"...we could see the first steps towards a college football playoff taken and a city long-starved for champion finally be fed...."

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Some have said 2008 may have been the best year in sports yet.   We had the Boston Celtics return to their rightful place as champions of the NBA, though we all have to admit this edition of the Celtics ain’t your grandfather’s Celtics or your father’s for that matter… lol!   Then there were the Beijing Olympic Games where swimmer Michael Phelps dominated, Jamaica produced a Lightning Bolt and World Order was restored when the USA men’s basketball team brought back the Gold.   But that said, 2009 has a chance to be even more memorable with some monumental changes in sports on the horizon. We could see the first steps towards a college football playoff taken and a city long-starved for champion finally be fed.   Here are my predictions for the New Year:

1. The Oklahoma Sooners will blast Florida in Thursday night’s BCS national championship game, renewing cries of an unfair system that saw the one-loss Texas Longhorns hand OU its only loss this season. The barbershops across our country will be heated battle grounds the next few weeks.

2. The college presidents, who have been set against a college football playoff, will concede to a compromise this spring that will allow for some type of Plus-one model at the end of the bowls once the current contract expires. That will put us one step closer to the necessary major college football playoff.

3. Look for the New York Giants to successfully defend their Super Bowl title next month against the Baltimore Ravens in a brilliant defensive matchup that will give Eli Manning one more Lombardi Trophy than his more celebrated older brother Peyton.

4. The North Carolina Tar Heels were made to look human a couple nights ago and have slipped some in the latest college basketball polls but they rise above Pitt and the rest when it counts during the Final Four. Let the Roy Williams love fest and the debate about who is better: Roy or his mentor Dean Smith begin.

5. For years, the city of Cleveland has been ridiculed for choking in the big games. You know, “The Drive,” “The Fumble,” “The Shot,” etc. etc. Well that ends 2009 when LeBron James and the Cavaliers out-last the Celtics in an epic Game 7 in Boston during the Eastern Conference Finals before knocking off the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.

6. There has been much talk about LeBron leaving Cleveland for New York (including on this blog) but that ends this summer when Bron Bron signs a long-term deal that will keep him close to home. Could back-to-back NBA titles …  and dare we say a dynasty be headed for Cleveland?

7. A wiser, yet heavier Michael Vick will emerge from prison and be re-instated back into the NFL late this summer where he will star as the ultimate Wildcat for the Detroit Lions. The worst franchise in football needs a side-show and Vick will fill the bill as a part-time quarterback/receiver/running back. Don’t expect any miracles (like from 0-16 to the playoffs), but look for many thrilling moments in the Motor City.

8. Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys will move into the brand spanking-new Jerry’s World this fall but expect more of the same as the egotistical owner did little house cleaning to change his team’s fortunes. It’s like moving from an old house infested with bugs without spraying. Don’t be surprised when they show up at your new home because nothing was done to exterminate them. The Cowboys will again be the most talented collection of NFL players (yes, T.O included) but again will underachieve under lump lump head coach Wade Phillips.

9. The New York Yankees have long been known as the best bought team in baseball. That hasn’t worked out well for the boys in Pinstripes the last few seasons but look for the money spent this offseason to pay major dividends during the fall. The combined $243.5 million paid to lure free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett along with $180 million for first baseman Mark Teixeira will bring the World Series title back to New York.

10. Texas senior quarterback Colt McCoy will begin the college football season as the odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy as college football’s best player. But that will change some time in November when Ohio State sophomore quarterback Terrell Pryor kicks into another gear and proves to be heads and shoulders above the rest.

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