 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
10 predictions for 2003
By KEITH NIEBUHR, Times Staff Writer
DREAMLAND -- As I sit here writing my yearly predictions column, one famous saying keeps running through my head: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well, color me crazy. Every January, I write this column. And every year, it bombs. Last year, I picked the Lecanto football team to finish 9-1. The Panthers won three games. You can't be much more wrong. But like the neighborhood dog that digs through the trash looking for a scrap of food, I refuse to give up. So here they are folks -- 10 predictions you can take to the bank. Or perhaps I should call them 10 predictions you hopefully will forget about in 48 hours. Either way, here goes nothing. 1. Crystal River's baseball team will make a return trip to the state final four. This just in: Pirates skipper Brent Hall can coach. Nobody around here can touch these guys. Coaches and players from other teams can cut my words out and tape them on the wall, but it won't help. 2. Citrus boys basketball coach Jimmy Thomas will lead the Hurricanes to the sweet 16. If Citrus can get consistent inside play, it might do better than that. Guard Jamaal Galloway, who has been a complete player this winter, has the best shot I've seen from a high school kid. 3. Former Crystal River star Mike Hampton will resurrect his pitching career with the Braves. He was terrible in Colorado -- some of the home runs he allowed still haven't landed -- but he should thrive in Atlanta. He doesn't have to be a savior, just a solid No. 2 starter behind Greg Maddux. 4. Crystal River's football team will win another county title and should find its way back into the playoffs. Without a major case of the fumbles, the Pirates would have won seven or eight games this fall, not six. Speedy quarterback Chris Bunch is the player to watch in 2003. 5. Citrus running back/defensive back R.J. Cobb will distinguish himself as the county's top player. He's quick, elusive and tough. If the Hurricanes' line improves, a 1,500-yard season is not out of the question. No lie: A major in-state program had a scout at a 2002 Citrus game, and I don't think he was there to watch me. 6. The softball squad at Citrus and Crystal River will reach the playoffs. Who's better? Hard to tell, but because the Pirates have more experienced pitching, I give them the early edge. 7. Black Diamond resident Tommy Bolt, 86, will break his age on the golf course enough times to make each of us feel terrible. FYI: I'm guessing I'd have to live to be about 135 to do it once. 8. Pete Rose, baseball's hit king, will attend the 10th annual Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame inductions in February, and at least two dozen grown men will cry when meeting him. Another 50 grown men -- I repeat this for emphasis because I think it's sad that grown men worship athletes -- will call him their hero. 9. A parent will blame me for their son or daughter's lack of recruitment, even though college coaches aren't exactly scurrying for my phone number so they can hear what I think. 10. At some point, a local athlete will, when watching the news, think: "You know, maybe this sports stuff isn't so important after all." That kid probably will wind up enjoying athletics more than any of his or her friends. Keith Niebuhr can be reached at 860-7337 or niebuhr@sptimes.com .
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
