Got one of my two picks in the last round right, so this last prediction determines whether I finish with a record over .500 for the playoffs. I have no complaints about either of the two teams we ended up with, so I'm mostly just grateful that I won't be spending the next week aggressively rooting against one club or the other. Both teams have had pretty compelling postseason runs, what with Cleveland's bullpen dominating the American League and the young Cubs stars shining and seemingly oblivious to the omens of the club's past failures. In Francona and Maddon, we're also likely to get some very entertaining strategies employed throughout the series. Of course, the one thing that we're going to be bludgeoned to death with is the fact that neither of these teams has won a World Series in roughly 5,000 years. I might be a bit off with that figure, but you get the idea. There will indeed be a level of celebration in one of these cities that hasn't been seen in some time. Well, since June in Cleveland's case. On paper, this one has the potential to be a classic.
Well, I got only one of my four predicted winners in the division series correct, and the only series that went five games was the only one I did not predict to go five games. So after nailing the wild card round, I'm now 3-3 in predictions this postseason. I think it's safe to say that my predictions are often based on a rooting interest. I picked Orlando to beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals a few years ago, for Christ's sake. That said, it was something of a relief to me to be wrong about a couple of the series in the last round—notably the idea of another San Francisco or Boston championship did not particularly excite me. We're probably going to now hear a lot about how fans for the four remaining teams are, to some degree, "long-suffering." Since I've seen half of these teams win title in my lifetime (in the case of the Blue Jays, more than once), I think the droughts for the other two clubs are far more significant. So if nothing else, I should be grateful that I won't have to see the Red Sox or the Giants celebrating on a field again in a few weeks (all this coming from a guy who is actively hoping that the Chicago Blackhawks can raise the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in eight years next June, so who am I crapping?).
I got the winners of both of the Wild Card games correct, but I'm not entering this round of the playoffs with any additional confidence—even though we have the exact matchups in the National League that I predicted before the season began. So I'm sitting here now wondering how committed I should remain to all of my predictions, seeing as three of my "final four" teams are still alive. On a personal note, I'm happy that thus far, the wife's decision to cut the cord in our home hasn't made it completely impossible to follow the baseball playoffs. So thank you for that, internet. Each one of the four upcoming series has their own fascinating elements, although I think a lot of attention is already being given to the potential intensity between the Blue Jays and Rangers after last year's meeting and what happened the last time they met this season. Oh, and I guess the Cubs potentially winning a World Series might be kind of a big deal. And yet another title for Boston would be quite an achievement. Anyway, let's see if I stick to my guns or if I'm having some second thoughts about what I said in April.
Looking back at my predictions from the beginning of the year, I guess I should have known the popular Astros pick was going to falter. But, hey, my predicted world champion is still alive! Actually, most of my National League playoff bracket looks pretty good (and even St. Louis only barely missed out), while the American League ... not so much. Overall, I had a dozen out of the 30 teams' final standings correct, which doesn't sound terribly impressive but I'm willing to bet is probably better than I've done in this sport in most recent years (I'd go back to look up and compare, but as I recently noted, I'm waiting until I'm a really, really old man to do that one day). I still have the nagging suspicion that my initial beliefs about what team wins it all this year could very well be correct, but I'm similarly worried that either the Red Sox (who've already won three titles this century) or the Dodgers (who I simply loathe for no real reason) could end up as champions. Of course, the Cubs finished the regular season with the best record, and my family's little trip to Chicago at the end of October may end up coinciding with possible World Series games at Wrigley Field. That could be quite a weekend, but the truth remains that at the moment, there's 10 teams that still have chances and, if nothing else, baseball has taught us that a team that gets hot at the right time could very well end up winning it all, regardless of what they did in the regular season. Two teams are going to be eliminated over the next two nights, so allow me to guess which pair is moving on.
Similar to about a month ago when I was making my NFL "predictions," I'm once again finding it hard to muster the energy to upload and organize a bunch of logos as part of my full season of predicted finished for the teams of the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association (even though neither season begins for more than a week). So, once again, I'll be limiting my thoughts for both sports to just a few sentences. We'll start with the NBA where there's not usually much in the way of surprises (although I must admit that Game 7 of last year's Finals was one of if not the best deciding title game of any sport I've ever seen). I'll go with the presumable masses picking the Golden State Warriors to regain the Larry O'Brien Trophy, presumably beating the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think both of those teams will win their respective divisions, with Miami, Boston, San Antonio, and Minnesota also winning divisions. The remaining playoff teams will be the Clippers, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, and Jazz in the West, and the Raptors, Hawks, Bulls, Pistons, and Knicks in the East. The NHL is much trickier, but I'm going to go with the Tampa Bay Lightning over the presumably very popular Nashville Predators in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. While I think Tampa will win the Atlantic, I am going to say Minnesota wins the Central, Washington takes the Metropolitan, and Los Angeles takes the Pacific. The other playoff teams will be Chicago, St. Louis, San Jose, Anaheim, and Dallas in the West (so basically the same eight teams as last year—what could go wrong?), as well as Boston, Florida, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and both New York teams, the Rangers and the Islanders, in the East.
Well, we've reached that annual point where I return to trying to post a blog entry here after several months off and it's, of course, another series of pre-season predictions about what I expect to occur in the forthcoming NFL season. Just last year I debated ceasing these predictions (NBA and NHL seasons will begin shortly hereafter as well), and I guess I've finally arrived at the point at which I will do just that. We're leaving for Disney World tomorrow night (*groan* Orlando *groan*) and will be gone for an entire week, meaning I likely will not be in front of a computer again before the football season kicks off next Thursday. Rest assured that I will not have enough time to fully, um, "research" and lay out another year of predicted football finishes. While I'm convinced that I've only continued to post sports predictions every year as part of some grand plan to one day reflect on my overall record when I'm old, gray, and retired with nothing to do other than compile meaningless statistics for my own amusement, I'm going to take my chances of ruining that all and not laying out all the little helmets and predicted finishes this year. I will say that my predicted division winners will be, oh, the Patriots (of course), Steelers, Jaguars (!!!), Chiefs, Cowboys, Packers, Panthers, and Cardinals. I suppose the Wild Card teams will be ... the Jets, Bengals, Giants, and Seahawks. I will go with New England beating Pittsburgh and Green Bay beating Arizona in the two championship games before we get the Patriots (I think Martellus Bennett and Rob Gronkowski are going to be a lethal combo) topping the Packers in Super Bowl LI. The nation then mourns another year of annoying Boston fans being annoying Boston fans. I reserve the right to revise and add the helmets and full set of predictions later on, but I wouldn't count on it. For the most part, I really do need a vacation—even though my "blogging" here would lead the average reader to believe I've been on vacation.
To the surprise of very few people, we have ended up with a rematch of last year's NBA Finals. Cleveland was expected before the year even began to come out of the East and Golden State has been the assumed favorite to repeat after a regular season campaign that saw the team win a record 73 games. I remember how when Oklahoma City met Miami in the Finals a few years I speculated that the series could mark the beginning of a rivalry that could last several years. Instead, it was the only time the two teams met in the Finals. Dare I say the same thing now about the Cavs and the Dubs? By having a second meeting, the series is already one more than the Heat-Thunder matchup. What we do know is that there's no shortage of compelling interests in this Finals matchup. While I initially thought that most people would be pulling for the long-deprived city of Cleveland in this series, sentiments expressed on sports radio and have proven that there is still no shortage of hate for LeBron James. I found that somewhat shocking, although I really shouldn't be surprised if a number of people now identify themselves as Warriors fans. Getting both games right last round brought me to 11-3 in these playoffs. Unlike the playoffs in the NHL, there are very rarely surprises in the NBA Playoffs. That said, the last round marked another increase in my personal viewing as the Western Conference Finals largely proved to be the most must-see stuff we've gotten in these playoffs. I'm guessing that I'll be making it a point to try and take in most of the remaining games in this basketball season.
Got one series exactly right last round and erred on the other, leaving us with a Cup Final that's quite intriguing. Both of these teams have been picked by experts (and even non-experts like yours truly) in years past to hoist Lord Stanley, only to end up (2009 aside for Pittsburgh) coming up short. I can find reasons to be happy for either team here, but I'm largely rooting for the Sharks because that's the team without a single Cup win and numerous players deserving of having their names etched on it. For San Jose, this could very well likely be the last chance for many of the the team's players while I've got every reason to believe many Penguins will be back and contend again next year. Both goaltenders have been good, but I wouldn't call either unbeatable. Pittsburgh's forwards have been aggressive on the forecheck, but the Sharks have sparkled on the power play. I'm going back and forth as I type this, debating whether I side with what I believe is the probable favorite (the Penguins) or going with the team I'll actually be rooting for (San Jose). At 8-6 so far in these playoffs, it's not like I've got a perfect predictions mark on the line. So ...
Guess I can't blame any injuries on my incorrect guesses last round, as I only got two of the four series right. That brings me to 9-3 thus far in the playoffs with four of the series predicted in the right number of games. I did watch more of the second round than I did the first, and it seems likely that I'll probably find reason to watch even more in the conference finals. Well, in the West, at least. While the first round was something of a formality with a few competitive (but still pretty bad) series sprinkled in, the second round finally gave us the first compelling series with the otherwise favored Spurs being knocked off by the much more dangerous Thunder. We'll get what could possibly be another close series in the Western Conference, but the year indeed seems to be shaping up to live up to the subtitle of my pre-season NBA predictions post. Maybe we'll get some surprises this round, but my guess is that the best will not come until the last series of the year. And maybe that's exactly as it should be, seeing as I (and many others) had been thinking that a Golden State-San Antonio series this round (which obviously isn't happening) should have been the Finals.
I got three of my four second round predictions right, bringing my total for the playoffs to 7-5 with two series finally called in the correct number of games. So I'm above .500. While the Eastern Conference features the defending conference champion taking on a team that won a Stanley Cup seven years ago, the Western Conference features two perennially underachieving clubs that have routinely disappointed their fans. One team will finally break through and reach the Cup Final. Aside from maybe the Penguins, I don't think league executives are particularly excited about what any of these teams are going to do as far as bringing eyes to television sets. While people inclined to watch any kind of postseason hockey regardless of whom is involved (such as, you know, myself) can find reasons to be intrigued by the possibilities, I doubt the same can be said for most casual observers around the country. Both series this round have clear potential to be tightly fought contests that go the full maximum number of games, so perhaps there's a chance that highly-entertaining games lead to increased interest from the general public. Somehow, I doubt it though. Not when you've got a record-breaking NBA team and LeBron possibly about to meet over in the other league.
Well, I've gotten all five of the series completed thus far from the last round correct, but I'm not too optimistic about getting all eight right again this year. Injuries have essentially decimated the Clippers (that and the Steph Curry injury being the inspiration for the subtitle here, which was used three years ago) and the Heat are currently one game away from elimination. And Toronto will always be Toronto, so all bets are off there. This is what I get for playing the favorites though. All of that said, there's little reason not to continue playing the favorites. I've caught occasional moments of the NBA Playoffs thus far, as the first round was deemed as rarely being worth my time. Things are bound to get more competitive now (in some of the series in this round). The second round will begin this weekend although only two of the four series have been determined. So much like my recent NHL picks, I'm going to have to update my picks later. In one series, I'm going to have to wait until we know any of the four possible participants. Again, I really don't see myself taking in a full basketball game until the Western Conference Finals, but the Spurs-Thunder series certainly has potential to be the first really great one of these playoffs.
It is, of course, sad times around these parts as I've been forced to convert the image of Jonathan Toews to the film grain black and white tone after the elimination of the defending champion Blackhawks. First-round exits aren't exactly unprecedented for this team, but we fans have come to expect having rooting interests in games well into May and usually June. And Lord knows everybody has come to expect the Blues to choke away series leads. Instead, the season has ended in April. And my predicted champion this year was also eliminated. As it currently stands, I've gotten half of my picks in the last round right. The total might increase to five if Anaheim does not piss away a Game 7 at home for once. It seems that in years past, the second round did not begin until the first was completely over. Yet the first series of the conference semifinals will begin even before the puck drops on the final game of the opening round tonight. So I'll have to revise this graphic later on. For the time being, I'm still adjusting to the possibility that a team other than Chicago or Los Angeles will be hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup this June. Part of me is inclined to believe that an Eastern Conference team is going to once again take advantage and emerge victorious in the Final, but another part of me is legitimately fearful that maybe the Blues really have finally put it all together this year. And then another part of me is simply rooting for the Sharks. Because that would be hysterical.
My NBA pre-season predictions were once again more accurate than my NHL ones, as I got 11 of the 30 teams in their correct final spots in the standings for the second straight year. I also correctly identified 11 of the 16 playoff teams (five in the East and six in the West). My predicted Finals is still alive, and I'm feeling pretty confident that I was right about which four teams in the Western Conference will be advancing in this round. As is what always seems to be the case with the NBA Playoffs predictions, I see no point in not playing it safe as there is usually very little in the way of surprises in basketball. Hell, after a 73-9 season, I've seen only one observer thus far who isn't picking the Warriors to repeat as champions in June. Like many others, I clearly overestimated the Bulls this year—but I'm fairly relieved that I will not have to endure any further embarrassing displays from that garbage fire this season, In all likelihood, there's maybe two suspenseful series in this round (involving four teams in the Eastern Conference that all finished with the same record). Last year was the first year I can remember ever going a perfect eight for eight in opening round predictions (NBA or NHL), and I kind of like my chances of doing that again this year. However, my pick of the Clippers over the Spurs last season was something of an upset that came to pass and I'm not really about to pick anything outside of popular opinion this time around.
As is so often the case when the Stanley Sup Playoffs begin, I get to look back on my preseason predictions and basically make everything red. For the second straight year, a mere five of the teams in their correct spots in the final standings—although I has the top three teams in the Central and the Metropolitan right, just in the wrong order. I correctly guessed seven of the eight Western Conference playoff teams, but only five of the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I originally entered that predicted Lightning opponent as "Red Blue Jackets," which I'm assuming was intended to be Columbus and not Detroit—even though the Wings would've counted as another correct guess.) At least both of my final two teams are still alive this year—although both seem rather vulnerable from the outset. While I'll certainly be rooting for the Blackhawks to repeat and win a fourth Cup in seven seasons, the team's defense is still somewhat of a concern. Of course, the most pressing issue this year may be how much hockey I get to watch. The hope is that holding a sleeping child while watching late-night playoff games goes over well with the wife, but the child's newfound love of the kid's apps on my phone could pose problems if I'm forced to rely on the NBC Sports app. I'm fairly confident I'll find one way or another to watch as much hockey as I can consume, and I'm expecting surprises along the way.
Let me just begin by saying that I really have no idea. I didn't do so well on my baseball picks last year, and probably haven't done well since I don't know, 2004. So there's nothing this year that makes me feel especially confident about what I'm about to forecast. I'm immediately skeptical because of the number of people picking the Cubs to win the World Series this year—a bad sign if there ever was one. Still, the Cubs are deserving favorites in the National League, although there's certainly any number of possible contenders. The American League, on the other hand, strikes me as being fairly wide open. I don't particularly like any of the teams to win their respective divisions, so I'm sort of of holding my nose as I post those picks. Anyway, as is so often the case with these beginning of the year predictions, I'm pressed for time and will be forgoing commentary for each division. Not that I would have offered anything terribly insightful.
As was probably evidenced by lack of a set of predictions for the nominations announcement this year, I have once again paid little mind to this year's Oscar race. I guess the show is Sunday. And this year will mark the first time in, what, eight years since I haven't posted a full set of predictions? Judging by the pretty much total consensus about winners in the "Big Eight" categories, I might regret that as this seems like it could be a pretty good year to bulk up on that scoring total I used to keep. But in all honesty, my late lunch break is almost over and I'm just not going to get the time this weekend. So I'll just go on record as saying that like pretty much everybody else, I'm expecting The Revenant to win Best Picture, Alejandro G. Iñárritu to win again for Directing, Leonardo DiCaprio for Lead Actor, Brie Larson for Lead Actress, Sylvester Stallone for Supporting Actor, Alicia Vikander for Supporting Actress, Spotlight for Original Screenplay, and The Big Short for Adapted Screenplay. If that were in order of confidence, it would probably be the two male actors, the two female actresses, the screenplays, and then the director and the film. Voila.
I guess it figures that after I began this NFL season by boasting about how I correctly predicted the Patriots would win the Super Bowl last year, this season ends with two teams that I did not even have making the playoffs. I also guess that I can't complain too much because I could realistically find reason to be happy with either club winning. Chances seem good that we're going to hear at least one mention that current Bears head coach John Fox was the man who preceded the current head coaches for both of these teams. Fox took both the Panthers and the Broncos to Super Bowls, but still has yet to win one. So there may be some lingering concern during any dropping of his name that Chicago could build a content but will need somebody new to get over the hump. While I admire the job Ron Rivera has done in turning Carolina into something of a juggernaut this year, it's hard for me to really give too much credit to Gary Kubiak. The man essentially inherited a future Hall of Fame quarterback (admittedly in the twilight of his career) and perhaps the best defense in the league. Mostly, I just loathe John Elway's dismissal of Fox (as well as his recent justification for doing so). So my rooting interest lies more or less with the team that, of course, is coached by a former Bear and has multiple former Bear players on its roster.
I once again got three games I was most confident about out of the four total last weekend, bringing me to a six out of eight mark on the entire playoffs. Last weekend was also somewhat sad for me because it more or less marked the end to any updates to my beginning-of-the-year picks, as I had all four of these remaining teams eliminated before this current round. What we're left with provides for some fairly compelling storylines. On one side is the umpteenth chapter of the Brady-Manning era, and probably the game I'm least excited for—partly because of the "been there, done that" feel to having either one of these quarterbacks get to the Super Bowl and partly because I'm still bitter that I thought both teams were going to falter before getting to the big game. Now one will move on. There's much discussion about this possibly being Peyton's last game, but forgive me for not buying it. Hell, I might as well make Patriots-whoever Manning is playing for my AFC Championship pick next year. On the other side of the bracket are two teams from cities (or states, I guess) that have yet to taste championship glory. Cam Newton and Carson Palmer have both had stellar seasons, and there's very good reason to believe that both of these teams have the potential to be making regular appearances in this game over the coming seasons. Of course, the last time I remember saying that was when we had a Thunder-Heat NBA Finals—the only such meeting we've had since. So maybe I should cool my jets a bit. The bottom line is that we've gone from playoffs that began with fairly obvious outcomes to now having any one of the four remaining Super Bowl possibilities seem quite realistic.
I got three of the four game right last weekend, thinking that at least one of the home teams was going to have to win. Just one. Right? Wrong. Not only did the Packers seemingly return to ass-kicking form, but it was tremendously amusing to see the fired up fans in Houston taken out of the game on the opening kickoff. There were but few real highlights or great games last weekend, but we now seem to be at a point where we're much more likely to get high quality football from here on out. In one conference, we could be looking at yet another chapter in the Brady-Manning rivalry next weekend. In the other conference, the top two seeds that have been debated as being the best all year long are also shaping up for a showdown. And then, of course, there is the very realistic possibility that any of the four others could pull off upsets lead to continued Cinderella runs. Considering how awful my picks were at the beginning of the year, I'm a bit shocked to see that we could end up with three of the four teams I had in the conference championship round still alive. Surely, I'll have to pick all three of those teams in an effort to look good. Right? Wrong.
Well, looks like we already know I won't be right about the predicted Super Bowl winner this year. Hell, I wasn't right about much at all. But hey, the Colts that so many people picked to get to the Super Bowl didn't make the playoffs either. I only had one of the eight division winners right this year (must be a record low) and a mere eight of the 32 teams in the correct final standing spot with and absolutely no divisions perfectly predicted but two divisions in which I got none of the four teams right. Additionally, I only had half of this year's playoff teams right, with my seeding of the Patriots being second the only correct call.
So all in all, a pretty awful year thus far. Putting on my fan's hat perspective for a second, I was somewhat able to relax and enjoy games more this year by declining to participate in any fantasy football leagues. Not once did I regret that decision. While I did download the DraftKings and FanDuel apps, I've never made my initial deposit to play either—and the recent scandal didn't do much to make me reconsider either. The John Oliver segment on fantasy sports was, of course, brilliant:
I say "somewhat able to relax" because there's never any real moment of pure relaxation in our home now that the child is 19 months old and walking, climbing, and just generally causing trouble every hour of the day she isn't asleep. I don't know how much time I'll actually be able to dedicate to the playoffs, but here's to hoping for the best.
