NEW YORK, NY – It’s the end of the year and possibly the end of the world. 2021 wasn’t the lost year that 2020 was. But it wasn’t back to business as usual either. It was a bizarro year. Things seemed the same, but different. Tom Brady won the Super Bowl, but it was in a different uniform. We had a full baseball season, but with smaller crowds for much of the year and the odd week-long delay due to #COVID outbreaks.
As the year rolled on and vaccines rolled out, things seemed to be getting away from the bizarro world and back to normal. The Mets disappointed in the regular season and the Yankees disappointed in their brief postseason appearance. The NFL, NBA, and NHL seasons started on time and without many delays or cancellations. It was looking like end of 2021 was going to vault us out of the bizarro world and back to a normal 2022. But then Omicron hit our shores.
The last few weeks have been rough with #Omicron running rampant. After several outbreaks, the NHL decided to take a break for a couple of weeks around Christmas. Several college football bowl games were cancelled due to “The COVID.” It seemed like a day didn’t go by around Christmas where I didn’t hear of another outbreak or another cancellation. Let’s hope this thing peters out as quickly as it came in – like #Linsanity – and we can get back to normal in 2022.
Here’s what we’ll have to look forward to in the new year.
NHL
The New York Rangers still playing good hockey. They lost a close one to a very good Florida Panthers team Wednesday night. Igor Shesterkin is back from his lower body injury and the Bluehsirts will look to continue their solid play and should make the playoffs… while the Isles and Devils suck.
MLB Lockout
The Impasse will resolve itself entirely too late considering the current sticking points. Spring Training will be delayed and compressed to make sure the season starts on time. The Yankees and Mets will both disappoint again next season. Back to normal.
NBA
The Knicks will win enough games to make things interesting down the stretch but will still miss the playoffs. The Nets will make the playoffs and lose in the Conference Finals.
NFL
The Giants and J-E-T-S will make terrible draft choices and will win a combined 7 games in 2022.
OVERALL
Meet The Matts will be bought by a multimedia conglomerate and we’ll all be rich. One can dream.
That’s all for me today. Hope everyone out there in Mattville has a Happy and Healthy New Year… And what better way to do so than have Short Matt kick off the new year campaign tomorrow with tales of Mets 2022 World Series dreams and Major League Rugby successes?!
