The funny thing to note is that yes it initially dropped in NMC ratio to BTC but overall the price is positive. I am guessing the miners decided to keep their NMC they mined for a longer term investment.
Or, like me, they were idiots and waited until the end of the mining bonanza to withdraw (you need to withdraw from the pool to a wallet before sending to the exchange, pool coins aren't available to be exchanged immediately). My namecoins won't be traded for bitcoins for at least 2-3 more days at this rate. If the NMC network hash rate keeps dropping like it has been, maybe 2 weeks to get the necessary confirmations...
In other words, my decision to "buy and hold" has been made for me by the network. Definitely going to play it smarter for the next round.