My Brother’s Bold Predictions

My brother, Matthew Long, is one of the smartest people I know.  It’s no secret that he’s the best writer on this blog and he knows about many different subjects, as opposed to me just knowing about music and sports.

I can’t keep track of Matthew’s predictions on here.  I imagine his record is fairly similar to all of ours.  I don’t remember him predicting anything too outlandish or being way off on anything (this excludes the 2010 Mariners but hey, screw you 2010 Mariners!).

Something happens though when Matthew Long gets into the heat of a game though.  I can’t tell you how long it’s actually happened, two times come to mind, but maybe it’s gone back since he started paying attention to sports.  The problem may even go back to the days of him being a toddler but I wasn’t around then to observe.

Last year, the Huskies opened the season against BYU.  About 4 minutes into the game, Jake Locker faked a hand-off, rolled to his right and completed a pass to Devin Aguilar that went for 15 yards.  I’m not sure what overcame Matthew.  Maybe it was the joy of the play and the feeling that came with it.  “This game’s over!” he remarked with a little chuckle of confidence.  I could see where he was coming from, that play really showed the Huskies having the better athletes.  Sure enough, the Dawgs went down the field to score on that same drive and it seemed like this prediction would hold true.  Needless to say, it didn’t.  Yeah, blame Matthew.

Then last week, the Huskies were up by 3 and in trouble.  Eastern had just moved to about the Huskies 30 yard-line on a big pass play with about 50 seconds to go.  Everyone in the stadium was thinking it, but Matthew had the guts to say it, “We’re going to lose this game” he remarked in a sort of frankness that left all who heard (me and my dad) hollow.  On the next play, Desmond Trufant intercepted a pass in the end zone and the Huskies sealed their victory.

We can’t fault Matthew for being bold.  He willingly goes where not many people do, making bold statements on the 1st drive of the game and predicting a terrible loss with 50 seconds left.  It’s the curse he has, but it works out for the rest of us because we know the opposite of what he predicts will happen!  Thank you for putting us before yourself, Big Boi, I don’t know what I’ll do when one of your bold predictions come true.

Andrew