If You're Right Half The Time, Just Be A Fan

Well, I predicted that Denver would squeak by Pittsburgh; that didn't happen as the Steelers dominated this afternoon. As I write, Seattle has gone up 34-7 over Carolina, fulfilling the other half of my prophecy. The Seahawks are amazingly dominant over the hapless Panthers; the Steelers were similarly dominant over the Broncos. So that makes things hard to predict. I had predicted a close set of conference championships, but both turned out to be one-sided. I'm batting about .500 for playoff picks; at least I'm not doing worse than chance. But there's no point in making picks unless you stick your neck out -- and I'll do so now for the Seattle Seahawks, who seem to be firing on all cylinders and put together a more complete package.

I'm going to have to start paying more attention to college basketball. The UT women's team is undefeated, ranked first in the nation, and about to play #2 Duke. But excellence is the norm for the Lady Vols. The UT men's team is getting more press because the men have so dramatically exceeded expectations with a brand-new coach, including Friday's defeat of #2 Florida. Not bad after just barely losing to #4 Memphis earlier last week.

And next month the Winter Olympics start. I admit to enjoying the Olympics in spite of the corruption, the bothersome tape delay presentation on TV, and the overt attempts to appeal to female viewers -- nothing wrong with attracting female viewers, but many male sports fans are turned off by it. Get over it; these are sports we don't usually watch and that makes them fun and unusual. So it's a good time to be a sports fan.

But my pick'em record isn't good enough to make it a good idea for me to lay down money.

Update: On Monday morning, I learned that Pittsburgh is a 3-and-a-half point favorite to win. I'm sticking with my pick of Seattle, though; and I'm not too proud to take the points.