My quadrennial contest is now closed. Twenty-one of us have made ten guesses about 2020. Guesses. None of us know who will be the Democrats’ nominee. No one could possibly know how many regular season games the Indians will win this summer. It is our willingness to predict, in advance, these outcomes that separate us from those who will share their expertise, always perfect, after the fact.
Yes, there is a certain amount of snark in this enterprise. The contest originated in 2003. Tired of the retroactive expertise, I challenged a local know-it-all to predict the 2004 election eleven months before the polls closed. He declined, but others saw the fun in this and a tradition was born.
There is a secret to winning the Everyone’s A Genius In Hindsight Contest – humility. This is a general knowledge game. The winner will claim first prize with only three or four correct answers. Entering the contest is an admission that you aren’t an expert in everything. And, you are willing to be human, flawed and imperfect.
I found myself getting agitated this year as I got closer to the deadline for entries. Social media, particularly Facebook, has forced us to interact with an increasing number of know-it-alls. I had personally invited a number of them to participate in this year’s contest. Just to be clear, I am referring to the people who post lots of memes, most of them easily disproved, but little to no original content. These experts are happy to repeat the craziest of conspiracy theories or their (mis)understanding of the innermost thoughts of Democrats or Liberals. As you may have guessed, none of them even acknowledged the invitation.
And I was getting agitated.
It is not my job to fact-check someone’s Facebook posts. G-d knows FB abrogated that responsibility in favor of the revenue BS memes generate. I already knew that anyone capable of posting a video of Nancy Pelosi, obviously slowed-down and doctored to make her look impaired, lacked the humanity to express fallibility. That is just one example of why some of my friends have walked away from Facebook. Yet, I still held out hope. I started to imagine that my little contest was a lifeline, a path back to balance.
That was stupid. In truth, my reaction to a group of know-it-alls stubbornly working to retain their imagined status was really an accurate reflection of my status – Exhausted.
It is time for me to step back and take a deep breath. I will be in Punta Cana for the next week or so. Sally will get a tan. I will get some needed rest.
These are my answers for the contest:
- The President of the United States December 30, 2020 ___Pence___________.
2. The Democratic nominee will be_______Klobuchar__________________.
3. The winner of the 2020 Presidential election will be____Klobuchar___________.
4. There will be __9_ justices on the US Supreme Court on December 31, 2020.
5. The winner of the February 2, 2020 Super Bowl will be ____49ers____________.
6. The Cleveland Indians will win _93___ regular season games.
7. The Cleveland Browns will win _8__ regular season games.
8. The Academy Award for best picture will go to _Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood _.
9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average will close December 31, 2020 at __23,500_______.
10. A gallon of milk will be $3.79_ at Heinen’s Mayfield Village on June 30, 2020.
Tie Breaker: There is a song associated with every major city. For many of us, our favorite Cleveland song has our hero tell the story of how a decent model citizen is transformed by lust and thirst. Please name the song and artist __Skinny – Alex Bevan____.
Breathe! It is a longtime till November.
DAVE
Picture – Ready! – David L Cunix