Month: April 2020

It’s been about 40 months since I wrote anything of substance for public discourse. I remember it well, or at least my Google docs does. It was the last Bowl Extravaganza Spectacular of Ridiculous: The Final Final Final Predictions for the infamous JP Predicts website. It was the end of a five-year journey where I joined three friends in writing absolutely ridiculous game capsules and predictions of SEC and Top 25 football games. I (JP) brought the bizarre insight. Ash was the most credible sounding, Nate was the Vandy fan who wore his heart on his sleeve. Honest Abe was anything but honest, but probably the most well liked. Yet, only a few select people ever knew who he really was behind the personality (It wasn’t me). The Prediction website brought us notoriety in the form of thousands of semi-faithful weekly readers, guest spots on radio, hate mail and even eventually a regular gig on in studio on a weekly radio show. My father always told me I had a face for radio… I think he was right.

So why did it stop?

Writing two weekly columns during football season and trying to keep them funny eventually wore me down. Heck, I think it did everyone else if I’m being honest. You can only recycle so many Dan Mullen jokes before they get stale, just like Florida’s offense since Urban Meyer left. If I (JP) provided the heart of the predictions, Ash and Nate provided the meat or substance of it. Honest Abe was the blood that kept it relevant, despite a BAC three times the legal limit. I began losing my passion for it in the Fall of 2016. In between grad school, professional career, a football prediction website, and life your time fills up and you burn out. Looking back I made one big mistake. I forgot to the really talk to my fellow predictors before pulling the plug. I just made the decision it was over and I was done. It’s never too late to back and apologize. In my truest form…

To Ash…

Thanks for jumping on the train even before it left the station. You got me to think outside the box and helped turned the website into more than I every thought would be. It rekindled our friendship and has led to some pretty amazing adventures long after we closed up shop. I don’t think there would have been years 2 – 5 if you had been absent. Also you brought Nate on board.  Everyone needs a Vandy fan for a whipping boy, but I would have never found him myself. Besides, I needed someone that could be better than me at least 40% of the time. Thank you for being my Cole Naughton Jr. in my Rick Bobby world.

To Nate…

I always wanted to call you Nate Dawg, but for some reason I didn’t. That’s at least something to be thankful for on your end. Where Ash was on from the beginning, you caught the train before it left the station and none of us were the wiser for it. Having that second voice of reason as well as the eternal optimist and the champion of the underdog is what made our shtick with the penny flipper work. You ate crow with the best of us and the site would have had a different tone without you. Ultimately the brand (if that’s what you want to call it) would have suffered. I will remember you fondly and keep you in my thoughts and prayers for living in the land of the Leghummpers.

Honest Abe…

Ol’ Abe… You know and I know that the site would have never existed without your expertise. What I didn’t expect is for you to run with the idea of a penny flipper I dreamed up and own is so thoroughly. The true nature of your Jekyll and Hyde personality only made things even more funny for those of us who knew who the man/woman behind the penny really was. We never knew until almost publishing time what you were going to write or who you were going to insult. You always got the last word. If you had been a rug, you would definitely tied the room together.  I’m sorry about how things ended and I feel bad that you don’t even watch football anymore.  However, I won’t apologize to your or Ash for my disdain of Miller Light. That’s just a bridge too far for me.

So what’s next?

So now that I’ve gotten all that off my chest, I feel like I can start writing again, mostly guilt free. It was an apology that was long overdue, especially since we never got paid. I’ve missed writing almost as much as the Houston Astros or New England Patriots miss integrity. And if you are reading any of this for the first time, I recommend starting at the beginning. I’m got some lofty goals out in front of me maybe some stories to tell that will help others.  If nothing else, I do it for mama.