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Q: Since there is night racing scheduled at Churchill Downs this summer, any thoughts of running the Kentucky Derby in prime time?

A: This has been the source of much speculation within the industry after Churchill announced recently that it would conduct three nights of racing (June 19, June 26, July 2) during its spring meeting.

Churchill officials maintain that they have no interest in a nighttime Derby. More so than most sports, tradition dies hard in horse racing. And it's not as if the Derby is struggling. More than 157,000 people showed up for last year's race.

But I'm not as quick to dismiss the idea of a prime time Derby. Television – stop me if you've heard this before – will make the final decision. If NBC went to Churchill officials and said, "We'd love to put the race in prime time – and we'll give you X-amount of dollars to do it" – the track would have a hard time saying no. Since NBC took over the broadcast rights, the network has pushed back the post time nearly an hour to 5:24 p.m. Why wouldn't they consider pushing it back another 90 minutes into prime time?

Q: When do individual game tickets go on sale for Illinois football?

A: Single game tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. on July 23. Tickets can be purchased online at fightingillini.com, at the school's ticket office or by calling 1-866-ILLINI-1.

Q: New coach Jim Heffernan vs. former coach Mark Johnson: Who wins if they wrestle?

A: How can you go against Johnson? He was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Heffernan was an NCAA champion and four-time All-American at Iowa, so you're talking about a great matchup. But Johnson might have won a gold medal; we'll never know because of the Olympic boycott in '80.

Q: Restrictor plate racing in NASCAR: Good or evil?

A: I've never quite understood all the venom expressed by the anti-plate crowd.

I understand the argument. Restrictor plates don't always make the sport safer, as their proponents like to say. Because they reduce speeds, plates bring the field closer together and that tight-pack racing can be almost as dangerous as non-plate racing.

In all, though, I don't necessarily think restrictor plates have been a bad thing for the sport.

There are legitimate safety reasons that the plates are in place, most of them revolving around the reduced speeds that can prevent terrifying crashes.

Q: Let's say Ebertfest finally includes a sports movie in 2010. What's your choice?

A: I can only narrow it down to three.

First up is "Hoop Dreams," which has to be one of the best sports documentaries ever produced. Its Academy Awards snub will go down as one of the greatest injustices in the history of the awards.

Second is "Million Dollar Baby," the Clint Eastwood special which examines a number of issues that transcend sport.

Third is "When We Were Kings," the superb 1996 chronicle of the Muhammed Ali-George Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle."

Of those three, I'm guessing the latter would be the most likely selection by Ebert.