2016 Oscar Predictions: But Not Really

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.

Super Bowl L / Super Bowl 50 Pick: In Which John Fox Becomes the NFL's Buck Showalter

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.

Conference Championship Picks: End of One Era, Beginning of Another?

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.

Divisional Playoff Picks: Now That We Got Rid of Those Losers ...

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.

Wild Card Picks: So Many Teams "Nobody Wants to Play"

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.

2015-16 NBA Predictions: Who You Got Playing Cleveland in the Finals?

We've arrived at my third set of pre-season predictions, and (if 2014 was any indication) presumably my last post of 2015. In looking over picks elsewhere on the web, I've noticed two things:

1. Most sites are limiting predictions just to which two teams will be playing in the NBA Finals this June (maybe I should really start considering that); and
2. Every single person has the Cavaliers winning the Eastern Conference.

I'm not going to be one to argue with that last belief, seeing as LeBron managed to carry the team to the Finals last season even after Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving fell to injuries. There's not much reason to believe that won't happen again this year.

The West, however, is once again wide open with possibilities. A person could pick any one of four or five teams and have a reasonable argument as to why that team will win a title.

I guess NBA fans could probably use the basketball starting, what with the recent near-death experience of Lamar Odom and now the unfortunate passing of Flip Saunders. I really didn't have time to do up any special graphic for these picks, so I instead offer that softened photo of a man everybody generally seemed to regard as a good guy.

2015 World Series Prediction: You're Gonna See Some Serious Shit

Alas, my perfect prediction record finally ended with an NLCS result that was nearly the complete opposite of what I had forecasted in the last round. Hey, but my ALCS prediction was right on, so that puts me at 7-1 this postseason with three series predicted in the correct number of games.

We've arrived at a finale that is the first World Series ever between two post-1960s expansion teams. Of course, the story all year long has been the possible Back to the Future correlation of 2015. With the Cubs now gone, we're looking at the team that possibly winning the Series being the team that last won it the year that film was released. The other outcome would be the team that hasn't won a Series since the following year.

Oddly enough, this series also beings on October 27—the exact same date that both of these teams last won those World Series in their respective years of 1985 and 1986. If this series goes the full seven games, the November 4 finale would match the record for latest closing act ever.

I don't really know what kind of TV ratings this World Series will garner (I mean, there is a New York team here), but I'm hopeful that we're going to get one really exciting finale. 

2015 League Championship Series Predictions: Droughts Shall End

It indeed seems like something of a rarity to be this far into the playoffs without a Yankees or Red Sox on one side of the bracket and a Cardinals or Giants on the other. Nope, this year we'll be getting a world champion that hasn't last won a Series in at least 22 years.

Last time each team in the final four won a World Series: #BlueJays: 1993 #Cubs: 1908 #Royals: 1985 #Mets: 1986

— Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayBBE) October 16, 2015

With these kinds of droughts, we should also get some pretty thrilling settings for the remaining games—seeing as the fans in attendance will be quite worked up. I expect a similar level of enthusiasm from most players too, especially now that Jose Bautista's celebratory bat flip in the last round got so many people worked up.

Anyway, I don't really have too much of an issue with any of the remaining teams (Toronto probably ranks lowest on teams I'd want to see win it all since their 1992 title came at the expense of my beloved Braves), but overall, these are all pretty likable clubs.

2015 Division Series Predictions: A Tale of Two Brackets

Now that we've eliminated the team with the second-best regular season record (yes, I'm still bitter even though I'm cheering for the Cubs to win the World Series within five games so I can see my father weep), we get to actual baseball series. Of course, I think a best-of-five doesn't always determine the best team, but it's certainly a whole helluva lot better than the single-game dumbfuckery.

I think all four series have the potential for some pretty tense and exciting games, but I'm guessing the series in the National League should probably slaughter the American League games in terms of TV ratings. I mean, on one side you have Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. On the other side, you have Kansas City, Texas, and Canada.

Of course, as has become evident in recent years, concerns about TV ratings are hopelessly misplaced. Even a Yankees-Cubs World Series would still get pounded by any NFL game.

Now that the Wild Card round is over, there's six other clubs that now get to show whether their regular season success carries over into the playoffs. Judging by the predictions I've seen thus far, Toronto is far and away the overwhelming favorite to win the whole damn thing (I have yet to see anybody picking the Rangers to get out of this round).

The fun part (or frustrating, depending on your perspective) though is that a team could get hot right now and suddenly become nearly unbeatable for the next three weeks. So I remain skeptical that the Blue Jays just waltz away with the Commissioner's Trophy in early November (or late October).

2015-16 NHL Predictions: Raise a Banner, Look the Other Way

When your favorite team is coming off a year in which they just won a Stanley Cup (the third such title in six years, no less), there would presumably some level of excitement about repeating as champions in the coming season after spending the summer celebrating. Yet here we are, with nearly every headline and story relating to the Chicago Blackhawks over the past few months having to do entirely with an alleged rape involving Patrick Kane.

Too much of the fan response to this story has been nauseating, with several shameless attempts to slut-shame the alleged victim. "Innocent until proven guilty" has been a refrain frequently repeated on Twitter. It's stunning to see how many people who are completely willing to give the former Conn Smythe winner a complete pass will waste no time in suggesting every possible ulterior motive of the alleged victim.

The whole saga has certainly dampened my enthusiasm going into this new season. Another championship banner will be raised at the United Center tonight, although I and many other Chicagoans will probably be tuning in to TBS to watch the Cubs instead.

I'm not assuming Patrick Kane is guilty here, but it seems reasonable to believe that the team would have been better served by having him stay away for the preseason out of respect to the criminal case. Instead, Kane appeared at camp and with the team in multiple other functions, always greeted with enthusiastic cheers. Something about this just makes me feel very icky.

I've spent too much time criticizing the fans of other teams who do not hesitate to welcome back players accused of misconduct (with some of the more high-profile cases having admittedly more evidence), so it's unusual for me to now wonder how I should respond when Kane scores his first goal of the regular season. What if he pots another series-clincher in the playoffs?

I do not know how much of this NHL season I will spend pondering these kinds of questions. The point is that I no longer have anywhere near the same level of adoration for No. 88 that I once had. After his cabbie-punching incident, his alleged girl-choking incident, and now this, I feel like every cheer for the guy is an unacceptable and uncomfortable endorsement.

So this will be an interesting year. Again, a year after I watched my favorite team do exactly what you cheer for your team all year to accomplish.