11 February 2013

Birthday
Taylor Lautner b. 1992

Wow. Today is the first day Taylor Lautner can legally have a drink. And judging from current events, he is also officially too old to date Taylor Swift.

Win-win, buddy! Many happy returns.
 

Prediction: "The greatest development in sports over the next thirty years will be the combination of computer technology with increased emphasis on the selection and training of athletes as currently practiced by East Germany and other Soviet-bloc countries."

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac in 1982

Reality: Yep. Computers and selection process. It worked for the Commie Krauts, it will work for us.

If you are a sports fan, you will recognize an ingredient in the East German success story that the writers skipped over, one that did have an impact on sports in the thirty years after 1982.

They give numerical predictions as well.

65 home runs in one season by a designated hitter: Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001. All the guys who out-did Roger Maris - Bonds, Sosa and McGwire - were all in the National League, the one that still doesn't have a DH.
160 bases in one season by a "designated runner": Rickey Henderson stole 130 in 1982 when this book was being written. No one has stolen more since. There is no designated runner and baseball statisticians are no longer in love with the stolen base.
175 walks in one season, 40% intentional: Bonds was walked 232 times in 2004, 120 were intentional. That's about 52%.
110-mile-per-hour fastball: Aroldis Chapman was clocked at 105 mph in a relief appearance in September 2010.

So OMNI goes 2 for 4, which is to say "There's Barry Bonds juiced to the gills and then there's reality."

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Tuesday is reserved for Heinlein. In 1947, he was sure that nukes would be flying before the century was up. By 1950, he'd had a change of heart.

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!