As Sam Sees It

Happy New Year's, everyone. This is the first column of 2006 and it is time for some fearless predictions. My record over the years has been, at best, a spotty one. One or two people take note of my forecasts and remind me of the ones that are the most off the mark. I tend to remember the one or two that were accurate.

Let's start with the up-coming Super Bowl and predict that the favorite will win this year's over-hyped event. The Indianapolis Colts will edge the Seattle Seahawks in one of the better one of these much anticipated contests ever.

The Phoenix Suns will win the NBA Western Division and eventually play the Miami Heat for the NBA title. The best professional basketball is played in the west and Phoenix will finally claim its first championship.

Arizona teams will not be so fortunate at the college level. The University of Arizona will make its annual appearance in the NCAA Championship Tournament, but won't be around for the Final Four. The early favorite is the Duke Blue Devils, but this will be a year for Cinderella to wear the glass slipper. Cinderella, in real life, is the Gonzaga Bulldogs, a team that has gotten deep into the tournament before in recent years.

The baseball picture is as muddled as ever. The New York Yankees have the most to spend and no hesitation about spending it. If money can by a World Championship (and the Yankees have bought quite a few) the trophy will go back to New York. First, let's look at the races in each division.

The National League East title will finally leave Atlanta and go to the other New York team. The Mets have also been spending freely and it will pay off with a division title.

The St. Louis Cardinals are a hard team to bet against, but the National League Central will be one tough division this season. The Chicago Cubs will get their division championship and the Cardinals will settle for the wild card berth.

It would be nice to be able to pick the Diamondbacks to win the National League West, but the front office will have to do much better than they have so far for that to happen. This will be a hard division to pick as the teams are all nearly even in the weakest division in baseball. The Giants and Dodgers both strengthened themselves and the Padres didn't hurt themselves. Colorado played well after the first month in 2005. The choice here is the Dodgers, but they won't last long in the play-offs.

In the American League East, the free-spending Yankees will win that title. Boston will be a distant second.

In the American League Central, the Chicago White Sox will win the title again and be well on their way to defending their World Series Championship. The Cleveland Indians will finish second and claim the league wild card berth.

In the American League West, the California Angels will prevail in a tough division.

The eventual winners and World Series participants will be the White Sox and the Mets. Money will have done the job for one New York team, but not for George's team. The winner of the series will once again be the White Sox. Don't bet your fortune, though.

College football will enjoy a very competitive season that results in not one single undefeated team in major college ranks. The eventual champion will be the Texas Longhorns.

For what it is worth, if I had to bet, it would be that most of these predictions are wrong. Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while, though, so one or two may be right.

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