Nearly 2000 athletes have entered the transfer portal, with a great majority of them scholarship students.  It’s not unusual to follow a coach who has moved to another school, but does the chance of big bucks draw more players into the portal and look to the NIL for large paydays?  Is it an unbalanced distribution of dollars between key players and the rank and file?  And what about players leaving teams before bowl games?  Shouldn’t they be required to finish the season?  And how will athletes and coaches handle the long distances required to travel for games in the great shuffle of conferences?

Dante Moore and Cameron Ward are vying for a chance to play at Ohio State.  Moore still has four years of eligibility, but Ward has just one.  Who has the better chance of joining the Buckeyes?

Has the availability of online sports news negated the need for sports yearbooks and individual publications?  Do fans look for multimedia sources to read the latest happenings in the sports world instead of those dedicated to a single sport?

Are the athletes’ exorbitant salaries pricing fans out of live games?  Will Rob Manfred’s greenlighting Shohei Ohtani’s deferral of most of his almost $700M salary with the Dodgers help combat the costs passed onto fans?  He will take $2M annually and defer the rest for ten years.  Is that a solid solution, or will it cause financial issues for the club and Ohtani down the line?  And will Ohtani even be pitching in the near future, or only play offense?

Why has Al Michaels been edged out of calling the NFL playoffs on NBC?  Michaels has been part of the postseason for years, and his being stood down by the network has caught him off guard.  Was it the right decision, and has his reporting style gone somewhat out of fashion?  Were there whispers of anti-Semitism?  Which TV journalists are tapped to replace him?

Email Fred, Art, and Mark with questions and comments at sportsfred@aol.com