Duke Lacrosse and the Lessons Journalism and the Media Haven't Learned

Watching ESPN's latest 30 for 30 film on Duke lacrosse was a chastening experience. I was but 12 and preparing for my Bar Mitzvah when this story was national news and dominating the 24/7 news cycle. The case was a confluence of every "war" in modern American society; white vs. black, rich vs. poor, men vs. women, etc., which meant it was a natural story to project many different societal ills on. While the film did a brilliant job exposing the flaws in the American Justice System, it touched on something more apt for this space... the ills of modern journalism.

Even at that time back 10 years ago, the 24 hour news cycle dominated the world. Ratings + the need to fill air time meant that a story like this became a natural target for eager and overzealous journalists to impress this new need for content on. The need for content does not supersede the need for accuracy and proper coverage however, and this story is a prime of example of how not to cover a crime story. Local and national news made the same mistakes and fed off of the circumstances of the case rather than the case itself. And in the world of social media and the even more prevalent need for clicks/ratings, imagining the coverage of a similar story in 2016 is almost sickening.

In the court of law, all who are charged are innocent until proven guilty. While that standard is certainly malleable, it is one that has held up ever since the foundation of the country. What is different, and fundamentally so, is that in the court of public opinion, guilt is always presumed. The controllers of the court of public opinion are those presenting the story to the public, and that is the media. "The media doesn't tell us what to think, it tells us what to think about". In many ways that statement is true, but increasingly, the media is telling us both what to think about and what to think about what to think about. In the Duke case, what was being presented to the media painted a picture of a heinous crime committed by lacrosse players against a black female escort. What actually happened was a terrible confluence of circumstances that led to an overzealous public official using a case for his own personal gain. Many of the modern ills in society were projected onto the case that had no reason to even be in the same discussion, and it was largely because of what the media presented to the public as truth, and none of that "truth" was anywhere near it.

Thinking about 2016 and the rapidly changing media landscape means cases like this don't have the time to develop as legal cases before the media jumps in and projects itself onto the case. While the media should not do the job the justice system has to do, it does provide a valuable public service and checking the government for its actions and calling it out when it steps beyond its bounds. Good journalists develop sources and find ways to collect information the public cannot easily obtain, and not much of that was done with Duke lacrosse. There were alarm bells all over this case and the way it was handled, but some in the media had already presumed the outcome but needed the path to it, just like Mike Nifong. While it is incredibly evident that a system that rewards guilty verdicts instead of the truth was abused here, the media needs to call it out, not enhance its use. A DA that was lagging in the polls and was eager to climb them took on a case that sparked conflict among a racial divide in a city that was colored by it doesn't sound alarm bells to anyone? In many ways, the media makes these publicized court cases worse, because the flaws in the system are only exposed more and in some ways enhanced.

One of the parents of the players charged in the case said the media couldn't be trusted, and in many ways he's not wrong. There is a common refrain in the public space now that "journalism is dying". In fact it's the exact opposite; quality journalism is more important than ever. So many people claim to report on the news and clutter the space with needless opinion there to garner hits and nothing else instead of the importance being put on quality, in-depth, targeted reporting that only the best journalists can do. Plenty of that is related to the financial state of the industry, but good journalism will always be appreciated by the public, and the media's job is still to check the government in its overreach of power. The Washington Post's stories on the NSA with Edward Snowden fundamentally changed modern human society, and that was in 2013. There is a reason why journalism is the only profession mentioned in the Constitution.

So 10 years on, what can the media learn from the embarrassment of the Duke lacrosse case? It can learn that what is put out in public is done for a reason, and that reason isn't necessarily for the betterment of the public. Doing background on everyone involved in the case is important, but there needs to be a better standard for what and what isn't newsworthy. When worthy questions need to be asked of procedural issues in a case, journalists must ask it. We cannot do the DA or defense's job for them, but we have the ability to find out information that the public simply cannot (for instance: we can gather police records as they are public information. The process might be slanted but we have the patience to do so). Each case is fundamentally different from ones that came before it, even with precedent in the courtroom. The core tenets of the film was not on rape culture or class issues, though they certainly played a role. The film focused on what was a fundamental corruption of justice, which has made it harder for the public to believe rape victims when they report what happened to them in the future. The fact that the privileged white guys were just as much of a victim as Crystal Mangum makes the entire situation even murkier and worse.

No doubt it will be tricky to cover cases better in the future because of the demands on the media as of now. In sports of late, the issue of sexual assault and rape have become hot button issues, and the media's coverage of the cases that have become public have been rather shallow. And because of the public's chastening experience with the Duke lacrosse case, it makes every subsequent sexual assault/rape case even trickier to cover because the public inherently is wary to believe the women because they've seen instances in which they were lied to; not by the women, but by those who were supposed to protect them. Everyone must do better, and watching Fantastic Lies, it's pretty clear on where journalists need to improve if we are to provide a better service to the public for what our fundamental job is: finding out the truth. Showing sympathy for those who are sexually assaulted and projecting guilt in the court of public opinion are two fundamentally different things that should stay separate.

Journalists occupy such an important public space and even with the issues facing the profession and the industry, we must all work harder to do our jobs as good as we can, which means we can cover complex cases like the Duke lacrosse case with the care, precision and thoroughness they deserve. It is easy to take a case and apply lenses to it that do not belong, and we have to do better to prevent that from happening. Journalists have an obligation to report all sides of a story, even in tetchy cases like these. We have to work even harder to do that.

The film and the case touched a sensitive nerve in society because of all the factors at play. But one that needs to be touched on is that journalists have to do better, much better, especially now, because if we don't, even more fundamental societal ills can fester unchecked.

2016 MLS Season Predictions

Unfortunately, this blog has been dormant for the last month because of one factor for another, but it is coming back with a preview of the upcoming MLS season. I have already written more expansive previews on other sites, but here I'm going to post my raw predictions, as in conference standings, playoff picks, MLS Cup Champion and awards predictions. These are probably going to be terribly wrong, but that's why I post them here anyway. Here goes nothing...

Eastern Conference:
1. Columbus Crew
2. Toronto FC
3. New York Red Bulls
4. NYCFC
5. Montreal Impact
6. Orlando City
7. New England Revolution
8. DC United
9. Philadelphia Union
10. Chicago Fire

Western Conference:
1. FC Dallas
2, Vancouver Whitecaps
3. Seattle Sounders
4. LA Galaxy
5. Portland Timbers
6. Real Salt Lake
7. Sporting Kansas City
8. San Jose Earthquakes
9. Houston Dynamo
10. Colorado Rapids.

Eastern Conference Champion: Columbus Crew
Western Conference Champions: Vancouver Whitecaps

MLS Cup Champion: Columbus Crew

Awards:
Supporters Shield (Most Points): FC Dallas
MVP: Didier Drogba (MTL)
Golden Boot: Sebastian Giovinco (TOR)
Defender of the Year: Kendall Waston (VAN)
Goalkeeper: Nick Rimando (RSL)

Can't wait to be wrong again.

On Cam Newton, the Press, and False Expectations

Cam Newton laid a bit of an egg in Super Bowl 50. Whether most of that can be chalked up to the Broncos historically great defense (80% of it), poor play from the Panthers tackles and Cam himself is somewhat irrelevant; but the onus falls on the league's newest superstar and MVP to elevate his play on the biggest stage, and he didn't do that. Though he was smiling when talking with Peyton Manning after the game ended, he was not showing the same joy in his postgame presser. He appeared with a hood on, a stark contrast from his usually flashy suits, and remained terse, quiet and a man of few words before he either heard a question that rubbed him the wrong way or a few Broncos players gloating near him, and walked out.

Naturally, every media member and fan has an opinion on what this means about Newton, his character, his race, and everything in between. Black and white blanket statements are clouding the space where grey is the dominant color. As ever, these situations cannot be painted with one brush stroke, since there is more to this situation than Newton walking out of a postgame press conference after the biggest sporting event in the American calendar.

Let's begin with Newton himself. He is a brash, colorful and energetic character the likes of which the NFL hasn't seen in many years. Naturally, he has ruffled feathers with the way he plays, the way he conducts himself and the way he celebrates. No human being that has ever changed the world in sports or anywhere else didn't annoy people along the way. There shouldn't be any surprise that some in the media are bristled by what Newton does, as this is a trend in sports writing and sports commentary that has existed since the whole practice began. In today's era of "PC" being the buzzword of choice and messages being more tightly controlled than ever, an athlete going off-script isn't just rare, it's an endangered species. He should be celebrated for being colorful and different.

Cam Newton in some circles is celebrated for dabbing, his dancing, his joy in playing a game that is becoming increasingly joyless, but in others is blamed for most of society's ills. If Cam Newton is a great winner, it's not a stretch to assume he's probably not a great loser. This was a criticism thrown at him early in his career when his Panthers were not very good, and in many ways he's grown immensely over the past few seasons when Carolina has tasted success.

But him at his most raw, most emotional and most uncensored probably would look like exactly like what he showed at the post game scrum. But wouldn't most of us act emotionally after an equivalent moment in our lives? If any of us were asked why we didn't get the job we so craved and gave up so much to try to get, would we react thoughtfully and rationally? Certainly not. His natural reaction is to be disappointed and on an adrenaline crash, and that is a better glimpse into his thoughts than the recycled platitudes most athletes give even after crushing disappointment. "This will motivate me, we worked hard and couldn't come up with enough plays," etc., etc., are boring, banal statements that come from human beings that have been morphed into robots. Cam gave the media something different. He can't put a lens to what happened, only those who are charged with interpreting that can. And speaking of the media...

While many in the media are acting arrogant and entitled, they aren't doing anything all that different from the athlete they are lambasting. After a game, many of these writers already have published a raw game story without any quotes, because that's their job. Then, they are given anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes to write a beefed up version of that gamer with quotes, 1,000 words, expert prose and analysis while having to sit at a postgame scrum more gigantic than any they'll see all year. They are stressed, fueled by adrenaline and less than adequate press box grub and therefore will react emotionally and minus some of their cunning that they usually have. Interviewing is a difficult skill to perfect anyway, and then boiling it down to press conferences where little is gleaned regardless makes the entire situation a mess, and it is somewhat surprising that these situations don't happen more often. Most writers have pre-written skeletons of stories that they take with them into the locker room, and when there's no meat to put on those bones, they react with the same raw emotion that Cam Newton did. They're stressed, and so is he. That's a bad combination.

Compounding this mess is this was a Super Bowl that can be summed up in one word: "meh". The game was meh, unless you absolutely love defense, the commercials were meh, the halftime show was meh, everything was blase. That doesn't mean there isn't a shortage of stories to write of course, but with so many voices in the pack, it's hard to stand out. So when the game's most compelling character plays poorly and then can't explain why, this reaction and the reaction to the reaction aren't surprising in the slightest. Should athletes be forced to speak to the media after the game? It would be tough for everyone involved to do their job if they didn't, but giving the same truisms and canned responses heard after every single sporting event ever contested makes life banal and repetitive. It's no wonder that some sportswriters become the hardened, out of touch dinosaurs they can often be portrayed as.

Will Cam Newton eventually regret walking out of that presser? Yes. He's 26 years old, acted emotionally and upon further examination will probably regret that. Doesn't everybody do something reckless in their youth that they look back upon with regret? You're probably not human if you don't. He just has a far larger microscope than almost every 20 something who makes a mistake, and for doing the right thing he doesn't get nearly the credit his peers will. Such is the paradox of the Court of Public Opinion, where it is nearly impossible to win. And it's not like writing a Cam Newton story needs Cam Newton to talk in it to be written or compelling. Journalists are so good at finding other people to talk about any subject, often times they don't even need the subject. It's the Super Bowl... everyone is talking!

Could Cam have acted better here? Of course, but expecting him to is holding him to a standard that's impossible to meet. Could the media ask better questions? Sure, but the situation makes it impossible to do that too. Will Cam Newton regret this and use it as motivation for next season? You bet. He's already overcome transgressions far bigger than walking out of a postgame scrum, so even one in a Super Bowl should be a walk in the park.

Nothing that happened last night is new, or different for sportswriters who should have by this point seen it all, or enough to make them surer in their judgments. Cam's done this exact press conference in front of five reporters, 55 reporters and 555 reporters, so this shouldn't be new to him either. This turned out to be a situation where everyone reacted irrationally, and its result is what we see today. The reaction is probably worse if Cam says something out of raw emotion instead of walking out, too. He wasn't even asked why he didn't dive after his fourth quarter fumble, and in hindsight that may not be a bad thing.

Cam Newton was a broken man last night, physically and emotionally. Time will heal both sets of wounds, and time will also cure the media's ills from last night. There's merit to those who believe the media holds Newton to an unfair standard, and merit to the idea that Newton made a mistake. In this black and white era, the grey area is often where the truth lies.

Thankfully, American society offers most everyone a second chance. Von Miller violated an NFL rule on PED's and cheated his way around it, and yet is being championed as one of the best defensive players of his era after winning MVP. Cam Newton can surely be forgiven for this "transgression", as will the media, who have far bigger ills than criticizing a man for giving three minutes of his time after one of the most crushing moments of his life.

Both the media and Cam Newton have made bigger mistakes than they both did last night. It would be wise to shed light on that too, even though the lights of the Super Bowl shine brighter than all of the others.

In Spite of itself, the NHL Won This Weekend

All Star Games in all sports are exercises in appeasing sponsors, kids and TV executives. No matter what anyone tries to do to spice up these games, people aren't watching because the league's stars are playing each other; only in the past did that matter because you didn't get to see every player and every team on any given night. The Pro Bowl is being played as a I type this, and aside from Allen Robinson being there, I couldn't tell you a single thing about the game. They don't matter.

And somehow this NHL All Star Game mattered in spite of the NHL's attempts to stick their head in the sand and hope the "problem" went away. John Scott went to Nashville, and the class nerd became the Homecoming King. Not only that, but he found a way to publicly shame the big bad bully in town and became a hero in the process.

While all All Star Games are meaningless the NHL's offering seems to have meant the least for the longest time. Wales vs. Campbell meant plenty when you couldn't see Wayne or Mario every night, but then it became East vs. West, North America vs. World, Team A vs. Team B and now a 3 on 3 tournament. Every attempt to jazz up the format has provided a tiny spark but nothing more. All Star weekends are supposed to provide entertainment and they do everything but. Take the NHL's Friday Night Show this year to replace the forgotten Fantasy Draft... did anyone watch it? At least the NBA has the Dunk Contest and MLB has the Home Run Derby- two events the NHL can't match.

But when the real show began, John Scott stole it. From laughing at Patrick Kane getting booed (the why doesn't even matter here), to the look on his face when he scored not once but twice against the Central Division, and every moment in between. For all of the talk of players wanting to skip out on the event and be anywhere but Nashville (I love you Jaromir Jagr but you're not innocent), Scott fully embraced his time to be celebrated and enjoyed a weekend that is meant to be a light alternative to the daily grind of an 82 game regular season. He tried a spin-o-rama in the shootout and nearly scored!

Not only are even "goons" insanely talented athletes, but they are some of the most personable, funny and interesting fellas you could ever want to meet. Paul Bissonnette isn't known because he liked a scrap, he's known because he's a goofball on twitter. John Scott scored a goal last season and immortalized it in a shirt. If more of the NHL's big stars had goofy personalities like Scott's, would the average hockey fan complain about the press the game gets in States? He also got into a "fight" with Patrick Kane, destroyed noted agitator Jeremy Roenick in a mid-game interview and won the MVP despite the NHL's attempts to avoid that.

Some are going to stretch to give the NHL credit for how the weekend turned out. I'm not one of them. The embracing and reception of Scott from the players but more so Nashville and the hockey fans at large came about because the league bungled the situation about as badly as it gets, as Scott illustrated. "The People's Champion" is a wrestling term, and normally Scott gets about as much love as your average wrestling villain, but he turned the tables and like a classic Monday Night Raw, made the big bad man in a suit the villain (maybe then it's no wonder why the hockey and wrestling fanbases cross over so much).

The campaign to vote in a fighter did not pick Zac Rinaldo, an eminently loathable hockey player, or even Shawn Thornton, who has a personality but is still despised by a fair few hockey fans out there. It zeroed in on the lovable, goofy John Scott. He has some incredibly disgusting incidents on his resume, and those can't be erased, but for as much as he may be loathed for those hits, he is now beloved for this weekend in equal measure. We seem to forget in the rush to hate him that he is a man with two daughters and an engineering degree, which can be said about many more of us than "National Hockey League player".

Maybe the 3 on 3 tournament added a little spice to an otherwise bland weekend, but the true zest was provided by Scott, and there will be no re-capturing that ever again. Nine Days couldn't replicate "Story of a Girl" no matter how hard they tried, and nor will the NHL ever have an All Star Weekend like this one in Nashville. The city, the circumstances and the people will never coalesce this way again. The NHL fumbled and bumbled around like a classic naive movie villain and careened ass backwards into some of the best PR they've gotten in years.

The league is going to limit voting even further so players like John Scott are not voted into the All Star Game ever again, which is a shame because this game is ostensibly for the fans. Thankfully, they fought back this weekend and while the NHL eventually relented, they are going to get their way next year, and every year following too.

John Scott's wife pregnant w/ twins due to b induced in 4 days: "I jumped up when he scored his 2nd goal & said Oh my God I'd better stop!"

— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) February 1, 2016

Love it!!!!! Have not smiled this much in a long time watching a hockey game.. #JohnScott #MVP #NHLAllstar

— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist30) February 1, 2016

 Replicating this weekend is impossible, but no doubt the NHL will try to. Even though this is likely John Scott's last NHL involvement ever, he goes out on the best note possible, literally and metaphorically. And for once, an All Star Game was enjoyable, fun to watch and even memorable. PK Jagr and Brent Burns as Chewbacca were great.

But John Scott, All Star MVP, was even better.

Now, who plays him in the inevitable Disney movie about his life...

John Scott's All-Star Weekend has been Stuffed

       John Scott was voted into the 2016 NHL All-Star Game by the fans. Yes, the campaign to vote him in started with prodding from a couple of successful podcasts as well as the internet muscle known as Reddit, but he was voted as a Captain just as Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane were. And now, after his trade to the Montreal Canadiens and supposed banishment to St. John's, Newfoundland, he won't be going at all. The timing, and the circumstances behind this whole vote and now this trade seems incredibly shady, and the NHL does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. At all.

       Whatever you think of John Scott as a hockey player, or as an All-Star, he was voted in by the fans. Immediately after he was announced as a Captain, speculation mounted almost immediately as to what the NHL might do to get themselves out of a messy situation. After Scott decided against bowing out after the NHL "kindly" asked him to, this trade now takes care of that. And based on this tweet from Bob McKenzie, draw conclusions at your own risk:

John Scott was previously asked by both NHL and Arizona Coyotes to bow out of NHL All-Star Game. He refused. Trade likely takes care of that

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 15, 2016

      Scott was already sent to the AHL, but recently called back up, and had every intention of going to Nashville. It would have been a great weekend for his family (provided the media didn't make him look like the village idiot), and he would have had a chance to make a little extra coin, which is never a bad thing. And now the league is denying him an earned opportunity because of perceived embarrassment to the shield? Doesn't it look worse that there was a trade that quietly shuttled him out of his division and to the NHL coincidentally to put this problem away? At least during "Vote for Rory", ballot stuffing is a legitimate (if equally shady) excuse. Dropping this trade on a Friday afternoon doesn't help matters either.

     Many fans, include this scribe, would have enjoyed watching John Scott at the All-Star Game, and not for comedic value. Yes, watching John Scott skate against Patrick Kane and Tyler Seguin would have looked ridiculous, but Scott is a man who immortalized one of his rare goals, by putting it on a shirt. He seems to be a man that can take a joke. It's now quite obvious that the NHL can't. The All-Star game isn't sacred, nor is it entirely necessary, and John Scott in the game drew far more intrigue than the format switch to 3 on 3 ever will. With the Winter Classic and the Outdoor Games slowly becoming the league's showcase events, the All-Star Game is a chance to let loose and have a little fun. The fantasy draft last year with Nick Foligno and Jonathan Toews was some of the most fun ever at an NHL All-Star game, and this is the league that denied Johnny Gaudreau a chance to light his stick on fire during the Breakaway Challenge.

     It seems the NHL is actively trying to kill its own buzz, which in an age when buzz drives everything, including TV ratings and web clicks, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Whatever the view on the geek being named Homecoming King is, usually the King doesn't have his crown prematurely taken away because of an "image crisis". NHL: No hockey fan is embarrassed or ashamed of "John Scott- NHL All Star": it's you.

    And in order to prevent a situation like this from happening again, as if this was some great electoral fraud, they will take even more power away from the fans who this weekend is really for by further limiting their influence. It's as if a league that needs attention more than any other in an era of fragmentation actively wants to alienate the core fanbase and take away the intrigue from a game that's losing it rapidly.

   If the NHLPA can file a grievance for this situation, they should. And fans should air their grievances by not watching the game at all. Vote with your remotes, vote with your feet. Tell the NHL what you think about a situation that they made worse entirely because of a problem that never existed to begin with.

   Rumor has it that the All-Star Game is making way soon to a "Ryder Cup" style event. It can't come soon enough.

2015-16 NFL Playoff Predictions

As evidenced in an earlier post, my preseason NFL predictions were pretty bad. But that is why there are erasers on the end of pencils; we all make mistakes, in my case I make plenty of them. Now is the time for redemption however, because here are my NFL playoff predictions:

AFC Wild Card: Kansas City over Houston, Pittsburgh over Cincinnati

The Chiefs defense is criminally underrated, and when the chips are down, I'd take Alex Smith over Brian Hoyer (yuck), because of that. The Texans have a great defense too, but they have more weapons to shut down than the Chiefs do, although that weapon is the best on the field. And in the Steelers-Bengals rubber match, expect Big Ben to throw it a lot without a running back to hand the ball off to. A.J McCarron has been decent enough for the Bengals to beat two bad teams in San Francisco and Baltimore, but won't be enough to beat the Steelers. The Cincy playoff hex will continue.

AFC Divisional Round: New England over Kansas City, Pittsburgh over Denver

The Chiefs are going to give the Pats everything they can handle with the defense they can throw at Brady and his weak offensive line, but in the postseason the Pats usually find ways to win, and they will do that again this time. Peyton Manning will start for the Broncos, but the battle will be won with Denver's defense going up against the Steelers offense. The Steelers won the first battle back in December, and it's hard to imagine the second not going Pittsburgh's way either.

AFC Championship Game: New England over Pittsburgh

Once the Pats get some of their weapons back and get healthy enough, they will have enough to overcome the Steelers and their offense. The Pittsburgh defense will have to step up at some point if they are to make a 2005/06 style run to the Super Bowl, and they just don't have it. The Pats are back in the Big Game.

NFC Wild Card Round: Seahawks over Vikings, Washington over Packers

The cold is a factor, and not having a discernible running back is also a problem, but the Seahawks boatraced the the Vikings in Week 13, and even though Minnesota has the defense to keep them in the game, and Adrian Peterson, playoff games come down to QB play, and there just isn't that much confidence in Teddy Bridgewater making that one play to put the Vikings over the top. Momentum is usually thrown out the window coming into the postseason, but with the Packers you have to take it into account. If it wasn't for a Hail Mary in Week 13 against the Lions, they may well not even be here. Washington has won four in a row, has confidence, and was 6-2 at FedEx Field this season. They pull off the "upset".

NFC Divisional Round: Panthers over Seahawks, Cardinals over Washington

The Seattle/Carolina game might well be the best game of the entire postseason, because you know the Seahawks don't fear the Panthers and Carolina finally got the Seattle monkey off their back after a myriad of losses against them. A similar Seattle team was tripped up in the Divisional Round on the road against an NFC South opponent back in 2012/13, and this Carolina team will be rested, if not a little weary of what the Seahawks can do, and for good reason. With Carolina at home, Cam Newton will take over and win this game. Arizona may have been blown out by Seattle in the final game, but they also blew out Green Bay the week before. Great offense, opportunistic defense and a great coach means they should take it easily over Washington.

NFC Championship Game: Cardinals over Panthers

Last year, John Skelton started this game in the postseason. Carson Palmer will likely start this one. The defensive matchup here is going to be fantastic, and how Carolina and Josh Norman attempt to shut down the Cardinals offense will be a battle of wills. Something tells me though that this might be Arizona's year...

Super Bowl 50: Cardinals over Patriots

Tom Brady, in his hometown, with a chance to pass his idol Joe Montana in Super Bowl's won... the narratives would be amazing if fulfilled. But that's why Arizona is here. To spoil all of them.

So sorry to the Cardinals in advance for ruining your season. At least you have three chances to lose unlike the four for eight other teams.

2015 NFL Season Predictions in Review

In what may have been the most topsy-turvy NFL season in recent memory, it stands to reason that most predictions done in the preseason are probably going to be wrong. Mine are no exception. So, in the interest of self-awareness and eating a big slice of humble pie, let's take a look at how wrong I was back in early September:

Division Winners I Picked: DAL, GB, ATL, SEA, NE, PIT, IND, DEN

Actual Division Winners: WSH, MIN, CAR, ARZ, NE, CIN, HOU, DEN

Two out of eight ain't bad, right? Right? I did have Arizona in the playoffs at least, but otherwise things didn't go well for me outside of the obvious division winners in New England and Denver. Not getting a single NFC division winner right is well...

NFC Playoff Teams I Picked: SEA, DAL, GB, ATL, DET, ARZ

NFC Actual Playoff Teams:  CAR, ARZ, MIN, WSH, GB, SEA

Three out of six is a better hit-rate, but I didn't get any in their correct position. I had Minnesota on the fringe of the playoffs because I just didn't think they had enough yet, but they did, and coupled with Green Bay's slide, they won the NFC North. I also didn't think Carolina had enough to repeat, especially after the loss of Kelvin Benjamin. I'm not making that mistake again.

AFC Playoff Teams I Picked: IND, NE, DEN, PIT, BAL, KC

AFC Actual Playoff Teams: DEN, NE, CIN, HOU, KC, PIT

Four out of six is much more like it. I thought Baltimore was a slightly more complete team than Pittsburgh, and I also didn't think there was any way that three AFC North teams would make the playoffs again, and I was right, but no one could have ever seen the injuries that the Ravens succumbed to. I feel a little sense of satisfaction in getting the Chiefs right, though after week six I wasn't feeling all that confident with them.

Preseason Super Bowl prediction: Packers/Colts. Likelihood? Zero. On both accounts.

Awards Predictions (Preseason first, then what will happen):

MVP: Andrew Luck. (His kidneys might be the most valuable player in the NFL. Gonna be Cam Newton).
OPOY: Ben Roethlisberger (Possible, though not likely because of his injuries).
DPOY: J.J Watt (Slam dunk).
OROY: Amari Cooper (Had his flashes, but there are better candidates out there).
DROY: Vic Beasley (Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, this was smart, Matt).
Coach: Mike Zimmer (Likely, but wouldn't guarantee it).

How many preseason record predictions did I nail exactly? Buffalo (8-8), New Orleans (7-9), San Francisco (5-11).

Favorite Preseason Prediction that ended up being right: Eagles missing the playoffs. Told you.

I ended up winning an NFL picking competition somewhere else, so it's nice to know the brains went somewhere during this season. Stay tuned to see if my playoff predictions are any better.