JAY’S CRYSTAL BALLAs the calendars turns, here are some predictions for this year with the following quick predictions:• Butch Jones and Russ Huesman will be preaparing for the postseason next December.• Will Wade will get the Mocs to the Southern Conference finals this March. Jim Foster will get the female Mocs to the NCAA tournament this March and win a game.• Alabama will win the Iron Bowl and the SEC title, and Auburn and Alabama will each make the first four-team national playoffs.• Peyton Manning and the Broncos will fall short in the snow in the New York City Super Bowl.• LeBron James and Miami will win the NBA title and James will explore free agency.• The Atlanta Braves will miss the playoffs.Want to submit a prediction and get it on the record? Send it to sports@timesfreepress.com and we’ll run some of the predictions in Sunday’s Times Free Press sports section.
Auburn cornerback Chris Davis (11) returns a missed field goal attempt 100-plus yards to score the game-winning touchdown as time expired in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against No. 1 Alabama in Auburn, Ala. Auburn won 34-28.On the national scale, the stars will shine in 2014. Peyton Manning will fall short in New York City in the Super Bowl in a foot of snow that will be a TV dream and a halftime-show debacle. LeBron and Miami will win it all in the NBA again.
So long, 2013. It feels like we barely got to know you. You were a year of wonder and amazing– hey, the Auburn Tigers just pulled another victory rabbit out of their helmet — and a year of perspective.
We said “goodbye” too often. There was the death of Nelson Mandela and the role that sports played in his efforts in South Africa. There was the poignant end of Mariano Rivera’s amazingly and consistently dominant career with the Yankees. There was the final game for Mack Brown and for Candlestick Park.
We said “hello” too seldom. We know the stars and the storylines and we crave surprises and underdogs. Maybe that’s one of the reasons the Auburn rise from 3-9 this time a year ago to five days from a national-title shot captured the attention of the sporting world to the point that Tigers players graced the Sports Illustrated cover three times in the last six weeks.