Hot Sports Takes 2015

Nate's 9: Hot Sports Takes 2015

And coldest as well. From the very first time I took a take (I thought the Timberwolves trading away Doug West and Sam Mitchell for Chuck Person and Michael Williams was going to be the greatest thing that ever happened to the franchise – it wasn’t) I have been able to look back on my thoughts with fondness, or sometimes with loathing. There have been some big winners – Andre Rison will get the Packers to the Super Bowl, Dennis Rodman will make the Bulls unstoppable, Manchester United only need Carlos Tevez to reach European domination. There have also been some big losers – The 1991 University of Miami Hurricanes aren’t very good, Tim Couch will be an NFL star, Aaron Hicks will make the Twins forget all about Torii Hunter.  I offer you my nine best, and nine worst takes of the year 2015.

Cold:

#9. Kevin Durant wants to be a Golden State Warrior. An ESPN writer was able to confirm that if the Warriors were so interested, they could offer Kevin Durant a maximum free agent contract deal at the end of the season, and still keep the important players on their team intact for seasons to come (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green). I started spouting off how wonderful it would be to bear witness to the greatest basketball team ever to play the game, once Durant would understand that making this move would be beneficial to his career. Consequently, my frustration two weeks later when Durant publicly stated that he was just focusing on basketball and hadn’t even thought about the Warriors. It’s a cool miss for me, but one that leaves me utterly disappointed for the time being.

#8. The New Orleans Saints will be the NFL’s hungriest team. If they are, then they’re really not as talented as I had thought. I had assumed at the beginning of the year that the trade of Jimmy Graham for Max Unger was going to take the Saints back to the highest level. Drew Brees isn’t getting any younger, and he can make any weapon look good. Imagine my surprise then as I’ve seen the Saints sit rock bottom on the NFC South for most of the 2015 NFL season. They’ve been decent offensively; I got that part right, but for all intents and purposes, they are nowhere near the level of challenging for the 50^th Lombardi trophy. I thought they would certainly be close.

#7. American Pharaoh will blow it. We just passed through a decade when it seemed like every single racing season left the viewing public with an opportunity to see the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed did it 3 years before I was born.  37 years, horse racing fans had waited to view the next Triple Crown winner. And Pharaoh was a great runner, but so was Big Brown, Smarty Jones and all the others. And the Stakes is a beast. It’s the longest track in racing, and so the sprinters that tend to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness tend to struggle running the full mile and a half. So, imagine my surprise when I chose not to watch the Belmont Stakes because I figured Pharaoh was doomed, and he came out completely dominating the field and making the Crown victory effortless. So then, I proclaimed him Sports Illustrated person of the year, for this was a feat that hadn’t been done in 37 years, but of course that was a race he just couldn’t win.

#6. Sammy Watkins will reinvent the WR position. I didn’t care where he would be drafted, I thought Sammy Watkins was going to be the receiver that challenged all of Jerry Rice’s records. He has size, he has speed, he can run any route, he can go over the middle. I thought he was going to make his team better instantly. Then the Buffalo Bills drafted him. At first, I was heartbroken as I thought he’d make it to the Detroit Lions selection. Then I thought, well, he’s still going to change things. Maybe a complete shift to his side of the field every single time he lines up on the far side hash marks. Double teams in goal line situations. Nope, I mistook Sammy Watkins for Odell Beckham Jr! He might not even be as good as his college teammates Martavis Bryant and DeAndre Hopkins (Although imagine Sammy with Big Ben chucking them up).  Now it’s Odell who could be one of the greats, and Sammy Watkins who now most resembles Keyshawn Johnson, or the guy that got taken ahead of Marvin Harrison in the 1996 NFL draft.

#5. Raheem Sterling will be a bust at Manchester City. They’ve definitely had this problem over the past few years. Spending ridiculous amounts of money, only for the guy to fizzle out early, then spend a few seasons on loan before withering away (Scott Sinclair, Stefan Jovetic, Gareth Barry). Sterling said that Liverpool couldn’t match his ambitions, and threw his hat in with Manchester City. Now don’t get me wrong, I think Sterling is fantastic and probably a once in a generation player. But to play the free-roaming style that he enjoys while joining a side that already has David Silva, Samir Nasri and YaYa Toure enjoying the same type of freedoms? I thought for sure he’d be lost in the shuffle. Now I wonder where Manchester City would be without him. For now, as a result of his goals and link-up play, they are in the Premier League title race, and one of the front runners for lifting the 2016 Champions League trophy. Whoops.

#4. The Blue Jays have just purchased the 2015 World Series title.  David Price. Troy Tulowitzki. LaTroy Hawkins (seriously). Ben Revere (not seriously). These attractive pieces were going to take the Blue Jays from the scrum that was the American League season, and lift them directly into the World Series against the Chicago Cubs (Cause “Back to the Future” said so). How could they not? A lineup that had Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Tulo? They could score six, even seven runs a game! Then adding Price to a staff that has Mark Buehrle, RA Dickey and Marco Estrada. Can you say championship? Oh yeah, those pesky Royals won it in 2015.

#3. Chelsea should comfortably win their second consecutive Premier League title. Well, they’re only 20 points from the top of the league after 16 games played. I can relish the fact that just about every publication had them either 1^st or 2^nd, so I wasn’t the only one, but I more or less said it with an air of ignorance. How dare someone say that Arsenal has a shot at confiscating the trophy that belongs to Chelsea for the time being? Also, so many people were convinced that Manchester City was going to run away with the title; I believed it certainly wouldn’t be that easy if Jose Mourinho had a say. Then... he purchases a player they had no excuse signing (Pedro). They started with some nervy points vs West Bromwich and Swansea. City crushes them 3-0. And now here they sit in 16^th, and things aren’t looking to comfortable over at the bridge. I’m okay being wrong here.

#2. Cardale Jones has no shot at leading Ohio State to a college football National Championship. There’s no way someone steps into their first college game against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship and comes out with an easy victory (proven wrong as they win 59-0). Well, good for them, Wisconsin gave up and they gave us an impressive victory that gets them in the four team playoff. In my opinion, they have the weakest team, and it all lies at the QB position. Maybe if they had JT Barrett, they’d have a shot. Plus they play Alabama next. (Buckeyes keep rolling; beat Tide in a not so close game until the final outcome). Ha. Now they have to play Oregon, a team with the nation’s best QB, playing with the nation’s best weapons. No way that Cardale keeps up. (Well, he didn’t have to as Ezekiel Elliott destroys the lighter and faster, but not stronger Ducks D). And now the Buckeyes have a national title with Cardale Jones at QB. So there’s that.

#1. The Indianapolis Colts have an easy path towards winning the NFL’s 50^th Super Bowl. At 6-7, there’s nothing about the Colts’ path that has been easy up unto this point. They haven’t had their star QB for most of the year. Their running game has been subpar even though they signed Frank Gore away from the 49ers. Andre Johnson retired? Philip Dorsett got sent down to their developmental team? (Neither of these happened) The defense, which I also thought would take the next step, did, albeit they went backwards instead of forwards. In conclusion, in what I thought would be the #1 take on my hot side, ends up committing a U-turn, and is now heading full steam ahead down the cold side.

Hot:

#9. Jordan Spieth is the new Tiger Woods. While, I’m not fanatical about golf, I am able to recognize when someone comes from the shadows and just excels. Enter Spieth, who I fell in love with after reading an article about his skill and character in a Sports Illustrated issue. His 2014 season was solid coming from a twenty-one year old, and he mixed in some wins near the end of the season. I imagined he would have a bigger 2015, and he certainly didn’t let me down. First, Spieth pulls down a green jacket at the Masters and ties Tiger Woods for the all-time record at -18 under par. Onto the US Open, where he wins his 2^nd major of the year. Next, he played the Open Championship and missed the playoff by just one stroke. And of course, Spieth plays hard until the bitter end and finishes 2^nd at the PGA Championship. Tiger Woods would and should be very proud.

#8. Dallas Stars could go all the way with the trade for Patrick Sharp. I watched Jamie Benn at the 2014 Olympics in Russia, and thought, Boy, this guy can play. What NHL team does he play for? When I found out it was the Stars, I started following them a little more. Then I learned that they had traded for Tyler Seguin from the Bruins, a young player that I thought would lead the Bruins to more cups as he got closer to his prime. And I thought, how did the Dallas Stars miss the playoffs? Finally, this past off-season, I had heard that the Stars had traded for Sharp, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was kind of the 3^rd wheel to Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews, but certainly no slouch. I started winding up opinions, attempting to see where people were putting the Stars. And most said they were a fringe playoff team. I was baffled, because I thought we were going to see them become a top 5 team in hockey, and I bet on them that way. At just over 1/3 of the way through now, and I feel fantastic about where I had them. 46 points has the Stars with the most points in the NHL so far.

#7. KAT. For most of the college season, I wanted the Minnesota Timberwolves to tank so they could get the draft rights to Jahlil Okafor, the player who I thought would be the NBA’s next great center. I liked this Karl-Anthony Towns guy, but Kentucky certainly didn’t showcase all his talents, and I thought he spent too much time on the perimeter. Enter March Madness. He played like a man on a mission, all the way until the Badgers game. No matter, my mind was changed. If only the Timberwolves could get the #1 pick, so we could draft the next Patrick Ewing. He commands the paint defensively. He has pretty good range from 20 ft. He can actually hit a free throw, unlike Okafor. And he wants it. Whoa man, does he have the passion. I have no doubt that Towns is the Wolves Alpha dog, and Wiggins is going to be our Beta. And they could win championships.

#6. Michigan State Spartans has a playoff football team. I didn’t pick them to make the playoffs, but not as a result of anyone or anything about their team. I just thought that playing Oregon, and going to Michigan and Ohio State would be way too big of an ask for a team that always seems to get close, but never quite there... I had turned away from the Michigan game, assuming that the Spartans season was over. When Cook went out and couldn’t play against the Buckeyes, I watched a different game instead. And they kept fighting. And now I probably consider them 4^th best out of the 4 remaining, but my last hot take of 2015 is that they very well could be NCAA’s next national champs.

#5. Allen Robinson is a top 10 WR. I tried to tell anyone who would listen. Hey, Penn State’s got a stud here. Maybe it’s because I’m such a Nittany Lions fan that no one would listen. Well, too bad their loss. Not only have I locked up Allen Robinson in my dynasty FF league for the extreme total of $10, but he has helped the Jaguars achieve respectability and an outside shot at winning the AFC South Division title this season. He has been almost impossible to defend. He’s great at getting jump balls. He’s got pretty good speed for a big guy. He runs great routes and never gives up on a play. My first take in 2016 might mention him for top 5 status if he continues staying healthy and productive on the playing field. 

#4. Inter Milan could win the Serie A title. This was probably the one I had the littlest belief in. While I think they improved immensely, and did so without telling anybody, as it was probably the quietest transfer window in the history of respected big clubs (The top 20 or so in the world in people’s minds), I was sure that Juventus would probably steam roll towards a 4^th consecutive title. Yet, I really liked all their moves. The aforementioned Jovetic was fantastic when he played previously in the Serie A with Fiorentina. Ivan Perisic didn’t get much of a chance to play at either Borussia Dortmund or VFL Wolfsburg, but always played well when he did. Martin Montoya is only not starting for Barcelona, because Dani Alves is still performing at a top level entering his 30’s. I thought maybe, if all the new signings play well, and Miranda, Melo and Icardi continue to improve, they could make a run at Juventus and maybe win the title. Sixteen games in and Inter is not only on top of the league, but also a full six points ahead of the struggling Juventus side that now might be staring at the end of their European dream come next February time.

#3. Golden State will beat all the playoff 'beasts' and come away with an NBA Championship. I remember when everyone got all busted up over Mark Jackson getting fired by the Warriors and thought that he was crucified for a team that wasn’t very good. I was more of the opinion that if someone could teach this team to play a little defense, they were going to win a title, and probably wouldn’t stop at 1. Since then, I’ve heard it all. They’re too small. Shooting teams don’t win championships. They can’t handle a physical, determined team. So far as I can see, they’ve handle every single thing that has been thrown their way over the past fifteen months. The only excuse I haven’t heard is that they're too complacent. Tough to make those up when they come out the gate with 24 in a row.

#2. The Carolina Panthers have a legitimate mention for becoming Super Bowl contenders. While going through my formula for what I think it takes to win a Super Bowl title in the NFL, I came across a team that hit very well on all categories sans the QB position. The curious thing about that though, was that they had a QB under contract whose potential could reach that of the top QB’s in the league. Imagine if he would score an 18/20 on my chart. It takes the Carolina Panthers from a fringe playoff team, and puts them at the front of the line to be the representative for the NFC at Super Bowl 50. I thought maybe this would be the year he could reach that 18 too, as the Panthers finally had an easy schedule (NFC East, AFC South besides 6 games against the NFC South). Plenty of games for their QB to shine. I started sharing my Super Bowl aspirations for the Carolina Panthers and got laughed at multiple times. Now here I sit, as the Panthers are 13-0, this Cam Newton guy playing like an MVP, and I can’t seem to stop giggling.

#1. Wisconsin will meet Duke in the Final Four Championship game. While I liked Kentucky, and I thought they did well to get to the tournament undefeated, I didn’t believe that they had the tenacity to bring home the national championship. They certainly had some good players with Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein. But I thought Wisconsin would be hungrier, and I thought Duke would be better coached (No harm I hope, Mr. Calipari). So without a second thought, I made them my national championship opponents. And watched. And got it exactly right. Without a single reservation. The only thing that doesn’t make this #1 with a bullet like I did when I got the Harbaugh Super Bowl exactly right (winner too, and by a TD) is that I thought Sam Dekker would hit the game winning shot with just seconds left, instead of Apple Valley resident Tyus Jones going for a game high 23, and something named Grayson Allen adding 16.