Super Bowl 42

Who would have thought that the hopes of the world may rest on the sholders pf Eli Manning of all people? While on paper this apears to be perhaps the most lopsided super bowl in history, I still think the Giants have a chance. The Giants nearly pulled the upset several weeks back, and have won road games against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay in the playoffs. So clearly the Giants a a pretty good team in their own right and not the fluke Super Bowl team many may think they are. That being said the Pats are clearly the best team in the NFL and have ample experience in big games, so they have to be the favorite. I'm going heart over head.

NY Giants: 24

NE Patriots: 21

Florida Grades

John McCain: A: Win puts him firmly into front runner status.

Hillary Clinton: B+: Is able to slow some of Obama's SC momentum.

Mitt Romney: C+: Was still really close to McCain.

Barack Obama: C: Loss dosent really mean that much.

Mike Huckabee: C: Almost matched Giuliani

Ron Paul: D+: Made almost no showing.

John Edwards: F: Out of the Race.

Rudy Giuliani: Out of the Race.

Florida Predictions

Democrats:
-note: delegates not seated, but may effect momentum.

1. Hillary Clinton: 47%
2. Barack Obama: 40%
3. John Edwards: 12%
4. Other: 1%

Republicans:
1. John McCain: 30%
2. Mitt Romney: 28%
3. Mike Huckabee: 20%
4. Rudy Giuliani: 15%
5. Ron Paul: 6%
6. Other: 1%

South Carolina Grades

Barack Obama: A+: Got over 50% in a three way race, and beat Clinton by almost 30 points.

Hillary Clinton: C-: Got her ass kicked by Obama, but is still the front runner.

Mike Gravel: Pass.

John Edwards: D-: Probably the best he will do from here on out. The only question is how many more times will he top 10%?

Democrat South Carolina Primary Predictions

Barack Obama: 40%

Hillary Clinton: 38%

John Edwards: 21%

Other: 1%

NBA Mid-Season Predictions

East:
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Orlando
4. Cleveland
5. Chicago
6. Washington
7. New Jersey
8. Toronto
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9. Atlanta
10. Indiana
11. Milwaukee
12. Charlotte
13. Miami
14. Philly
15. New York

West:
1. Dallas
2. San Antonio
3. Phoenix
4. Denver
5. LA Lakers
6. New Orleans
7. Golden State
8. Portland
------------------
9. Houston
10. Utah
11. LA Clippers
12. Sacramento
13. Memphis
14. Seattle
15. Minnesota

Playoffs Round 1:
Boston over Toronto in 4
Dallas over Portland in 5
Detroit over New Jersey in 6
San Antonio over Golden State in 5
Orlando over Washington in 7
Phoenix over New Orleans in 5
Cleveland over Chicago in 7
LA LAkers over Denver in 4

Playoffs Round 2:
Boston over Cleveland in 6
Dallas over LA Lakers in 6
Detroit over Orlando in 4
Phoenix over San Antonio in 7

Conference Championships
Boston over Detroit in 7
Phoenix over Dallas in 6

NBA Championship:
Phoenix over Boston in 7

GOP Louisiana Predictions

1. John McCain
2. Mike Huckabee
3. Mitt Romney
4. Fred Thompson
5. Ron Paul
6. Rudy Giuliani
7. Alan Keyes

January 19th Grades

John McCain: A: Won South Carolina and puts the Thompson and Huckabee campaigns on life support.

Mitt Romney: A: Won a land-slide victory in Nevada, but faced little competition.

Hillary Clinton: A-: Nevada popular vote winner, but loss delegate count. Probably is a South Carolina win away from being able to coast to the nomination.

Ron Paul: B: Finished 2nd in a Nevada, but was still over 30 points behind Romney

Barack Obama: B-: Loss the pr race with popular vote loss, but beat Clinton in the Nevada delegate count.

Mike Huckabee: C: Narrowly loss to McCain in a vital state for him.

Rudy Giuliani: C-: Didn't do any thing and is hurt by the decline of the Thompson/Huckabee campaign.

Fred Thompson: D+: Did about what was expected of him, but needed to make a real impact to remain/get viable.

John Edwards: F: 4% in Nevada, a state with a strong union presence?!?! Kucinich has had more impressive showings.

January 19th Predictions

Democratic Nevada:
Hillary Clinton: 45%
Barack Obama: 38%
John Edwards: 16%
Other: 1%

Republican Nevada:
Mitt Romney: 30%
John McCain: 25%
Fred Thompson: 16%
Mike Huckabee: 15%
Rudy Giuliani: 8%
Ron Paul: 4%
Duncan Hunter: 2%
Alan Keyes: <1%

Republican South Carolina
Mike Huckabee: 25%
John McCain: 24%
Fred Thompson: 20%
Mitt Romney:18%
Rudy Giulini: 6%
Ron Paul: 5%
Other: 2%

Championship Games

AFC: San Diego over New England

NFC: Green Bay over New York

Michigan Grades

Mitt Romney: A: Needed a win and got one. Romney also had a larger win than almost everyone expected, and damaged McCain's campaign. Let's see what Romney can do with his new life.


Hillary Clinton: B: A win is a win even if the next biggest name on the list is uncommitted


Uncommitted: B: Just imagine how well it may have done if it were an actual person.


Mike Huckabee: C+: Met but did not surpass expectations.

Ron Paul: C: Again didn't meet expectations, but did beat out Thompson and Giuliani.

Fred Thompson: C: Didn't really compete, but beat Rudy and almost beat Paul.


Rudy Giuliani: D+: Didn't compete in Michigan, but finished worse of the major candidates including Thompson who also didn't contest Michigan.


Dennis Kucinich: D+: Was the 2nd biggest name on the ballot, but still only got 4%.

GOP Michigan Primary Prediction

John McCain: 32%

Mitt Romney: 26%

Mike Huckabee: 20%

Rudy Giuliani: 12%

Ron Paul: 5%

Other: 5%

NFL Playoffs Week 2

New England over Jacksonville

San Diego over Indy

New Youk over Dallas

Seattle over Green Bay

New Hampshire Grades

Hillary Clinton: A: With nearly every poll showing her behind (some times largely) Obama, Clinton was able to narrowly win the popular vote. Although it appears that both Clinton and Obama will win nine delegates from New Hampshire, the real victory for Clinton is stopping the non-stop positive press Obama has received from the media.

John McCain: A: Polls before the primary were showing a dead heat between McCain and Romney, with most showing a slight McCain lead. McCain in reality pulled of a solid win, by beating Romney by five points, and solidifies McCain's position as a major threat for the nomination.

Mike Huckabee: B: Didn't come close to finishing in the top two, but managed a respectable third place in a state that on paper didn't look good for Huckabee.

Rudy Giuliani: B-: Avoided the Iowa embarrassment of losing to Paul.

John Edwards: C: Didn't make a big move to revive his candidacy, but didn't humiliate himself either.

Dennis Kucinich: C: Did about what most expected him to do.

Barack Obama: C-: Loses momentum to Clinton in popular vote loss. Technically tied Clinton in delegates. Obama's road to the White house just got much much harder than it was a few days ago.

Duncan Hunter: C-: Made no move what so ever.

Mike Gravel: D+: Did not even compete with Kucinich.

Ron Paul: D: Didn't even meet the expectations many SANE prognosticators had for him.

Mitt Romney: D-: Not quite dead, but failed to win either Iowa or New Hampshire, which were key to Romney's strategy. A poor showing in Michigan may prompt Romney to be the first Republican after the primaries and caucuses started. Although Romney has enough money to stay in the race, if he loses Michigan, there is really no point for him to.

Fred Thompson: NG: Skipped New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Election Predicions

Democrats:

1. Barack Obama 38%
2. Hillary Clinton 35%
3. John Edwrds 17%
4. Bill Richardson 5%
5. Dennis Kucinich 4%
6. Mike Gravel 1%

Repubicans:

1. John McCain 35%
2. Mitt Romney 30%
3. Mike Huckabee 15%
4. Ron Paul 12
5. Rudy Giuliani 5%
6. Fred Thompson 3%
7. Others <1%

NFL WC

Pittsburgh over Jacksonville

San Diego over Tennessee

Tampa Bay over NY

Seattle over Washington

Wyoming!

I really have no idea whatwill happen in the caucuses, but what the hell?

1. Mitt Romney
2. Fred Thompson
3. John McCain
4. Ron Paul
5. Mike Huckabee
6. Duncan Hunter
7. Rudy Giuliani
8. Alan Keyes

Iowa Report card

Mike Huckabee: A+: Won Iowa by even more than the pundits/polls predicted. Has now officially established himself as a major player for the white house.

Barack Obama: A: Won at the same time as Clinton finished 3rd. Obama with a few more wins could seal the nomination.

Fred Thompson: B: Rumored to need a third place finish to stay in and he got it, but it was an unimpressive 3rd.

John McCain: B-: Neither passed or fell short of expectations.

Ron Paul: B-: Made double digits, but far from a "revolution."

Rudy Giuliani: C-: Did not compete, but finishing well behind Paul is still a black eye.

Mitt Romney: D+: Not Dead, but there is nothing positive for Mitt from Iowa.

John Edwards: D: He needed Iowa. Now he should quit the race.

Hillary Clinton: D-: Finished 3rd, loses all momentum, may quickly lose front runner status and untimely the nomination.

Iowa Caucuses Predictions

1. John Edwards: 30%: Edward's strong base of support in Iowa puts him on top in this toss-up between him, Obama and Clinton. A third place finish will end it for Edwards, while a second place finish may allow him to at least remain campaigning until February 5th.

2. Hillary Clinton: 29%: As the establishment candidate with a great organization Clinton has the edge over Obama, but it may not be enough to beat out Iowa's adopted son Edwards. If Clinton does manage to win Iowa, she will have the nomination wrapped up, and will be strongly favored to win so long as Obama does not win Iowa.

3. Barrack Obama: 24%: While Obama is the cool candidate history tells us that candidates who's support comes in large part from young/first time voters typically do not do well. Iowa will probably be the end of Obama mania, unless he pulls the upset, in which case it will be an all out slugfest between Obama and Clinton.

4. Joe Biden: 7%: In spite of Biden's qualifications he has failed to gain much traction probably due to his habit of uttering questionable racial remarks from time to time.

5. Bill Richardson: 5%: See Biden.

5. Chris Dodd: 4%: Dodd just seems to be an average senator. Utterly uninteresting

6. Dennis Kucinich: 1%: Will get the votes of Iowa's burgeoning hippy population.


Republicans:

1.Mike Huckabee: 28%: A logical candidate for Iowa the only question is if his lack of money/organization and fast rise will hold up. If he wins he becomes the front runner for the nomination. If not he's done.

2. Mitt Romney: 26%: The front runner for most of the past year, and has superior money and organization. Lack of orthodoxy in the past has caused Huckabee's rise. Probably has about a 50-50 chance of winning Iowa. Is not necessarily dead with an Iowa loss, but would be in serious trouble.

3. John McCain: 18%: As long as he finishes third, Iowa will be a victory for him.

4. Fred Thompson: 10%: Flat out should not be running. Probably needs to have a much better than expected finish (maybe 20%) to get viable, and there is no reason to expect that.

5. Ron Paul: 8%: Does 8% really consist of a revolution?

6. Rudy Giuliani: 7%: I wonder if people in Iowa even know if he is an option.

7. Duncan Hunter: 2%: Maybe he can at least beat Keyes.

8. Alan Keyes: 1%: His heart just does not seem in it this time around.