With so much currently happening in the sports world, I found it hard to focus on just one thing to write about this week. My brain was like a little kid walking into a carnival for the first time, not
With so much currently happening in the sports world, I found it hard to focus on just one thing to write about this week. My brain was like a little kid walking into a carnival for the first time, not being able to handle the excitement, running four different directions in a 10-second span before collapsing next to the shave ice booth.
There’s the MLB Playoffs which are approaching the World Series, the middle of the NFL season where we’re seeing what teams are really made of, huge college football rivalry games with national championship implications, the early stages of the NHL season and the fast-approaching tip-off of the NBA regular season.
Throw in the local flavor of KIF championships for fall sports and this amusement park has something for just about everybody.
I would have added UH football into the mix, but that ride seems to be currently under maintenance. We thank you for your understanding, please check back soon.
So with this onslaught of athletic entertainment, I decided to touch on a number of issues and make some bold predictions.
Prediction 1: If the Yankees and Phillies play in this year’s World Series, they will break the all-time record for combined home runs.
The record is currently 21, which was set in 2002 by the Giants (14) and Angels (7).
I consider this to be particularly bold since we are now in a (supposedly) steroid-free MLB. But what these guys may lack in anabolic enhancement, they are able to make up for with little tiny stadiums.
There were 237 homers hit at Yankee Stadium this season, the most in the Majors. Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park yielded 207. So with the way each team is currently hitting, those baseballs will be rocketing into the stands like T-shirt giveaways.
Prediction 2: The Baltimore Ravens, after today’s bye, will win their next five games (Denver, at Cincinnati, at Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh) on their way to an 11-5 finish and become the favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
They need to work some things out defensively, but this week off will be the perfect way to accomplish that. Then comes a gauntlet of brutal AFC games, which should define Baltimore as the team to beat.
They have a great quarterback, maybe the best rushing attack in the conference and plenty of defensive playmakers. They are also one dropped pass, one last-minute touchdown and one missed field goal away from being 6-0. Instead, they are a deceptive 3-3. Come December, they’ll be the most feared team in the league.
Prediction 3: Millions of college football fans will be clamoring for a playoff system once the final BCS rankings reveal the championship game.
Alright, this is about as bold as a tope hallway. But the reason for this year’s outcry could be rather new. We may actually get the only two unbeaten teams playing for the title. However, those two teams might be Boise State and Cincinnati.
With each of their current spots in the polls, it would seem likely that if they ran the table, while Florida, Alabama and Texas all took a loss somewhere (quite conceivable), they would reach Nos. 1 and 2 in the BCS rankings.
Yet I’m certain that many sports pundits would be saying that this farce of a “championship” game doesn’t display the two best teams.
Prediction 4: The San Antonio Spurs will start the season 14-1.
The Spurs’ front office is often regarded as one of the elite in all major sports. It did nothing to dispute that this offseason, adding a perfect complementary scorer in Richard Jefferson, an experienced winner in forward Antonio McDyess and rookie DeJuan Blair, who would have been a lottery pick had there not been questions about the health of his knees.
Along with the finally-healthy trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the league’s best coach – Gregg Poppovich – has plenty to work with. A soft early schedule will get the Spurs rolling all the way to June.
Prediction 5: The Hawai‘i Warriors will still win three of their final six football games this season.
That means all rides are now operational. Climb aboard.
