TupaTalk: Where are sports headed? Not sure. My crystal ball has a blind spot.

I learned a long time ago my crystal ball has a blind spot. Any intimation of prophetic prowess when it came to sports faded after I predicted Ryan Leaf would have a better NFL career than Peyton Manning.

(A misreckoning that my former E-E colleague David Austin kindly reminds me of now and then.)

I learned long ago my opinion is just that — my opinion. But, now and then, even I am bound to stumble into twinklings of worthwhile perception.

In other words, I comprehend the best I can and it’s up to a reader to determine the value of my viewpoint.

I’ve gone the long way around the block to comment on a subject I find troublesome.

More TupaTalk:NIL policy threatens foundation of team sports competition

Recent (within the past few years) decisions regarding commercial payment to high school and college athletes (NILs), expansive transfer portals (on the college level, but also an easing of restrictions in some states regarding the high school level), and a general attitude of rewarding individual performance at the expense of team achievements, there is a kind of growing sports anarchy.

The traditional planks of prep and college athletics — loyalty first to the school and the team, the equal value of each team member in terms of creating the whole, the same rules and expectations for each athlete regardless of ability, the same rewards for each team member in competition, the same commitment to each other and keeping commitments — have been assaulted by the new rules that encourage individual profiteering, and transferring to another college without any restriction.

I’m kind of amazed when comparing the television broadcast coverages of college and pro football.

I’m not even a fan of the nomadic tendencies of many NFL players, made obvious when the TV announcers remark about where other teams where this player or that player belonged to. But, hey, that’s the pros. I might not like all the team switching but its on a paying basis so if the athletes and squads are fine with it, that’s up to them.

But, I’m concerned when I’m listening to college broadcasts with kind of the same tenor — how many athletes played for another college before ending up somewhere else.

That kind of laissez-faire swapping of talent has got to make medium-term or long-term building a competitive program, especially on the upper end of Division I, almost impossible.

For example, having more than one high-quality quarterback is becoming a luxury because the guy who doesn’t start might jump on the transfer portal — and we’ve seen that a bunch — to a program where he believes he’ll have a better chance. Or other athletes might transfer because they think they can get a higher NIL payoff.

If I’m wrong, I’m sorry, but that’s not way to maintain stability and retain the spirit of loyalty and commitment that has made college football such a staple of American culture.

Fans, coaches, financial supporters and other backers should know that the guys who sign as freshmen or as transfers from junior college are going to be there to the end.

Transfer rules shouldn’t allow a kind of stepping-stone system for players to jump ship when the water gets a little rough.

If these transfer rules had been in place at the time of John Paul Jones, the British would have forced his ship the Bonhomme Richard to surrender instead of the other way around.

Anyway, I hope someday the rules will be shorn up again so that transfer comes with a stiff price and that NIL’s are sent to the bottom of the deep blue sea of greed.

I think this trend of sports anarchy is kind of an offshoot of a general growing culture anarchy in America.

More from Tupa:What do sports mean to me?

During my teenage years, I remember the proliferation of pop radio channels. I thought they were great because they exposed millions and millions of Americans of all backgrounds and circumstances to every type of music — soul, R&B, country, easy listening, soft rock, rock, novelty and whatever else.

It was a way to bridge the racial and generational differences in music and appreciate the whole.

We don’t have anything like that today as every music radio station, except for those few featuring oldies, seemed to be specialized to only specific genres.

WE all used to see the same TV shoes and talk about them the next day at school or work, or mostly see the same movies.

Texting, social platforms and emails have made a huge dent in verbal communication, in the joy of hearing the voice of a friend or loved one.

I know technology has changed and impacted our communication habits — some for the better.

But, I also believe we need to find ways to reconnect as a broader culture and to celebrate our common likes and concerns in a respectful and civil way.

Don’t ask me how.

My crystal ball has a blind spot.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Tupa: Why transfer, NIL trend is one I hope goes away