Golf is in decline apparently. Earlier in the week we had a number of statistics that fewer women were taking up the game, fewer kids were growing up playing golf. In my view it’s tragic that such a great game is being played by fewer and fewer people. But as Jack Nicklaus states, it’s not a PGA Tour problem, but an all of us problem (I’m probably paraphrasing, the sentiment remains).
My wife is an interesting case study in what I’m speaking about. Last year she got her first set of clubs prior to even hitting a single shot. This on the back of my suggestion that it was a great way for us to spend time together (even though selfishly I probably just wanted to spend more time on the course without having to justify it). We both signed up for lessons, and joined a golf club. Time and time again, it was hard to understand for me why she continued to endure this frustrating game. No doubt it has to do with her competitive nature. However, the answer is probably far simpler.
When I was young, really young in fact, I used to steal my dad’s clubs when he was at work and go out in the backyard and take cuts. It happened so frequently that we had a bald square in the backyard where my brother and I had hit fat shots and the grass had become non-existent. Finally, my dad took a Ram 5 wood (it was a wood alright, complete with screws and polished wood) and cut the shaft so that it was an appropriate height. Somewhere around that time I found, or he acquired a driver that must have been short enough for me to hit. Then like a ball rolling down the hill and gradually picking up speed, I got my first set of irons at Easter. Driver, check. Fairway wood, check. Irons, check. Flat iron? Uh oh, I didn’t have a putter yet; no matter, shortly thereafter I stole my dad’s. Back in those days putters were simple, shaft and blade, that’s all. My first official had a brown grip and was a copper finish. Not sure what my dad did after I ‘acquired’ that putter, maybe we shared it. I think than I got a bike as well that Easter, what’s important here is that I don’t remember a single fact about the bike that I got.
From there, I bounced around continuing to hit balls in the backyard, Cooke Rec, and Heritage Elementary. I don’t quite recall when my brother and I were allowed membership into the Men’s Club, but at some point it became a regular occurrence that my brother, my Uncle Craig and my dad played at Minerva and Arrowhead. It was around this point that it became a foregone conclusion that I’d golf on a regular basis. I’d never seen anything like it, and likely never will. My Uncle regularly put drives into absolute orbit; I’ve never seen anyone hit a ball as far as my Uncle. And some 20 years later, my dad is still the deadliest short game player I’ve ever seen. They can keep Seve and his play around the green, my dad is an absolute magician playing bump and run with a 7 iron.
So the simple answer is that my wife endures continuing to play, and getting better because she wants to see and be a part of what I speak about in the previous two paragraphs. It’s that simple. That’s how the game get’s its players back.
And what a great time for people to be watching the PGA, LPGA and European Tours. I realize that for a good many years (and it’s still not over I don’t believe) that Tiger was the only show in town. There aren’t just stars on tour right now, there are superstars. What’s more, these superstars are just about in equal numbers between Europe, the USA, and Australia/Asian region. This will make for dramatic Ryder and President’s Cups over the next decade.
Because The Windup Spot tends to focus on handicapping, and making its readers money, I’ll speak briefly about some things that I like this season.
World Match Play: You can never go wrong with putting money on Ian Poulter and Luke Donald in match play events. Depending on what the odds look like I may consider putting a small bit on Sergio Garcia. If I was going to rate it, I’d put 3 units on Donald, 2 units on Poulter, 1 on Garcia, and 1 on XXX. I’m reserving XXX until after this weekend so I can see which American has the hot hand. Likely suspects will probably be Nick Watney, Webb Simpson, Bill Haas, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson, and Dustin Johnson. Like every year, I’ll break down the entire bracket. For me, this is the Super Bowl of golf handicapping. We’ll see what the pairings are after this weekend.
Majors: In no particular order I like Alvaro Quiros, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, and Sergio Garcia. Obviously, keeping a close eye on Tiger Woods, who will be a perennial favorite at Augusta. Given how many fairways he missed in Abu Dhabi it’s not looking good for him at the US Open. It is Tiger however, which means he’ll always be in with a shout. Without question, I’ll be rooting most for Ian Poulter at Augusta. Fans of Ian always get 1 or 2 great rounds. Will this be the year he finally strings together 4 complete rounds? I’d love to see the Green Jacket matched up with a pair of tartans.
Picks for Value: Anytime you can get Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, or Steve Stricker at or above 20-1 it’s worth a punt. Steve Stricker is Steady Eddie and never tends to play himself too far out of contention. Rickie Fowler is going to start winning, it’s just a question of when. I don’t like that he just got brand new clubs, so I’ll not be wagering on him for another month or two. Bubba, well he’s Bubba. Gifted, but as a handicapper makes me uncomfortable that every time he misses a putt he shouts at himself. From a temperament standpoint, not a great risk. However, Bubba is a good person, and great things happen to people who understand how to lean on faith. Like Rickie, he’s going to be a consistent winner just a question of when, not if.
Rory: Not sure why, but it just feels like this is going to be a year where he wins a ton of top 5s. The problem with Rory is that no matter what tourney he plays in he’ll be at or around 5/2. At those odds, there isn’t value in picking him unless you’re wagering a huge amount.
Ryder Cup: I predict a riot.
Sergio: What a comeback, will reach the penultimate conclusion when/if he wins a major this year. I’ve lost a bundle on Sergio over the years; I finally start getting paid back this year. Only question left in my mind is whether he switches putting grips every three tournaments. If we’re back to that, I’ll be worried. I’m happy for Sergio however; he’s shown fortitude in getting back to being a contender. One of my all time favorite players.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
2011 Year in Review, How it All Went
A look back at predictions for 2011 and where it all went wrong, and where it went mostly right...
Music
Kaiser Chiefs will come out with their new record in the September-October timeframe, and will be great, but not the album of the year. It will have been 3 years at that point since we’ve had a Kaiser Chiefs record, and the rumor is that it’s being recorded right now. Hopefully the tour will start before November, it’s unlikely that there’ll be a stop in Columbus, and I hate travelling during the winter.
Wrong on all accounts. Album came out in June, and the US tour was shorter than Foster the People’s projected popularity.
It’s anyone’s guess under what name the album will be released, but Noel Gallagher will release an album. The tip-off that it is coming will be 6 months prior to release he will appear in every British newspaper every Tuesday to call every album coming out that week total shit and a complete Oasis rip-off. It’s also likely that the criticisms will include calling every lead singer from those bands gay.
Mostly right, Gallagher released an album, but didn’t have an article in The Sun every Tuesday. For the most part, no slurs were used.
There will not be records, sadly, from Maximo Park, Kasabian, The Cribs, Franz Ferdinand, or Killers. I hope you took your shoelaces off before you read this, and are not close to any bridges. I don’t need Noel Gallagher to tell me that hardly anything worth listening to has come out since Gorillaz – Plastic Beach.
Mostly right, with the exception of Kasabian.
Serge Pizzorno will write the soundtrack to a major motion picture in 2011, and will collect an Oscar for it in 2012. (Not sure if that counts as a 2011 prediction, but it’s when the work will be done.)
Still in the running.
And I’ve saved the best for last…Radiohead will release their follow up to 2007’s In Rainbows, and it will be the album of the year. I’ll make no apologies for making a homer pick, Radiohead have been one of my favorite bands since 1996. For me it feels like 1998 all over again when ‘Meeting People is Easy’ (one of the greatest documentaries about a band ever to be released) came out. Shortly thereafter Radiohead released one of the greatest albums ever made Kid A. My expectations for this new album are at Kid A level, and I’m certain that Radiohead will deliver. This new album, rumored to be titled ‘Up in the Air’ will be album of the year, and it will be by a wide, wide margin.
Completely wrong. I should let Scot Sedley respond to this. A good record but by any objective measure disappointing.
Sports
I live in Columbus, am married to an OSU graduate/fan, and surrounded by many other OSU fans so I’ll start with the Buckeyes. OSU will be 5-0 to begin the year with or without suspensions, or the players that are under suspension leaving for the NFL. There are many tear soaked pillows in Buckeye Nation, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. Surely the 3rd string at OSU can beat Akron and Toledo at home right? Miami has a new coach, who by the way is vastly overrated, and will be adjusting to a new scheme. Colorado, Colorado who? This program has neither been seen nor heard from since Kordell got 5 downs. That leaves Michigan State. Listen, I know that Michigan State often times gives OSU issues. But is the entire OSU defense going to be suspended for the game? Note, OSU’s defense has been, and will continue to be the engine that runs the Buckeyes. Anyone who is crying about Terrelle being out of a pivotal Big Ten game must have been sleeping under a rock for the past three years. And don’t give me any nonsense about his winning against Michigan. St. Francis DeSales High School would give those guys a game. The point is simple, Buckeyes will play solid defense, and have capable backups at every position where there is a suspended player. I ask that all FOZ out there go on Facebook next October and in bold capital letters post on my wall ‘ZAK WAS RIGHT.’
Could not have been more wrong. I didn’t figure on Jim Tressel being shown the door, and a cloud of shame following the team everywhere that it went. With the exception of Penn State, there wasn’t a team in the Big Ten that was in more disarray.
If Terrelle Pryor does come back to OSU for his senior season, it will end with scandal once again. Terelle wants to come out, in his mind he was NFL grade his senior season in high school. The only people in his circle that are capable of getting his ear at this point would only be agents that tell him to stay. It is inevitable that if he stays it will be due to a connection with an agent. Will the NCAA at that point have the nerve necessary to dump on two of their favorite sons, Gene Smith and Archie Griffin and give OSU the 2000’s equivalent of the death penalty? (*Death penalty NCAA sanctions that kill a program, see SMU. Will be adjusted to not kill the cash cow that is OSU, but will set them back a year or two.)(Also note, I don’t think the NCAA has the nerve to sanction a program with the two gentleman listed above. It’s bad for PR. They don’t care how much fans from other teams complain, you’ll get over it. Archie and Gene would not.)
Mostly right with the exception of the OSU bowl ban. Buckeye fans are pissed, mostly because they agree with me. The NCAA showed nerve that it doesn’t typically show when a pile full of cash is under its own nose. The NCAA is the quintessential picture of hypocrisy given that it never misses a chance to make a buck, yet punishes others for doing the same. I’m still in disbelief that they are going to pass on what is sure to be a BCS quality team under Urban Myer, another one of the NCAA’s favorite sons. It just does not add up for me. For those of you that are disappointed with the NCAA’s decision to clear all roadblocks for an all SEC national title game, 2012 will be even more obvious with the absence of OSU from the title picture. The only team in the nation that can prevent an NCAA monopoly driven title game version II? Michigan.
The Cincinnati Reds will win a first round playoff series, and will win at least two games against the Phillies in the NLCS. If you do the math here you see who I have as the 1 and 2 seeds going into the MLB playoffs. It’s conceivable that the Reds could potentially have the best record in the NL by virtue of the Central being weaker than the East. The Phillies though are the real mccoy, that’s not to say that the Reds are not. Progress will be made, but it will be the 2012 season before I have to take a day off and bundle up for a parade through downtown Cincinnati. I cannot wait for the 2011 season though, it is impossible not to root very hard for a team that has such great chemistry and day in day out play for one another.
Completely wrong.
11 years after Dusty Baker won NL manager of the year, he will bring home the award. I myself seriously doubted whether Dusty was the right man for the Reds, I’m happy that Walt Jocketty and Bob Castellini had patience. Dusty in the end will have vindication that he isn’t a career killer when it comes to young pitchers. I grant you that Edison Volquez has now had to have Tommy John surgery, but it was not because he was overused as with Kerry Wood. Dusty has got the kids playing, and he’s created a good clubhouse atmosphere were our guys seem to stay loose. He’s not next in line to be Sparky Anderson, but he will win Manager of the Year this year, and win a World Championship next year.
Totally wrong. In my predictions for 2012, Dusty will be a great hotseat candidate.
It will be another hard year for Notre Dame and Brian Kelly. It only gets worse if he can’t beat Miami in the Sun Bowl.
Mostly true, didn’t predict that Miami would take itself out of bowl contention.
Hope springs eternal right? The Bengals are going to be in the playoff hunt next season. There are so many dominoes still left to fall with this team that this may be my boldest prediction. I however do believe that Cedric Benson will be back next season, as will Marvin Lewis. Gone however, are Chad Ochocinco, and Terrelle Owens. The starter at quarterback next season will once again be #9 Carson Palmer. The Bengals played themselves out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, as well as Ryan Mallett. With those two players off the board, Bengals will look elsewhere in Round 1. They will however take an insurance policy in rounds 3-5 to back up Carson. This prediction goes straight down the pan though if terminally cheap owner Mike Brown sees the impending lockout as an opportunity to save money and cut Palmer. Listen, no one out there has been more critical than I of the way Carson played this season. But who comes in after he leaves? Your options are, believe it or not, worse! If Jordan Palmer or a rookie starts next season, you can save yourself the time and effort and just wait until ESPN starts having specials with Todd McShay and Mel Kiper. Cutting Palmer at this point would doom Bengals fans to a season worse than this one. What’s more is that Marvin Lewis is fully aware of this. If Marvin doesn’t come back there will be parts of me that believe that it is because Carson Palmer is going to either be cut or traded. For me Lewis has done enough to stay, and just as with the Reds patience is rewarded. There are just some things that are out of Marvin’s control, he’s not the one stretching copper wire to make pennies out of. It’s not Marvin’s fault that this team has the worst facilities in the league. Does Marvin’s team look unprepared at moments? Sure, but is that not a derivative of them not having a place to practice indoors that is actually part of Cincinnati proper? It is absolutely ridiculous by NFL standards when you consider that most of these players haven’t been in a situation where they don’t have a dedicated indoor practice facility space since they were in High School. Despite all of that, Bengals will get just enough help in the draft, and just enough lucky bounces to scrape into the playoffs next season.
Mostly right. My boldest prediction is one of my more accurate. Gone were everyone I predicted, but didn’t see Carson Palmer requesting a trade. Carson asked for the team to get rid of several players, and Bengals for the most part complied. Acquiescing to his demands let to a trade request. It’s laughable, good riddance Carson Palmer. This isn’t without its shades of luck however. The Bengals did get a Palmer insurance plan in the form of Andy Dalton. If Andy Dalton didn’t come in and do the job that he has done, believe me when I say, Palmer would still be sitting out there waiting for a trade. Either way, Marvin Lewis should win coach of the year because he’s done a whole lot with a whole little. Count me in as part of the group that thinks that keeping Marvin has been a good move for the organization. I like the future of this team, a couple of parts and pieces that can easily be acquired through the draft and this is a Super Bowl team.
Miscellaneous sports tidbits: Blue Jackets attendance will once again slip, the team is down to its truest fans, and you can’t fill up an arena with just niche fans. Tennessee Volunteer football will be better; hey it can’t get worse right? At least I’ll have something on CBS to watch. The Los Angeles Super Clippers are going to make the playoffs, and won’t be the 8th seed. 7th seed counts. The New England Patriots will at the very minimum reach the AFC Championship next season while defending their championship they won in 2010. Columbus Crew are going to be abysmal, and it will cost Warzycha his job. Same old, same old though, it’s time to stop blaming Columbus Crew coaches when the blame should be laid directly at the feet of Mike Hunt and Mark McCullers. (Yes I know, it’s Clark not Mike)
BJs: Totally right
UT Football: Mostly wrong
LAC: Mostly wrong
NE Pats: Looking pretty good
Crew: Mostly wrong. Warzycha was rewarded for being bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs with a contract extension. Only Columbus Crew can provide comedy of that level.
Video Games
This will be the year where even the hardest of Xbox fanboys will privately say to themselves PS3 had a better lineup than Xbox. The rivalry between Xbox fans and PS3 fans could easily be compared to that of South Korea v. North Korea, United States v. Venezuela, McLaren / Ferrari fans v. everyone else that isn’t a glory hunter. PS3 has several titles that will be Game of the Year contenders next year: Killzone 3, Infamous 2, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, The Last Guardian, and Uncharted: Drake’s Deception. Heck, there are even dark horse contenders in Rockstar North’s ‘70s espionage game Agent, not to mention a rumored Ratchet and Clank title. Xbox will release Gears of War III, among others (Can’t think of any offhand at the moment) but it will not compare to the titles listed above.
I’m grading this one a push, I’m a PS3 fanboy through and through and the only reason I was not correct was because of the Account Hacking episode. In the absence of that PS3 would have ran XBOX off of the road. I will give credit to XBOX though for redoing their interface which is now nothing short of fantastic. The new XBOX Live interface is a system seller.
Playstation will not release ‘party’ chat in 2011. PS3 owners have asked for this feature for 5 years and the begging gets louder and louder every year; and still nothing. If this feature was achievable from a technical standpoint, don’t you think Sony would have given it to us?
Totally Correct.
Despite all evidence and logic to the contrary, the Game of the Year will not be a Playstation title. Nintendo were completely robbed this year by not having Mario Galaxy 2, at the very minimum, get 2010 game of the year consideration. A repentant group of editors will make up for that if the new Zelda title is great. It’s been years since a Zelda title on Wii and Nintendo is taking its time to make sure that all the technical I’s and T’s are dotted and crossed. I expect that if Zelda is even in the discussion for Game of the Year next year it will win because of Mario’s exclusion this year.
I really want to say that this is going to be correct, but it will not be. That’s not to say that Zelda will not be a strong number 2, so I’ll give myself some credit. Zelda will be slightly overshadowed by another game, from the PS3, that got a 10 rating in most major publications, that involves an off again on again relationship that is the best in video games, that is Tomb Raider for guys. I think it’s clear what I think the game of the year will be.
Miscellaneous
The 3rd season of Modern Family will be awful. Phil Dunfy and Al Bundy are falling down the side of a mountain, and are now perilously close to the edge. The quality from season 2 has basically been non-existent.
Totally right.
If the rumors are true that Keanu Reeves is going to play the role of Jekyll in the movie adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it will be the role that earns Mr. Reeves an Oscar. Again, I make no apologies for making a homer pick, Keanu Reeves will play this role well enough to bring home an Oscar. Mark it down, if Reeves agrees to play Jekyll in 2011, it will mean gold in 2012.
Push, never came to be.
Wireless bandwidth is running out according to just about every technical expert there is. Expect your cell phone company to introduce tiered wireless data plans by the end of 2011. Those of us that were grandfathered out of already tiered programs will have nowhere left to hide.
Mostly right.
John Kasich is going to join the group of Republican Governors that have cut spending on State Employee pension plans, healthcare services, and wages. He will achieve this by calling a fiscal emergency which is going to bring the AFSCME and OEA to the bargaining table. The impending blowout that essentially busts up those unions will put John on the national stage and will kick off Kasich’s march to the Whitehouse in 2016.
Mostly right, instead of fiscal emergency he relied on the legislature to push through SB 5. The repeal of SB 5 will have a very serious effect, some of which are already being felt. Right teachers who are now being laid off as a result?
Part of John’s march to the Whitehouse will include, once the dust settles from busting up the two millstones around his neck (referenced above), will be to put in place a flat personal income tax, or, completely eliminate it. Hooray! Gone are the days of paying 5.5%!
Too soon to tell, but unlikely with the repeal of SB 5. Citizens of Ohio have decided that it’s more important to have an entitlement society than economic fairness based on market based decision making. It’s a shame. Hooray for the repeal of SB 5! Not.
BTW, I understand that a flat personal state income tax and the repeal of SB 5 are mutually exclusive initiatives. It’s the political capital that was spent during this episode that will prevent serious income tax reform here in Ohio. It is what it is, to many John Kasich was a villain during the SB 5 debate. For me it was a brave effort based on simple mathematics.
Time Warner will continue to suck the life out of its customers by dropping channels in this endless charade that they are defending us. (Won’t be us for very much longer)
Completely true.
Apple will release and IPad II, but there will not be an IPhone 4.5/5. It’s hard to say, apart from cameras for Face Time what IPad II will include. But I promise you an IPhone compatible OS is in development for IPad II and it will be revolutionary. Being able to take notes using a stylus that doesn’t have any delays so it actually feels like you’re writing things down on paper counts as revolutionary for me. Being able to use an IPad to take notes in meetings and create folders for them to keep them organized, is the only thing preventing me and several other colleagues from getting an IPad I.
Mostly true, I bought both iPhone 4.5 and iPad II. Both are revolutionary and I cannot envision a scenario where I don’t have at least one of the two on me at all time.
Finally, my last prediction, The Wind Up Spot very nearly had 10 comments left from readers in 2010. I predict we will make a massive comeback and go from 7 followers to 15, and surpass 50 comments.
Wrong. I blame my flirting with its own URL. It’s my mission in life to get our followers up, and comments up.
Music
Kaiser Chiefs will come out with their new record in the September-October timeframe, and will be great, but not the album of the year. It will have been 3 years at that point since we’ve had a Kaiser Chiefs record, and the rumor is that it’s being recorded right now. Hopefully the tour will start before November, it’s unlikely that there’ll be a stop in Columbus, and I hate travelling during the winter.
Wrong on all accounts. Album came out in June, and the US tour was shorter than Foster the People’s projected popularity.
It’s anyone’s guess under what name the album will be released, but Noel Gallagher will release an album. The tip-off that it is coming will be 6 months prior to release he will appear in every British newspaper every Tuesday to call every album coming out that week total shit and a complete Oasis rip-off. It’s also likely that the criticisms will include calling every lead singer from those bands gay.
Mostly right, Gallagher released an album, but didn’t have an article in The Sun every Tuesday. For the most part, no slurs were used.
There will not be records, sadly, from Maximo Park, Kasabian, The Cribs, Franz Ferdinand, or Killers. I hope you took your shoelaces off before you read this, and are not close to any bridges. I don’t need Noel Gallagher to tell me that hardly anything worth listening to has come out since Gorillaz – Plastic Beach.
Mostly right, with the exception of Kasabian.
Serge Pizzorno will write the soundtrack to a major motion picture in 2011, and will collect an Oscar for it in 2012. (Not sure if that counts as a 2011 prediction, but it’s when the work will be done.)
Still in the running.
And I’ve saved the best for last…Radiohead will release their follow up to 2007’s In Rainbows, and it will be the album of the year. I’ll make no apologies for making a homer pick, Radiohead have been one of my favorite bands since 1996. For me it feels like 1998 all over again when ‘Meeting People is Easy’ (one of the greatest documentaries about a band ever to be released) came out. Shortly thereafter Radiohead released one of the greatest albums ever made Kid A. My expectations for this new album are at Kid A level, and I’m certain that Radiohead will deliver. This new album, rumored to be titled ‘Up in the Air’ will be album of the year, and it will be by a wide, wide margin.
Completely wrong. I should let Scot Sedley respond to this. A good record but by any objective measure disappointing.
Sports
I live in Columbus, am married to an OSU graduate/fan, and surrounded by many other OSU fans so I’ll start with the Buckeyes. OSU will be 5-0 to begin the year with or without suspensions, or the players that are under suspension leaving for the NFL. There are many tear soaked pillows in Buckeye Nation, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. Surely the 3rd string at OSU can beat Akron and Toledo at home right? Miami has a new coach, who by the way is vastly overrated, and will be adjusting to a new scheme. Colorado, Colorado who? This program has neither been seen nor heard from since Kordell got 5 downs. That leaves Michigan State. Listen, I know that Michigan State often times gives OSU issues. But is the entire OSU defense going to be suspended for the game? Note, OSU’s defense has been, and will continue to be the engine that runs the Buckeyes. Anyone who is crying about Terrelle being out of a pivotal Big Ten game must have been sleeping under a rock for the past three years. And don’t give me any nonsense about his winning against Michigan. St. Francis DeSales High School would give those guys a game. The point is simple, Buckeyes will play solid defense, and have capable backups at every position where there is a suspended player. I ask that all FOZ out there go on Facebook next October and in bold capital letters post on my wall ‘ZAK WAS RIGHT.’
Could not have been more wrong. I didn’t figure on Jim Tressel being shown the door, and a cloud of shame following the team everywhere that it went. With the exception of Penn State, there wasn’t a team in the Big Ten that was in more disarray.
If Terrelle Pryor does come back to OSU for his senior season, it will end with scandal once again. Terelle wants to come out, in his mind he was NFL grade his senior season in high school. The only people in his circle that are capable of getting his ear at this point would only be agents that tell him to stay. It is inevitable that if he stays it will be due to a connection with an agent. Will the NCAA at that point have the nerve necessary to dump on two of their favorite sons, Gene Smith and Archie Griffin and give OSU the 2000’s equivalent of the death penalty? (*Death penalty NCAA sanctions that kill a program, see SMU. Will be adjusted to not kill the cash cow that is OSU, but will set them back a year or two.)(Also note, I don’t think the NCAA has the nerve to sanction a program with the two gentleman listed above. It’s bad for PR. They don’t care how much fans from other teams complain, you’ll get over it. Archie and Gene would not.)
Mostly right with the exception of the OSU bowl ban. Buckeye fans are pissed, mostly because they agree with me. The NCAA showed nerve that it doesn’t typically show when a pile full of cash is under its own nose. The NCAA is the quintessential picture of hypocrisy given that it never misses a chance to make a buck, yet punishes others for doing the same. I’m still in disbelief that they are going to pass on what is sure to be a BCS quality team under Urban Myer, another one of the NCAA’s favorite sons. It just does not add up for me. For those of you that are disappointed with the NCAA’s decision to clear all roadblocks for an all SEC national title game, 2012 will be even more obvious with the absence of OSU from the title picture. The only team in the nation that can prevent an NCAA monopoly driven title game version II? Michigan.
The Cincinnati Reds will win a first round playoff series, and will win at least two games against the Phillies in the NLCS. If you do the math here you see who I have as the 1 and 2 seeds going into the MLB playoffs. It’s conceivable that the Reds could potentially have the best record in the NL by virtue of the Central being weaker than the East. The Phillies though are the real mccoy, that’s not to say that the Reds are not. Progress will be made, but it will be the 2012 season before I have to take a day off and bundle up for a parade through downtown Cincinnati. I cannot wait for the 2011 season though, it is impossible not to root very hard for a team that has such great chemistry and day in day out play for one another.
Completely wrong.
11 years after Dusty Baker won NL manager of the year, he will bring home the award. I myself seriously doubted whether Dusty was the right man for the Reds, I’m happy that Walt Jocketty and Bob Castellini had patience. Dusty in the end will have vindication that he isn’t a career killer when it comes to young pitchers. I grant you that Edison Volquez has now had to have Tommy John surgery, but it was not because he was overused as with Kerry Wood. Dusty has got the kids playing, and he’s created a good clubhouse atmosphere were our guys seem to stay loose. He’s not next in line to be Sparky Anderson, but he will win Manager of the Year this year, and win a World Championship next year.
Totally wrong. In my predictions for 2012, Dusty will be a great hotseat candidate.
It will be another hard year for Notre Dame and Brian Kelly. It only gets worse if he can’t beat Miami in the Sun Bowl.
Mostly true, didn’t predict that Miami would take itself out of bowl contention.
Hope springs eternal right? The Bengals are going to be in the playoff hunt next season. There are so many dominoes still left to fall with this team that this may be my boldest prediction. I however do believe that Cedric Benson will be back next season, as will Marvin Lewis. Gone however, are Chad Ochocinco, and Terrelle Owens. The starter at quarterback next season will once again be #9 Carson Palmer. The Bengals played themselves out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, as well as Ryan Mallett. With those two players off the board, Bengals will look elsewhere in Round 1. They will however take an insurance policy in rounds 3-5 to back up Carson. This prediction goes straight down the pan though if terminally cheap owner Mike Brown sees the impending lockout as an opportunity to save money and cut Palmer. Listen, no one out there has been more critical than I of the way Carson played this season. But who comes in after he leaves? Your options are, believe it or not, worse! If Jordan Palmer or a rookie starts next season, you can save yourself the time and effort and just wait until ESPN starts having specials with Todd McShay and Mel Kiper. Cutting Palmer at this point would doom Bengals fans to a season worse than this one. What’s more is that Marvin Lewis is fully aware of this. If Marvin doesn’t come back there will be parts of me that believe that it is because Carson Palmer is going to either be cut or traded. For me Lewis has done enough to stay, and just as with the Reds patience is rewarded. There are just some things that are out of Marvin’s control, he’s not the one stretching copper wire to make pennies out of. It’s not Marvin’s fault that this team has the worst facilities in the league. Does Marvin’s team look unprepared at moments? Sure, but is that not a derivative of them not having a place to practice indoors that is actually part of Cincinnati proper? It is absolutely ridiculous by NFL standards when you consider that most of these players haven’t been in a situation where they don’t have a dedicated indoor practice facility space since they were in High School. Despite all of that, Bengals will get just enough help in the draft, and just enough lucky bounces to scrape into the playoffs next season.
Mostly right. My boldest prediction is one of my more accurate. Gone were everyone I predicted, but didn’t see Carson Palmer requesting a trade. Carson asked for the team to get rid of several players, and Bengals for the most part complied. Acquiescing to his demands let to a trade request. It’s laughable, good riddance Carson Palmer. This isn’t without its shades of luck however. The Bengals did get a Palmer insurance plan in the form of Andy Dalton. If Andy Dalton didn’t come in and do the job that he has done, believe me when I say, Palmer would still be sitting out there waiting for a trade. Either way, Marvin Lewis should win coach of the year because he’s done a whole lot with a whole little. Count me in as part of the group that thinks that keeping Marvin has been a good move for the organization. I like the future of this team, a couple of parts and pieces that can easily be acquired through the draft and this is a Super Bowl team.
Miscellaneous sports tidbits: Blue Jackets attendance will once again slip, the team is down to its truest fans, and you can’t fill up an arena with just niche fans. Tennessee Volunteer football will be better; hey it can’t get worse right? At least I’ll have something on CBS to watch. The Los Angeles Super Clippers are going to make the playoffs, and won’t be the 8th seed. 7th seed counts. The New England Patriots will at the very minimum reach the AFC Championship next season while defending their championship they won in 2010. Columbus Crew are going to be abysmal, and it will cost Warzycha his job. Same old, same old though, it’s time to stop blaming Columbus Crew coaches when the blame should be laid directly at the feet of Mike Hunt and Mark McCullers. (Yes I know, it’s Clark not Mike)
BJs: Totally right
UT Football: Mostly wrong
LAC: Mostly wrong
NE Pats: Looking pretty good
Crew: Mostly wrong. Warzycha was rewarded for being bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs with a contract extension. Only Columbus Crew can provide comedy of that level.
Video Games
This will be the year where even the hardest of Xbox fanboys will privately say to themselves PS3 had a better lineup than Xbox. The rivalry between Xbox fans and PS3 fans could easily be compared to that of South Korea v. North Korea, United States v. Venezuela, McLaren / Ferrari fans v. everyone else that isn’t a glory hunter. PS3 has several titles that will be Game of the Year contenders next year: Killzone 3, Infamous 2, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, The Last Guardian, and Uncharted: Drake’s Deception. Heck, there are even dark horse contenders in Rockstar North’s ‘70s espionage game Agent, not to mention a rumored Ratchet and Clank title. Xbox will release Gears of War III, among others (Can’t think of any offhand at the moment) but it will not compare to the titles listed above.
I’m grading this one a push, I’m a PS3 fanboy through and through and the only reason I was not correct was because of the Account Hacking episode. In the absence of that PS3 would have ran XBOX off of the road. I will give credit to XBOX though for redoing their interface which is now nothing short of fantastic. The new XBOX Live interface is a system seller.
Playstation will not release ‘party’ chat in 2011. PS3 owners have asked for this feature for 5 years and the begging gets louder and louder every year; and still nothing. If this feature was achievable from a technical standpoint, don’t you think Sony would have given it to us?
Totally Correct.
Despite all evidence and logic to the contrary, the Game of the Year will not be a Playstation title. Nintendo were completely robbed this year by not having Mario Galaxy 2, at the very minimum, get 2010 game of the year consideration. A repentant group of editors will make up for that if the new Zelda title is great. It’s been years since a Zelda title on Wii and Nintendo is taking its time to make sure that all the technical I’s and T’s are dotted and crossed. I expect that if Zelda is even in the discussion for Game of the Year next year it will win because of Mario’s exclusion this year.
I really want to say that this is going to be correct, but it will not be. That’s not to say that Zelda will not be a strong number 2, so I’ll give myself some credit. Zelda will be slightly overshadowed by another game, from the PS3, that got a 10 rating in most major publications, that involves an off again on again relationship that is the best in video games, that is Tomb Raider for guys. I think it’s clear what I think the game of the year will be.
Miscellaneous
The 3rd season of Modern Family will be awful. Phil Dunfy and Al Bundy are falling down the side of a mountain, and are now perilously close to the edge. The quality from season 2 has basically been non-existent.
Totally right.
If the rumors are true that Keanu Reeves is going to play the role of Jekyll in the movie adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde it will be the role that earns Mr. Reeves an Oscar. Again, I make no apologies for making a homer pick, Keanu Reeves will play this role well enough to bring home an Oscar. Mark it down, if Reeves agrees to play Jekyll in 2011, it will mean gold in 2012.
Push, never came to be.
Wireless bandwidth is running out according to just about every technical expert there is. Expect your cell phone company to introduce tiered wireless data plans by the end of 2011. Those of us that were grandfathered out of already tiered programs will have nowhere left to hide.
Mostly right.
John Kasich is going to join the group of Republican Governors that have cut spending on State Employee pension plans, healthcare services, and wages. He will achieve this by calling a fiscal emergency which is going to bring the AFSCME and OEA to the bargaining table. The impending blowout that essentially busts up those unions will put John on the national stage and will kick off Kasich’s march to the Whitehouse in 2016.
Mostly right, instead of fiscal emergency he relied on the legislature to push through SB 5. The repeal of SB 5 will have a very serious effect, some of which are already being felt. Right teachers who are now being laid off as a result?
Part of John’s march to the Whitehouse will include, once the dust settles from busting up the two millstones around his neck (referenced above), will be to put in place a flat personal income tax, or, completely eliminate it. Hooray! Gone are the days of paying 5.5%!
Too soon to tell, but unlikely with the repeal of SB 5. Citizens of Ohio have decided that it’s more important to have an entitlement society than economic fairness based on market based decision making. It’s a shame. Hooray for the repeal of SB 5! Not.
BTW, I understand that a flat personal state income tax and the repeal of SB 5 are mutually exclusive initiatives. It’s the political capital that was spent during this episode that will prevent serious income tax reform here in Ohio. It is what it is, to many John Kasich was a villain during the SB 5 debate. For me it was a brave effort based on simple mathematics.
Time Warner will continue to suck the life out of its customers by dropping channels in this endless charade that they are defending us. (Won’t be us for very much longer)
Completely true.
Apple will release and IPad II, but there will not be an IPhone 4.5/5. It’s hard to say, apart from cameras for Face Time what IPad II will include. But I promise you an IPhone compatible OS is in development for IPad II and it will be revolutionary. Being able to take notes using a stylus that doesn’t have any delays so it actually feels like you’re writing things down on paper counts as revolutionary for me. Being able to use an IPad to take notes in meetings and create folders for them to keep them organized, is the only thing preventing me and several other colleagues from getting an IPad I.
Mostly true, I bought both iPhone 4.5 and iPad II. Both are revolutionary and I cannot envision a scenario where I don’t have at least one of the two on me at all time.
Finally, my last prediction, The Wind Up Spot very nearly had 10 comments left from readers in 2010. I predict we will make a massive comeback and go from 7 followers to 15, and surpass 50 comments.
Wrong. I blame my flirting with its own URL. It’s my mission in life to get our followers up, and comments up.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Investing, Introductory Statement
On any given week, between my professional and domestic work I’m allocated at or around 150%. While that is true, I care about my readers/followers here at this blog and on Face Book and Twitter. Because of that, you Uncle Zak has decided to help folks out with what I have determined are a generational opportunity.
Let me get this out of the way, just in case there are legal concerns about what I’m about to say. From an early age, I have studied investing, banking and macroeconomics. That said I’m by no means a professional. I do around 20 hours research a week on investing, and try to pay as close attention as I can. I’ve been doing around this much research for the last 20 years or so; yes at age 13 I started reading the Wall Street Journal. That said I have no professional training.
Here is some advice from Uncle Zak:
The clock is ticking, and the game will in all likelihood closes in November of 2012. I’ll stay away from the politics of that statement.
This advice is geared at folks that have at a minimum 5 to 10 years before they need to see the profit from their investments. I think it’s fair to say that this advice will probably see a 10% return on investment.
Building the Portfolio
50% stable equities played long
30% stable equities played short
20% cash transactions
Stable Longs
1) I really like household items here. What does that include? PepsiCo, Coca Cola, General Mills, Kraft; items such as these. These are staples here in the US, and each of them provides you a dividend.
2) Domestic Energy. I love, LOVE, anything crude or nat gas related to the Dakotas or in the North East. If it is an energy partner that is domestic such as Continental Resource Group, or Chesapeake; I’m in. Some of these however do not pay a dividend; I always prefer a dividend but the rate of growth on some of the non-dividend paying firms is just too great to ignore.
3) Gold and Silver under certain conditions. If you can get in on gold at or around $1600 an ounce, or Silver at or around $32 an ounce; I like those plays.
Stable Shorts
1) Technology firms that are engaged in cloud development. As time moves forward virtual desktops and cloud file storage are going to be bread and butter of technology. Very few firms have committed to this plan yet because of the conversion expense. Once the US gets things turned around I love firms that offer these services. I’d be looking at an Oracle or an Auto Desk here.
2) Transportation firms. As the economy expands so will the logistics sector. I like Norfolk Southern if it gets to within 20% of its 52 week low, as well as trucking firm Old Dominion.
Cash
1) Holdings in dollars
2) The Euro at or around $1.31
So there you have it in short what I’m looking at right now in the months leading up to November 2012. Some omissions worth noting:
1) Financial Services. Not putting anything here at the moment. However, these are at historic lows. Even if these are insulated from Europe’s economic situation, it won’t matter. Bad news from Europe means that these will go lower than they already are.
2) Retail. See above.
Let me get this out of the way, just in case there are legal concerns about what I’m about to say. From an early age, I have studied investing, banking and macroeconomics. That said I’m by no means a professional. I do around 20 hours research a week on investing, and try to pay as close attention as I can. I’ve been doing around this much research for the last 20 years or so; yes at age 13 I started reading the Wall Street Journal. That said I have no professional training.
Here is some advice from Uncle Zak:
The clock is ticking, and the game will in all likelihood closes in November of 2012. I’ll stay away from the politics of that statement.
This advice is geared at folks that have at a minimum 5 to 10 years before they need to see the profit from their investments. I think it’s fair to say that this advice will probably see a 10% return on investment.
Building the Portfolio
50% stable equities played long
30% stable equities played short
20% cash transactions
Stable Longs
1) I really like household items here. What does that include? PepsiCo, Coca Cola, General Mills, Kraft; items such as these. These are staples here in the US, and each of them provides you a dividend.
2) Domestic Energy. I love, LOVE, anything crude or nat gas related to the Dakotas or in the North East. If it is an energy partner that is domestic such as Continental Resource Group, or Chesapeake; I’m in. Some of these however do not pay a dividend; I always prefer a dividend but the rate of growth on some of the non-dividend paying firms is just too great to ignore.
3) Gold and Silver under certain conditions. If you can get in on gold at or around $1600 an ounce, or Silver at or around $32 an ounce; I like those plays.
Stable Shorts
1) Technology firms that are engaged in cloud development. As time moves forward virtual desktops and cloud file storage are going to be bread and butter of technology. Very few firms have committed to this plan yet because of the conversion expense. Once the US gets things turned around I love firms that offer these services. I’d be looking at an Oracle or an Auto Desk here.
2) Transportation firms. As the economy expands so will the logistics sector. I like Norfolk Southern if it gets to within 20% of its 52 week low, as well as trucking firm Old Dominion.
Cash
1) Holdings in dollars
2) The Euro at or around $1.31
So there you have it in short what I’m looking at right now in the months leading up to November 2012. Some omissions worth noting:
1) Financial Services. Not putting anything here at the moment. However, these are at historic lows. Even if these are insulated from Europe’s economic situation, it won’t matter. Bad news from Europe means that these will go lower than they already are.
2) Retail. See above.
A Beginner's Guide to the World Figure Skating Championships
Confused by how teams/countries are asked to participate in the World Figure Skating Championships? You’re not alone. Here is a beginner’s guide to how a skater gets to participate in the WFSC.
Trying to figure out how you get invited to the World Figure Skating Championships is utterly confusing. Part of the reason for this confusion is that the WFSC Governing Body is beyond reproach. Their system takes into account a number of different factors, some of which require a TI-85 calculator, other that are a little less ‘above board.’ As best I can tell, here is how they calculate who gets invited to their Championship:
1) Each major part of the world gets to have at least one skater invited to the championship. It need not matter how well your section of the world ranks compared to other parts, everybody should have the opportunity to compete. Even if your section of the world, let’s for argument sake call this part of the world Atlántico, or perhaps Eastlandia, has skaters that have a much lower amount of skills compared to other skaters from around the world. We must include skaters from this part of the world. However, if the opportunity presents itself to include an additional team from a part of the world, again for argument sake, let’s call that part of the world Southeast Scotia then the opportunity must be taken.
2) Part of the calculation includes allowing the coaches of world teams to vote on what countries should be included. These coaches shall be allowed to vote in whatever manner they see fit, no matter how outlandish the vote appears.
3) An additional part of the calculation includes allowing the network covering the event, let’s call this network Every Sports Partnership Network, and modify world rankings to only include Skaters that have a massive fan base. Every Sports Partnership Network acts as a middleman for the firms that will be advertising during the World Championship event.
4) Strength of currency must be taken into account. If Southeast Scotia or Big Endland has a stronger currency than Big Elkland, then we have to take that into account. Stronger currency obviously means that fans from those countries will be able to travel in larger numbers to the event.
5) It needn’t matter if your skater finished first within your regional or country championship, the rules contained above, are in hierarchal order.
Gaining entrance to the World Figure Skating Championship is confusing no doubt. Even though we’ve had 12 to 13 competitions worldwide, the Governing Body are the folks making all of the decisions. It is subjective in nature, however, it’s the best alternative that we have going. Hopefully this beginner’s guide was able to help navigate to you how different skaters got invited.
Trying to figure out how you get invited to the World Figure Skating Championships is utterly confusing. Part of the reason for this confusion is that the WFSC Governing Body is beyond reproach. Their system takes into account a number of different factors, some of which require a TI-85 calculator, other that are a little less ‘above board.’ As best I can tell, here is how they calculate who gets invited to their Championship:
1) Each major part of the world gets to have at least one skater invited to the championship. It need not matter how well your section of the world ranks compared to other parts, everybody should have the opportunity to compete. Even if your section of the world, let’s for argument sake call this part of the world Atlántico, or perhaps Eastlandia, has skaters that have a much lower amount of skills compared to other skaters from around the world. We must include skaters from this part of the world. However, if the opportunity presents itself to include an additional team from a part of the world, again for argument sake, let’s call that part of the world Southeast Scotia then the opportunity must be taken.
2) Part of the calculation includes allowing the coaches of world teams to vote on what countries should be included. These coaches shall be allowed to vote in whatever manner they see fit, no matter how outlandish the vote appears.
3) An additional part of the calculation includes allowing the network covering the event, let’s call this network Every Sports Partnership Network, and modify world rankings to only include Skaters that have a massive fan base. Every Sports Partnership Network acts as a middleman for the firms that will be advertising during the World Championship event.
4) Strength of currency must be taken into account. If Southeast Scotia or Big Endland has a stronger currency than Big Elkland, then we have to take that into account. Stronger currency obviously means that fans from those countries will be able to travel in larger numbers to the event.
5) It needn’t matter if your skater finished first within your regional or country championship, the rules contained above, are in hierarchal order.
Gaining entrance to the World Figure Skating Championship is confusing no doubt. Even though we’ve had 12 to 13 competitions worldwide, the Governing Body are the folks making all of the decisions. It is subjective in nature, however, it’s the best alternative that we have going. Hopefully this beginner’s guide was able to help navigate to you how different skaters got invited.
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