BGrey Blog

Before we get too far in to the new decade, I want to circle back on a couple posts I boldly put out there in early 2009.

The first one touted the fact that I had decided to just pick One Resolution for 2009 and that was to lower my weight to 199 lbs by the end of 2009.  What I didn’t provide in that original post on December 31, 2008 was my starting weight for my quest.  So here are the final stats:

January 1, 2009:  240.0 lbs. (no kidding, it’s like I was a major shareholder in Krispe Kreme)

December 31, 2009:  197.8 lbs.

Net loss for 2009:  42.2 lbs. or 17.6%

And my related goal for 2010?  To keep it all off!

As for my Fearless Predictions for 2009, let’s see how I did:

1. The Dow closed above my prediction of 10,092.  Not bad considering after my prediction the Dow fell in early March 2009 to mid-6000.  I feel that my stock picking prowess may have been used up in 2009, but since the Dow is still down like 25% from it’s October 2007 all-time high, I am going to call the Dow at 11,276 (pretty random I know) for a 2010 close.

2. I was half right on this one, kind of.  Microsoft didn’t really “buy” Yahoo! Search, but they did a massive commercial deal that all but puts Yahoo! Search in Redmond’s hands.  But my second call about Yahoo! buying AOL didn’t quite materialize, but maybe I’ll roll this one forward and make it a 2010 prediction?

3. Twitter easily blew through the 10 million uniques I predicted for November 2009 (which was by the way a prediction 5 times the 2 million unique visitors Twitter had in November 2008).  And my little add on about a whole ecosystem sprouting up to plug in to the Twittersphere seems to have also been on the money.  Though I may be a little early on that prediction about a clear revenue model emerging, though at their most recent post-money valuation not sure they are racing to showcase their money printing machine just yet.

4. My call around digital media M&A activity picking up in Q2 as a bit early.  Though it really didn’t pick up a ton after that either (my second order prediction).  That said, the M&A patient did show some life in the second half of 2009 (thanks Google, Intuit, Adobe, etc.), so I can’t say I totally whiffed on this one.

5. And, as for my all important sports picks for 2009, well let’s just say I kind of got side swiped by the Tiger Woods affair(s).  Of the 10 picks I made (not counting the 11th which was my smarty pick for the Kentucky Derby:  “a horse), I only got 3 correct:  Florida winning the BCS, UNC winning the NCAA Hoops Tourney, and the Lakers winning the NBA title.  I came close with the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup (losing to the Penguins) and my Phillies repeating in the World Series (at least they got there again).  But I picked Tiger to win 2 Majors and be SI’s Sportsman of the Year.  He won zero Majors and it turned out was far from Sportsman of the Year — or Dad/Husband of the Year for that matter.

So for 2010, I feel compelled to make a few more sports picks since I have much to prove based on my 2009 performance.  Take these with you next time you go to Vegas:

BCS Champion:  Texas (upset over Alabama)

Super Bowl Winner:  New Orleans

Daytona 500 Winner:  Jimmie Johnson

NCAA Men’s Tourney Winner:  Kansas

NCAA Women’s Tourney Winner:  Connecticut

Stanley Cup Champion:  San Jose Sharks (picking with my heart)

NBA Champion:  Lakers repeat

World Series:  Red Sox over the Dodgers in 6 games

And how about this one:

Roger Federer and Tiger Woods will combine to win 3 Major tournaments out of the combined 8 that will be played in 2010.

Peace to all in the new decade.