Chris Schmitt may have the opportunity to pull off a stunt many of us dreamed of when we were kids.

The Florida Atlantic righthander is finishing his Criminal Justice degree this summer by taking Spanish I and Spanish II. This week he's also monitoring the MLB draft. Schmitt (photo, second from right) could hear his named called today or Thursday, but the three-day event makes it nearly impossible to plan a draft party.

Most FAU players are simply going about their normal routine, trying not to think too much about the draft (good luck!). For Schmitt, that means attending classes. So what if he gets the call from a major league team in the middle of conjugating a spanish verb?

"I might just leave," Schmitt said.

How cool would that be? Sorry professor, I'd love to continue to habla enchiliada, but I'm going to get paid to play baseball.

Don't worry, Schmitt doesn't intend to throw away his education. He plans to find away to finish the classes, even if it means re-enrolling in the fall. He needs the degree to fulfill his desire to enter federal law enforcement, possibly as a homeland security agent. Still, how many times when you were growing up did you sit in school and think, forget this, I want to go play baseball. Or basketball. Or football. It's a universal boyhood dream.

The waiting game: The Owls available for the draft have spent the days since the end of the season keeping their baseball skills fresh and wondering when or if their names will be called.

"I practice a little bit in the moring, but beside that I'm bored," said Alex Pepe, who was selected by Texas in the 44th round of last year's draft but chose to return to FAU for his senior season. "I'm just sitting in my house with nothing to do."

The baseball draft contains 50 rounds, plus compensatory picks. It started last night and won't end until tomorrow night. The shear amount of rounds suggests everyone who wants to get drafted might get a call, but that isn't the case. Several Owls will have to hope to sign a free agent contract or catch on with an independent league team.

"I'm not necessarlity expecting to be drafted," said outfielder Chris Schmit, who chose to attend the St. Louis vs. Florida game last night instead of watching the first rounds of the draft. "If that happens it will be a dream come true. If it doesn't I'll be looking to sign a free agent deal and be that one guy who signs a free agent deal and makes the most of it."

I case you missed it yesterday, here is our draft preview from the main site. Be sure to Check FAUOwlAccess.com tonight and tomorrow for our recap of the day's draft events.

Now for something completely different: A marketing guy who knows very little about FAU posted his views of Owls football. Gotta love that Bleacher Report. Anyone who has a computer and an internet connection is an expert.

Also, the folks in Nebraska are thinking about the Owls. This post doesn't say anything we don't already know, but it's still nice to know they care...

chuck