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Gambling whiz? Uh, Bucky,
don't give up your day job!
By BUCKY FOX
of TheColumnists.com
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We don't pay Bucky Fox to pick all the winners in the pennant races each baseball season. In fact, as I recall, we haven't paid Mr. Fox for much of anything lately. I mean, why should he be treated any differently from all the other talented people on our unpaid staff? However, we do not blame Bucky for not nailing every prediction he makes. We choose our columnists for their courage as well as their talent and, if you see some of the picks he made this year, you will realize this guy has courage running out his ears. We are buying him some earplugs, though. THE EDITOR |
When Mark Cuban stands, people listen.
For one thing, he’s a billionaire. He evidently knows business, particularly the NBA team he owns, the Dallas Mavericks.
For two, the man projects. He might come across on TV as a mop top in a T-shirt. In real life, he looks like a linebacker: tall and muscular. Gotta be in the best shape of anyone running a board room.
So, Cuban was easy to spot in a Los Angeles gym a few weeks ago. When I approached him and clarified this was Laker country, he had a quick rejoinder: “It’s great to be here these days.”
Meaning his Mavericks have it all over L.A.’s finest.
OK, that’s coming off last season. I told him that with Phil Jackson back, the Lakers will go 48-34 in 2005-06.
Cuban came back again, this time with: “I wouldn’t take that to Vegas if I were you.”
Don’t worry. I’m betting zero on sports these days. Especially after this baseball season.
How bad were my picks? Enough to send me to debtor’s prison if I had put my money where my keyboard is.
My only winner? The L.A. Angels. I had them winning the American League West. Check. And reaching the World Series. That could still check out. All they have to do is deck the New York Yankees in Round 1 of the playoffs, then batter the Sox--Red or White--for the pennant.
Count on it. The Angels will keep riding Chone Figgins, the real Most Valuable Player. While fans debate whether the Yankees’ A-Rod or Boston’s David Ortiz is the American League’s MVP, Figgins played six positions, led the majors with 62 stolen bases and scored 113 runs. He defines value.
The rest of my preseason Fox Favorites grade out like the alliteration: F.
My World Series champion: L.A.’s other team, the Dodgers. After starting 12-2, they played the last six months like the Lakers did in April. Foolishly.
My other projected division winners: Brewers, Phillies, Tigers, Orioles. The first two competed for the wild card. The last two ran their managers out of town.
As Casey Stengel might’ve said, can anyone play this forecasting game?
Actually, one played it without making an error this season. Before the first pitch, Paul Whitfield crowned the Chicago White Sox division champs on his website, TheSouthSider.com. If 10 other pundits in the country picked this underdog team to win, you have a scoop.
So what happened? Chicago proceeded to lead the American League Central every single day.
The Sox did sweat. They nearly blew a 15-game lead to the blistering Cleveland Indians. What, Whitfield worry? Even when that edge shrank to 1 ½ games, he coolly guaranteed a playoff spot for his beloved ChiSox.
Now Whitfield looks like a genius. Chicago’s South Siders won a league-high 99 games and claimed the division by a comfortable six.
I work right next to the guy at an L.A.-based newspaper. Maybe his brilliance will rub off on the rest of us in the office.
©2005 by Bucky Fox. The cartoon is
from IMSI's Master
clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd.
E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. This column first posted
Oct. 5, 2005.
You can visit Bucky Fox's website at www.BuckyFox.com
You
can comment on this column online. Please address your message
to either "The Editors" or Bucky Fox. To send an email,
click here and don't forget to mention Bucky's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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