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Shanoff’s WUC: 2nd Half of the Sports Year

Jul 15, 2010, 12:22 PM UTC

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Today’s Calls: Normal Sports Day vs. Slowest Sports Day of the Year, Yankees vs. Red Sox vs. Rays, Shaq vs. Broadway, Bobby Johnson vs. Vanderbilt, NFL Supplemental Draft vs. Hunh?, MLB All-Star Game vs. Oblivion, Seth Meyers vs. Greg Oden and More.â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: Did you survive the slowest sports day of the year?â†µ

â†µâ†µTypically, the day after the SSDOTY is good for a 2nd-half preview for baseball. Bah: Why not a preview of the second half of the entire sports year? 10 predictions for the rest of 2010:â†µ

â†µâ†µ• The Yankees will win the World Series.â†µ
â†µ• Brett Favre will come back -- and get injured.â†µ
â†µ• Tim Tebow will account for 10 touchdowns.â†µ
â†µ• Greene and LDT will confound fantasy owners.â†µ
â†µ• Boise State will win the CFB national title.â†µ
â†µ• Duke will go wire-to-wire at No. 1 in CBB.â†µ
â†µ• Tiger will not win a tournament this season.â†µ
â†µ• U.S. Soccer will beat Brazil in August.â†µ
â†µ• Sports Movie of the Year: “The Tillman Story”â†µ
â†µ• One of Miami’s Big Three will get injured early.â†µ

â†µâ†µVery big day tomorrow. Be sure to check back! â†µ

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â†µMLB 2nd-Half Intrigue:â†µ

â†µâ†µ• Will the Red Sox get healthy?â†µ
â†µ• Will a contender trade for Roy Oswalt?â†µ
â†µ• Will Strasburg take it up a notch?â†µ

â†µâ†µRevised Predictions:â†µ

â†µâ†µAL East: NYY; AL Cent: CWSâ†µ
â†µAL West: TEX; AL WC: TBâ†µ
â†µALCS: NYY; over TBâ†µ

â†µâ†µNL East: ATL; NL Cent: STLâ†µ
â†µNL West: COL; NL WC: SDPâ†µ
â†µNLCS: COL; over SDPâ†µ
â†µWorld Series: Yankees over Rockiesâ†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Free Agency: Shaq ... to the Knicks? I’m sorry: Shaq to the Knicks? On the one hand, this must happen. On the other: Please, please, please don’t let this happen.â†µ

â†µâ†µRaja Bell to Jazz: Even more notable because Bell turned down Kobe and the Lakers to go to Utah, which suddenly looks pretty good. (Isn’t that how it always is with Utah in the last decade? Pretty good, but not good enough to actually win the conference title?)â†µ

â†µâ†µThat also means that the Jazz won’t match on 2010 revelation Wes Matthews, who will head to the Blazers on a very reach deal. Who says you need to be a 1st-round pick to get paid? All you need is the right opportunity.â†µ

â†µâ†µLeBron, Cont’d: Enjoy the 1-year dynasty of the Heat -- when the NBA is locked out for 2011-2012, it will be hard to repeat.â†µ

â†µâ†µCFB Offseason: Bobby Johnson resigns from Vanderbilt, arguably college football’s toughest job -- one that Johnson has done admirably. You could argue .500 at Vandy is like 10 wins a year at typical “football” schools. I’d be curious how Tressel or Carroll would do there under similar constraints. Vandy needs the SEC equivalent of Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald.â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Offseason: Is there a Mel Kiper of the Supplemental Draft? (When Tim Tebow ends up with 10 TDs next year, maybe that can be Todd McShay’s job.)â†µ

â†µâ†µBritish Open: Let’s revisit the ultimate question -- Tiger or the field? And, once again, I will take “the field” and wait for Tiger to prove that he is back to his dominating self.â†µ

â†µâ†µSoccer: Thierry Henry to MLS’s Red Bulls. This is a little like the Knicks trading for Shaq -- aging superstars are great for jersey sales and sportswriter columns, but will real fans really pay to see him play? Longtime Henry fans might, but he is no Beckham. (Maybe that’s a good thing.)â†µ

â†µâ†µTV: So how about that All-Star Game? Lowest-rated ASG in baseball history? Yikes. Was it all those first-timers? A-Rod getting booted to the bench? It was the NL winning, wasn’t it? Next year, let’s make it “World Series champs vs. Everyone Else.”â†µ

â†µâ†µBook Club: “The House Advantage” by Jeff Ma, one of the brains behind the famous MIT Blackjack team (the main character in “Bringing Down the House” and “21”) has a terrific new book about how statistical analysis can help you make decisions. He is the founder of Citizen Sports and a one-time consultant for the Blazers, so the book is full of sports-related examples. A sports fan who doesn’t consider the impact and value of quantitative analysis is just as archaic as a scout or GM who feels the same way. Ma’s book is a smart, entertaining and valuable look at applying probabilistic thinking in sports and business. Check it out here.â†µ

â†µâ†µHappy 1-year Anniversary: TimTeblog.com (850 posts in a year -- that’s not obsessive or anything, is it?)â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: Seth Meyers was extremely funny as host of the ESPYs last night, particularly his opening monologue. (The Greg Oden joke was particularly deft.) He is a real sports fan and funny, and it helped the show immensely. I’d nominate him to be host every year.â†µ

â†µâ†µDan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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