2008 will bring many new and intriguing changes to our world.  The US will have a new president, there will be a new college football champion, and I will have a new job (and a new degree, lord willing).  We may be living somewhere else, maybe even a new city.  Who knows what might lie ahead?  Here are my best guesses, for the whole world to see, listed in the order of my confidence in them.

1. The person elected president will have promised peace in Iraq with the return of our troops, a restored US economy, and an end to partisan politics.  None of these things will actually occur, however.

2. There will be a recession in the US economy, there will be some tough times for a lot of Americans, but it won’t be as bad as some people want to predict.  Housing prices will dip, more drastically in some places than others, unemployment will increase, and the Federal government will try unprecedented measures to correct the problems before the election in November, which will only exacerbate the problem.  But we will recover, if not in 09 then before the midterm elections.

3. My wife will either realize a significant promotion at her place of employment or will be working somewhere else by the end of 2008.  I believe her patience has worn thin enough for her to finally take the risk.

4. The college football season will be neither surprising, nor unpredictable.  For all the discussion around “parity” this year and a new era of a level field, I don’t believe the plethora of upsets could be explained any better than a bunch of underachieving teams let themselves go.  Next year, there will be some upsets, the traditional powerhouses will undoubtedly prevail, there will be two undefeated teams from BCS conferences playing for the championship, and the dream of parity will have faded from memory.

5.  The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will have significant off-the-field drama.  These games are considered by the People’s Republic to be their “coming out” statement to the world.  Look how powerful and impressive this communist country has become, despite their detractor’s claims.  But when the spotlight does shine on this backward country, and the human rights’ atrocities become undeniably evident, the world will not stand by and say nothing.  Athletes may make statements, international visitors might, the media may even get in the game if it becomes popular enough.  But it is hard for me to fathom all those people hosted by China to not become appalled at the censorship and heavy-handed state affairs.  How China reacts to the criticism is going to involve the real drama.

And my last, fun prediction - Britney Spears, jealous of the attention her easy little sister is getting over her pregnancy, decides to become really trashy and sleep with every inmate in the Orange County Jail and refuse paternal tests - that way her baby daddy will always be an unknown criminal.  Beat that Jamie Lynn!