Birthday Wishes...and Predictions

First off, Birthday wishes go out today, if I may be so modest, to The Grandstander. Yes, it was on this day one year ago that The Grandstander made its entrance into the Blogosphere. I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but after three hundred fifty posts, twenty-two registered followers, and several more on Facebook, it looks like things have worked out. I am looking forward to another year of this foolishness.

I will begin Year Two with my always anticipated and usually incorrect Sports Predictions, NFL Division, but first a word on the Pitt Football Panthers.

I participate in something called the MOASP (Mother of All Sports Pools). This is a year long sports pool in which participants draft teams from MLB, the NFL, NHL, and NBA, NCAA Division I schools, as well as PGA golfers and NASCAR drivers. (It sounds sick, but admit it, you would like to be in on it, wouldn't you?) I won't go into details, and you can contact me if you really want to know more about it. Anyway, the MOASP season ends with the Super Bowl, and right now, I sit in second place and have an outside shot at winning the whole thing. To make that outside chance come through, though, the heretofore much ridiculed BBVA Compass Bowl all of a sudden becomes a very important game. You see, Pitt is one of my two NCAA teams, and a victory by the Panthers will keep me alive in the race for the coveted Lady of Victory Trophy.

So, what the hell, a bonus prediction: the Panthers survive an up-and-(mostly)-down season, and the Marx Brothers-like coaching situation and beatdown on the Kentucky Wildcats in Birmingham today. Let's Go Pitt!!!!

(By the way, two of my NFL teams, the Pats and the Bears, could meet in the Super Bowl, so I like may chances of at least holding on to second place in the MOASP!)

Now, onto the NFL Wildcard Weekend....

Saints at Seahawks. Does anyone think that the 7-9 Seahawks can beat the defending champs? I didn't think so, and neither do I. Four divisions, one containing four crummy teams, have produced an NFL Nightmare of a Perfect Storm - an under .500 team in the Playoffs. Still, those are the rules, and Seattle has no need to apologize for being where they are. To combine two great cliches, everyone is now 0-0 and on any given Sunday (Saturday in this case) anyone can win. All that aside, have fun at the tailgates, Seahawks fans, but your season ends today. Saints to win big.

Jets at Colts. Many may recall that I went broke last year (or would have if I'd actually bet on these things) by picking the Jets to lose in the playoffs. Normally, I would go, all things being equal, with the team with the better QB. Peyton Manning v. Mark Sanchez? No contest, right? Still, something tells me that these Manning Colts are not the Manning Colts of recent years, and, while Rex Ryan is an insufferable blowhard, he does seem to be able to coach 'em up. So, I am going to call for a Jets win in a close one at Indy tonight.

Ravens at Chiefs. I have to say that the Chiefs are a team that really snuck up on me this season. I never saw them play once all year, but here they sit, a division champ with a home game in Round One. I like the Len Dawson-to-Otis Taylor passing combination, and Buck Buchannon and Willie Lanier are dynamite on defense, but the Ravens are a team I have seen this year, and I am going to go with the Ravens in this one. This result would also set up a rubber game against the Steelers next week at Heinz Field, and who doesn't want to see that again?

Packers at Eagles. This could easily turn out to be the best game of the weekend. The Packers were pre-season darlings, and the Eagles with Michael Vick represent one of the more interesting stories of the season. I am tempted to pick the Pack in this one, but that means that I would have picked all four road teams to win this weekend. That will never happen, so I'm going with the Eagles to win in a close one.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone, and once again, thank you for reading The Grandstander.