Whatever I Was On, It Must Have Been Good: 2008 Prophecies Revisited

Back on June 10th, I made a number of predictions regarding the upcoming season. It’s now time to look back and see how far off I was. Please bear in mind while reading this that not even I, the great Rider Prophet, can account for 7 broken fibulas.

My 18 predictions are listed below and I will mark them on the following scale: 1 point for being right, 0.5 for being close (it’s like the Prophetic equivalent of a rouge), and 0 for being wrong.

On day one of the season Marcus Crandell takes the reigns,
Quite different from Joseph - less moves, but more brains.
I maintain that he’s smarter than Joseph but in light of how things unfolded… 0 points

The offense features an embarrassment of riches,
Crandell and Co. will make other defenses their... well you know.
3rd last in scoring… 0 points

Wes Cates returns to lead the rushing attack,
Offensive weapons we certainly do not lack.
Cates was 2nd in rushing… 1 point

Our offensive line is stacked to say the least
And watch for Glenn January - he'll turn out be a beast.
While I still have high hopes for January, the term beast would be a bit premature… 0 points

Our defense will be younger, stronger and quick
Lead by a monster by the name of John Chick.
We were younger and quick, not so much on the strong… 0.5 points

Reuniting Davis and Morgan will make our secondary strong
And hopefully, James Johnson will step up and prove me wrong.
Secondary was among the stingiest in the league against the pass (though it had little to do with either Morgan or Johnson)… 1 point

Our linebackers remain solid despite losing Hunt
The best D in the league; we'll force many a punt.
Best LBs in the league bar none… 1 point

Our special teams' blocking and coverage surely improves
Fueled by Weston Dressler's lightning fast moves.
Not even Dressler could overcome our lack of blocking… 0 points

Our team looks quite different but I see no reason to fret
We've got talent across the board so don't count us out yet.
Same record as last year with a vastly different roster… 1 point

Tillman's shipped off some vets but 'tis no reason to moan
Have faith in their replacements despite being unknown.
Unknown certainly describes the guys we played on offense throughout the season, but they got the job done… 1 point

For 1 or 2 of these "no-names" I will guarantee
By the end of the season will be considered marquee.
Is Rookie of the Year marquee enough for you?... 1 point

We will start 4 and 2 to the surprise of many
We shant miss a beat under the direction of Coach Kenny.
We started 6-0 but sure didn’t miss a beat under Miller… 0.5 points

There will surely be some bumps we will have to fight through
And the bandwagon will temporarily empty as if right on cue.
5 losses in 7 games over middle of season… 1 point

In the end we will finish 11-7 - good for second
Proving that we're still a force to be reckoned.
2nd place and within 1 game of the record… 1 points

In the West Semi we'll play the Stamps in the snow
Burris will choke (but claim it's not 4 in a row).
No Stamps in the West Semi, No Burris choke, and no snow… 0 points

Then it's off to BC on our way to defending,
But this year the Lions ruin the storybook ending.
For the date at the dome ends our quest to repeat
It will be a good season but end bittersweet
Game was in Regina and it wasn't the west final but the result was the same… 1 point

We won't have a Grey Cup to help the dynasty be built,
But at least it's not all bad - neither will Milt.
Right on both accounts… 2 points

Out of a possible 18 points I got 12. Meaning that I’m 66.7% accurate in my predictions. This is exactly where I was last year so although I may not be overly accurate at least I’m not getting worse. And besides, with my career accuracy in the mid 60s I’m still miles ahead of Michael Bishop. Zing.

Don’t forget to vote for me in the Canadian Blog Awards if you haven’t already done so… and if you have, do it again for good measure.