It Seemed Like a Good Guess at the Time

It is a dream job for any sports fans. It is the equivalent to being the weatherman of sports. This time of the year has sports experts simply making guesses. On one end there is Joe Lunardi just guessing who is going to be in the NCAA basketball tournament with his bracketology. At the same time of the year Mel Kiper and Todd McShay come out of their 10 month hibernation to argue with each other about what team is going to draft what player in the NFL.

With the push for the playoffs in the NHL and NBA, Spring Training, and March Madness, it seems weird the biggest deal in sports is how everyone and their nephew has their own mock draft. It is also funny how every mock draft can not get any prediction past pick number 6 correct.

So if everyone else can get hits for making random predictions in sports, why not follow suit. Here are the "educated predictions" for the rest of 2009.

NHL:

• Despite a great regular season, the Sharks will not reach the Western Conference Finals.
• The Rangers will make the playoffs, and face the Devils in the 1st round. That way we get to see this again.

NBA:

• Even without McGrady, the Houston Rockets lose in the 1st round of the playoffs....again.
• The surprise team to reach the playoffs in the East will be the Knicks, but they will be knocked out by Boston in Marbury's revenge.
• Lebron James will not yell at his mother this year during the playoffs.

MLB:

• The Tampa Bay Rays after last year's Cinderella story will finish third in the AL East, 11 games back of Boston.
• Jon Lester will earn the starting spot in the All-Star game, but will pitch just before it meaning Justin Duchscherer will have to start.
• The surprise team to reach the playoffs in baseball will be the Houston Astros.

NFL

• T.O. will have 1,250 yards receiving, 11 touchdowns, but the Bills will go 8-8, and he will complain....again.
• Even if he does not play Brett Favre will find a way to have his name mentioned 11 times a week on Sportcenter.
• After clinching the #1 seed last year, the Tennessee titans will not make the playoffs.
• Surprise teams to make the playoffs: Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans.

(Predictions are subject to be horribly wrong.)