With this being my last column of the semester, it's time to make some bold predictions for the rest of 2003. Please, stew over for them for the next few months.
Here it goes, I'm putting on my pointy blue hat with silver stars on it - because everyone knows you can't drum up any kind of interesting magic without a pointy hat - and I'm getting ready to make myself feel smart at this time next year.
The ASU baseball team will win the 2003 College World Series. Pitching might win championships, but offense is the name of the game in college baseball, and ASU is outscoring their opponents by an average of 10-4.
While its true that this weekends' bludgeoning of Washington State isn't big news since the Cougars aren't exactly USC, consider this: ASU has lost five Pac-10 games this season by a total of six runs. Two of those losses - Stanford and UCLA - were in extra innings, and in another loss, again to UCLA, they were outscored 2-1 in the ninth inning for a 9-8 final; and in yet another one-run loss, USC scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the 6-5 win. While the numbers show they might have problems closing out games, a lot of that can probably be attributed to bad luck.
Former ASU linebacker Solomon Bates will wind up being a steal as a fifth-round draft pick by Seattle. He might be a little too slow to be a full-time starter as a middle linebacker in the NFL, but will be a very productive role player if he plays in the right system. Remember how good he was as a freshman and sophomore in Bruce Snyder's defense? Once he goes back to playing in a scheme that isn't designed to just give the offense a breather, he will excel. He has the perfect body for a middle linebacker and, having just turned 21 years old, probably hasn't finished filling out yet.
The Cardinals will finish with the worst record in the NFL. Then, just because they're the Cardinals, they'll fail to sign the No. 1 overall pick, who will then enter the 2005 draft and play elsewhere.
Speaking of the Cardinals, Anquan Boldin will be the best of their picks this weekend. If you watched the Sugar Bowl - no one can blame you if you didn't, the Georgia vs. Florida State matchup looked terribly lopsided going in - you would have noticed Boldin was not only the best wide receiver FSU had, but the best available quarterback as well. He is one of those guys that was likely hurt by his poor 40-yard dash times, but his size and versatility will make people forget his 40-times at the combine.
For the fifth-consecutive year, one of the most overpowering pitchers in baseball, and a USC alumnus is going to win the National League Cy Young Award. That's right, Mark Prior will win 20-plus games with a sub-3.00 ERA in his second season in the big leagues to become the youngest NL Cy Young winner since Doc Gooden, who took home the award and 24 wins for the Mets in 1985 when he was 20 years old - also in his second season.
The NAU Lumberjacks will pull off an enormous upset against ASU at Sun Devil Stadium on Sept. 6 to open the 2003 football season. Sure the 'Jacks were only 6-5 in 2002, but sometimes you get a feeling about these things. That said, the Sun Devils will rebound with wins at Iowa and North Carolina.
What are your predictions for 2003? Post your opinion in the forum below.
Reach the reporter at gregory.salvatore@asu.edu.
