2002: What we'll be watching

By: Jamey Codding (jameycodding@bullz-eye.com)

01/16/2002

Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

With a new year filled with new stories now upon us, many writers have succumbed to the urge of composing their own awards and predictions columns. You've seen them all over the place, a couple times right on this very Web site -- writers handing out awards for the year that's passed, some a little more traditional than others, and writers making various predictions about the coming 12 months, some a little more far-fetched than others.

I'm not here to rag on this annual phenomenon, but I'm also not going to file in behind the hundreds of scribes who've already contributed to the Awards & Predictions Anthology, version 2K2. 

Instead, I'd like to take a look at some of the sports stories that'll be hogging the headlines in the coming year. Sure, this may only be a slight deviation from a more traditional prophetic column, but it's a deviation nonetheless.

Some of these stories, listed in no particular order, will carry more importance than others, and some may not even materialize in 2002, but they're all worth keeping an eye on throughout the next 12 months.

Will Emmitt Smith chase down Walter Payton's career rushing-yards record?

The always-consistent Dallas Cowboys running back will enter the 2002 NFL season just 539 yards behind Sweetness on the all-time rushing list. Smith, who has rumbled for 16,187 yards in his 12-year career, already set one impressive record this past season by notching his 11th-straight 1,000-yard campaign, and at some point in 2002 he should sprint past Payton in the record books. Even if you're not a Cowboys fan -- and who is these days -- Smith's steady streak of production, along with his non-existent criminal record, throughout good times and bad in Dallas is something you just have to respect.

Will Rick Ankiel make his return to the St. Louis Cardinals rotation?

Most people remember the lefty Ankiel as "that pitcher who couldn't find the plate with a compass and a map," but don't forget that this guy went 11-7 as a 20-year-old rookie two years ago with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings pitched. Opponents hit only .219 off Ankiel in 2000, amassing just 137 hits in those 175 innings, and while his 90 walks certainly were a bit discouraging, nobody doubted this kid's future success for one moment. But then the playoffs rolled around and the young lefty uncorked wild pitch after wild pitch, ineffectiveness that helped lead the Cards to an early exit from the NL Championship game at the hands of the New York Mets. 

As bad as his postseason showing was, though, things truly began to spin out of control last year for Ankiel -- in only 24 innings of work, he allowed 25 hits, 25 walks and 19 earned runs on his way to a 1-2 record with a 7.13 ERA. Before getting sent down to the minors, he'd surrendered seven homers while unleashing an unbelievable five wild pitches and getting whacked around at a .275 clip.

But now, after regaining his velocity, control and, most important, confidence with the Cards rookie league team last season, Ankiel looks poised for a successful return to the majors. He'll probably still suffer through some bad days, but with his arm there's every reason in the world to believe that this guy will once again be one of the NL's elite young guns in 2002.

Will Michael Vick have a full season as the Falcons' starting quarterback?

Speaking of young guns, how about this former #1 pick? Sure, Vick's rookie numbers were nothing special -- 50 for 113 (44.2%), 785 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions and a 62.7 QB rating -- but anybody who saw this kid play understands just how lethal he's going to be one day. Will "one day" turn into "this season" when training camp rolls around this summer? Who knows, but you can bet that as they watch guys like Donovan McNabb, Kordell Stewart, Rich Gannon and even Brett Favre in the playoffs this year, Atlanta fans, coaches and players will all be daydreaming about what their electrifyingly mobile quarterback can do with 16 games in 2002.

Will the Lakers wrap up a three-peat behind Kobe, Shaq and Phil?

We all know the Los Angeles Lakers should be able to put away the competition this season in the NBA playoffs, giving the franchise its second three-peat over a storied 53-year history, but there are plenty of teams out there who could make things very difficult for Kobe and Shaq if they're not careful, namely the San Antonio Spurs. You can bet that, if there's one team the Lakers are afraid of facing in the playoffs, it's Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs. L.A. still has no match for the size of David Robinson and Duncan -- Samaki Walker just won't cut it, and neither will Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen. Hopefully, though, we'll see these two teams go head-to-head in the Western Conference Finals because whoever comes out of the East is going to be trampled (again) by their cross-country counterparts.

Forget this three-peat crap -- will Lance Armstrong ride to his fourth-straight Tour de France victory in 2002? 

I won't get too far into this one because we all know just how remarkable Armstrong's story is -- after miraculously overcoming testicular cancer that eventually spread into his brain, abdomen and lungs in 1997, Armstrong has won the Tour de France the past three years. And, barring a new rule that requires him to ride a unicycle in this year's race with a flat tire and no seat, Armstrong should put the finishing touches on his monumentally impressive four-peat this summer. I honestly can't think of a better guy to root for or a more intriguing story to monitor this year.

How will Steve Spurrier's first season in Washington unfold?

This one could go several different ways, but I see a bleak first year for the former Gator dictator... er, I mean, the former Gator head coach. If his years in Florida serve as a blueprint, this guy wants to throw the ball, and when that doesn't work he wants to throw the ball even more. Will he be able to do that with the likes of Tony Banks and Michael Westbrook, who may not even be in Washington next season? Doubtful. But you can be sure Daniel Snyder will give his new coach much more leeway than he ever awarded Norv Turner or Marty Schottenheimer... . Of course, with the offense Spurrier has inherited, he may have no choice.

Who's going to kill whom first: Carl Everett or John Rocker?

I love John Hart -- as Cleveland's general manager he completely transformed the Indians from a laughable organization in the early 1990s... and the '80s... and the '70s... and, oh yeah, don't forget about the '60s, into a model organization that's won six of the last seven AL Central Division crowns and two American League championships since 1995. Now he's moved onto the Texas Rangers, digging into a much deeper owner's wallet than he ever had in Cleveland, and making some solid baseball moves: signing a marquee free agent pitcher (incidentally, the one thing he never did with the Indians) Chan Ho Park, bringing in reliable relievers Jay Powell and Todd Van Poppel, signing outfielder Juan Gonzalez to a two-year deal, and trading for a few top-notch prospects to bulk up his farm system. But then Hart did something that confused everybody in the baseball world -- he traded for John Rocker after he'd already brought in Carl Everett weeks earlier. Huh? These two go together about as well as a hemophiliac and a machete. I can see it now -- Everett, who in the past has said he doesn't believe that men have ever walked on the moon while also saying dinosaurs are completely fictional, will dispute the existence of red necks and racists during spring training, causing Rocker to prove him wrong with yet another wonderfully ignorant remark. Lovely.

If Michael Jordan does in fact play another season with Washington, how many milestones will he reach before he retires... again?

As he stands now, MJ is on the brink of some major milestones. He's scored 30,109 points in his career, 1,310 points behind Wilt Chamberlain for second all-time and a whopping 8,278 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Of course, he's got no chance of catching Kareem -- even if Jordan kept up his 2,252 points/season average, he'd still have to play three or four more seasons after this year to catch the former Laker great. He also sits behind Kareem and Wilt on the field goals list, needing 1,390 to move into second and 4,546 to catch Abdul-Jabbar, which ain't happening. Jordan won't catch John Stockton in steals either -- he's second all-time, 679 steals behind the Utah point guard -- but he can move up significantly on the free throws list. Currently, Jordan is 12 freebies behind Dolph Shayes for fifth all-time, 193 behind Jerry West for fourth and 727 behind Oscar Roberston for third. Karl Malone and Moses Malone, who are 1-2 on this list respectively, stand more than 1,500 free throws ahead of Jordan. Not only do these numbers make you wonder just how impressive MJ's numbers would have been had he not taken four years off to make up his mind about retirement, but they also make you realize just how unbelievably dominating Kareem was and how under-appreciated Karl Malone's career numbers are -- aside from steals, Malone's listed in the top-10 on every one of the above all-time lists.

Who will be the Patriots starting QB next season, Tom Brady or Drew Bledsoe? And if it's Brady, what will New England do with the ever-popular Bledsoe? 

After leading the Pats from a 1-3 record to the AFC East title and a first-round bye this season, and in the process making the Pro Bowl as a rookie, there really should be no question who at least will have the edge in the QB race come training camp -- Brady. But Bledsoe isn't exactly a washed-up 40-year-old QB whose best days are long gone, either. Pats fans love him, the owner loves him and the players love him, so making a permanent switch, regardless of how successful New England's playoff run is, won't be an easy thing for head coach Bill Belichick to do. Then again, after suspending Terry Glenn for the entire postseason for missing a team meeting last week, it's obvious that Belichick isn't afraid to make the tough decisions if it's in the best interests of his team. Still, glad I'm not the one faced with this dilemma. 

What kind of obscene numbers could Marshall Faulk post if he ever played a full 16-game schedule?

Think of it this way: In 1999, his first year with the Rams, Faulk played 16 games and, in a season that didn't feature him as the focal point of the St. Louis offense, he ran for 1,381 yards, caught 87 passes for 1,048 yards, and totaled 12 touchdowns. Impressive? Yes. His best effort? Hardly. Last year, in only 14 games, Faulk was named the league MVP after running for 1,359 yards, hauling in 830 receiving yards, and setting an NFL record with 26 touchdowns. Again, all that in only 14 games. This season, after again missing two games due to injury, Faulk ran for 1,382 yards, a career high, caught 83 passes for 765 yards and had a combined 21 touchdowns. These "injury-plagued" numbers are downright scary. With Mike Martz at the helm, Faulk is easily the most dangerous weapon in football, and if he's able to stay on the field for 16 full games in 2002, we could see some absolutely ridiculous numbers coming out of St. Louis.

There are several other potential stories to look out for in the coming months -- Tony Dungy's new job, the Winter Olympics, baseball's contraction, NFL's realignment, and the arrival of two new Japanese stars, pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii and outfielder So Taguchi, following in the footsteps of closer Kazuhiro Sasaki and 2001 AL MVP and Rookie of the Year Ichiro Suzuki. And of course, there will be hundreds of other newsworthy happenings that'll take the entire sports world by surprise in 2002, making for yet another memorable year.

But with everything I'm looking forward to next season, there are plenty of stories I could do without:

• The Yankees winning another World Series -- with that ridiculous payroll, if they don't win they're pathetic.
• The Randy Moss saga in Minnesota -- he's a bum, he'll always be a bum and I'm tired of people thinking he can change.
• Mike Tyson's next fight -- please, just retire already. Everybody is sick of reading about your fights in the sports pages one day and your arrests on the front page the next day.
• The Baltimore Ravens -- this team is just not that good... period. Yes, defensively they're spectacular, but I hope the Steelers beat the snot out of them this weekend so we can finally stop hearing the Ravens referred to as "the defending champs."
• Who's going to break Barry Bonds' record this year -- we thought 70 was untouchable, and Bonds touched it on his way to 73 only three years later. Why would this record be any different?
• The Allen Iverson/Larry Brown soap opera in Philadelphia -- when he's winning, Allen will be happy. When he's not, he'll bitch and moan. Sounds pretty simple to me.
• The BCS -- even if they finally figure out how to fix this college football mess, there will still be thousands of pissed-off people when the final standings roll around every season. Install a playoff system and leave the controversy behind.
• Another Jim Fassel "guarantee" -- it worked once, but testing your luck a second time was just foolish, Jimbo.

Have a fantastic 2002 everybody, and here's hoping some of your sports wishes come true this year -- I know I've got my fingers crossed!

In the Bullz-Eye

The Chicago Bulls. Currently with a 7-30 record and the sorriest roster in basketball, GM Jerry Krause is already eyeing the lottery next year for another chance to blow a high pick by either selecting the wrong player (see: Marcus Fizer) or making a dumb trade (see: Elton Brand). But sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division is the Miami Heat at an equally impressive 9-26. If Krause and the Bulls aren't careful, they could wind up with only the second-worst record in basketball, hampering their chances of blowing the top pick in next year's draft.