5 Things To Look For in the 2011 NFL Draft

By Charlie Scaturro

Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images North America

After enduring nearly two months of awkward bickering between Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr., the NFL Draft is finally here.  One of the most unique institutions in sports, the NFL Draft presents every team in the league with an opportunity to significantly improve their roster as long as they've done their homework and are prepared for the seven round marathon which is about to ensue.

As opposed to the NBA Draft, which generally yields just a few good players every year, the NFL Draft is full of impact guys who will be available long after the first round has come to an end.  It seems that the hype which surrounds the NFL Draft intensifies with every passing year, but it's hard to blame the media when we've all seen how entertaining the draft can be for fans and how potentially beneficial a single class can be for an organization.

Impressions From Jon Gruden's QB Camp As The NFL Draft Approaches

By Charlie Scaturro

Whoever had the idea of putting the top quarterbacks from a given draft class in the same room with Jon Gruden and a couple of cameras was definitely on to something.

Even if you disregard the fact that Gruden is still bitter about the way he left the NFL and that he has yet to get back into coaching, the feature is pretty amazing.  From the lead-in where Gruden is shown fumbling around his quarterback camp set at four in the morning to the quote "You know what I love about this guy?  He's tough as a two dollar steak" to Gruden being portrayed as the foremost football mind since Vince Lombardi, the show does a good job of balancing unintentional comedy with some great NFL commentary.

Which College Basketball Players Should Declare For the NBA Draft? (Part III)

By Charlie Scaturro

This is the third and final part of the series, check out the first and second parts.

Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America

The end of the NCAA Tournament signals the end of the college basketball season but in the weeks which follow, many coaches and die hard fans are still on edge.  All of this anxiety can be directly tied to the decision that sits before some of the most talented players in the college game and whether they're going to return to school or enter the NBA Draft.


For most of the lucky few that are talented enough to even be considering the NBA, this decision is complicated and in many ways driven by rumors and perceptions about which teams may or may not be interested in them.  These 19-21 year-olds are forced to make a concrete and irreversible decision about their future when the information they're using to make this decision is anything but irreversible or concrete.  I've never talked to an NBA GM but I would imagine that trying to get a straight answer out of most of them is about as difficult as trying to get Bob Knight to wear a tie when he's going to be on national television.

Which College Basketball Players Should Declare For the NBA Draft? (Part II)

By Charlie Scaturro

This is the second of a three part series, click here for the first post.

Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America

The end of the NCAA Tournament signals the end of the college basketball season but in the weeks which follow, many coaches and die hard fans are still on edge.  All of this anxiety can be directly tied to the decision that sits before some of the most talented players in the college game and whether they're going to return to school or enter the NBA Draft.

For most of the lucky few that are talented enough to even be considering the NBA, this decision is complicated and in many ways driven by rumors and perceptions about which teams may or may not be interested in them.  These 19-21 year-olds are forced to make a concrete and irreversible decision about their future when the information they're using to make this decision is anything but irreversible or concrete.  I've never talked to an NBA GM but I would imagine that trying to get a straight answer out of most of them is about as difficult as trying to get Bob Knight to wear a tie when he's going to be on national television. 

Which College Basketball Players Should Declare For the NBA Draft? (Part I)

By Charlie Scaturro

This is the first of a three part series, click here for the second part..

Photo Credit: Chris Chambers/Getty Images North America

The end of the NCAA Tournament signals the end of the college basketball season but in the weeks which follow, many coaches and die hard fans are still on edge.  All of this anxiety can be directly tied to the decision that sits before some of the most talented players in the college game and whether they're going to return to school or enter the NBA Draft.

For most of the lucky few that are talented enough to even be considering the NBA, this decision is complicated and in many ways driven by rumors and perceptions about which teams may or may not be interested in them.  These 19-21 year-olds are forced to make a concrete and irreversible decision about their future when the information they're using to make this decision is anything but irreversible or concrete.  I've never talked to an NBA GM but I would imagine that trying to get a straight answer out of most of them is about as difficult as trying to get Bob Knight to wear a tie when he's going to be on national television.

Battling Through the Playoffs: What the Best of The NBA Are Up Against This Postseason

By Charlie Scaturro

Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America

Around the time the "Summer of LeBron" came to a merciful end, it seemed pretty certain that the 2010-11 NBA regular season would be one of the most exciting in recent memory.  And although we might have heard one too many Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, what transpired over the 82 game regular season did about as good of a job of living up to expectations as possible.

Huge blockbuster trades, the emergence of Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose taking his game to the next stratosphere, the weekly soap opera that was the Miami Heat, and having relevant basketball in New York City again certainly kept things interesting.

It's Time for Someone to Save Us From Our Closers

For some self-loathing reason, I talked my girlfriend into playing in a roto fantasy baseball league with me this year. My theory was that it would serve as a somewhat regular conversational topic for us while we wait for more interesting jobs and/or the next season of Dexter to start.

Well, thus far, the experiment has been a disaster. You see, there are few things in life that annoy me more than talking to someone who thinks they know way more about sports than they actually do know.

You know the type.

If You Were Surprised By the San Diego Point Shaving Scandal You Haven't Been Paying Attention

By Charlie Scaturro

With all of the recent controversy that has surrounded the NCAA, the last thing Mark Emmert needed was another point shaving scandal in college basketball.

Unfortunately for the president of the NCAA, who squirmed around during a recent Frontline interview like he was being interrogated about a bank robbery, Emmert appears to have another set of unpleasant questions to answer.  We still don't know all of the particulars about the incident, but whenever or wherever the point shaving took place, it seems doubtful that anyone is going to cut Emmert much slack once all of the facts about the case are uncovered.

Why Jimmer Fredette's NBA Prospects Might Be Better Than People Think

By Charlie Scaturro

Photo Credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America

At this point, if you're not sick of hearing about Jimmer Fredette's NBA potential, you're either a masochist or your name is Chad Ford.  The debate about whether or not the sweet shooting 6'2'' guard from upstate New York has what it takes to make it in the NBA has reached Tebowian heights. 

Everyone who knows anything about college hoops or the NBA has already chimed in with their opinion about how Fredette's game will translate to the NBA and it's been going on for months now.

Kemba Walker Won't Be Back But UConn Shouldn't be Taken Lightly Next Season

By Charlie Scaturro

Photo Credit:Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America

There were plenty of brutal moments that made UConn's 53-41 victory over Butler in the National Championship game almost an unwatchable sporting event (I wasn't sure those existed until this game).  For good reason, most of the criticism about this game was derived from the fact that neither team played particularly well on what was the biggest stage of the college basketball season. 

By now, we've been bombarded with the statistics which back up what we all witnessed on the court, and there's no need to rehash what was an impossibly anti-climatic ending to one of the most exciting sporting events in the world. 

A Fond Farewell to Joe Mazzulla: College Basketball Personified

By Charlie Scaturro

Photo Credit:Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America

After the dust settled from Kentucky's 71-63 victory over West Virginia in the second round of this year's NCAA Tournament, everyone's focus was squarely on the Wildcats star freshman Brandon Knight, who scored a career-high 30 points and his coach, John Calipari, who notched only his second victory over Bob Huggins in 10 tries as he and Kentucky earned another trip to the Sweet 16.

Somewhere in the West Virginia locker room, far away from all the cameras and Sweet 16 talk, sat Joe Mazzulla, a fifth-year senior who had just played the last of his 145 games for the Mountaineers.  Besides the number of games he played, no other statistical achievements of Mazzulla's career would make anyone look twice.