There’s a casino coming to 413 really soon. Rumors are increasing that sports betting could be legal before long. So there could be a sports book at the MGM Springfield.
In case that all happens quickly, this column is to remind you that if you do gamble, it would mostly be a bad idea to make your picks based on anything I say.
A year ago, I made the predictions below about 2017. For the most part, it’s not pretty.
Patriots get back to the Super Bowl – I didn’t say whether they’d win or not, which is admittedly cowardly, but I was right that they made it. Given some of the predictions below, I’m going to celebrate it.
Players will skip White House visit – This was an easy one and right on the money.
Tony Romo will be the new Jets quarterback – I loved this pick when I made it. It never occurred to me that he’d retire and be outstanding on TV.
Chip Kelly to Notre Dame – It would have been fun if this was right. Instead he’s at UCLA and Brian Kelly stayed put.
Josh McDaniels to the Los Angeles Rams – He didn’t even leave. You’re getting a good look at why I don’t gamble on sports.
Claude Julien won’t be the coach of the Bruins by the end of the year – Bingo.
UCLA basketball wins NCAA title – This wasn’t a bad pick. It just didn’t happen.
The Celtics will trade their first round pick – I wrote this: “Some established star will demand a trade and the Celtics will try to speed up their development fast.” So it didn’t quite happen that way, but there’s a lot of solid crystal ball work here.
David Price will insult Dennis Eckersley further alienating Red Sox fans — Just kidding. What I actually wrote was: David Price will win more games than Chris Sale – Oops.
Pablo Sandoval has a bounce back season– Wow that’s bad. Really really bad.
Alabama over Clemson again – I was seconds away from being right. But no value in that.
UMass makes the NIT – Swing and a big miss.
Victor Cruz has a bounce back season for another team in 2017 – Cruz was cut by the Bears in camp and hasn’t played since. He might be done.
Curt Schilling will insert himself into another controversy – That was a safe one.
UMass women’s lacrosse wins the Atlantic 10 – I could also have predicted the sun coming up.
Rex Ryan is excellent on TV for one season before being hired as a college coach after the 2017 season – I honestly believe Rex would be a good college coach and maybe a great one. But it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage