, it wasn't just me. The post from the Boston fan was enlightening. You've got to do some real work to grate on a fan who waited 86 years for a World Series win you helped his team finally get. Good job, Curt.