I can play softball and I've been on television TWICE!

Tonight the stadium that I work at is going to be flooded with celebrities and even more crowded with the kind of people who worship celebrities and go to horribly boring events, like say...a celebrity softball game.

It's pretty pathetic when people derive some sense of self from adoring people who they don't even know. Yet, it is far more sad (and humorous) when the people being worshipped are such luminaries as Deney Terrio, Mike "The Miz" and Sheila E. Yep, that's what qualifies as a celebrity around these parts and I wish I could say that the good people of this community aren't pathetic enough to come out for an event of this nature. I could but I'd be lying. Not only will the slack jawed yokels of eastern central florida be attending this even tonight but they'll be doing it with the passion and enthusiasm that they normally reserve for tractor pulls and republican rallies. I promise to report back with the highlights of tonight's festivities tommmorow. Frankly, I'm just hoping that George "the Animal" Steele shows up and eats a turnbuckle.

Yesterday brought the news of Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson declaring for the NBA Draft. One must first understand that declaring for the draft is not the life altering decision that it once was. I can remember sitting in my house dumbfounded as I perused the internet looking for confirmation of the news that my neighbor had delivered about Donnell Harvey declaring for the draft. When I found out that it was indeed true that Donnell had declared, I just sat in my chair thinking, "Why? Why would an undersized power forward with no discernible offensive skill declare for the NBA draft?" I couldn't figure it out and even if I could have , it was too late. Donnel Harvey was gone and there wasn't anything that could change that.

These days declaring for the draft is often an exercise in exploration. A player will enter the draft and go to the Chicago pre-draft camp in order to determine his draft status while also receiving advice from various NBA personnel on the areas of their game that need improvement. So I was not nearly as crestfallen when the news about Walsh and Roberson came down yesterday. Each player is entering the draft for different reasons and we will delve into them here.

Matt Walsh: Walsh and his father met with Billy Donovan shortly after the season to inform Billy of their plans. Matt intended to enter the draft and use the time before the draft as means for the evaluation of his game. If Walsh receives a first round guarantee (Ron Zook could also become an NFL head coach in this hypothetical world) then he would go ahead and enter the draft. More than likely he will return for his senior season at Florida with a better idea of how NBA scouts view him and what specifically he needs to improve in order to have a shot next year. Walsh has been working out at the IMG Academy in Bradenton for a couple of weeks already and will continue to do so until just before the pre-draft camp in Chicago. Now, I'm no NBA scout but this would be my guess as to the top three things that NBA scouts tell him to improve: Strength (stop working out with Tood Pinkston), Athleticism (only so much you can do about that) and Ballhandling. If he returns and has improved some of his obvious weaknesses, then Walsh has a shot to be the SEC Player of the Year and really improve his standing in the eyes of NBA scouts. Personally, I think that Walsh's only shot at the NBA is as a shooter off of somebody's bench but you can't fault the kid for trying to improve himself.

Anthony Roberson: Roberson is a different story altogether. First off, Roberson doesn't come from nearly the stable financial situation that Walsh does and there is word that he's receiving a healthy bit of pressure from his family to declare, which always makes a situation like this tough for a young kid. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Roberson wanted to declare after last season. Basically, Roberson had Donovan check with some of the NBA scouts that he knew and Roberson found out that he'd struggle to even be drafted at all, so he came back to Florida. After a year in which Roberson led the SEC in scoring and finished second in the player of the year voting, it stands to reason that Roberson's stock has gone up. It probably has but, with that said, it is still doubtful that he will be selected in the first round. Simply put, Roberson is not a natural point guard or a good enough ball handler to survive at his size in the NBA. He's a combo guard with an aversion to defense who also struggles to involve his teammates at times. I find it hard to fathom that Roberson will get anything more than cursory consideration as a first round pick, especially when you consider how overmatched he looked against Villanova's guards in the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, most people around the Florida program feel like Roberson is gone whether he receives first round guarantee or not. For further proof of this, one need only take a look a Florida's latest signee: Florida Air Academy PG Walter Hodge. Hodge was the MVP of the State Tournament and was considered the highest rated point guard still available by most recruiting analysts. If you're scoring at home (you need a new hobby) that makes two point guards in the past two recruiting classes for Billy D. If Billy really thought that Roberson might stay, wouldn't he have used his last scholarhsip on a big man or a wing player? I certainly think so. From a personal standpoint, I would love to see Roberson return next year with a greater commitment to defense and the mindset of taking the ball to the hoop more often. When you consider how weak next year's point guard class could be, his chances of making it into the first round are substantially better than this year which is as loaded a point guard class as the draft has seen in years. If he decides to declare this year then I hope that Anthony has a passport and a spanish to english dictionary.

My take: Roberson leaves. Walsh returns.


I think that Florida will miss Roberson next year (especially on offense) but they should be able to transition while still remaining a top tier SEC team by becoming a better defensive team on the perimeter (Roberson's defense was spotty at best) and if Walsh can handle being the go-to guy for an entire slate of SEC games.

Now where the hell is Eric Nies?