It was another so-so year of sports predictions for yours truly.
I saw the Rams relocation lawsuit settlement coming.
Same for QB uncertainty at Mizzou, though I picked the wrong backup to challenge now-departed Connor Bazelak.
I called Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina signing up for at least one more ride, back before they did it all over again.
The Cardinals making the postseason but exiting soon after was another box checked, though I did think they would win the National League Central Division. A 17-game winning streak, Gold Glove history and a surprise managerial change was not on my list.
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I was too high on Blues short-timer Mike Hoffman, NCAA Tournament success for SLU and Mizzou, and Jack Flaherty, whose season was derailed by injury.
My biggest whiff? Baseball. Our national pastime impressed me by playing a full 162-game regular season through the pandemic. I figured it would be around 100 games. I’m so glad I was wrong. What MLB accomplished in 2021 has encouraged me to be optimistic about 2022, even in the midst of this lockout.
One of these years, I’ll nail each and every one of my annual sports predictions. Here’s the latest attempt.
• Baseball’s lockout will end just in time for a rushed spring training and a full regular season. If the regular season indeed is shortened, it will be because the postseason is expanded, not because of a lockout-caused calendar crunch. Players and owners are in a standoff over how to split revenue. Neither side likes revenue lost. That’s what happens when a work stoppage starts cutting into regular-season games.
• The Cardinals’ front office will be quicker and more aggressive when it comes to addressing roster weaknesses that develop during the season. Following a polarizing managerial change, John Mozeliak is under about as much public pressure as he has encountered during a lengthy, successful run as general manager and now president of baseball operations. He no longer can afford to play it cool at the trade deadline, or before it. Cardinal Nation is hungry for another deep postseason run.
• Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson will be an All-Star. Teammate Tyler O’Neill will join him if he can dodge multiple trips to the injured list. Wainwright once again will lead the way in quality starts and innings pitched, then ride off into the retirement sunset with his beloved catcher.
• The Blues will go deep in the playoffs. The depth is there. The attitude is right. The never-ending pandemic has tested this bunch this season, and the results have been impressive. Let’s cross our fingers and hope the playoff system is a real one. Berube’s bunch plays better sans bubble.
• It will be a busy year for ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC. Has to be. That 2023 launch date is coming, and there are players to strike deals with and coaches to name.
• The basketball Billikens will continue to tease us. Without Javonte Perkins, they again are existing on that fringe between good and something better. Another COVID-caused shutdown will not help. Argh.
• Coach Cuonzo Martin will get another season to prove he can right the ship for Mizzou men’s basketball. And he should. That $6 million buyout is a lot of dough for a cash-strapped athletics department that practically is begging fans to support its revenue sports.
A booster who steps forward with a check to replace Martin could change this scenario, though that money probably would be better off being used to kick-start some of the name, image and likeness deals that are helping the football team recruit, but not yet the hoops side. Martin won’t be around long if more is not delivered, but one more season to see how this new-look roster develops (or doesn’t) would make sense, despite Twitter outrage.
• Robin Pingeton’s Mizzou women’s basketball team is going to make an NCAA Tournament run. It just conquered Goliath (No. 1 South Carolina), with seven players. Anything is possible now.
• Incoming freshman Sam Horn will start at quarterback for the Mizzou football team — unless a transfer QB enters the picture late. Bazelak took himself out of the picture via the portal after a frustrating and injury-affected season.
If coach Eli Drinkwitz thought Brady Cook was his next starter, we would and perhaps should have watched him a lot more often this past season. Tyler Macon would have beaten out Cook for those reps if he was ready. A true freshman QB starting in the SEC? Not ideal, but it could be Drinkwitz’s best option for feeding Luther Burden touchdown passes.
For a play-caller who coaches quarterbacks, Drinkwitz has built himself a rather risky depth chart at the most important position on the field.
• Torry Holt’s Pro Football Hall of Fame wait will finally end. The key receiver from the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Rams’ ‘Greatest Show’ offense now is a three-time finalist. You know what they say about the third time.
• ºüÀêÊÓƵ football fans will get good news about their beloved BattleHawks. The restarting XFL would be making a huge mistake to not reengage with its most passionately supported team. I’ll say it again. Pro Football Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce should be the coach.
Competition was stiff, but the Cardinals’ shocker tops the list of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area’s top sports stories of the past year.Â