The 2010 Accountability Scoreboard: Wrong about everything!
Oh, woeful me. (Photo by Ben Gray; illustration by Mandi Albright)
The annual Accountability Scoreboard reflects, I’m afraid, a bleak House of Bradley. I was wrong about pretty much everything in 2010. Usually I’m only wrong about most things. A partial recap:
• Wrong about Georgia Tech beating Iowa in the Orange Bowl and beating Georgia in basketball. When your year starts with you being wrong about the same school twice on the night of Jan. 5, you should know you’re in for it. Though I was too stupid to know any such thing.
• Wrong about Texas beating Alabama in the BCS title game. Though I might have been right if not for Mack Brown’s SHOVEL PASS.
• Wrong about the Braves finishing third behind Florida and Philadelphia in the National League East.
• Wrong about Duke getting beat by Louisville in Round 2 of the NCAA tournament. Wrong also about three of my Final Four, being right only about West Virginia.
• Wrong about the Hawks beating Orlando in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs. Possibly the worst prediction ever.
• Wrong about the Celtics beating the Lakers in the NBA finals.
• Wrong about LeBron James staying in Cleveland.
• Wrong about the sun rising in the West. (I just made that up. Though it sounds like something I’d have predicted in Twenty Ten.)
• Wrong about those 8 reasons the Braves wouldn’t squander their division lead. I’d recanted my earlier skepticism, which only served to make me wrong about the same team twice. Yikes.
• Wrong about Georgia, which I had going 9-3, and Tech, which I picked to finish 8-4. Wrong about Auburn being overrated. Wrong about Florida winning the BCS title. (Good grief.) Wrong about some guy from Houston winning the Heisman.
• Wrong about Georgia beating Florida. This was also a recant. The lesson herein: Stick with your original gut feeling unless it involves Orlando losing to the Hawks.
• Wrong — by the scant margin of 40 points — about South Carolina beating Auburn in the SEC title game. Also possibly the worst prediction ever. It’s downright revoltin’ when one year brings two such howlers.
OK, now you’re asking: Did you get anything right? A few things, sort of.
• I tabbed South Carolina as the rising team in the SEC East and had the Gamecocks going 9-3, which they did. But I still had them second to Florida. (I have no idea why I was so high on the Gators. Maybe my jean shorts were too tight.)
• I had Tennessee winning its final four games to finish 6-6, which actually happened. But it was only Tennessee, so who cares?
• And I had the Falcons winning the NFC South, which they surely will, but I had them going 12-4 and they’ll do better than that. I also had them playing for the NFC title — against Dallas in Arlington, Texas.
The Falcons might well wind up in Arlington, but it won’t be for the NFC title game. It’ll be for the Super Bowl. But that’s not yet a prediction. Because I don’t want to jinx them just yet, and when you’ve had as lousy a year as I have, you get tired of being wrong. Which means I’m suspending, at least for the remainder of this calendar year, the Accountability Scoreboard tradition of offering a pick for the coming year.
For the record, last year’s look-ahead involved Georgia State’s game at Alabama. I boldly forecast that the Panthers would score — three whole points! They managed seven. Wrong again.
By Mark Bradley
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184 comments Add your comment
Bug Zapper
December 26th, 2010
2:51 pm
WOW….. mising a curfew in Shreveport?? The Truck Stop must have been having a buy one get one free on the Lot Lizards.
Truly, it’s more than apparent that Paul Johnson has lost control of his team. 4 players FLUNK, another 3 players have no fear of him and party at a Truck Stop in Shreveport……
I would say “Fire him”, but I want him to stay forever. Just wait until 2011 and see what he does with ONLY his recruits, and you’ll know why.
boots
December 26th, 2010
2:54 pm
Just goes to show that predictions are just guesses, and we can’t take any of them seriously. A 50/50 ratio would be acceptable, but even then, what’s the point? Happy New Year, Mark.
Bug Zapper
December 26th, 2010
2:54 pm
And it is also amusing and funny that when anything comes up about the Tech players failing or being suspended, the first thing a Tech fan does is panic, and bring up some UGA players past transgressions.
Time to face the music Tech…. your players are no better role models to the community than UGA’s. Only difference is, UGA’s players beat yoru players on the field.
42 > 34
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December 26th, 2010
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, KentuckySportsReport. KentuckySportsReport said: Credit to AJC's Mark Bradley for this "Accountability" article, where he goes back over the past year & shows how he did. http://is.gd/jvcdK [...]
Bug Zapper
December 26th, 2010
2:56 pm
2 blogs in a row over on the Techie blog, comments have been shut down because it was a negative story about players FAILING or PARTYING.
Keep sweeping it under the rug, Techies. Nobody will notice soon. Just add these to the list of excuses when Air Force gives you a Military style WHOOPING tomorrow afternoon.
todd grantham
December 26th, 2010
2:58 pm
Mark, a few predictions you might want to consider for 2011:
Mark Richt will be fired after going 7-5 and losing to Florida once again.
Paul Hewitt will be fired after losing to Georgia once again.
Smitty wins NFL Coach of the Year.
Matt Ryan wins MVP.
Brook Whitmire gets a terrible case of laryngitis that lasts the entire fall.
Eric Zeir will say “cover 2″ 6,755 times on UGA radio broadcasts.
Wes Durham will join weight watchers in an attempt to lose 2011 pounds.
Dick Stockton will get another hair transplant.
Derek Dooley will go bald.
Urban Meyer will surface on Guam.
Fox will continue to be fair and balanced.
Sid
December 26th, 2010
3:00 pm
at least you weren’t one of those “Jimmie Johnson couldn’t POSSIBLY win FIVE in a row!” people…
steve whitmire
December 26th, 2010
3:03 pm
NOBODY’S PERFECT DUDE, there’s always 2011
todd grantham
December 26th, 2010
3:08 pm
a couple of more:
Dan Uggla will have the worst season of his major league career.
Fredi Gonzalaz will bring TP back as hitting coach.
Bobby Cox will return to the Braves’ dugout after the team goes 9-51 in its first 60 games.
Elvis will make an appearance at the Liberty Bowl, saying he had just stepped out for a couple of bananna sandwiches and ask what all the hoopla is about.
Georgia Tech will not be able to field a full squad and forfiet the Shreveport bowl.
Bug Zapper
December 26th, 2010
3:18 pm
in 2011,
Paul Johnson will remove his breast implants, citing nipple chaffing as the reason
Robert Hall will beat another woman
Stephen Hill will transfer to a team who believes in the Forward Pass, which was legalized in football in 1906
The Wramblin Wreck will be rear ended in front of Blake’s on the Park
Tevin Washington will be injured in the first 3 games, due to his midget size and being expected to take hit after hit from Linebackers
Paul Hewitt will continue to take his Georgia Tech checks to the bank
34 students will be held an gunpoint on or near Tech’s “campus”
Tech fans will continue to justify their team’s suckiness with a UGA off-field joke
Paul Johnson will fry a fish, but not the big fish
Like marijuana, Georgia Tech will be smoked in a bowl
10-12 Georgia Tech players will flunk out, exciting Tech fans because it gives them a chance to talk about how high the Georgia Tech standards are
And the most obvious SURE bets:
The sun will rise in the East
UGA will beat Tech in football
mwh6767
December 26th, 2010
3:21 pm
Todd Grantham will save a woman from choking in the Athens Applebees before the start of the 2011 season.
Uga football surpass its own previous arrest record and send 15 players to jail. Forcing athens-clarke county to dedicate a wing of the jail just to uga.
Nick Fairley comes back for his senior season just to beat the crap out of Aarron Murray and hear the Uga fans cry.
All uga fans will predict a national champ. before the start of the season and will be disappointed again after uga goes 6-6…. again
Massive amounts of property will be destroyed following a Boise St. win in the Ga. dome to start the year.
bradley picks badley
December 26th, 2010
3:28 pm
Mark, I’ve known about the Bradley jinx for years. Please, Please, I beg of you, stay away from the Falcons.
Snowquake
December 26th, 2010
3:32 pm
Hate to say this because Ima huge Falcons fan, but I’ll be right: Philly comes through Atlanta on the way to the Superbowl—and Falcons can’t beat them.This wonderful ride abruptly ends in January.
reality
December 26th, 2010
3:33 pm
one more…uga fans will remain as obnoxious as ever.
Shane
December 26th, 2010
3:35 pm
Stick to the falcons bradley. pretty embarassing to be wrong about so much. but you are the perfect vegas contrarian indicator. i bet against you quite often, so thank you. looking forward to your abysmall 2011 predictions.
Bug Zapper
December 26th, 2010
3:35 pm
reality,
aww….. you poor, poor thing. Does it bother you when UGA fans are as open about HATING your Jackets as your Jacket fans are about HATING UGA??
That sword is sharp on both sides isn’t is??
poor thing.
Gordon
December 26th, 2010
3:36 pm
Bug Zapper at 2:56 equates being arrested with not meeting academic requirements and missing curfew. Nothing else needs to be said.
Brainey Smurf
December 26th, 2010
3:37 pm
Not unless the bears lose snow. And they aren;’t today and probably won’t next week either when gb gets emilinated. eagles aren’t beating the bears in chi town!
Gordon
December 26th, 2010
3:38 pm
Make that 2:54. It’s hard to keep all of his posts about a school he regards as insignificant straight.
saban
December 26th, 2010
3:45 pm
Georgia will never know what hit them when Georgia Tech gets a defense in place.
Tech has probably the top College Coach and top defensive coach in tghe country.
Georgia has a bartender who gratuated to Saint hood and recruits players right out of reform school. Their defensive coach sells little Gratham Choak dolls and pats himself on the back for only giving up 30 points a game.
Have to say if I was a defensive player wanting to play in the NFL I would want to learn from Groah. Offensively All Johnson needs is average to win.
Georgia on the other hand needs all world players and dream teams to finish 6-6.
Why do you think UGA VII went to the other side? He saw the future puppies and it ain`t pretty.
wxwax
December 26th, 2010
3:45 pm
No offense, Mark, but I see your endorsement as a kiss of death! my heart sinks when you pick a team I lile.
ps Congrats on the AJC turning a profit. That’s great news.
redneck uga drunk driver
December 26th, 2010
3:47 pm
bugg zapper
your fan base is 50% redneck and 25% delusional morons who didn’t go to college but cheerlead for them so they can have something to do while they work their meaningless job. which category do you fall into?
Sec fan
December 26th, 2010
3:48 pm
AU wins NC Jan 10—-uga wins sec east in 2011 and plays bama in domeh
Mark Bradley
December 26th, 2010
3:51 pm
Thanks, wxwax. And none taken.
Mark Bradley
December 26th, 2010
3:51 pm
Please note the nifty Photoshopping done above by the talented Ms. Mandi Albright of AJC Digital. I’m in her debt.
ylojkt
December 26th, 2010
3:56 pm
I too think it’s crap when the comments are shut down when both schools do embarrassing things, it reeks of insecurity. The problem is the trolls here who post fifty times with a bunch of crap just to rile up other people, so why not just stop them after a few posts? Schulz does it and so does Mark, and their blogs don’t shut down. A lot of us on here are big boys who can give and take a good jab or two, but not fifty. Pay some admins or do it yourself, GT & UGA bloggers.
RAID
December 26th, 2010
3:59 pm
As far as the suspended Tech players are concerned, the NCAA does’nt hand down such penalties depending on which school you attend and their accademic standards, unless you’re Ohio St…….The players were suspended because they did’nt meet the NCAA’s minimum requirements…..It had nothing to do with Tech’s “supposed” higher standards…….
GT
December 26th, 2010
3:59 pm
Wouldn’t it had been just a little scary if you had been right about everything. A lot less pressure this way. Madoff was one of those guys that was right a few more times than mother nature allows. Mark you are no Madoff. Happy New Year to all.
ylojkt
December 26th, 2010
4:00 pm
Also, this is going to hurt our defense in the first half, those are two of our best defensive players. We better just hold on and score with them in the first half, then hold in the second while we keep scoring.
Losing Hill doesn’t hurt, he hasn’t so much as caught a cold this season.
RAID
December 26th, 2010
4:03 pm
Mark, pretty cool artical………but you could save yourself some time and effort to admit you’re wrong all throughout the year instead of bundling all this into one piece……..you know, maybe once a week you could write one of these articals!…lol
Mitchell
December 26th, 2010
4:05 pm
If only Bobby Cox had ever apologized for all his bad calls.
It takes a big man to admit his mistakes. It would take an even bigger man to just give up and admit he doesn’t know anything.
Your move, Bradley.
ylojkt
December 26th, 2010
4:08 pm
Thinking about it, Hill was preemptively preventing his Heisman campaign for next year. The problem yesterday was that there was a pregame scavenger hunt in the bowl festivities. These guys were the only group still looking for a pair of red panties left from last years game, which caused them to miss curfew. It appears that the hotel they were staying in had replaced all the sofas and chairs since last year due to the fleas, thus causing their delay and need to look under the barstools, pool tables, and haybales at the local feed and seed.
bob
December 26th, 2010
4:13 pm
I use you as the perfect reverse barometer.
ylojkt
December 26th, 2010
4:15 pm
The good news is they found a pair. The bad news is they were mens XL and had Damon Evans in sharpie on the tag.
Mark, keep up the good work! And pass along to your coworkers to grow a thicker skin.
Jedi Falcon
December 26th, 2010
4:19 pm
You look like Julian Assange
5150 P.O.A.D.
December 26th, 2010
4:20 pm
Mark you are the PERFECT betting Partner. I bet you have helped many a family make their morgage payments this year with your picks. I know if we just bet the oppsite of what you say it is MONEY to the BANK. LOL. Maybe the New Year will be better.
Jethro Bodeen
December 26th, 2010
4:22 pm
Well Mr. Drysdale..I told you that you needed to have Granny read the tea leaves for you !! Maybe Uncle Jed can sit down and talk to you sometime!
reality check
December 26th, 2010
4:28 pm
Hey D A Double U G and Bug Zapper, why don’t you look at the percentage Tech graduates that are millionaires vs. the percentage of UGA graduates that are millionaires. Who really owns who you morons. BTW…Tech doesn’t have the underwater basket weaving majors so it is possible to be academically suspended at Tech, morons.
ylojkt
December 26th, 2010
4:28 pm
@Jethro – Thanks for the chuckle.
Paul in RDU
December 26th, 2010
4:36 pm
Hey Mark – At least you got the winner of the biggest sporting event of 2010 correct and even tabbed Iniesta as the player to watch in the final.
I’ll make an easy prediction for 2011 – Barca wins the Champions League.
J-bone
December 26th, 2010
4:36 pm
MB how many correct predictions did you predict?
wxwax
December 26th, 2010
4:38 pm
That *is* a good Photoshop. I thought it was a posed photo from earlier in the week.
Old Dawg
December 26th, 2010
4:39 pm
At least you at admit your mistakes, unlike Faux News, which places you on a higher level of credibility than everyone at the network. Your columns and blogs continue to be very good, so don’t be so hard on yourself.
Happy New Year and all the best for more great work in the year to come!
Fred
December 26th, 2010
4:40 pm
Nice blog MB. Gotta like a man who, when he sticks his foot in his mouth, critiques the polish he used rather than tries to deny it.
Joey waddell
December 26th, 2010
4:42 pm
Makes you wonder why you still have a job. If we as firefighters where as wrong as many we would be out of work and people would die. Your articles need to end with “just my opinion”
col foot
December 26th, 2010
4:46 pm
georgia tech…academic fraud, weapons, drugs, now suspensions, whats next for those blowflys
J-Man
December 26th, 2010
4:51 pm
Just no more 8 Reason articles……………………..EVER!!!!!!!
dawg4u
December 26th, 2010
4:54 pm
Mark, did you predict that it would never snow on Christmas again in Atlanta? I have to admire you for taking the bullets on some of the wrong predictions. Thanks for some really fine columns and analysis though.
Kapoonka
December 26th, 2010
4:58 pm
Well you could be an Atlanta weatherman….they’re often wrong, but no one cares.