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Will the NCAA Turn Professional?

BLEAV Lombardi Davis Ovechkin Bryant
BLEAV Sports with Fred and The Fantastics
BLEAV Sports with Fred and The Fantastics
Will the NCAA Turn Professional?
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College football continues to move irreversibly toward professionalization, with Ohio State leading USA Today’s early rankings for next season amid escalating NIL deals. A reported three-year, $13 million offer to an Ohio State wide receiver exemplifies the new normal, while a Southern California high school phenom with 96 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions switched from Princeton to UCLA, presumably due to better NIL opportunities. Has the availability of such deals changed school loyalty for the athletes? The University of North Carolina’s $1.3 million hiring of Mike Lombardi as general manager further blurs the line between college and professional football. Will the astronomical NIL spending eventually force the NCAA to implement salary caps, or is college football destined to become a full-fledged professional league?

Anthony Davis’s Hall of Fame credentials sparked debate as the Lakers star continues to battle injury concerns. Despite averaging approximately 25 points and 15 rebounds this season, Davis’s tendency to miss 20-30 games per season raises questions about his candidacy. However, his impressive resume, including an NBA title, NCAA championship, and Olympic gold medal, makes a strong case for eventual enshrinement. Can he maintain his dominant performance level while increasing his availability, or will his legacy be defined by what might have been? And are the Lakers exploring options to acquire a veteran center from Indiana to bolster their frontcourt?

The NCAA basketball championship game will move to an 8:50 PM Eastern time start, addressing long-standing concerns about late finishes. What ripple effects might the earlier NCAA championship start time have on future prime-time sports scheduling, and will it impact ratings now that fans on the East Coast won’t have to stay up past their bedtimes?

Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record has energized the NHL community, bringing renewed attention to the fast-paced winter sport. Will Ovechkin’s chase of Gretzky’s seemingly untouchable record give hockey’s popularity a boost beyond its traditional fanbase? And what fresh insights will the long-awaited debut of CNN’s Kobe Bryant documentary series offer into the Lakers legend’s early development? How did spending a good portion of his youth in Italy shape his playing style and love of the game?

Email Fred and the Fantastics with questions and comments at sportsfred@aol.com

For more great content on PodClips.io, check out The Anderson Files on our Financial Channel!

Transcript

Hey, welcome everybody to Fred and the Fantastics, anything and everything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports. We’re heard, of course, on BLEAV and PodClips, along with good friend Laura Snoke, my cousin Andy Baran, and 127-year-old Art Sorce. Again, we talk about this, that, and anything in sports. Let me put you guys on the spot, and gal on the spot right now. Anthony Davis, and we’re taping this on Thursday, folks, Anthony Davis of the Lakers. I think he’s a Hall of Famer, however, he misses an average of 20 to 30 games per season. Laura, is he a Hall of Famer or is he not a Hall of Famer? What are your thoughts as a Laker fan?

I don’t think he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but he’s got so much talent. It’s frustrating that he, I mean, he has been playing so well this season. I think he’s averaging 25 points and something like 15 rebounds. I mean, he’s just had a phenomenal season, both he and your favorite, LeBron James, also has had a really good season. So, but I think, you know, for a team to be a championship team, you really need three superstars, and they don’t have three superstars. They have two superstars and a bunch of supporting cast members that perform once, you know, once every three games.

You don’t think Bronny James is a superstar?

All right, Bronny James isn’t on the team yet. He’s on the B-league or whatever.

Should have stayed at USC for a couple of years. But anyway, you know, didn’t he not just pull an abdominal muscle or something, Fred?

Yeah, he did.

Could be out for a couple of weeks?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was wondering if Anthony Davis might be using the same trainers and doctors as the Dodger pitching staff? You think that’s conceivable?

Does he have a rotator cuff problem or a torn labrum too?

Andy Baran, you’re 3,000 miles away. Your comments about Anthony Davis, who’s very, very talented but injury-prone, no question.

You know, I think he makes the Hall of Fame, and for a couple reasons. Number one, he’s a two-way player, right? He’s great on defense, great on offense.

Yeah.

His per-game numbers when he plays are always very good. And let’s not forget, like, he came up at sort of the right time, I think, where this, he’s not just won an NBA title. He’s won an NCAA title, he’s won an Olympic gold medal. He’s got a lot of hardware, so I think he ends up getting in there.

He’s playing in Los Angeles.

I think he would, I think he plays better at the four, and he doesn’t really want to play center. And it’s interesting because this is sort of like the way the Dodgers are treating Mookie. You know, I think to be successful, you really have to play to your team’s sport, your team’s strengths, and not put square pegs in round holes. And in a way, I think that the Lakers are, whether they’re doing it intentionally or whether it’s just because that’s the way it is, they’re kind of wasting a little bit of his talent because I think he plays a lot better if he had a big guy in the front.

Right now, aren’t the Lakers looking at a center from Indiana?

They’re looking at him.

Like a 10-year veteran.

They have a lot of options.

Yeah, I would go out and get one more good player and let this team have a shot at it, because, you know, outside of what they did in Philly the other night, they’ve actually been playing some halfway decent ball.

Yeah.

But they show up, sometimes on the road, they don’t show up. I mean, it’s bizarre.

Well, that last game after Davis went out, they didn’t know what they were doing. I mean, they looked like they were completely disorganized on the court.

I agree.

Since we’re talking basketball, guess what? The NCAA basketball final game, just because Art Sorce is in Pennsylvania and cousin Andy Baran is in Connecticut, they’re moving the game up 30 minutes from its usual starting time.

So we can stay up late, Andy!

So instead of 9:20 Eastern time, it’s going to be 8:50 Eastern time. Art, your comments?

Well, you know, next year when Mike Tirico and our boy from Riverside, the great shooter, when they do the NBA on NBC, hmmm, I don’t think I’m going to be up that late.

Andy Baran? I don’t think you’re a big college basketball fan, but do you think that 30 minutes will make a difference?

But I love March Madness. Um, it makes a difference, I mean, I would stay up either way, but I, you know, selfishly, I like the fact that it’s going to be a little earlier.

If the Celtics are playing, you’re going to be watching, I know that.

But, um, interestingly, like, you know, I haven’t lived on the West Coast. It’s funny. Like that changes things for West Coast, right? You have to make sure you get off work on time to not miss the beginning of the game, especially if you have a long commute. That’s, that’s interesting. But it feels like sports are always going to, you know, factor in the, the, the East Coast bias and the, the just the sheer number of people that watch sports on the East Coast versus the rest of the country, I’m not surprised.

Well, you know the football games,

And Laura, you’re going to go watch it while Ed goes upstairs and plays on his computer, is that right?

That’s right. But I want to, I want to throw something out there that’s actually positive. Um, uh, tonight there is this concert for, uh, Fire Aid in LA. It’s at the Intuit Dome and, um, at the Forum, which by the way, the Forum is a great place to hear music. I just saw Springsteen there. It was, the acoustics were fantastic. Um, Steve Ballmer is matching every donation. So, you know, I’m not a big Clipper fan, I always feel like the Clippers and the Chargers, I mean, they’re like these San Diego rejects that just, they have, they’re cursed in LA. But, um, but that’s a beautiful gesture and I hope you guys watch it. It’s going to be on every, I don’t think it’s going to be on network television. It’s going to be on every streaming platform.

You know, what’s really bizarre, you guys? I read an article in the LA Times, well, you know, it’s such a great newspaper now, but they were talking about how a lot of the people in LA who didn’t have insurance, and they’re, and they’re fairly well-to-do people as well, have decided that they don’t want to rebuild in Palisades. And a lot of them are moving to Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach, and Irvine, and San Clemente, South Orange County.

We’re welcoming them to the tsunami zone.

There you go.

Yeah.

But I mean, I just thought that was really bizarre because I mean that, that, I mean, I’ve been to Riviera Country Club many times and that’s surrounding Palisades area there.

Beautiful.

It’s one of the most gorgeous places in the world.

Beautiful. I lived there for about five years. And when we were deciding what, when, where to live to buy our, our second house there, we were looking in the Palisades and we were looking in where we live now. So it wasn’t, it kind of lost a little bit of its charm when Caruso went in and built this village thing, which is like this faux,

And that all burned down, didn’t it?

No, I don’t think it all, I don’t think it did all burn. I think some of it burned, but I don’t think all, he had his own private fire department, fire,

Another one of those USC people. You got to watch out for them.

Best place on earth to live, Culver City, California. Idiot Fred moved when I had a chance to stay there.

We’d be neighbors.

Bad mistake. Hey folks, Fred and the Fantastics will return right after this.

Hey, we’re back on Fred and the Fantastics with a good friend, Laura Snoke, and, Art Sorce, and cousin Andy Baran. And we’re taping this on Thursday afternoon. You can email us at sportsfred@aol.com. USA Today rates next year’s college football teams, and Ohio State on top. But basically, if you look at the top 25, the teams that spend the most through NIL are on the top five or 10. Bottom line, this has to change. I always wanted the kids to get paid, but not like this, you know, $30 to $40,000 a year so they can go out for a dinner or whatever the case might be, but not $9 million and not through a separate company. This has to stop. I think the game is ruined. Laura, your comments.

That certainly isn’t like the old days when you root for your team and you bring out your school colors and, you know. I think what, I think what will probably have to happen is that the athletes are going to have to end up being employees of the schools or of some, the NCAA or some successor because these things have to be controlled. I mean, they can’t just transfer every month and, you know, in order for there to be some cohesion in the rival, I mean, it’s almost like there’s no more school rivalries.

I like what Fred said. One of these games, they’re going to be at halftime, and the tight end is going to come out with a different jersey out of the second half and play against USC when he was playing for UCLA in the first half.

There you go. So, but, you know, I don’t, I don’t see it, I don’t see the money issue changing. I think that’s pretty much going to be here I think,

But the sad part to me,

Andy Baran,

There’s a market for it. People have a right to sell their, you know, their marketability. And if they, if they end up being in an employee relationship where they end up with a contract you know, so they have to play with the same school for two years in exchange for, you know, whatever, like a quote-unquote salary. I don’t know, I’m not, I don’t, I can’t pretend to know, think that I know all the answers, but it is really not a good situation. It has kind of ruined college sports.

Andy Baran, you’re in Connecticut, your comments about what’s happening to collegiate sports.

So at least college football has become a professional sport now, right? I mean, teams are actually hiring general managers, like whoever heard of a general manager for a college football team? And it’s, it, to me, I sort of liken it to, you know, the, the big schools are like the big markets and, and the small schools are like the small markets when you think of other sports, and until something changes, it’s, it’s going to become a handful of teams that have all the best players and are, are going to, are going to win, right?

And, you know, it’s always been like that, hasn’t it? I mean, in a way it’s always been like that because the,

Bluebloods.

The top programs recruit, get the best recruits.

Well, here’s the difference.

I think Alabama, Notre Dame,

SC.

The difference was before the money got involved, kids would choose to play for other schools because they wanted to play. Now there’s money involved, so they’re going to go to whoever pays them the most.

And the amount of money is ridiculous, Andy.

It’s ridiculous.

I mean, these guys, these guys are signing like the wide receiver, all right, Smith for Ohio State. They offered the kid a three-year deal for $13 million. I mean, that’s guaranteed money.

Guys are staying in college because they can make more money than going pro right now.

Thank you.

Right? So that, I mean, that if there’s any good thing that came out of it, that’s maybe the one good thing.

My 11-year veteran from Miami, the tight end, right Fred?

You know, we used to call that, we used to call the, the, the athletes that left early hardship cases.

There’s a kid here in Southern California, caught in the last three years, I think I’m not mistaken, maybe four years, 96 touchdown passes. And he plays defense. He’s made 24 interceptions.

Wow!

He’s a great student. He’s a 4.0 student, right?

Is this a high school kid?

High school. He was going to Princeton. UCLA just bought him off.

It’s no different than that quarterback in Michigan, right? That Michigan bought off. We’re going to keep seeing that.

And I’m a UCLA fanatic growing up, but this has to end. This is crazy. Kid wanted to go to Princeton, an Ivy League school where they don’t pay you, but you get an education and UCLA has got to, I’m sure, you know, my first semester there.

Fred, he’s going to make so much money as a college student he doesn’t need an education anymore.

Exactly.

He doesn’t even need to work when he graduates.

You know, you were talking about general managers in, in, in the college football. Do you know what Mike Lombardi is making as the GM at the University of North Carolina with Bill Belichick?

How much?

1.3 million.

Oh gosh.

Did he ever have a chance to make 1.3 million anywhere doing anything he’s ever done?

We had him on the show a couple of times. But, I know he’s, yeah. I mean, that’s, that’s awesome for him, but I mean, wow, a general manager. I don’t think the AD at North Carolina makes that much money.

You know, I find this rather interesting. We talked about this before. The quarterback at BYU for one more year, Jake Retzlaff

Retzlaff, yeah.

Now you have to understand folks, BYU, Mormon school, there are five Jewish kids on the entire campus. Jake Retzlaff happens to be Jewish. He’s the quarterback. And this is no joke now. He just signed a, he just signed a deal for a couple of million with guess who? Any guess? Manischewitz wine.

Manischewitz, I was, that’s who I was going to guess.

I thought you were going to say some kosher hot dogs or something.

No, Manischewitz wine for a couple of million dollars, come on.

I love it. I love it!

That, this whole thing is totally,

Fred, this show is going to be brought to you by Casa Azul Tequila real soon. So just understand.

I will definitely drink to that. All right, Laura, any final thoughts as we sign off Fred and the Fantastics?

I want to recommend the new documentary on CNN about Kobe. I watched the first episode. It was really great. And it was fun to see film of Kobe in elementary school. There was this great clip of him playing, I think it was an elementary school or junior high, where he just like, he just completely outshined every other player on the court.

Is this when he was living in Italy?

I think it was when he was in Italy.

Yeah, that’s awesome.

It’s really, it’s really a good show, so check it out.

Art Sorce, final comments.

Hey, no football this weekend. I’m looking forward to it. Oh, that’s right, the Pro Bowl is on.

It’s on. You’re not, are you going to watch it?

No, but I will tell you this. And Mark’s not here tonight, we were a hundred percent on the money last week! We said the Eagles in Kansas City.

KC, KC, KC, Andy Baran, final thoughts?

So I’m going to turn to a sport we don’t talk much about, hockey. It’s really exciting right now. If you’re not watching, I thought that I’d never see in my lifetime,

Someone catch Wayne Gretzky from a goal-scoring standpoint. Ovechkin is on the doorstep. And it’s, it’s pretty exciting to watch that because that is one of those all-time records that again, I thought was untouchable and he’s going to get there, and like him or hate him. Whether it’s just good for the sport, I think it’s bringing a lot of attention to the sport that it generally seems to finish behind all the other, you know, behind the big three that are, that are out there.

Let me ask you a question. Which cable system or satellite system do you have?

We have Optimum cable and it’s awful.

Do you pay, do you pay for the premium for all the, uh, hockey?

I don’t, I don’t, um, only because my son at 22 years old has figured out a way to pirate anything he wants to watch.

Good for him. We’ve got to borrow him!

Are there no more ethics involved here?

How do you do it? How do you do it?

Uh, it is, I can’t, I’m not going to say it here cause I’ll probably get in trouble, but there’s different websites. You can take it offline.

We only have about 300,00 fans, so don’t worry about it.

What happens is though, these websites are out there for a while until they get shut down. And then it takes a day or two and another one pops up. And he seems to know where they are. And you know, I, I, I watch all my boxing that way because

I used one of those about four years ago to get college football. And it was great for like the first eight weeks, and then they got onto me and I was done. It was like some, some past West, or it was weird.

I know it’s a Show East.

There you go.

It was Stream East

Yeah. So that’s what it was. They’re not around anymore.

All right.

They keep popping up.

For Mark, who’s not here tonight, for Laura, for Art, for cousin Andy, and of course for Mario. Thank you guys and gals for listening to Fred and the Fantastics.