What's in store for us in 2015?

[CO. Hoosier]

Here's what I see

1. The equity markets continue upward trajectory as all alternatives remain unattractive.

2. The sports inc. bubble will continue to expand. More infrastructure building, higher salaries, and more money issues. The college football playoffs will help but the real reason is that competitive sports is one of the few endeavors not taken over by digital fantasy alternative reality.

3. A year from now, Hillary Clinton will not be seen as the 2016 Dem. favorite.

4. Fewer people will go to the movies; movies will become more like watching video games, fewer people will go to the movies, movies will become like watching video games etc.

5. The United States will continue towards world energy dominance.

6. Politically, we will recognize that we have reached peak liberalism.

7. The wage levels decline will stabilize and maybe actually increase. That will partly be the result of even fewer people in the work force.

8. STEM education will become more prevalent.

9. 98.5% of talk show content will be about the Middle East, Income inequality, Immigration, and race and each of those will produce at least one hugely tragic event.

10. The White Sox will be in the World Series; the Rockies will lose >85 games.

 

[SuperHoosierFan]

I'm willing to bet the republicans waste time and taxpayer's money. . .

Impeaching the president. You heard it here. It will be something to do with immigration and/or executive orders, you know, since he's the only president to ever issue executive orders.

 

[Univee2]

President Underwood will face huge problems and John Corey will ...

... re-appear in late Spring or early Summer.

The football Hoosiers will win 4 games and we'll hear again how Coach Wilson has the program on the right track.

My wife will also wear out her Roku3 Christmas present as we've just finished all 26 House of Cards episodes. Who knows what we'll binge on next ....?

We'll also see a feeding frenzy as MLB rushes to sign all of the next Cuban superstars. The Reds need a power-hitting left fielder .....

There will be further problems in NYC, resulting in de Blasio's resignation.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

This could be fun.

Some replies to you and some other guesses.

1. Wages will remain stagnant, which means income disparity will continue to grow.

2. Gas will remain relatively cheap - say an average of $2-2.25 over the year.

3. By the end of 2015, we won't have a Democratic front-runner, but Hillary will be firmly in the mix.

4. A major topic of discussion among talking heads will be election reform, particularly campaign finance and term limits.

5. The best show on television will be The Americans.

6. The Theory of Everything will win the Oscar for Best Picture.

7. SCOTUS will take up the DeBoer case and sanction same-sex marriage nationwide, in a 5-4 opinion written by Kennedy.

8. A team from Chicago will be in the World Series, but it might not be the White Sox.

 

[Univee2]

IU will be in the FBS Final Four before the Cubs get to the World Series.

You're right about The Theory of Everything. Had hopes for Unbroken, but after having met Mr. Zamperini several years ago after he spoke at our church, Jolie, while making a very, very good movie, just missed the mark of making an outstanding movie as she only told half the story.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

155/6

Do you really think Jon Lester and his $155m for 6 years will produce a world series? Hell the Sox's Chris Sale couldn't do that and he's better than Lester--and Sale has a better team.

Have you seen The Theory of Everything? The trailer didn't do it any favors. I'm thinking that is a Redbox flick.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Will there be a sequel?

I wholeheartedly agree with your take on Unbroken. The movie was great as far as it went. But the best part of Zamperini's story was his recovery from the ravages of alcoholism, his subsequent Christian Conversion, and his forgiveness of his tormentors.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I didn't see it.

I'm basing my prediction on reviews and trying to gauge the current mood of Hollywood. It just seems like the kind of movie the Academy would want to honor this year.

 

[Rockport Zebra]

Well

Indiana basketball will make the NCAA and Coach will be retained on a revote.
St. Louis will have another fine season and make the playoffs.
Indiana football will have a breakout season.
The Republicans will avoid political suicide and will pass on impeachment charges.
Rockfish and MTOTF will share a drink at the new Water Cooler football tailgate.
The market will continue to rise.
The price of energy will stabilize at a level that the middle class can improve.
The Capper will continue to exploit the ignorance of the betting public.

 

[NPT]

Does Chicago

have 3 teams because we know the Cubs can never make it.

I would love to see them win it once even though I've never been a Cubs fan.

 

[zeke4ahs]

Saw it and so far

It's my favorite for the award. Seeing Foxwoods today.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

I am terrible at this game

Hillary will stay the front runner until New Hampshire or Iowa. One will balk and that will be devestating to her chances.

I agree the sports bubble will grow. I have predicted it's demise since the 2008 crash and have been wrong. Americans have an unlimited capacity for sports spending, especially propped up with tax dollars.

The economy will be a real bright spot. I think economics is largely psychological. Americans are ready to feel good about spending again. The world economy will still struggle some, but begin improving.

The one potential huge economic downer, Internet hacking will continue to grow. I believe Russia in particular will be more of a problem looking for money to replace oil. Yes, Russian gangs are already heavily involved but they will receive (more) help from the state. We need to treat the Internet defense as a former of national defense.

I haven't made it through the Oscar movies yet. I should see Unbroken and Imitation Game this week. Imitation has been the must see for me for 6 months but I doubt it will win. At the moment I predict Boyhood. I thought it was a great concept, but not a great movie.

I believe of all the major sports managers mean the least in baseball. So I do not get the Cubs spending big for a manager. Seriously, what decisions does a baseball manager make (at least if one accepts the Moneyball theories). I will go with the Dodgers-Angels.

I hate to say it, Kentucky goes undefeated. I hate what that means for college basketball but I cannot see anyone beating them.

Peter Jackson will do a Looney Tunes movie as part of his effort to destroy my favored childhood memories.

Seriously, baseball managing is just a series of if/then statements.

 

[Ladoga]

Kentucky has ZERO

ranked teams on the entire remainder of its schedule. For comparison, IU and most Big 10 teams have 4 or so, Butler has 5 and - just because its Texas Tech, I looked. TT has 14 of its remaining 19 games against ranked opponents - ranked today.

Some February evening in Columbia, Athens, Knoxville or Gainesville, Kentucky's pUKe will shoot like they did Saturday, catch a team hot and lose one, their weak sister conference notwithstanding.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

$100?

I'll take that bet. I just made $50 on a bet with a Browns fan who foolishly believed the Browns would make the playoffs this year after their strong start. I like easy money bets.
This post was edited on 12/29 11:29 AM by Aloha Hoosier

 

[Marvin the Martian]

anything is possible

But that schedule is weak and their depth is incredible. Most teams are susceptible to a key player hurt or in foul trouble. That is part of what makes it so hard to be unbeaten. They don't have that issue. Maybe if 5 were hurt or in foul trouble there would be a problem.

The one problem I see they could hit is team chemistry. Will someone look at mock nba drafts and decide only getting 20 minutes is killing them?

I doubt against anyone else they even need to shoot very well at all. Just go inside and score at will until the tourney.

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

Detroit Will Continue to UnProsper

Idiots at the Detroit Free Press put a pic of of the wrong Harbaugh in their banner headline about Jim Harbaugh coming back to Michigan.

When it rains, it floods

 

[hoot1]

Predictions after surfing the web

Under the theory others in various fields certainly have a better grasp on future events than I do, I surfed the web for predictions which sounded reasonable to me.

+ High tech wearables will will decline in sales.

+ Wave of Millenials will boost housing prices as mortgage rates increase.

+ Tiger Woods will win a major.

+ China's growth in GDP will reach a 25 year low.

+ Middle income wages will actually increase.

+ Urban farming will take off in the suburbs.

+ Mobile and Web based viruses will go wild.

+ Social Security disability benefit surplus funds will run out.

+ Walmart will enter the health insurance market.

+ New sources to borrow funds for insureds with high deductible health care plans will become available to help cover and pay for up front medical costs.

My own prediction based a great deal more on hope than past experience.

+ Boehner, McConnell, and Obama will work together in areas such as immigration, border security, cyber security, tax reform, and a long term plan to deal with entitlements.

 

[HoosierHomey]

I respectfully disagree...

with your assessment of baseball managers. I think a good manager can be worth 3-4 more wins per season than a not-so-good manager. And in the postseason, a good manager is worth a ton. For instance, you look a Bruce Bochy and his bullpen management during the postseason and I think that is why San Francisco has won 3 out of the last 5. Compare him to Mike Matheney and Don Mattingly, and there a is a big difference in how they manage a game. Also, another factor is clubhouse management and Joe Maddon has to be one of the best ever at that. I also think he is a great in-game strategist. I think the Cubs will be very pleased with him and the direction they are going. I just lament what is going to happen to my Redlegs. Opening day is less than 100 days away!

 

[hootch1]

I hate to say this,

but I was disappointed with Unbroken. The movie is faithful to the book but there is too much to cover in a theatrical release. This would have worked better as an HBO nini series.

I knew there were issues when I saw the PG13 rating. The actor playing the Bird I thought did a good job. The complexities of the relationship were not developed enough.

 

[ARMZP]

Re: I am terrible at this game


believe of all the major sports managers mean the least in baseball...That is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard... Of course what it means is you have no clue about baseball.

Do you think the Giants and Cards (with Tony) won all the time because they had the best players?

 

[Marvin the Martian]

teams

I think creating a baseball team that works requires something. You need the balance of hitting, pitching, defense. Talent varies. St Louis has done well at having players that compliment each other. The Yankees had a number of years with great talent that did not compliment itself.

In a game, what decisions are there? Steals and hit and run are overrated. Playing the defense in and intentional walks, that is all formulaic. Put 30 managers in a room, and 29 of them will agree on when to do those things. They all will bring in the setup man in the 8th, the closer in the 9th. No thought, a computer can do it.

I want to see the manager up one in the 7th but the other team has the bases loaded bring in the closer because once they get down 3-4 the closer is worthless.

Now maybe there is something to bullpen management. But how much of that is the manager and how much the pitching coach. The pitching coach has to have a fair amount of input on who is ready and who isn't.

I think back to those old Billy Martin Yankee teams. Completely disfunctional in the clubhouse, but won huge. So even team building doesn't seem as important.

I look at the Reds, I am not sure they woukd have been good no matter who was managing. You have the same scouting teports. You know to pitch player 1 low and away, player 2 will swing at anything chin high. All managers know that. They all know which outfielders you can take an extra base on, and who you cannot. I am not seeing the variables they are impacting.

 

[ARMZP]

Take the Braves

How can a team have, Maddox, Smoltz and Glavine and win only one WS? Answer: They had the poorest manager in the game.. Who brings in Chalie Liebrandt, a left handed starter, to pitch to Kirby Puckett, the best hitter in the game at the time, who was batting 545 against left handed pitching?

Grady Little anybody? How about Jim Leyland last year, or dumbass this year with the TIGERS?

You say 29 out 30 would do it the same way... I agree..they manage to not be second guessed. The problem is, it is guy #30 that wins. Very few ever bunt anymore. The ones that do...WIN.

There is a reason the wildcard teams have do so well in baseball. Because in a short series, it is about managing.

Martin, LaRussa, Bochy, Sparky..they win for a reason.

I want to see the manager up one in the 7th but the other team has the bases loaded bring in the closer because once they get down 3-4 the closer is worthless....I agree 100%.

BTW, hit and run IS important... There are more games lost by a manager letting a guy hit into a DP, because he didn't bunt or hit and run, then anything else.

 

[Noodle]

so you're not onboard with the Lions-Bengals Super Bowl this season?

even if Ndamukong Suh wins his appeal of the one-game suspension? http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12093617/ndamukong-suh-detroit-lions-suspended-playoff-game


While I think that Suh probably did it on purpose, the lawyer in me says "prove it."

Of course we all know that had it been any other player (doing the stomping) the league would not have done anything. I'm fine with that, as I think we could go a long way towards reducing football injuries by changing the mindset to one with a much higher level of sportsmanship than is currently displayed at all levels of football. Why, for example, do so many players insist on stepping over the player on the ground that they just hit or tackled? When was the last time you saw an NFL player simply tap a ball carrier on the ground to end the play, rather than trying to make the hardest hit they possibly can on the guy simply because the opportunity presents itself?

 

[Noodle]

Re: Will there be a sequel?

Originally posted by CO. Hoosier:
I wholeheartedly agree with your take on Unbroken. The movie was great as far as it went. But the best part of Zamperini's story was his recovery from the ravages of alcoholism, his subsequent Christian Conversion, and his forgiveness of his tormentors.

None of that is in the movie? That's rather disappointing, but I'm sure it's still a great movie. I suppose there is only so much one can cover in 2.5 hour movie, and no one is doing 4 hour films these days. Seems like a sequel is called for in order to tell the rest of his amazing story.

 

[NPT]

Don't you think

the managers have a lot of input into the makeup of the team?

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I'm not sure that makes for a good film.

While it's perfectly appropriate for the book to go into that, doing so in the movie would probably be too much. It would be like telling two stories in one film, and the movie would drag because of it.

Film is usually only good for telling one facet of a complex story. It's rare when a filmmaker can pull off an epic, full-blown story. That's when you end up with Lawrence of Arabia or Gone with the Wind.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

I would think they have some

Just as they do in football and basketball. The closest I can come to knowing anything about that is the book. It seems at least in Oakland Beane has more control over who is on the team than the manager. Since Saber downplays steals and hit and run (and defense) it would seem in Oakland anyway the GM is far more in control.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

They tried to cover it with postscripts.

Kinda like a footnotes. Nowhere near the impact that part of his story deserves. But you are correct about the 2.5 hour movie. I wouldn't have cut anything that was included.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

It would have a long way to go to beat Imitation Game

I saw that tonight, thought it was excellent. I've always had some interest in Ultra, and what little I know has it fairly accurate. Now it is time to read more about it and see how it really did. But overall, I liked it more than Theory of Everything, Birdman, Boyhood, and Top Five (the other movies I know I've seen critics tend to like).

Cumberbatch is just made to play the arrogant genius.

I've had several people tell me the same thing about Unbroken. Since I haven't read the book, maybe that will make me like like it more? I'll find out.

 

[SuperHoosierFan]

Is it just me, or are the Bengals one of the most poorly run. . .

Organizations in the history of everything?

This may also be just me, but you'll never hear a Bengals fan admit that they just got beat down. It's always"blah blah blah got lucky" or "blah blah blah gets all the calls", or "blah blah blah never gets penalized for anything".

Just so we're clear, I'm a Colts fan. . .and we got our asses handed to us by New England, Pittsburgh, and Dallas. No excuses, no "bad calls", just beat down.

 

[ARMZP]

Did I miss it?

When was the last time Oakland and BB won?

I think you just made my argument for me.

 

[ARMZP]

They can't be worse than the Lions.

some reason Detroit can't get a coach up there.

 

[Univee2]

Obviously, you're not a golfer.

A) The Bengals will be blown out by Indy.

B) The name of the game is/was to hit first, hit hardest. Back in the day, I played both as a safety and a linebacker. Nobody could really throw so we mostly played in the box. Spitting, gouging, elbowing, punching - it was great. But we had little feeling, other than hate, for our opponents on the other team's offensive side. They would take every chance they could to cheap-shot you, thus my disdain for the wusses on the O--line and the prissy wide-outs and their cute little crack-backs.

I don't condone what Suh did, but I've witnessed worse. His sin is being so stupid as to do it so out in the open, with a thousand cameras around, and to mess with a star in a production that makes millions for all of them. Just one more way technology has ruined the world.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Cleveland and Detroit haven't made it to the Super Bowl.

I'd say they're worse. Jacksonville too. Cincy has had more success than a lot of teams in the NFL.

 

[Noodle]

Right now, Cleveland is in far worse shape than Cincy or Detroit


and not just because the other two are in the playoffs (most likely one and done for Cincy and Detroit).

But Cleveland is an absolute mess right now. Ponder this: which is worse, signing Jay Cutler to that mega deal, or drafting Johnny Football? I'd say the latter, as Cleveland wasted a first round pick on a guy who will probably never play another down in the NFL as a starting QB. The Bears are just out a bunch of money.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

in a salary cap league, money is blood

Tebow was Denver's 25th pick and they survived it. Cleveland's problem is deeper, a lack of professionalism. You saw that with Gordon and Johnny F getting suspended. If I am Cleveland I trade Gordon for a hot ham and cheese and open the bank for a veteran team leader. Position is almost unimportant, someone who will come in and knock heads.

Cincinnati and Chicago are stuck. Cincinnati because of both the coach and qb. Dalton is at best a game manager. Lewis never has gotten the handle of team discipline. The Bengals make the dumbest mistakes year after year.

Chicago has a slight advantage. Cutler has the arm, someone may decide they can fix what is between his ears. I doubt it, but someone may take him off Chicago's hands.

The Bengals have a weak armed qb, there is no fix. That contract will have to play out. A weak qb on a team that just does not play disciplied football. I don't see a fix.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

I don't know if Manziel would be a good NFL QB even if . . .

he wasn't so immature, but he's that and he's likely going to be a bust.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

I heard Rex Ryan is going to coach Chicago.

I think Chicago has more talent than he had with the Jets, but he still has a QB problem to deal with.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Someone linked that on Facebook, but I see today that was . . .

a rumor and not a fact. Ryan is apparently in the mix for all the openings but maybe not a favorite for any.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

true, but it is not their fault

I predicted a Reds-A's series this year so it is my fault for 2014.

I buy into the math. I saw 538 said the best baseball managers were worth 2 wins a season (and that turned out to be Bobby Cox in the last 30 years).

And that is regular season. In a short season I do not know. The past season, it wasn't baseball genius to count on one pitcher to win 4 games. Though using him in relief was sone thing different.