Bolder
1. The U.S. World Cup Team will make it out of the group stage this year and win their Round of 16 game.
One of my biggest beefs with soccer is that no one in America gives a shit about it when we (a nation with the largest entertainment and sports bankrolls) clearly should. I mean, we don't care as Americans because corporate sponsors can't get as much ad time with soccer as they can with baseball or football. So of course, they have coverage of all but the most important games assassinated so Americans will stick to sports where we can get bombarded with commercial breaks. Sorry, did I say that my beef was that no one cares? I meant that we aren't given a chance to care. This is why Nascar is covered on ESPN and MLS and EPL are barely covered at all.
Nascar. When the advertising in commercial breaks just isn't enough.
"Why are they calling him Ben? Isn't his name Henry Gale? Is this Ben guy his twin? Oh my gosh! He shot that bald guy! Why did he do that? What are all those bodies in the hole with the bald guy? What's his name again? Why aren't you talking to me? Do we have any snacks? Why do you guys even watch this show anyway? Can we do something besides watch this? Who is that kid talking to the shot bald guy? Why are you ignoring me?"
I guess my whole point here is that I think the US team will do really well this year I want as many supporters as possible behind them. Landon Donovan looked masterful in the last friendly match against Turkey. Clint Dempsey is making good breaks and looks like he will have a great world cup. Oguchi Onyewu is back and should be good for some critical defense. Most importantly, the US looks to be working very well as a unit. Let's not forget that during the last world cup the only team that the champion Italians didn't beat was the US, whom they tied. I predict them to not only make it out of their group along with England, but to win their first round of 16 game. Which will likely be against a strong German team. Frankly, I think we match up well (they will be without star midfielder Michael Ballack) and I really hope that everyone will watch the US-England match, in particular.
Bottom Line: The US will likely tie or lose to England, but will beat Algeria, Slovenia, and their Round of 16 opponent. (Probably Germany.)
2. The New York Mets will make the playoffs this year.
On second thought, I really should have put this in the 'Boldest' section of my predictions. But I'm not going to. Why? Because it's my blog and I want to write this right now while I can remember how I'm justifying this prediction.
When one thinks of tortured teams in the past few years, it's hard to think of a team that underachieves or collapses more horrifically than the New York Mets. The Mets perpetually have one of the highest bankrolls in baseball, not to mention some of the best young talent, yet still find themselves doing things like blowing a 7 game division lead with 17 games to go. The Mets also have the misfortune of sharing a city with the most successful franchise of any major professional sport in the New York Yankees, whom have won a over a quarter of all the World Series ever played. As far as getting a fan base is concerned, this is like trying to get a date to the prom when your older sister looks like Scarlett Johansson and has a reputation for putting out.
The Mets prom date fan base bailed to get head from the Yankees at the drive in movie theater. The Mets decide to stay true to themselves from now on and not "slut it up" with things like "decent pitching" just to get fans.
Bottom Line: The US will likely tie or lose to England, but will beat Algeria, Slovenia, and their Round of 16 opponent. (Probably Germany.)
2. The New York Mets will make the playoffs this year.
On second thought, I really should have put this in the 'Boldest' section of my predictions. But I'm not going to. Why? Because it's my blog and I want to write this right now while I can remember how I'm justifying this prediction.
When one thinks of tortured teams in the past few years, it's hard to think of a team that underachieves or collapses more horrifically than the New York Mets. The Mets perpetually have one of the highest bankrolls in baseball, not to mention some of the best young talent, yet still find themselves doing things like blowing a 7 game division lead with 17 games to go. The Mets also have the misfortune of sharing a city with the most successful franchise of any major professional sport in the New York Yankees, whom have won a over a quarter of all the World Series ever played. As far as getting a fan base is concerned, this is like trying to get a date to the prom when your older sister looks like Scarlett Johansson and has a reputation for putting out.
The Mets prom date fan base bailed to get head from the Yankees at the drive in movie theater. The Mets decide to stay true to themselves from now on and not "slut it up" with things like "decent pitching" just to get fans.
With the Phillies recent success (A world series and two straight NL titles) and the emergence of the Braves and Nationals this year, the outlook is bleak for the Mets faithful.
And yet...
And yet, I can't shake the feeling that this Mets team has a trick up its sleeve. That this Mets team will somehow actually overachieve and grab a playoff spot. That despite the spotty pitching and tough division, this years Mets will actually reward their fan base instead of kicking them in the balls.
"Well that's great, Sam," you all must be saying, "but what evidence and reasoning do you have for this?" The answer is none whatsoever. Everything from statistics to history points to this Mets team finishing 3rd or 4th in their division, let alone having the necessary record to grab a Wild-Card spot. So this is a big leap of faith on gut instinct, but I just think that this Mets team is due. Once they talk Oliver Perez into returning to the minors, things should get better.
"Wait a minute, Sam. You already predicted that three of D.C.'s four major teams would make the playoffs. So unless you are counting on the Nationals to be the team that doesn't, that would mean that you are saying that the Nationals and Mets are both making the playoffs. That means... *GASP*"
...That I'm saying the Phillies won't make the playoffs. Looking at this again, this prediction really does belong in the 'Boldest' post I'm going to write. I guess if you see a prediction in the 'Boldest' section that you don't think is bold enough, you can switch it with this one. I'm not going to come out and say the Phillies won't make the playoffs, (After all, I have stand by that Roy Halladay is the pitcher of this generation and adding him to an NL champion team shouldn't equal "miss the playoffs") but I will say that I think that the NL East is a much tougher division than it was last year.
I do however stand by the fact that the Phanatic blows Mr. Met out of the water.
Bottom Line: The Mets redeem themselves by snagging a playoff berth this year. Mets fans briefly rally behind this before a terribly crushing NLDS loss.
3. The New York Jets are the only team that can stop the NFC Superbowl domination that is on the horizon.
If you took the hour to listen to my football podcast, you know that I am of the opinion that the last decade was one dominated by the AFC. More specifically, the Patriots, Colts, and Steelers and their struggle for the AFC title. With the exception of the Raiders loss to the Bucs (weak year for the AFC) and the Giants upset of the Patriots (the single biggest upset of the decade), the AFC has controlled the Lombardi Trophy. That was until the Saints marched into Miami and thrashed the favored Colts team 31-17. This came after a 13-3 regular season that saw the Saints embarrass the Patriots in a fashion that hadn't been seen in the Brady era and march to 4-0 interconference record against the tough AFC East. Likewise, the Vikings put up a 3-1 record against the AFC North, a division with three "over .500" teams.
What does this mean? This means the NFC teams, which are getting better, are about to take the reigns on this decade's titles. With Peyton's team now shattered by their Superbowl loss, (unless you are the Broncos, Vikings, or Bills, you don't get back to the Superbowl after losing it. Even if you do, you still lose again.) the Patriots mired by Bill Belichick's determination to try to win with players who belong in a retirement home, and the Roethlisberger raping (literally) the Steelers out of serious contention, the AFC is suddenly a shadow of itself.
And yet...
And yet, I can't shake the feeling that this Mets team has a trick up its sleeve. That this Mets team will somehow actually overachieve and grab a playoff spot. That despite the spotty pitching and tough division, this years Mets will actually reward their fan base instead of kicking them in the balls.
"Well that's great, Sam," you all must be saying, "but what evidence and reasoning do you have for this?" The answer is none whatsoever. Everything from statistics to history points to this Mets team finishing 3rd or 4th in their division, let alone having the necessary record to grab a Wild-Card spot. So this is a big leap of faith on gut instinct, but I just think that this Mets team is due. Once they talk Oliver Perez into returning to the minors, things should get better.
"Wait a minute, Sam. You already predicted that three of D.C.'s four major teams would make the playoffs. So unless you are counting on the Nationals to be the team that doesn't, that would mean that you are saying that the Nationals and Mets are both making the playoffs. That means... *GASP*"
...That I'm saying the Phillies won't make the playoffs. Looking at this again, this prediction really does belong in the 'Boldest' post I'm going to write. I guess if you see a prediction in the 'Boldest' section that you don't think is bold enough, you can switch it with this one. I'm not going to come out and say the Phillies won't make the playoffs, (After all, I have stand by that Roy Halladay is the pitcher of this generation and adding him to an NL champion team shouldn't equal "miss the playoffs") but I will say that I think that the NL East is a much tougher division than it was last year.
I do however stand by the fact that the Phanatic blows Mr. Met out of the water.
Bottom Line: The Mets redeem themselves by snagging a playoff berth this year. Mets fans briefly rally behind this before a terribly crushing NLDS loss.
3. The New York Jets are the only team that can stop the NFC Superbowl domination that is on the horizon.
If you took the hour to listen to my football podcast, you know that I am of the opinion that the last decade was one dominated by the AFC. More specifically, the Patriots, Colts, and Steelers and their struggle for the AFC title. With the exception of the Raiders loss to the Bucs (weak year for the AFC) and the Giants upset of the Patriots (the single biggest upset of the decade), the AFC has controlled the Lombardi Trophy. That was until the Saints marched into Miami and thrashed the favored Colts team 31-17. This came after a 13-3 regular season that saw the Saints embarrass the Patriots in a fashion that hadn't been seen in the Brady era and march to 4-0 interconference record against the tough AFC East. Likewise, the Vikings put up a 3-1 record against the AFC North, a division with three "over .500" teams.
What does this mean? This means the NFC teams, which are getting better, are about to take the reigns on this decade's titles. With Peyton's team now shattered by their Superbowl loss, (unless you are the Broncos, Vikings, or Bills, you don't get back to the Superbowl after losing it. Even if you do, you still lose again.) the Patriots mired by Bill Belichick's determination to try to win with players who belong in a retirement home, and the Roethlisberger raping (literally) the Steelers out of serious contention, the AFC is suddenly a shadow of itself.
Roethlisberger has already had to attend a behavioral evaluation after he ate his trainer at Sea World.
The Chargers have proven that they can't handle the clutch as a team. The Ravens are a combination of too old and too young. The Broncos were revealed as "pretenders" last year. The Bengals won't be good enough to get past the rest of the AFC teams I've mentioned. So who does that leave? The New York Jets.
Behold, AFC fans. Your knight in shining armor.
Behold, AFC fans. Your knight in shining armor.
As a Patriots fan, this is enormously hard for me to say, so bear with me. The Jets are simply the team with the most talent, the most playoff experience, and the can-do attitude to really be contenders. It starts with their defense and lock down passing defense headlined by Darrelle Revis. As history tells us in the NFL, defense win championships. The Jets have that defense. They were a young team last year, and are now a year matured. They grabbed experienced veterans like LT and Jason Taylor to balance out their youth. Now with talented (albeit troublesome) players like Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes padding this already great team, it just seems like their time.
The Jets really are the only team I can see beating the Saints, Vikings, Cowboys, or whoever emerges on the NFC side of things. Though I'm reluctant to say Saints (I'm a believer in championship hangovers), I think they are too talented a team to fade into obscurity, particularly if they can sneak past the Vikings in that early match up. Brees and Payton will keep them focused, and I see a Saints-Jets match-up in the 2011 Superbowl. The question is, will the Saints establish the NFC as this decade's conference, or will the Jets defend the AFC tradition of the 2000s?
Bottom Line: The Jets will win the AFC this year and will play the Saints in a match up that is going to shape conference dominance for the next decade.
The Jets really are the only team I can see beating the Saints, Vikings, Cowboys, or whoever emerges on the NFC side of things. Though I'm reluctant to say Saints (I'm a believer in championship hangovers), I think they are too talented a team to fade into obscurity, particularly if they can sneak past the Vikings in that early match up. Brees and Payton will keep them focused, and I see a Saints-Jets match-up in the 2011 Superbowl. The question is, will the Saints establish the NFC as this decade's conference, or will the Jets defend the AFC tradition of the 2000s?
Bottom Line: The Jets will win the AFC this year and will play the Saints in a match up that is going to shape conference dominance for the next decade.
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