1. The NCAA turns more professional every day- Enough players to fill every roster spot and then some for each Power Five basketball team have entered the transfer portal this offseason. Jaime Edmonds, a sports reporter from Detroit, calculates that there are around 1,000 players in the transfer portal as of now with many more to come. Without a doubt, this offseason will see a record-breaking amount of players deciding to switch teams, leading to more and more disdain for an already-touchy subject for some old-schoolers like Roy Williams. Williams, who recently retired and handed down his position as long-time North Carolina head coach to Hubert Davis, might be the most anti-transfer portal figure to ever live. Some might even argue that he left because of how fed up he was with it. My stance on it is that if you commit to playing basketball somewhere, then you COMMIT yourself to that program and its future.

 

2. An interesting QB situation on the horizon for Chicago- There are plenty of other quarterbacks out there for the Chicago Bears to snatch up, but they could have really used Sam Darnold’s untapped potential. Although his stance as a starting quarterback in the NFL is definitely unknown, I still do not know if there are any other current quarterbacks that still have more room left to grow. With Darnold’s departure to Carolina, Teddy Bridgewater might be already waiting at the airport with his luggage in one hand and his plane ticket to O’Hare in the other. Let’s say Teddy is not interested in the Bears; however, and Ryan Pace is forced to find the Bears’ next starting quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. In that case, Kyle Trask, the 240-pounder from Gainesville, is their best bet based on their position in the draft.

 

3. Hideki Matsuyama’s epic sportsmanship and humility steal the show- Year after year, the Masters nostalgic theme sound pops up on the TV. For most non-golfers, including me, it is the tournament that gives you a craving to pick up some clubs and tell yourself “I can do that.” Sadly, as we all have come to find out, we cannot just “do that.” Nonetheless, the quest for a green jacket down in Augusta never disappoints. It is no secret that I am a person golf fans laugh at because I do not follow the sport at all, but I like to think that I know a little when I sit down on Sunday to watch the final round of Augusta. If anything, I at least had two takeaways from this year’s first major: Bryson DeChambeau’s guns are no match for Augusta, and Hideki Matsuyama’s resilience after his over-aggressive shot into the water on hole 15 was impressive. Plus, Hideki reportedly still shreds up asphalt in a classic soccer mom minivan which warrants him a place among the most down-to-earth golfers around.